A big moment and just random stuff

If you have low expectations of things out of your control, it is always pleasant to be surprised :)

Kevin has been patiently and gently approaching Josie for the past week, but giving her space when she wants to cling to Mama. I caught him watching her yesterday and asked him what he was thinking. He just said "She's awesome."

It then was a moment he savored, when she wanted to be picked up and allowed him to do it. We were in the lobby of our new, grandiose hotel and though it was just for a few minutes, Kevin relished all of it. Now, he could start to resonate with me when I've been saying she's no lightweight!

Dad loves Josie.

This is by far less significant, but our view in Guangzhou is pretty incredible. I am wishing I could have taken a picture from Nanjing to show the difference. But the hotel shape was basically just a square where all the rooms windows started out at the other windows across the empty space. I was always afraid we were going to see a show we didn't intend on seeing. This is a little more visually interesting and safe.

We got in the elevator on Saturay morning to head to our first breakfast in our new hotel, when another family joined us from the 12th floor on the way down. It was clear they were adopting also and the wife said "Are you the Hubers family?" We said we were and we found out we had a mutual acquaintance who had told them to keep an eye out for us. It also turns out our guide works for their agency too. So we have a few outings this week where it will be our guide and our two families together. We also are both from the Twin Cities in MN and the husband of the family recognized Kevin's name because he used to work at Ameriprise. Crazy, huh? This is their second adoption as well and they are adding their 7th child to the family. Upon hearing that, my witty husband told them he thought it best if we didn't hang out together. They caught his sense of humor and we've enjoyed our interactions with them ever since.

We all went to our medical appointment together later that morning, where Josie was less than thrilled with being poked and prodded. She is such a sensitive, sweet girl. Her cries just melt me. It is so good to have the blood draw over with. That is, by far, the worst part of the medical check.

This doctor was so good with Josie, showing her on the toy monkey exactly what she was going to do. Josie didn't buy it.  She still didn't want her socks and shoes off. 

After naptime, we explored the roof of the 4th floor between the two high buildings where there is a huge landing. TJ has been wanting to go swimming and this was a much nicer pool than our last hotel, so we agreed. Kids are not allowed to go unsupervised, so Kevin got elected for 'pool duty'. It's great weather here, but it was also about 4 oclock and maybe in the 70's.  Not necessarily ideal pool weather. It was humorous watching them endure the cold, but afterwards Kevin said it was actually more enjoyable than he thought it would be. I didn't get a picture of the experience because I was on 'Josie duty' by the pool. She was in a giddy, running mood and there were tons of sharp edges and concrete. So, no free hands for pictures.

After swimming, we found a playground on the 4th floor roof.

Here she is ready to slide down awaiting a big 'boo!' from her big brother. 

 By a cool waterfall on the 4th floor after TJ got out the pool.

When I inquired about his smile, he told me this is how he smiles for pictures when he's shivering.

Some of you have asked how Kevin and I are doing emotionally. I think the fact that this is not a new process for us, plus that Josie is who she is, and that TJ is who he is, has made this quite a peaceful trip. Plus, we're not cooking, cleaning, carpooling, intervening on childhood disagreements or having to make a myriad of daily decisions like we do back home. We have two parents on duty for two kids all day long. So, relative to how life will be when we get home? This is a bit of a cakewalk.

Right now all our attention is on Josie and it's nice to have space to give her our everything.

Thurs/Friday wrapping up in Nanjing

So, Thursday we actually had a day with no required visits. After our big Orphanage visit day, it was nice to recoup with a lesisurely morning. I think it was good for Josie too.  She relaxes the most when we are just having down time in the hotel room. It is fun to see her explore and engage in games with us. There are surely times of sadness and even fits of being mad. But who can blame her? What a transition she has had and will continue to have. We just try to be attuned to what we think she needs, we stay in close proximity and remind her she is safe.

We were able to find more of her favorite milk.

Despite the face in this picture, she really enjoys the aquadoodle.

She's been a great napper, so usually she will fall asleep on my chest after some protesting and be out for a few hours. Upon waking, we did go out with Nancy, our guide, to visit one of the remaining city gates in Nanjing. Another city with a rich history.

The gate was 4 gates thick. We are standing in front of two of them. If the enemy charged, the front gate and an inner gate would slip down through the arches, trapping the enemy before they entered the city.

