technical difficulties, please stay tuned....

So my mom is having problems with her computer; but basically today(since it is 11:35 at night for them) they went to see the great wall of China, forbidden city & many other places. My dad said his favorite food so far was the green beans at lunch haha although he did have McDonalds i didn't hear to much about that. But i will have pictures and more news from my mom up soon(:

Day 1

We made it! It was a VERY long flight, but we are here safe and sound! The flight to Newark was not full, so Dave and I were able to move to the exit row seats which gave us a lot of leg room. The Newark airport was nice. We met up with another family fromNew York that was flying over to China to adopt, they are with the same agency as us, and we planned on meeting them there. It was really nice to have someone there to talk to.

The flight from Newark to Beijing was over 12 hours. The seats were very small, and it was very hard to get comfortable. I was wrong about our flight direction. We

flew directly north and flew over the north pol. The young man sitting next to me informed me that just a couple of years ago they could not fly that route, because there wasn't the technology to keep the fuel from freezing. We were constantly updated by a screen that told us our distance flown, to go, temp and altitude. We flew over 36,000 feet high, we passed over air temps as low as -61 degrees, to speeds up to 600 mph, and over 7,200 miles form Newark! Yikes! I kept imagining the Lord's hands carrying us. We are very tired, but went to dinner with our group which is now 6 families (most brought their children, ages 6-16), which makes us miss our kids even more!

The air really smells, even inside. It's worse outside, and we are to spend all day outside tomorrow sightseeing. I wish I would have brought some type of bandana to cover my face. Ok, well 2 more days until we meet Lillie! We cannot wait!!! We love you all and can feel your prayers that are being said for us!

Jump!

At some point several months ago, when the days of this adoption journey were dark, I felt like I heard the Lord telling me, to just "Jump!". He assured me that there was nothing to fear, that he would catch us. Standing on the edge of a great cliff, looking down to the deep rocky landscape below is quite scary, but when the Lord is behind you telling you to, "JUMP!" it's hard to say no. So now, this morning, on July 29th, Dave and I will take hands and lean forward and push off of this mighty cliff. No we are not perfect, we're not sure of the end result of this jump, we don't know if we will get scraped or even cut apart as we fall face forward and allow (not gravity) but the mighty gentle hand of the Lord to guide us off of this cliff, but here we go.

Thank you to all of the great friends and loving family that have encouraged us, supported us, and prayed for us during this journey! We love you all, and we cannot wait to share this adventure with you!!

Praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

I will praise the LORD all my life,

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

~Psalm 146:1-2

Love,
Sherrye

Click, Click, Click...

Has anyone been on a really big roller coaster? It's been a while for me (maybe more than 10 years), but I will never forget the feeling in my stomach as the coaster climbed the first giant hill.
Click, click, Click.
That's what I am hearing and feeling right now. Really, I am kind of sick to my stomach with the anticipation of the huge rush of adrenaline that will flood my blood stream as we take off for China. We leave early Thursday morning. Pastor Mark (the dear man) will show up after 3 a.m. to pick us up and drive us to Orlando. Our first of 7 flights takes off heading to Newark at 6:30.
Click, Click, Click.
Lillie's bag is pretty much packed and it has come in under the weight limit. I have a list of 14 things to accomplish tomorrow, but I am sure as the day wears on the list will grow and shrink.
Click, click, Click.
The CCAA contacted our agency and said they wanted to know what Lillie's whole name was going to be. So, it's official. It's written on three RXs that we will take with us, and now it's written on something at the CCAA!!
Click, Click, Click...
Here we go....it's going to be the ride of a lifetime!

testing testing testing(:

Hey yall, I'm Kelsie, and i'll be posting while my momma is gone in China, so i was just practicing to see how well this works(:

heres a picture of me:




i think i've got this thing down(;

Official Travel Itinerary

We got our official Travel Itinerary yesterday via e-mail. The dates are the same as I listed in an earlier post. And pretty much the events as well. What's new is that we knowthe exact hotels that we will stay in in each city!!

