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"I prayed for this child,and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27 |
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Wang Hong Hui
Born May 8, 1995
Waiting for us in the Lu Liang SWI in Shanxi,
China
Date of Referral - February 14, 2008
Letter of Intent - February 17, 2008
Pre-Approval from CCAA - March 11, 2008
Dossier to China - March 14, 2008
Log In Date - March 19, 2008
Referral Acceptance Letter - May 19, 2008
Travel Letter - June 9, 2008
Travel Dates to China - June 28th through
July 9th
Born May 8, 1995
Waiting for us in the Lu Liang SWI in Shanxi,
China
Date of Referral - February 14, 2008
Letter of Intent - February 17, 2008
Pre-Approval from CCAA - March 11, 2008
Dossier to China - March 14, 2008
Log In Date - March 19, 2008
Referral Acceptance Letter - May 19, 2008
Travel Letter - June 9, 2008
Travel Dates to China - June 28th through
July 9th
4:00am in the air over China. We are about an hour and half outside of Guangzhou. It has been a
long and exasperating last 20 hours.
Saturday afternoon we made it out of DFW before the storms came and arrived at LAX about thirty
minutes late. We made our way to baggage claim and watched while everyone began to pick up their
luggage and depart. That is everyone except us and a few other frustrated folks. As it turns out, only
Hong Hui's bag came off of the belt. Our other four bags were nowhere to be found. We had just 4
hours to check in for our departure for China. We stood in line to file a claim with everyone else and had
a nervous breakdown trying to decide how to go forward. There were five more flights from DFW that
day to LAX, but all were delayed until after midnight except one that was supposed to arrive before us,
but was now arriving at 10:09pm. We went to the international terminal to check with China Southern
Airliines and find out what options we had. We were in a tailspin. We were about to change our flight to
Sunday night and be a day late when a wonderful agent who was helping us, Ella, suggested we try and
see if our bags came on the 10:09 flight. We could always change our flight later. By this time it was
9pm PST and we had not eaten since lunch in Texas. We grabbed McDonalds and went to baggage
claim to wait. At about 10:25 the bags began to come off the belt from the delayed flight. About the 10th
bag off was Naomi's, and we knew we had a slight chance. Christe took off running with our passports
pushing a now-sleeping Naomi in the stroller. Davis and I stayed behind waiting for our other 3 bags and
they came off shortly after. We began to run pushing the overloaded baggage cart. Watch out here we
come!
When we arrived at the international terminal, Christe and Ella were the only people left at the China
Southern desk and they were waiving at us to hurry. Ella, who had been looking for us, produced our
boarding passes and had one of their men walk us to the front of the TSA baggage check line bypassing
people who had been waiting about 2 hours for their turn. Most of these passengers were not happy
about us going past. Then we handed our bags to the TSA agent and stepped past the long and deep
security lines straight to the front and right on through. Wow! God bless these generous people who
provided for us in a time when we were not able. We made the flight by minutes much to the chagrin of
many. I am not sure we would have survived the emotions of having to stay in LA and wonder if our
bags would come the next day.
Our flight to China has been long as usual. We are 13 hours in and still not there. Yuck! The good
news is that our flight was over half empty at best and we have all slept a good portion of the trip.
We arrive in Guangzhou shortly and have a 4 hour layover before our flight to Taiyuan. We should be in
Taiyuan at around 2am Monday afternoon (1pm Monday morning in the US).
We think we will go directly from the airport to meet Hong Hui at Civil Affairs. Pray that we will all be free
from anxiety and that God would surround the room with his love and peace as He knits us all together.
I will post more tonight after we get to the hotel.
So, for the moment, we're sitting in McDonald's, listening to bad 80s music, feeling rather ripe and
waiting for our next flight.
God has again showed Himself faithful to us despite our - or at least Christe's - tendency to panic.
“Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His
lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Dueteronomy 7:9
Family of 5
Our trip to Taiyuan went quickly and we went directly to the Civil Affairs Office where we met Hong Hui
and all of her foster family around 3pm.
We were all very nervous. She is so gentle and tender. God has truly blessed her with strength to
endure the transition. Hong Hui has really bonded with Davis and Mimi; they are all drawn to each
other. Christe and I are not in high demand. While I'm not sure exactly what we expected, all in all, it was
a very smooth transition.
We came back to the hotel from the office and just sat for awhile and rested. We gave Hong Hui her
suitcase with the new clothes we brought for her and she enjoyed going through them. She neatly
unfolded and refolded each item. Then she returned all the items as well as the things she brought in
her backpack to the suitcase. We walked around the street around our hotel for a bit and all shared a
bucket of KFC for dinner. We attracted so much attention - not sure if it was the number of children
(here it's almost all one-child families), the fact that two of ours are Chinese, or that the other three of us
are blond Americans.