The Shonghua Gate was built 650 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. Men were required to create each brick according to strict specifications and imprint their name and date on each brick they made. Apparently, if you were building the city wall, and made a mistake on your brick, you were basically expendable. And I don't mean losing your job. It meant losing your life. Feeling grateful for your job today?

Can you see the name imprinted on the brick?

We also visited a Fabric Museum. I'm forgetting the style of weaving, but something like Broque? I took this picture for my mom, who is a quilter. She is always looking for beautiful fabric. The store at the museum was selling this fabric, which is hand made and takes about 8 hours to weave 5 inches. And it can all be yours, Mom for only $2526.31 US dollars per meter.

Our guide, Nancy. She is a thrifty lady and was beside herself at the cost :)

This fabric/artwork museum was right across the street from the memorial of the 300,000 Chinese people killed during the early days of WW2 by the Japanese. It was called the Rape of Nanjing.  The memorial is very large, taking up what seemed to be a city block or two. It is built on the site where much of the event took place. I have a picture on our other camera of the statue in front of the memorial. It is of a parent holding their child who has been killed and the parent is weeping. It is a hard statue to look at, for the grief is so well represented. Kevin, TJ, Josie and I are in our own little world here on our China trip, removed from regular life for a time. But I was just reminded, how there has been such national pain and suffering along with personal pain and suffering in this country. And in every country around the globe. I just had a moment of thankfulness that it will not always be this way and that Jesus offers hope through His redemption if we allow it. Nancy tells us many young people are turning from Buddhism and believing in God. She says "the Christian God". In a time when the name "Christian" carries baggage and many of us do not represent Christ very well at all, I am hopeful God can overcome our bad example and reach those hurting with His forgiveness, grace and mercy.

We realized Josie had been moving a bit slow all day, and she ended up coming down with a fever later in the day. We settled in for the night, but not until we decided to quick hit Pizza Hut for dinner. It was time for some familiar food. TJ seemed to get a kick out of it when my water was refilled and I said in "hello" instead of "thank you" in Mandarin. It takes a lot of concentration to try speaking another language. I seem to be running out of concentration.

Thursday was also a big day because it was the first time Kevin didn't sleep all afternoon! Yay! He has picked up his pace. Although TJ now has started in on a cough/runny nose and we already shared about Josie's fever. So, the health battle is not quite over yet. 

Friday morning was another lazy day where we wandered around the city a little more, stocked up on a few of our favorite snacks and packed our bags for the airport. 

TJ and Kevin in front of our hotel.

TJ with a little boy who thought he was really cool.

Trying not to get run over by bikes and scooters is a goal when walking about.
So far, so good. 

It was a late flight from Nanjing to Guangzhou and with Josie not feeling well, we were just ready to get through it. She snuggled up close in the pack as I carried her. Shortly before the flight, she perked up. TJ walked to the windows to check out the planes. She seemed to think he was too far away. She mustered up enough courage to head over there with Baba close behind. After spending 4 days glued to my side out in public, she seems to be slowly realizing we are all part of her clan. She'd turn around periodically just to see me watching. We got your back, Josie!

Orphanage visit day

Today was one of those days that only took up a few hours on the timeline of life, but had and will have a lifetime memory locked in. For me at least, and I hope for Josie as well.

The day started early, with a 7:30am van ride. Josie decided it was OK to sit in the seat next to me instead of on my lap. She's been pretty insistent on being within physical contact. I'm sure she just wants to make sure there are no more surprise caregiver shifts. We played some silly games on the van ride and Josie looked over her pictures. It was an enjoyable 3 hour van ride.

Little Josie 

We arrived in Kunshan City. It is a big city and close to Shanghai, so many people live here and commute to work. We were able to make a stop by the location of Josie's first orphanage. The grounds have apparently been transferred to the government for another project. They will be building new. All that was left was a pile of rubble.

We made our way to the current orphanage and it was clear the kids have a much more beautiful place to live. As we drove in we saw a digital welcome sign and on it was displayed "Gu JiaYun Welcome back to home". It was so awesome. Then at the entrance of the main building, an entire crew of people came to welcome us...all with joyful faces to say hello to Josie. They were caretakers, the Director of the orphanage, a few administrators and the Leader of the whole complex as there are many elderly that live on the grounds as well. We asked our guide Nancy, to explain to Josie that we are going for a visit, but she is coming home with us. Josie still looked a little stunned. She clung to me, which I was OK with :)

As I'm sorting through pictures, I'm noticing that we must have taken most of them with our other camera, and I haven't downloaded them all to this computer. And with all the commotion, and carrying Josie, we tried to take pictures, but it was challenging. Nancy also suggested we not take pictures with the other children in them, so we wanted to be respectful of that.

