Maren's Hometown

We flew from Beijing to Maren's hometown of Changchun today.  We had a guide meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel.  The drive from the airport to our hotel was similar to Missouri: corn fields!  Once we got closer to downtown, it instantly became a big city (our guide said Changchun has a population of 7 million). She then showed us a few places we might want to eat and took us to Walmart.  The Walmart was nothing like the ones in the U.S., and it was 2-stories tall. We will never again think the Walmarts in our town are crowded (you have not seen a crowded Walmart until you have been in one in China!).  We had to buy bottled water because the water is unsafe to drink in China.  The Walmart, KFC, and Pizza Hut are all across the street from our hotel.  We ate at Pizza Hut tonight.  It was quite a humbling experience to be the only English-speaking people in the restaurant; we pointed to pictures and ended up getting a cheese pizza as we requested. 

We are quite excited to meet our Maren tomorrow morning.  Our guide is picking us up at 8:30AM to take us to the Civil Affairs office, where we will get her and complete a lot of paperwork.  We appreciate all of your prayers...please continue to pray for Maren as she goes through a difficult week.

We made it to Beijing!

We arrived to our hotel around 1AM Beijing time on Saturday morning.  Praises: no canceled flights and a safe trip!  Our escort met us at the airport, and then took us to our hotel.  This morning we had our orientation meeting; we met another Holt family during this time. We were given updated information on Maren, including recent photos. Following the orientation, the staff took us on a guided tour of Tienneman Square and the Forbidden City. This outing gave us some ideas of how the culture is different.

Tomorrow morning we meet out guide after breakfast and leave for the airport.  We fly out of Beijing to Changchun City at 11:25 am Beijing time to head to Maren's city and province (requirement of Chinese adoption law).  Thank you for your continued prayer and support.

ITINERARY and PRAYER REQUESTS

We have our bags close to being ready to go!  The past few days it has become abundantly clear how priviledged our family is to be chosen by God to raise Maren.  Danial was telling Mora, Bryce, and Bennett at bedtime tonight how they each have unique gifts and qualities, which God has given them, that God chose not just the parents, but even the siblings for Maren. 

We head to St. Louis in the morning, where Wynnette (Michelle's twin sis) will take us to the airport.
We would really appreciate your continued prayer support these next two weeks as we travel to get Maren.  Below you will see a general itinerary and some known prayer requests.  We will try to update the blog while in China (we will actually be emailing it to Nicole, Michelle's sister, who will make the postings). Thank you for your encouragement, support, and love displayed to us on this journey.

Thursday, July 28th:
We depart from St.Louis at 3:45PM, fly to Detroit, and onto Beijing.  PRAYER REQUESTS: no lost luggage, no canceled flights, and make all connections; Wynnette and Iain: strength as they watch our children; Mora, Bryce, and Bennett: God's peace and presence to be felt (Bryce and Bennett have more concerns with separation since their Aunt Tammie died unexpectedly last month).

Friday, July 29th:
We arrive in Beijing at 11PM China time.  PRAYER REQUESTS: safe arrival to Beijing, an opportunity to rest in anticipation of the upcoming events

Saturday, July 30th:
We have orientation with our adoption agency in the morning and a tour of Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City in the afternoon.  We are told this day is to get somewhat acclimated to the culture and context of Maren's first residence. PRAYER REQUESTS: calmness for Maren's soul before the big change she is about to experience

Sunday, July 31st:
We depart Beijing (via air travel) at 11:25AM and arrive in Changchun City around 1:10.  Changchun City is where Maren's orphanage is located.  PRAYER REQUESTS: quiet our souls as Danial and Michelle have an afternoon/evening to spend praying and preparing to receive Maren the next day; pray for safe travels as Wynnette and Renee meet to transfer kids

Monday, August 1:
We are scheduled to receive Maren at 9AM at the Civil Affairs Office with lots of paperwork to follow. PRAYER REQUESTS: sweet Maren will be placed with people she does not know (us)...please pray for God to touch her soul so that she can be comforted and loved..this will be a very hard day (weeks, possibly months) for her

Tuesday, August 2:
We go to apply for Maren's passport. PRAYER REQUESTS: God will comfort Maren as she continues to grieve all that is familiar to her as she gets to know her mom and dad...pray for physical and emotional strength for Danial and Michelle so they can adequately display God's great love to her

Wednesday, August 3:
Free day (we are required to stay in Maren's city until her passport is processed on Friday) PRAYER REQUESTS: Continued safety for Mora, Bryce, and Bennett and strength for Renee as she cares for them

Thursday, August 4:
Free day - PRAYER REQUESTS: safe travels for Renee, Grandma Iris, and Mora, Bryce, and Bennett as the children switch caregivers; that Maren will allow us to provide her care and demonstrate unconditional love as she grieves 

Friday, August 5:
We depart Changchun City (via air travel) at 4:45PM and arrive in Guangzhou around 8:55PM.  (We have to go to Guangzhou for Maren's visa requirements). PRAYER REQUESTS: Maren to be able to emotionally tolerate this trip (she has not left the orphanage, let alone be confined to a person's lap on an airplane) and allow us to comfort her; Danial and Michelle's emotional strength - we are told leaving this city of her birth is quite difficult - knowing this is where God first placed her and the significance of her leaving the only thing familiar to her, yet knowing God has prepared a better earthly home for her (*highly recommend reading "Adopted for Life" by Russell Moore; he describes this beautifully)

Saturday, August 6:
Maren has to have a medical check-up this day. PRAYER REQUESTS: Maren would trust us as she is poked and prodded by strangers; that Maren receives medical clearance for her visa

