Finally we have details

The time is drawing near for us to leave for China to receive Maria. We wanted to get our travel schedule out there and remind you to pray for our trip to China.

Pray for us as we travel. Pray for the boys who are staying in the US due to school schedules. Pray for Maria to have a smooth transition to us. This will be a traumatic time for her as she is leaving her friends and care givers that she has come to love. Pray that her heart condition is not too serious, every indication we get is that she is doing wonderfully, we pray that she does not get any colds or bugs during the trip.

We depart on Tuesday December 29^th. We arrive in Beijing at 11:05 pm on Wednesday 30^th January. We loose 2 full days to travel (really only about 28 hours + 14 time difference)

On January 1^st we do some touring including Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City etc. Then on the 2^nd we go to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. The Great Wall is the most magnificent man made object we have ever seen.

January 3^rd we fly to Zhengzhou which is the capital of Maria’s home province. On January 4^th we receive Maria. After this point she will remain with us. The rest of that week we take care of Chinese adoption stuff in Zhengzhou and have some down time for rest and bonding. On Friday we fly to Guangzhou. (Warm weather again)

While in Guangzhou we will get her US Visa physical, and do all the US required paperwork. We will have some free time for shopping etc.

On the evening of January 14^th we travel by train to Hong Kong. We will spend the night there and then fly out on Friday morning. We go back through Tokyo then to Detroit and finally back home on Friday evening another long day but home at last.

We truly appreciate your prayers for us during the time of this adoption. The China trip is stressful and tiring in many ways. With Maria being 4.5 years old the bonding will be more difficult. She speaks Mandarin and some English. Pray that our Chinese is good enough to communicate with her and that her English kicks in quickly.

Thanks for your prayers. We pray that all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.