We proceeded up to Josie's floor and she seemed fine until they walked us into her room. The other children were just going down for a nap. She started to cry. Not sure if she was sad about being there or thinking she might go for a nap too, but we scooted out pretty quick so the kids could go to sleep and for Josie's sake too.

We saw where she eats meals and some nice rooms where they do crafts and music together. Josie was like a celebrity that day. The staff were taking pictures, we were taking videos. We were all talking about Josie. This little girl has had an unpredictable life, with so many losses for someone so young. Orphanage living is never ideal. However, I do believe she was cared for there.

After visiting her floor, they provided a lunch for us. It was very delicious. We kept talking about Josie, about their facility, the move, how adoption has changed in China, etc. We thanked each other for taking such good care of Josie and about how hopeful we are for her future.

Relaxing after lunch. Josie with her apple and toothpick.

We also told them Josie was singing in the van on the trip over and I asked what songs she likes. One of the nannies brought out her smartphone and found one. Josie smiled and all the staff laughed with her. The Director sat next to us and played another song for her. More laughter.

One of the sweetest moments was when the head chef came into the room to deliver desert. Apples on a toothpick. He saw Josie and let out a big grin and had smiling eyes. He looked like a proud grandpa to me. Then as we wrapped up lunch, we passed by him and he squatted down, said something in Mandarin and rubbed her cheek. Josie is only the third child placed for adoption this year, so this was a pretty big day for everyone and she was getting lots of special attention.

There are two other girls for which our agency has found parents. I have been able to connect with both of them. It's very sad, but we just found out one of the families is not able to proceed in adopting one of the girls. But the other family was really hoping to get a few pictures if we were able. I wasn't sure it would be possible, but our guide asked and they said "yes"! So, we headed back upstairs and they pulled out the two little girls into the main area.

This is "Celia". Look at that smirk! She is the one who needs a new family asap. 

She has a heart condition that needs monitoring.

Let me know if you want our agency's contact info!!!

It ended up being a sweet time with the kids playing a bit and the caretakers giving them lots of affection. The second time up to the floor Josie seemed much more comfortable. She gave some good bye hugs to the nannies and smiled big. She saw the other girl bring out the book of family pictures her family sent over and Josie went straight to her backpack to show us hers again.

The Director told us the kids like to see her watch. It's one of those fancy smart watches. So, they played with that for a little bit. It was a much more relaxed atmosphere and a beautiful end to the day. I'm very thankful we got to back up.

The orphanage director going through Josie's book of our pictures one last time before we go.

It was time for good-bye and Josie did great. I am hoping it wasn't confusing, but even if it was for a moment, she readily hopped back in the van to sit by big brother. As we drove away she looked out the back of the van. This was well worth the trip and she handled it like a champion.

再见 zài jiàn !

I must also give kudos to Kevin who was on camera duty (not his favorite duty) because of Josie's clinginess to me. And also because he worked diligently to suppress his cough. You would hardly have known he was sick. Josie missed her nap and so the ride home was not quite as peaceful and happy as the trip out there. But we made it. Kevin went straight down for resting and TJ, Josie and I headed out again for dinner in Nanjing.

It was moments like these where I was again thankful at God's provision for us. TJ is such a good helper and travel mate. He has his moments of pushing the goofiness too far, but we admit it's difficult to stop doing something when it makes Josie laugh so hard. It's been a joy to have him around.

The kids at home have successfully transferred back to their home and Papa T and Grandma Sue have swooped in with bundles of energy for their 10 day shift. Right mom and dad? They've brought their dog, Gracie, who offers a great comfort and distraction as the kids go through moments of missing having the whole family together. We're almost at the half way point here.

We found out one of the problems with our internet, but it's still unpredictable. Thanks for all your encouraging comments on the blog and facebook. It helps us feel supported and we hope it's blessing you too to see God's hand at work.

Write us anytime - it's fun to hear from the home front and honestly, there is quite a bit of downtime :)

Blessings!

It's all official

Yesterday was the day we met our daughter and sister. Today was the day she legally became a Hubers.