Sunday, August 7:
Free day (we are required to stay in Guangzhou until Maren's visa is processed on Wednesday) PRAYER REQUESTS: Danial and Michelle's being homesick for our children at home (we hear that most adoptive families are quite homesick by this point in the trip); pray for strength for Iris, Nancy, and Calesse as they keep our children

Monday, August 8:
Free day - PRAYER REQUESTS: Maren's continued bonding and attachment to her mom and dad, rest for us as we experience loss of sleep, time change effects, and emotional strains of being away from home; and Mora, Bryce, and Bennett

Tuesday, August 9:
We have a visa appointment and an oath-taking ceremony.  We have heard this can be intimidating, as they interview the parents.  PRAYER REQUESTS: Calmness and confidence as we go through this ceremony and that our love for Maren clearly shines through to those around

Wednesday, August 10:
Our visa is schedule to be picked up Wednesday afternoon.  We are taken to a train station and arrive in Hong Kong around 8:08PM.  We check into our hotel which is attached to the Hong Kong airport. PRAYER REQUESTS: that our visa is not delayed in picking up, safe train trip

Thursday, August 11:
BIG DAY!  We leave Hong Kong at 8:05AM and arrive in Tokyo around 2:00PM; then onto Detroit (where we will need to clear customs and Maren will become a U.S. citizen once she clears immigration there); then onto St.Louis around 6:15PM. We literally skip 13 hours with the time change, thus the extreme jet lag we hear reported. We will then travel to home Thursday evening. PRAYER REQUESTS: Safe travels, no flight delays (we will be cutting it close in Tokyo with a one hour layover), safe travels for those meeting us at the airport...for Mora, Bryce, and Bennett as they meet their little sister for the first time

Getting Ready!!!!

We are quickly getting ready to leave in 4 days! We now have Maren's room complete; thanks to a friend, we have a crib (it is in the lower left-hand corner). We have read that we may want a crib and a regular bed in her room: in case we need to sleep in her room with her (she is probably used to sleeping in a room with 20+ children).

We now have childcare lined up; we get homesick for them when we think about leaving them for 2 weeks.  However, we know they are going to have so much fun (they probably will not miss us near as much as we will miss them). A huge thanks to our family and friends: Wynnette (Michelle's twin sister) will keep them Thursday through Sunday, Renee (Michelle's cousin) will keep them Sunday through Thursday, and Grandma Iris/Calesse (Michelle's sister)/Grandma Nancy will keep them Thursday through Thursday. We are so appreciative of all of you who are helping us with this journey in any way: those of you watering flowers, picking us up at the airport, and fervently praying for us as our journey continues.

WE ARE HEADED TO CHINA NEXT WEEK!!!

We received confirmation of our consulate appointment today.  We leave next Thursday, July 28th to go get Maren.  We will return (with her) on Thursday, August 11th.  Will post when we have more info. Thank you for praying this past weekend that we would receive the consulate appointment needed in order to return in time for school. 

TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were notified yesterday afternoon that our TA (travel approval) has arrived.  It was an overwhelming relief....it was our very last piece of paper needed to go get Maren. 

Speaking of getting Maren, here is a sweet happening:
We went on a family trip to Branson for 2 nights this past week.  As we were leaving Branson, Mora says, "our next big trip is China...I wish we could just get her now."  Danial and I acknowledged our agreement, to which the children began chanting (as loud as possible): "GET THAT GIRL, GET THAT GIRL, GET THAT GIRL."  It is amazing how much they already love their little sister who is halfway around the world.

We celebrated our arrival of TA with homemade brownie sundaes last night.  We have been calling and emailing our travel agent since we received word of our TA; he is trying to lock in our tickets this morning.  We will not have confirmation of our travel until Monday morning.  The travel coordinator for our adoption agency feels "optimistic" that we will travel on Thursday, July 28th.  Please continue to pray for this time in the journey: ticket prices to be reasonably priced, availability of tickets, China to confirm our travel date (7/28), God to be glorified as we make arrangements for our trip.  Thank you for your continued prayer support!

New Pictures of Maren

It has been awhile since we posted last.  As many of you know, Maren's Aunt Tammie unexpectedly passed away on June 23, 2011. Maren would have been lavished with love and kisses from her Aunt Tammie.

We are getting soooo close to knowing our travel dates.  We should know the exact dates within the next 2-3 weeks.  If we receive TA (travel approval) within the next 2 weeks, we will potentially leave July 28th (assuming we can get flights with that late of notice).  If not, we will probably be leaving for China on August 11th.  We know God's timing is supreme (for instance, a few months ago we thought we might travel in June...and God, in His infinite sovereignty, knew we needed to be in Missouri during Tammie's death); however, we are praying that if it is His will and timing, that the July 28th departure date would happen as this would allow us to return (August 11th) prior to school starting. 

We are enjoying summer activities with Mora, Bryce, and Bennett and are stepping up our travel preparations. We painted Maren's room this past weekend and have begun making packing lists.

Today, we received an email from our agency with current pictures of Maren and some current information.  She now weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches tall.  She is barely on the chart for both.  We anticipate her being able to be "on the chart" with a loving family who will feed and nuture her well!  We were so glad to see pictures of her, yet at the same time our hearts are breaking as we desire for her to be under our care as soon as God deems it possible.  Please continue to pray for her comfort and loving care and for her nannies to be strenthened and encouraged each day. 

We will let you know when we have travel dates (how exciting to be at this point of this journey to our Maren-dear!).