We made it to China!

Our day began at 3am on Wednesday, August 13th, in Mississippi....

and I'm about to crawl into bed at 9pm on Thursday, August 14th, in Beijing, China.....

Exhausted.

But we are thrilled to finally be here!!!

 


Only 4 more sleeps before Miss Lily is in our arms.

Unbelievable!!!

Doug and I ate dinner at Pizza Hut {Don't judge. We tried to eat somewhere a little more local, but we hadn't slept in about 48 hours; nerves were on edge; so we decided that eating something familiar was in the best interest of our marriage ;) Although I must say this - Pizza Hut in China is a COMPLETELY different experience than Pizza Hut in America!}

As Doug and I were talking at dinner I just couldn't get over the fact that we're actually in the same time zone as Lily. For the past 9 months, I've been calculating time zones in my head, imagining what she might be doing as we were getting up in the morning or going to bed at night.

No more calculating! We'll be in the same time zone forever now!

Many of you have asked how you can pray for us.

Today, please pray for that precious little boy of ours that we left at home.

First day of school!

Pray for his grandparents, friends and teachers who will be taking care of him while we are away.

Wearing the gold medal he earned at his school, The Little Light House

Pray that Benaiah will remain healthy and happy.

{Those of you who haven't seen Benaiah this summer may notice something different - his NEW RIDE! We were so excited to get Benaiah's new wheelchair. He sits up so tall in it and is able to see much more of the world and interact better with people than he could in his old stroller.}

Saying good-bye to Benaiah was HARD.  I knew it would be. Other adoptive families had warned me. But boy! The tears just wouldn't stop!

Ever the comic relief, Doug calculated that if I cry the same number of times per day that I've cried today over leaving Benaiah, then I should only have about 160 more cries left on this trip. So funny that man of mine is ;)

Lastly, please pray for me and Doug tomorrow as we remember our daughter, Caroline. Tomorrow would have been her 2nd birthday.

Although we will be busy sight-seeing and preparing to welcome another beautiful daughter into our family, the void we feel without her here with us is ever-present.  The emotions we experienced as we welcomed her into the world 2 years ago and cheered her on during her short life are still very tangible. It feels like just yesterday.

Thank you for all your love and prayers!
Elaine