With our thumb prints in red ink stamped over our signatures, we sealed the deal that we claim and accept JiaYun as part of our family forever. What a privilege and great responsibility.

Four out of the seven in our family! 

TJ being a rock star big brother while Kevin and I are signing papers.

This morning at breakfast she ate well, but again wanted to be held continually. When we walked into breakfast, she saw a boy from her orphanage who was also joining a family. They are not with our agency and we didn't know they'd be here. And even in our same hotel! They are from Spain and brought their son also, who is about TJ's age. We saw them Sunday night when we were out for dinner, then Monday morning at breakfast, then at Civil Affairs the day we all met our children. Their little boy walked out of the same van that Josie did. So, on Tuesday morning, when the kids saw each other they pointed at each other and said each other's names with glee. I approached the family and used my broken Spanish to introduce myself. Their son had been very upset the day before and we had given them lots of space. At breakfast he seemed to be in better spirits. I am thankful Josie got to see a friend. I hope that normalizes her experience and gives her some sense of familiarity as she is accommodating to everything being new and different now.

Josie seemed to tolerate the van ride better today. After our adoption was final, we headed to the store to pick up a few things with our guide. What better way to celebrate an adoption than to buy diapers and a few more snacks. We also found a new pair of shoes for her as the ones she had were quite tight. She didn't want to be put down for the shoe fitting, so I was carrying her in the pack. TJ then took off her shoes while we were walking. She calmly said something to him. We asked our guide what is was and she laughed. She told us she said "Why are you touching my shoes?" It will be fun when we can begin to understand each other more. Until then, we do lots of facial expressions, gesturing and hand motions :) It's actually impressive to see how much you can communicate just using those things.

We also found out today we can go visit Josie's orphanage tomorrow! Our guide informed us last Sunday that the entire orphanage moved locations 3 months ago. I admit I was disappointed because I really wanted to see the place where she spent the first years of her life. As I am still disappointed, I am thankful they said it is on the way and we can drive by it at least. Hopefully we can get some good pictures to show her as she grows up.

It is so helpful to have the pictures to explain that all the people that cared for her are in favor of her coming to our home. Otherwise, there can be a confusion or potential misunderstanding that she has been taken. I was just re-reading one of my adoption books and it reminded me of the importance of talking about our children's story often and early. To bring it up, show pictures, give words to explain where they came from, how events unfolded, as best as we can explain. Hopefully sometime this year I'll be able to work on Josie's life book to help piece together all the information we have for her. But now, is the time to gather info and take pictures. Pray for our minds to be clear tomorrow and for Josie's heart to be at peace as she visits her 'home' for the last time.

As I type this Josie and Kevin are napping. TJ is being a super star by quietly reading a book or playing a few games on my phone. I asked him what we should do when we wake up, go for a walk? stay in the hotel to play? He said "Stay in the hotel. I want to play with Josie."

Well, turns out Dad needed more rest. So Josie, TJ and I started out to explore the streets of Nanjing. I'll be honest, it helped that we were in the same area as last time, so I had some sense of our bearings. It ended up being a super sweet time finding some neat rooftop adventures, riding the escalators and also stumbling across a little pet store with rabbits and hamsters to look at. Keep praying for Kevin's health. He's being a trooper, but he feels pretty miserable.

Josie is opening up more and more. I think I mentioned that Ben was a runner in the beginning. So far she has been the exact opposite. She either wants to be held or when we're walking she reaches out to hold our hand. I cannot tell you what a gift this is.  AND she slept through the night for the second night in a row. I feel a little like I'm dreaming. She seems to have a gentle spirit, with a bit of rock solid determination thrown in there. We're so excited to get to know her more.

Rooftop adventures in Nanjing. Photography by TJ.Hubers.

As a note, we are having some pretty consistent issues with connecting to the internet and sites such as the one I need to update this blog. So, if it's a while between posts, you'll know it's because of that. Until next time!

Introducing....

Josephine JiaYun-Marie Hubers

Josie

Josephine means "The Lord will add". He has so many good plans for Josephine. To add beauty, joy, redemption, healing, hope and love to name only a few. He has added her to our family and we are so thrilled to welcome little Josie.

All morning there was a mood of anticipation as we didn't get to go to Civil Affairs until 2:00pm. So, we spent time walking outside near the hotel.  We skipped lunch as we had butterflies anyway. Well, I know I did.  We pulled up to the office and came inside the familiar red door room. We only had to wait a few minutes before JiaYun's van pulled up. Those butterflies in my stomach quickly turned to a few tears welling in my eyes. It is such a miracle to experience this.

