Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Last day in China!!!
Yesterday we traveled to the US Consulate and took the oath and today we should receive Landon's visa around 4:30pm. During Landon's nap-time I ventured to the Pearl Market which was a pretty exciting experience. I love pearls and it was such a treat to watch those ladies work. To say they are lightening fast is an understatement. Last night we had dinner as a group at a Portuguese restaurant chosen by our guides. They ordered for us and all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the family style dishes. The menu included roasted pork, rice, noodles, chicken with curry, and garlic/butter cauliflower. Interestingly enough, the green beans was one of our favorite dishes. That makes two restaurant experiences where green beans were a big hit with the Hall family!
All that is left on our agenda is a group picture and a final travel meeting. On one hand it seems like we have been away from family and friends forever, on the other hand our time here has passed quickly. You know that feeling of spending a long-awaited vacation at the beach and the week just flys by? Well, this isn't the beach...but...we have been so busy with appointments that two weeks passed faster than I anticipated. All any of the adoptive families can talk about in our upcoming travel. Other than falling madly in love with these precious babies we have another thing in common...we ALL dread the upcoming travel.
Our day will look like this:
In 24 hours we will be boarding a plane to Beijing. Once in Beijing we will "enjoy" a six hour layover before boarding a thirteen hour flight to Detroit. Following a very quick pass through immigration (our layover is only one hour and forty minutes = nervous) we board our final flight to Knoxville. If you are counting that is 18+ hours of flight, 8 hours of layovers and 1 additional hour of taxi/car rides. Including boarding etc. we are looking at a day and a half of travel. BUT...When we arrive in Knoxville at 9:30pm we will joyfully introduce our boy to family and friends! I can't wait! Other than the crying and general fussy behavior, we also expect the baby will do his fair share of crying and fussing! LOL. I have reserved a few new toys and a couple new snacks (yogurt melts, etc) that he has never seen before in hopes that he will be occupied and content for at least some of the trip. Also, we only let him see the TV a couple times while in the hotel hoping that once he sees the screen on the plane he will be intrigued enough to watch a movie??? Who knows?
Keep us in your prayers for travel mercies and a hedge of protection around us and our pilots!
All that is left on our agenda is a group picture and a final travel meeting. On one hand it seems like we have been away from family and friends forever, on the other hand our time here has passed quickly. You know that feeling of spending a long-awaited vacation at the beach and the week just flys by? Well, this isn't the beach...but...we have been so busy with appointments that two weeks passed faster than I anticipated. All any of the adoptive families can talk about in our upcoming travel. Other than falling madly in love with these precious babies we have another thing in common...we ALL dread the upcoming travel.
Our day will look like this:
In 24 hours we will be boarding a plane to Beijing. Once in Beijing we will "enjoy" a six hour layover before boarding a thirteen hour flight to Detroit. Following a very quick pass through immigration (our layover is only one hour and forty minutes = nervous) we board our final flight to Knoxville. If you are counting that is 18+ hours of flight, 8 hours of layovers and 1 additional hour of taxi/car rides. Including boarding etc. we are looking at a day and a half of travel. BUT...When we arrive in Knoxville at 9:30pm we will joyfully introduce our boy to family and friends! I can't wait! Other than the crying and general fussy behavior, we also expect the baby will do his fair share of crying and fussing! LOL. I have reserved a few new toys and a couple new snacks (yogurt melts, etc) that he has never seen before in hopes that he will be occupied and content for at least some of the trip. Also, we only let him see the TV a couple times while in the hotel hoping that once he sees the screen on the plane he will be intrigued enough to watch a movie??? Who knows?
Keep us in your prayers for travel mercies and a hedge of protection around us and our pilots!
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