Pictures of Coming Home

Paducah Airport (after almost 24 hours of travel)
We're in Kentucky!!!

Getting presents at the airport

Olivia's new home

Getting out of the car at her new home

As soon as we pulled up the driveway
she noticed her new playground

She likes to swing

She loves her books.  This is the first time she saw her room
and she went for the books.  We sit in the rocking chair and
read them a lot.

She hopped right on the tricycle Mamaw Mary got her.
She knew what to do!

We had a small "Welcome Home" party.  She had a
good time.  She ran and played hide & seek

She liked seeing her picture on the cake

She's getting the hang of this present thing

Yeah, she's cool!!!!

Day 15 Olivia's Coming Home

Friday, September 10, 2010


We got up early this morning and went down for breakfast. Olivia was so excited when they brought her own Peter Rabbit plate, fork and spoon. She was a happy camper. I filled her plate and she really enjoyed feeding herself. She is "Miss Independent".

After breakfast, we finished packing up and the shuttle at the hotel took us to the airport, which was next door. We left at 9:30 am and got all checked in, waiting for our flight to leave at 12:30 pm. Today we will be traveling through time because we leave 12:30 pm China time and land in Chicago at 2:30 pm on the same day. It looks like we are only having a 2 hour flight, but believe me it is 14 long hours.


South China Sea

Olivia only slept 2 hours on the plane. Every time we would get her to sleep they would bring food out to us and the smell of the food would wake her up every time. Of course, if there is food, she is going to eat. It's fun to watch her after she eats.  She will pick up the napkin without saying anything and wipe her mouth and hands.





I think that she was so excited about coming home that she wasn't able to sleep. She enjoyed writing in my journal that she has watched me write in all week and she would also pretend that it was the computer. She sat the journal up like a laptop and then put her hands on the area where the keyboard would be and then pretended like she was typing because she has been watching me type. One of the things that she does every morning as we get ready is sings to us.  So she sang on the plane over and over again and she also chatted with the people behind us.
After our 14 hour flight, we landed in Chicago.  It took us 3 hours to get through customs, immigration and recheck our bags. We gave Olivia's brown sealed envelope to the officer and she is now an official citizen of the United States of America. On our way to the area to wait for our next flight, we stopped at McDonald's which tasted really good. Olivia went on many walks at the airport.  She finally went to sleep and slept about an hour.  She didn't sleep much there because it was very loud and all of the lights were on.


I'm a United States Citizen



After our long wait, we boarded the plane to Paducah at 9:45 and landed one hour later. When we landed we could see Steve and Abby standing outside waiting for us. When we came in to the terminal it was nice to see some smiling faces of our family waiting for us. Olivia was really tired. She checked everybody out and didn't have much to say, but she didn't get upset. They brought her some gifts, which was a good timing because the airlines lost her bag with all of her clothes in it and if Carolyn hadn't brought an outfit she wouldn't had anything to wear. Her bag ended up in Knoxville and hopefully we will get it tomorrow. When it was time to leave, she waved bye and blew kisses to everyone.

We are going to stay the night in Paducah and bring her home in the morning. We haven't had much sleep and thought that it would be best for her to see her new home in the daylight and see her new bedroom. It is wonderful to be home to smell fresh air, see the beautiful blue sky and be able to drink water right from the faucet.
I hope that everyone has enjoyed our adoption experience as much as we have. I want to say a special THANKS to my niece Kim who has helped us tremendously. When we arrived in Beijing we found out that we were not going to be able to use our blog site. Fortunately, we were able to send emails and Kim has faithfully put in our daily blog and attached our pictures we really appreciate it.

They are on thier way home!!!

They left Hong Kong at 11:30 p.m. (our time) last night and will arrive in Chicago at 3:30 p.m. today.  They will lay over there for about seven hours.  During that time they will have to go through customs and get all of Olivia's paperwork checked.  This should take about four hours so they will have three hours of idle time.  They will then fly to Paducah and probably land around midnight so they will spend the night there.

They will be worn out plus the 13 hr time difference will affect thier sleeping patterns so please pray for them as they travel and go through this transition.

Day 14 On Our Way to Hong Kong

Thursday, September 9, 2010

We got up this morning and went downstairs for breakfast.  We then walked over to the White Swan Hotel and got some pictures. We took Olivia's picture sitting on the red sofa.  A lot of adoptive parents used to stay there when they came to get thier children and they always take thier pictures on that couch.  We also got some pictures of the waterfall and the jade ship. We made one last trip to Judy's shop to pick up a couple of gifts and to tell Judy good bye.
 
Judy






We went back to our room and had lunch, then Olivia took a nap. We finished packing and as soon as Olivia woke up, we were out the door because Grace was picking us up at 1:30 pm. We met Grace and left for the train station. Grace got us checked in and then she went back to the Consulate, which was next door, to wait for Olivia's Visa.
 