Her nannies promptly brought her over to us where she proceeded to stand firmly fixed a few feet away, holding tight to her new backpack. She had on her new shoes, a new outfit, new coat and a  very intense focused face. She stared at Kevin and I back and forth for a long time. She did not want to come near or play with the toys we brought or snacks we offered. We didn't push. Her nannies took out her book of the pictures we sent a few months ago. It looked well worn and they told us they showed her the book every day. She kept looking down at the pictures and up at us and down at the pictures and up at us. So much swirling around her little mind.  Her nanny was wonderful. Giving her a kiss now and then and reassuring her we were her parents. I felt an answer to prayer in that moment.

Meeting Josie

I was able to spend a little time asking some questions to the nanny as Kevin and TJ kept letting JiaYun warm up to them. During that time she said "Baba" ('Daddy") for the first time. Still hesitant to get too close, she seemed to be relaxing a very small bit. The time had now come to get our family picture taken. I was instructed to pick her up to take her there. That's when the waterworks started. So, that fun moment is now commemorated forever on her official Adoption Certificate.

We said goodbye to her caregivers and proceeded to the van. She was so sad. Kevin just held her and we sang all the way back to the hotel. Kevin slipped naturally back into "toddler dad mode" and was great with her as I finished up a little more paperwork with our guide back in our hotel room. From about 3:30pm until 9pm we spent slowly getting to know each other. TJ was amazing at responding appropriately to his new sister, offering toys gently, playing next to her if she was not interested yet in playing together. Over the evening, she opened up enough to eat a few snacks, start enjoying some of the toys and even let out a few good smiles. She was held by one of us for quite a few hours, expressing herself loud and clear that she did not want to be put down. We ordered room service so we could have a quiet dinner. She let us feed her and then finally right before bed, she was agreeable to get down from our laps and even ended up running around the hotel room with TJ with some giggles thrown in.

We were even able to do a brief skype conversation with the rest of the kids back home to introduce her. Josie didn't seem to really get what was going on, but Jude, Annie and Ben did. We're excited for them all to meet in person.

Reminiscent of Ben on our first night together, it was obvious that Josie wanted all her clothes and shoes to stay on. She had enough change for one day. Clothes and shoes should stay the same. Fair enough. She also wasn't interested in the crib, but instead fell asleep just like many a baby would prefer, on my chest. Then, like a true toddler co-sleeping with any parent, she assumed many creative sleeping positions during the night, ending perpendicular to the pillows, but surprisingly sleeping through the night.

TJ and I both noted this was our best night of sleep so far in China. When we asked Kevin if it was his best night of sleep, he said "Sure". It wasn't. He just wanted to fit in.  Please keep praying for Kevin as he has a nasty chest cough and he's up a lot in the night.

Overall, we are feeling at peace and super thankful for how our first 24 hours have gone. Josie is super fragile emotionally and is being so very brave. Lord, keep being her rock and safe presence.

Thanks again for your support of our family and little Josie.

We're in China!

We landed safely in Beijing on schedule last Friday night. TJ was pumped beyond belief as we flew from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Seattle. Then even halfway over on the trip. With a few hours left in the flight, he hit a bit of a wall. As we all did. At that point, we just were ready to get.off.the.plane. It's like pulling an all nighter and being stuck in an itty bitty place without even having a paper to write.

Although, one of the highlights of the flight was peering out the window to see the amazing mountains in eastern Russia. It was desolate as far as people were concerned and as far as we could see  snow capped mountains spread for miles and miles. It was magnificent to get that privileged view of God's gorgeous creation.

View over eastern Russia 

Our hosts picked us up promptly to where we spent a short time chatting, but went swiftly to bed. Alan, his sister and his wife Lily definitely went above and beyond and took care of us like royalty! They had the entire day planned so we could get to know Beijing in record speed! We loved experiencing a bit of this cultural center and also getting to know their family.

In the morning, we found out they had plans to take us to the Great Wall of China! The Badaling section, which is apparently the most recognizable and famous. The drive to the wall was so neat, especially when we got to the mountainous area and spotted sections of the wall from the freeway. The actual climbing of the wall was pretty challenging, but so worth it. It was impressive to think of the massive undertaking it was to build that wall under the direction of multiple different dynasties. If one fire was lit in an outpost it was a small army attacking, if two fires lit it was a bigger army attacking and so forth. What a treat to be engaging with such a rich history of this country.

