Update!

Wow!! This has definitely been the craziest week of our lives. Internet has been sketchy and honestly we really don't have very much time on our hands for blogging .:) This will be a brief overview. Gotcha Day was incredible. The girls are so beautiful and fun! It was wonderful to discover their little personalities that first day. They bonded quickly to us and didn't show many signs of grieving. We were actually a little worried about that our first night. On Tuesday Abbie woke up grieving really badly then Evie followed. We were able to get them settled down just in time to rush to our civil affairs appointment where the adoption became official ! Praise the Lord! It was pretty much a circus there trying to keep the girls occupied while signing a mountain of paperwork. The girls have been grieving badly and it seems to get worse each day. Their grieving consist of just overall sadness, episodes of intense screaming, and sometimes refusing to eat. We leave for Guangzhou this afternoon and we're excited about the change in scenery and being around other adoptive families. We're a bit lonely here and would love to be able able to ask advice of folks who have done this before. Please pray for our flight. Evie is still sick and Abbie is a little. We're worried about their ears. Please pray they'd take a bottle during take off and landing. They've mostly refused them so far. We really appreciate your prayers. Even in the midst of the grieving the girls are the most precious things we've ever seen. 

snack time

bath time

Abbie

Brief Update

We're posting this quick update on behalf of Kim and Nathan as they're continuing to experience internet issues. First of all, PRAISE the LORD!! The girls are safely in their arms. They wanted us to convey how humbled they are by the many prayers of family and friends! They have been felt by them immensely and are grateful to God for how smooth of a transition it has been thus far. Not to say it has been easy on the girls or the parents but The Lord has been more than gracious to carry them through the first day and night. We can't say that the new parents of twins got a good nights sleep but it appears that the girls got some good rest! :) They have asked for prayers, especially for Evie. She has a terrible cold and is resisting any medicines they try to offer :( If you will also continue to pray for their next week in country as they continue to adjust to their new life with mommy and daddy!! From the few pictures we have seen of Abbie and Evie with Nathan and Kim, they are sure to melt your hearts as much as they have ours!!

Taiyuan - Day 4

We arrived in Tiayuan around 2:00 pm. Our sweet guide, Summer, greeted us and took us to our hotel and to run some errands. I'm actually feeling worse today so that's been disappointing. I'm trying every trick in the book to shake this head congestion. Please pray I can rest tonight and feel better in the morning. Tomorrow is a pretty big day for us, a day that will forever change our lives.....Gotcha Day!!!! We're surprisingly calm tonight. I'll have to admit it's super weird to have two cribs in our room though. :)We shifted some things so I  think we'll still have a bit of room for the girls to play in here.  We had dinner in the room while getting things unpacked and plan to go to bed early. Today has been a day full of "lasts" before children. We're so excited for tomorrow to be full of " firsts". Thanks so much for your prayers! Will you pray the girls could sleep well in their hotel tonight and will feel safe with us tomorrow? We should get them around 9:30 am which is 9:30 pm EST on Sunday, June 2nd. Can't wait to tell you how it goes! 

We'll try to add pictures as soon as possible also...so frustrated because we're not able to at the moment. 

Hong Kong - Day 3

We finally got eight hours of sleep due to me drugging myself when I initially woke up at 4:30 am. Sadly, I (Kim) woke up feeling rough...cold/sinus stuff. :( It could be far worse but I'm prayerful that I'll feel better before Monday. I rested in the morning, Nathan worked out, then we explored Hong Kong a bit. We took the star ferry over to Hong Kong Island, rode the escalators to SOHO then grabbed dinner. At dinner we talked about our expectations for Gotcha Day. We came to the conclusion that expectations for this are pretty useless. It could go a million different ways. We're trying to prepare ourselves for a rough day and any smiles from the girls will be a bonus. We're thrilled the time has come for us to get to enjoy them!

Hong Kong - Day 2

We're so grateful for our time here to recover a bit from jet lag. Yesterday was especially rough. We can't decide if it's due to our schedule (flying in late to Beijing then needing to leave by 7:30the next morning) or if it's due to us being older. I vote the former. Our thoughts are mostly consumed with the twins and our time at the foster home yesterday. We CANNOT wait to get them Monday but we're also in much prayer for their little hearts facing this huge transition as well as the foster family. It's been such a mix of emotions while here. We're rejoicing that God is blessing us with these specific children but also aware there is so much loss associated with adoption. Nathan has mentioned the birth mom and how we are so sad she can't enjoy the girls. We so wish there were some way she could know the girls are going to be loved unconditionally. We also love the Chinese people and culture and are sad that the girls will miss out on growing up here. However, in the midst of this we're reminded of God's Sovereign and Good plan to put them in our home. We know this will bring Him the most Glory and consequently us and the girls the most joy! Thanks for your prayers! We're dependent on them. Could you pray for the girls to feel safe and loved as they leave the foster family Sunday morning? (10:00 pm Saturday EST) They will travel to Taiyuan by train with two nannies from the foster home then stay overnight in a hotel and be picked up by strangers from their original orphanage to be brought to us, another set of strangers, only we're white, can't speak their language and have big noses. :)

Beijing - Day One

(Note: post written yesterday but unable to publish due to connection. Hong Kong is wonderful so far)

Due to jet lag we were up early. Tossing and turning after 4:30 and out of bed around 5:30. It will be miracle if this post makes any sense at this point in the day. The visit to the foster home this morning could not have gone better. Praise the Lord!!! Our prayer had been 1. That we could clearly communicate our gratitude to the foster family and foster home, 2. The foster family would feel comforted by meeting us in sending the girls to our home and 3. That we could soak up the sights, sounds, and people to pass along to the girls as they get older and gather information to help with the transition. God completely answered our (thats a collective our, thanks so much for praying) prayers! We were able to connect with the foster mom and even hear some of her heart as she gets ready to send the girls off. We had  4 pages (double spaced at least) of questions for her and she graciously answered them all.  We could tell she genuinely loves the girls. She is such a joyful lady and was truly an encouragement to us.  The foster home staff were so generous with their time in giving us a tour of the foster home, taking us to the foster family's home (the foster dad had the girls at the park:), and going through the twins' medical and developmental records with us. We are blown away by God's goodness to us and the girls in allowing them to be cared for by this foster home. We're now on our way to Hong Kong to spend a couple of nights until we can get the girls on Monday. We so appreciate your prayers. God is answering them.  "Great is Thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see, all I hath needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me (us)." 

Sent from my iPad

We've arrived...

We survived the long flight (one segment was 14.5 hrs!) as well as could be expected, and we're now in Beijing! I took this photo out our hotel window this morning...thankful for the nice, sunny day. Now we're off to meet Abbie and Evie's foster parents and the foster home staff, although we won't have an opportunity to see the girls. We're a bit nervous...want to be able to express our gratitude and respect for them, while also absorbing all the info and wisdom that we can. Thanks for your prayers!