Grace returned at 3:30 pm with Olivia's Visa.  We boarded the train and left at 4:12 pm. The train was very nice and had very comfortable seats. Olivia did okay at first until she figured out that she wasn't free to run around the train.
 
 
Olivia's 1st Train Ride

 
We arrived in Hong Kong at 6:12 pm. It was evening time and we didn't get any pictures, but Hong Kong looks beautiful. There is another family that stayed at the Victory Hotel that's from Louisiana.  They rode the train with us and they are also staying at the Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong. After we arrived in Hong Kong, we exchanged our money to Hong Kong dollars. Kevin saw a McDonald's so we all decided to get supper to go. A few of us stayed with the luggage and the rest went upstairs to get the food. We got a van so we could all ride together to go to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, we were happy to be riding in a van, in Hong Kong, eating McDonald's. Our hotel is beautiful it faces the South China sea. Kevin is planning on getting pictures tomorrow. We got here at 8:30 pm, went to our rooms, and got ready for bed. Tomorrow we will be coming home.
 
Olivia at the hotel in Hong Kong


She's learning!

Day 13 American Consulate

Wednesday, September 8, 2010


We got up this morning and had breakfast and went walking around Shamian Island. We bought a few souvenirs and got some pictures. We came back to the hotel room and had lunch in the room. Olivia took a nap and we packed up a few things.






Grace met us at 2:00 pm in the lobby to take us the American Consulate. On the way to the Consulate, we picked up another family. The Consulate reception area was about a hour drive from our hotel. We arrived at the Consulate at 3:00 pm. Grace got us checked in and we sat in the waiting room. She told us that they will start calling families up front to sign some documentations at 3:30 pm. They had a little play area in the back of the room, so Olivia played with a few toys until everyone started showing up then she just watched all of the kids play. When it was 3:30 pm we moved to our seats to wait for Olivia's Chinese name to be called. They had just started calling names and there were about 50 families in the waiting room, so we figured it would take a long time before they got to Olivia's name. Olivia had to go to the restroom and when we were coming out, Grace came flying in to the restroom telling me that they had just called Olivia's name and we hurried to where Kevin was. The officer gave Kevin a paper to sign and checked our passports. After his signature we took a seat and waited for everyone else to go up front. When all of the names had been called, the Director of Immigrations Visa talked to us about the immigration papers. When she finished, she had all of us to stand and raise our right hand repeating after her saying that we had given the U.S. Government, to best of our knowledge, correct information on our adoption papers. She said we would be able to pick up Olivia's Visa tomorrow and we would be given a brown sealed envelope.  We are not to open it. When we arrive in Chicago and go through immigration, they will ask for the envelope. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Consulate, so after the oath ceremony we took our picture in the front lobby in front of the Consulate sign.

Olivia on the way to the Consulate




After we left the Consulate, we returned back to the hotel and went for a walk around the area. We went to Lucy's for supper, but the wait was way too long, so we stopped at Thai restaurant for supper. We returned back to our room and got ready for bed. Tomorrow we will pick up Olivia's Visa and ride a train to Hong Kong.

Traveling to Hong Kong

This is Penny's niece.  I got an email from them during the night.  They had a long day yesterday.  They went to the American Consulate and Olivia did get sworn in. 

On the way to the train station today they picked up her papers.   They had to take a two hour train ride to Hong Kong.  They should have arrived at 6 a.m. (our time) or 7 p.m. their time, on Thursday.  They will not have a guide once they get to Hong Kong, but they only have to get a taxi on their own and get to the hotel.  From there, a shuttle will pick them up and take them to the airport Friday.

They will have a long plane ride to Chicago.  The will lay over there for seven hours.  About four of those hours will be going through customs and having Olivia's papers checked so she can enter the country.  They should be back in Ky before midnight Friday night.

I just wanted to update you so you would know they are OK and ask you to be praying that everything goes smoothly during their travels and they get home safe and sound.

You're Invited To Meet Olivia!!!

We have two events scheduled when we return.

The first is a welcome home/meet Olivia gathering at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 11 at our church, The River at Trinity Gospel Tabernacle, 1580 Nortonville Rd, Nortonville, Ky 42442. 

The second event will be a shower for Olivia.  It will be on Sunday, September 19 at our church.  We are registered at Wal Mart and Babies R Us.  She is wearing a 18 mth/2T in clothes and a size 6 in shoes.

We would like for all who can to come be with us and enjoy Olivia.

Please let us know if you can attend  the shower by emailing my niece, Kim at kimberlyskeepsakes@yahoo.com so we can plan the food.  Thank you!