A hazy day, but if you look carefully you can see the Great Wall lining the mountain behind us.

TJ was the "hero" as, our host Alan, kept calling him. Not necessarily because he saved the day, but because he was such a crowd stopper. I think we had at least 5 people stop to ask to take pictures with him and a handful more who took pictures of him on the sly. Then, there are the abundant smiles and stares. Apparently his blue eyes, long eye lashes and the fact that he was wearing shorts in October, made him quite the sight. I asked him tonight how he feels being so looked at and awed over. He replied "It's awesome."

TJ obliging his fans.

Later we were able to visit Tiananmen Square where many historic events took place. Again, another couple wanting a picture with TJ while standing in line for security check :) We topped it all off with Peking Duck for dinner, with Alan calling it the best in all of China.

Tiananmen. The Forbidden City is not far behind here. There were not enough hours in the day to visit there.

Throughout the day, we were blessed to have conversations surrounding Jesus, culture, history, customs, adoption and parenting among others. We appreciated Lily and Alan's openness to ask questions and receive questions. What a gift.

We were able to skype with Jude, Annie and Ben at the Connors a few times already. They all seem to be enjoying each other and it's been such a comfort to see their smiling faces.

We now have successfully made it to Nanjing by train and both Kevin and TJ are in bed already. The jetlag has been a little rougher this time. Please pray for our sleep and Kevin's health. Kevin is battling a cold with a cough so that doesn't help. Our guide, Nancy, met us at the train station tonight and helped us get settled here. She has told us to meet her tomorrow in the lobby at 2pm where she will take us to Civil Affairs to meet our new daughter.

Honestly, it's still all a bit surreal. Like TJ said at some point in the last day or two "I feel like I'm not really here." That sorta describes it for me as well. As we've been child proofing the hotel room (AKA putting the remote up high, hiding anything breakable, etc.) we're remembering the first few days with Ben. Will it be the same? Will it be different? Who knows. We'll know in a few days! But one thing we do know is the same. Jesus is with us. And we will need to depend on Him. God is the designer of our family and He will be the constant that will uphold all of us through this huge life change.

Please pray for Him to prepare our hearts and fortify us all for this next chapter.

Blessings on your day!

TJ and I playing with the features on my phone on the train ride from Beijing to Nanjing.

China Itinerary

Well - here we are. It's almost surreal when all the paperwork is done, tickets are booked, house is cleaned, instructions for kids are given, bags are packed, the preparations are made.

Now we just have do this thing.

All those details, I'll admit, have distracted me from thinking too long and hard about how life will change for our family in less than a week. But as soon as we sit down on the plane, I'm sure it'll all start to feel very real!

In the meantime, a few of you have asked for a day by day itinerary so you can pray for us.
Thank you, thank you.

Here it is!
Thursday, October 19
Flight 129 with Delta. 11:30am take off from Minneapolis to Seattle. 4:59take off from Seattle to Beijing. Arrive in Beijing 7:50pm on Friday. We lose a day! So, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to just share what is happening for us "China time". Minnesota/Wisconsin family/friends will subtract 13 hours. So, most of these events will happen for you the night before, while you're sleeping. But your prayers are appreciated whatever time of day!

Friday, October 20
Arrive 7:50pm in Beijing. Likely close to 11pm before we get to our host family's house. Lily is a friend of a friend and is graciously hosting us for two nights. Please pray for good communication and a new friendship.  Pray for our kids at home time with our dear friends, the Connors. That the Connors and our kids will both be blessed by doing life together for a few days.

Saturday, October 21
We sleep in! Please pray for us to have a solid sleep and for our bodies to recover from jetlag quickly. We hope to take a short jaunt into the city of Beijing with Lily's family today. Pray for some work being done at our house. That the workers will be kept safe and that they will feel good about wrapping up the final details.

Sunday, October 22
Noon train to Nanjing. Four hours long, but neat to be able to see the land of China. Arrive in Nanjing around dinner, check into our hotel and hopefully wander around the streets close to our hotel, showing TJ some of the city. Pray for our hearts to be prepared for our big day tomorrow. Pray for JiaYun's caretakers to communicate accurately what is about to happen. For no pressure put on JiaYun to "be good" in order for us to love her.