First, in Beijing we will stay in the Renaissance Beijing Hotel. In Beijing we will visit Tian An Men Square, the Forbidden City, the Olympic Park. We will also climb the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall! We will be in Beijing from July 30-Aug.1

When we travel to Wuhan, let's face it, we will not be as interested in the sightseeing as we will be with getting to know our little Lillie! While in Wuhan City, we will stay at the Best Western Mayflowers Hotel. We will be in Wuhan City, Hubei from Aug. 1- Aug.6

Then we will travel to Guangzhou. While in Guangzhou we will stay at the Marriott China Hotel. Many people that travel to China to adopt stay at the White Swan during their time in Guangzhou. Our agency just told us (because I asked) thatthey have been getting a lot of complaints about the White Swan because large amount of construction and for other various reasons. Well, I have trusted my agency so far (and it;s been a LONG far), that I guess I will have to trust them in this! We will possibly miss the chance to have Lillie's picture taken on the famous "Red Couch" that so many others who have been adopted from China have had their pictures take on...so maybe we will take a taxi over there one afternoon for pictures or maybe we will be the beginning of a new "tradition" and get pictures of her somewhere else. At some point there will be 3 other families with us from our agency at the same hotel, so who knows what will happen....Leave it to an Anderson to start a new tradition! :)

Our UNOFFICIAL China schedule!!

Here is what I think our trip will go. As soon as I hear for sure (with all of the little details), I will post the official schedule!

Day 1:Thursday, July 29: Leave for China (Continental Flight from Newark to Beijing)

Day 2: Friday, July 30: Arrive in Beijing at 1:50, meet our guide, get checked in to hotel, rest

Day 3: Saturday, July 31: All day sightseeing: The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Jade Market/ Fly to province of Hubei at end of the day/ Arrive in Wuhan City, Hubei, meet new guide (Thank you Lord for young college students who are willing to show foreigners around their city and speak for them!!)

Day 4: Sunday, August 1: (Our 18th Anniversary :) Receive Lillie !!! Begin our Harmony Period (time to discover if indeed we want to make this little girl an official Anderson!! YES! WE DO!!)

Day 5: Monday, August 2: Meet Chinese officials from Lillie's orphanage (Wuhan Children's Institute) and others from the province of Hubei (somebody PLEASE tell my husband to be on his BEST behavior), begin paper work process of making Lillie officially ours!

Day 6-9: Tuesday, August 3-Friday August 6: Sightseeing in Hubei: The Yellow Crane Tower, Traditional Bell performance, Bell Museum, Yangtze River, Wuhan Zoo (Maybe if I get my way kites in the park...). Apply for Lillie's passport various visits to the Civil Affair Office to finalize our Harmony Period, and to complete her adoption (China side).

Day 10: Saturday August 7: Fly to Guangzhou, meet guide and back with other family(ies) in our travel group (#136).

Day 11-12 Sunday August 8-Monday August 9: Sight see in Guangzhou

Day 13 Tuesday August 10: Consulate Appointment/ Lillie physical Exam (test for TB), apply for VISA

Day 14 Wednesday August 11: Oath Ceremony (We promise to not abandon Lillie, and take care of her properly, which may include multiple trips to the Gainesville Mall, and numerous sleepovers).

Day 15 Thursday August 12: Pick up Lillie's VISA/ Fly back to Beijing

Day 16: Friday, August 13: Fly home (Friday the 13th is a VERY good day in our family, right Payton?!?!)

We're leaving on a jet plane!!!!

OK! It's official! We bought our tickets to China today!! Here is our itinerary:

7/29 CO193 leave Orlando at 6:30 am, arrive Newark at 9:02 am

7/29 CO89 leave Newark at 12:10 pm, arrive Beijing at 1:50 pm on 7/30

8/13 CO88 leave Beijing at 3:45 pm, arrive Newark at 5:15 pm

8/13 CO1692 leave Newark at 9:05 pm, arrive Orlando at 11:57 pm

Can you believe we leave 3 weeks from tomorrow?!?! We have a lot to do to get ready!! I hope we can 1. get it all done and 2. have the money to get it done with!!

The Lord is good and will provide! To God be the Glory!!

Care Package Pictures...

These pictures were taken by a camera that we sent in a care package in May. We were delighted to get these wonderful pictures that really shows Lillie's sweet little personality! Can't you just see how special she feels to have such a beautiful big cake all for her? We sent money to buy this cake, because we were heartbroken that we did not even know her on her first birthday!!

Her name is Lillie Grace..

We finally decided on her name! We are still "discussing" keeping her Chinese first name of Fen. If we did it would be:

Lillie Grace Fen Anderson ( I know, a lot for a little girl who will have speech issues)...

Anyway, I thought I would post all of the pictures that we have of our little Lillie, some friends have not seen all of them. I will post them in the order we got them, not in order of when they were taken!

These were the first pictures we saw of our lil girl!!