We came back to he hotel and got the kids ready for bed. Hong Hui kept pulling new outfits from her
suitcase and disappearing into the bathroom at about 5 minute intervals showing off her new clothes. It
was really heartwarming to see. She looked so cute. We have not taken too many pictures today,
because we do not want Hong Hui to feel like a spectacle. There are a few shots of the kids to the left.
long and exasperating last 20 hours.
Saturday afternoon we made it out of DFW before the storms came and arrived at LAX about thirty
minutes late. We made our way to baggage claim and watched while everyone began to pick up their
luggage and depart. That is everyone except us and a few other frustrated folks. As it turns out, only
Hong Hui's bag came off of the belt. Our other four bags were nowhere to be found. We had just 4
hours to check in for our departure for China. We stood in line to file a claim with everyone else and had
a nervous breakdown trying to decide how to go forward. There were five more flights from DFW that
day to LAX, but all were delayed until after midnight except one that was supposed to arrive before us,
but was now arriving at 10:09pm. We went to the international terminal to check with China Southern
Airliines and find out what options we had. We were in a tailspin. We were about to change our flight to
Sunday night and be a day late when a wonderful agent who was helping us, Ella, suggested we try and
see if our bags came on the 10:09 flight. We could always change our flight later. By this time it was
9pm PST and we had not eaten since lunch in Texas. We grabbed McDonalds and went to baggage
claim to wait. At about 10:25 the bags began to come off the belt from the delayed flight. About the 10th
bag off was Naomi's, and we knew we had a slight chance. Christe took off running with our passports
pushing a now-sleeping Naomi in the stroller. Davis and I stayed behind waiting for our other 3 bags and
they came off shortly after. We began to run pushing the overloaded baggage cart. Watch out here we
come!
When we arrived at the international terminal, Christe and Ella were the only people left at the China
Southern desk and they were waiving at us to hurry. Ella, who had been looking for us, produced our
boarding passes and had one of their men walk us to the front of the TSA baggage check line bypassing
people who had been waiting about 2 hours for their turn. Most of these passengers were not happy
about us going past. Then we handed our bags to the TSA agent and stepped past the long and deep
security lines straight to the front and right on through. Wow! God bless these generous people who
provided for us in a time when we were not able. We made the flight by minutes much to the chagrin of
many. I am not sure we would have survived the emotions of having to stay in LA and wonder if our
bags would come the next day.
Our flight to China has been long as usual. We are 13 hours in and still not there. Yuck! The good
news is that our flight was over half empty at best and we have all slept a good portion of the trip.
We arrive in Guangzhou shortly and have a 4 hour layover before our flight to Taiyuan. We should be in
Taiyuan at around 2am Monday afternoon (1pm Monday morning in the US).
We think we will go directly from the airport to meet Hong Hui at Civil Affairs. Pray that we will all be free
from anxiety and that God would surround the room with his love and peace as He knits us all together.
I will post more tonight after we get to the hotel.
So, for the moment, we're sitting in McDonald's, listening to bad 80s music, feeling rather ripe and
waiting for our next flight.
God has again showed Himself faithful to us despite our - or at least Christe's - tendency to panic.
“Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His
lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Dueteronomy 7:9
Family of 5
Our trip to Taiyuan went quickly and we went directly to the Civil Affairs Office where we met Hong Hui
and all of her foster family around 3pm.
We were all very nervous. She is so gentle and tender. God has truly blessed her with strength to
endure the transition. Hong Hui has really bonded with Davis and Mimi; they are all drawn to each
other. Christe and I are not in high demand. While I'm not sure exactly what we expected, all in all, it was
a very smooth transition.
We came back to the hotel from the office and just sat for awhile and rested. We gave Hong Hui her
suitcase with the new clothes we brought for her and she enjoyed going through them. She neatly
unfolded and refolded each item. Then she returned all the items as well as the things she brought in
her backpack to the suitcase. We walked around the street around our hotel for a bit and all shared a
bucket of KFC for dinner. We attracted so much attention - not sure if it was the number of children
(here it's almost all one-child families), the fact that two of ours are Chinese, or that the other three of us
are blond Americans.
We came back to he hotel and got the kids ready for bed. Hong Hui kept pulling new outfits from her
suitcase and disappearing into the bathroom at about 5 minute intervals showing off her new clothes. It
was really heartwarming to see. She looked so cute. We have not taken too many pictures today,
because we do not want Hong Hui to feel like a spectacle. There are a few shots of the kids to the left.
Time in Shianxi