Monday, October 23
Big day #1 :) We will travel to the Civil Affairs office. JiaYun will take a ride from her orphanage a few hours away to meet us there. We will be introduced for the first time and take temporary custody of our soon-to-be daughter. Oh, so much to pray for! We keep wanting her to know Jesus as her Good Shepherd, the one who will hold her, carry her, lead her to living water and keep her safe. Pray that this day her fear would be minimal and that she would begin the journey of cautiously learning to trust us.

Tuesday, October 24
Big day #2! We will return to Civil Affiars with JiaYun and officially make her our daughter! Please pray for no surprises logistically on this day. Pray for our kids transition to being taken care of my Grandma Sue and Papa T, my folks. For Grandma Sue and Papa T's endurance and creativity and patience to go full on back to parenting 24:7!

Wednesday, October 25
Likely a down day in the city of Nanjing. If JiaYun is up for it, we might go on a short tour of Zhanghua Gate. But we'll see.  Pray for our discernment to make decisions that are good for her.

Thursday, October 26
We are hoping to visit JiaYun's orphanage. This could actually be either today or yesterday. We are not 100% sure this can happen, but it sounds like it is more of a possibility than not. If we are able to, it's a few hours drive and then a potentially confusing and emotional experience for JiaYun. We will have our translators do the best they can to keep explaining to her what is happening. It is so important for us to take this opportunity to see where JiaYun has spent the first 2.75 years of her life. Pray for us to ask good questions and document as much as we can and for JiaYun's heart to be at peace and understanding this visit.

Friday, October 27
Today we are already hopping on another plane. We will receive JiaYun's new passport and fly down to the southern part of China where the next phase of adoption processing happens. Please pray us to manage the waiting time well. Toddlers and waiting is historically not a super amazing combination. By now, we will have been in lots of waiting situations. So, we are hoping the plane is all on schedule. Please pray for our kids at home too. For Ben to trust in his gut we are coming back, for Jude to be courageous and get his hugs from Grandma Sue and Papa T, for Annie to find courage to go about her days without mom and dad around.

Saturday, October 28
Doctor visit day. Each child needs to be examined medically before leaving the country. This is a hard day because we have to hand her over to the Chinese doctors (parents are not allowed to stay with the child.) She will get shots and internally it goes against everything you want to do in those early days. Namely, handing over your new child to someone who, she will likely perceive is hurting her. Pray for all of us to be brave this day.

Sunday, October 29
Today is another down day. We might go to the Pearl Market and a Museum. Although, this doesn't sounds super kid friendly to me. So, we'll see. Pray for the down time for all of us. That JiaYun would see TJ trust us and that would help her let her guard down. Pray that she is not a runner. By this time on our last trip, we were exhausted from just physically not losing Ben! It sure would be nice if she enjoyed being the carrier and if we were able to use our down time to play some connecting games.

Monday, October 30
Today is Zoo day. I'm sorta looking forward to this. It's apparently just a short trip to the zoo and it seems like something that could be engaging for JiaYun and TJ too. Please pray for our stamina and that the change in food/diet would not have caught up to us, compromising our health.

Tuesday, October 31
Consulate Appointment day. This is another big day in that we get JiaYun's visa process starting in order to head out. It's our last official business in China. This night, our agency has us booked on a Pearl River Cruise. It could be neat to be out on the water at night time. I'd like to try to do this, but also realize it's a bit later and depending on how JiaYun is doing, we'll have to play it by ear. Please pray for her to have a good day and maybe even to nap! Pray for our kids at home to have a fun memory trick or treating with Grandma Sue and Papa T (and Gracie the dog).

Wednesday, November 1
Down day - another potential tour day. At this point in the trip last time, we remember being so ready to come home and see the rest of our kids and start our new normal. Pray for our kids back home too - as they enter the final stretch of waiting for us to be back.

Thursday, November 2
The day our contact will pick up JiaYun's visa. Pray for no complications. Sometimes there are delays in this process as it's hard to expedite so many visas. On our last trip, a family had to reschedule their flight home because the visa wasn't ready. We are trusting God to walk with us, no matter if things go as planned or not. Please pray with us that we are flexible and remain unstressed, for JiaYun's sake.

Friday, November 3rd
We wake up in Guangzhou and take a nice van ride to Hong Kong, which is the city from which we will depart back to the U.S! We will take off and fly for 13ish hours and as soon as we land in Seattle, JiaYun will become a U.S. citizen :)

We will go through immigration in the U.S. for her, and then take off back to Minneapolis.

We will be on Delta, Flight 2536.

Nov. 3rd, departing from Seattle at 1:20pm and arriving in Minneapolis at 6:38pm.

We hope to walk off the plane and straight to baggage claim since we will have completed Immigration in Seattle.

If you are free that night and want to come celebrate our new daughter...please feel free to join us at baggage claim to give us a hug and a smile! The more the merrier. My folks will be there with our kids and we'd love to give you an introduction to JiaYun before we head home to crash for the night!

Our family is memorizing Psalm 121 together. So, as we head out, I'll leave you with this....

"I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and earth..."

Trusting in His help as we begin this journey with JiaYun. 

We leave in 10 days

Last Friday was Ben's birthday. We do eat Chinese food on days other than his birthday, but we have made it tradition of taking him to a nicer traditional Chinese restaurant for his birthday dinner. He's come to look forward to this every year :) This year we walked into a new restaurant and about 90% of the folks appeared to be Chinese. We figured that meant the food would be pretty good. Ben scarfed down his wontons and potstickers and we all tried some familiar food and some new foods and passed the food around to share. But, early in our experience, I was a bit taken aback with how it reminded me of being IN China. The language, the feel of the place, the people...I got an overwhelming combination of a flash back and flash forward. I looked over at Ben and he seemed to be just doing his normal Ben thing. I wondered if he felt anything.

I was thinking about Ben's birth mother. And how this day is a significant day for her too. I wondered what she was wondering about today. I was thinking about how Ben has blended into our family so beautifully and how he used to be a stranger, but now he is a tight knit brother and son. I was thinking of how JiaYun is going to be experiencing one of the biggest transitions of her life, with likely not a lot of emotional strength or maturity to manage it all. And how she will be a stranger to us and us to her. I was thinking about how someday we will be eating in a Chinese restaurant with JiaYun and she will feel like a close knit daughter and sister. But for now....we have to enter the 'getting to know' each other stage. I was thinking about how God is a family maker. It is remarkable in that less than 2 weeks, JiaYun will technically and officially be a Hubers. But it is truly God who has begun to and will continue to bond our hearts.

All of this flashed before me in a few short moments last Friday and a few tears welled up. I am sure it is only the beginning of overwhelming emotions to come in the next few months.

Well, on a more practical update: I consider it a success to have a suitcase in our room. Packing at this point looks like randomly tossing items aside into the suitcase as we think of them, for both us and JiaYun. Before bedtime story time, I saw a few hair ties of Annie's and quickly put them in a Ziploc bag and dropped them by the suitcase just last night. In many of the pictures they've shared with us, her hair has a few itty bitty ponytails. Maybe she'll find comfort in having her hair put up like that. Maybe not. But this way, we'll be ready for either :)

Kevin has discovered that we are apparently traveling at one of the most pleasant times of the year, weather wise. That will be delightful as last time, it was quite hot. We managed fine, but this will be a treat.

TJ is super excited to get on a plane. He wanted to know how many take off's he'll experience and when he heard it was 5, he almost jumped through the ceiling. He's excited to interact with JiaYun too :) He will periodically mention, out of the blue, how he can't wait to play with her.

Jude, so articulately shared on our walk to the park today, that he's both excited for us to go and sad for us to go. He talked of the fun he'll have with the Connors and Grandma Sue and Papa T. and also how he'll miss us. He said he'll help take care of Annie too, because he's pretty sure she'll get sad too.

Annie just gives us lots of hugs to store up for when we're gone. She has some toys set aside that she is going to give to JiaYun when she gets here. She's already prepared herself for the possibility that JiaYun might try to get into her stuff. I think she's trying to plan ahead.

And we've started going over the plan more frequently with Ben that it will feel like a long time we're gone, but we assure him we are all coming back.  We state the whole schedule and he always fills in the part about us coming back....so we're hopeful he trusts it to be true, on a deep and visceral level.

Kevin and I are sorting through all the details of what it means for us to be gone. Lots of lists. Lots of trying to check off things on the lists. All while prepping the kids, preparing our hearts, trusting in the Lord and maintaining a posture of flexibility and being ready for anything.

A reminder of our travel dates: October 19th -November 3rd.

We'll try to update the blog as much as possible!

Happy Birthday to you, Ben!