T minus 3 and counting hours now! / T-3 nå teller vi i timer.

80 hours! Can you believe it? 3 days now. We are finally packed. Carry on's are ready to go. We have cat food for the cats. (and kitty litter for the potties) Wow, we are literally just waiting on 3am Wednesday to come. We've been praying that Matthew has been told by the orphanage that we are coming but alas, we just don't know what he knows. I know we can say we sent him a care package from www.blessedkids.com. It was totally worth it if he received it and we can get our two cameras back loaded with valuable pictures of Matthew and his friends in the orphanage.

80 timer! Er det ikke utrolig? Bare 3 dager nå. Vi er ferdig pakket. Det vi tar inn i kabinen er klart. Vi har mat for kattene og sand for kattekassene. Vi venter stort sett bare på at klokka skal bli 3 på onsdag morgen. Vi har bedt for at Matthew har blitt fortalt av barnehjemmet at vi er på vei men vi har bare ikke peiling om hva han vet. Jeg vet at vi kan si at vi har sent ham en pakke ved hjelp av www.blessedkids.com. Det var verdt det hvis han fikk den og vi kan få tilbake de to kameraene fra pakken full av verdifulle bilder av Matthew og vennene hans i barnehjemmet.

The Lord has been good to us. Both Kristen and myself are calm, cool, and collected. Yes, it has hit us we will be parents of two kids, but this time around, well? We are a little wiser to what we will do and what to expect. Even through 3 inches of snow, we are still doing "just fine."

Herren har vært god. Både Kristen og jeg er avslappet. Det har slått oss at vi vil bli foreldre til to unger. Denne ganger er vi imidlertid litt klokere når det gjelder hva vi har i vente. Selv med 6-8 cm snø på bakken er vi helt avslappet.

As we get even closer, now that we are down to HOURS, our journey will totally take off, so please check back often. Once we leave for China, there will definitely be a lapse in TIME for the folks in the states and in Norway and us in China. Remember that. (13 hours ahead in EST and 5 hours ahead in Norway)

Vi er så nær avgang at eventyret vil virkelig ta av så kom hit ofte. Når vi er i Kina vil det snu opp ned på tidsperspektivet for alle. Kina er 5 timer foran Norge og 13 timer foran Norge.

Hold on, 'cuz here we go............

Hold på hatten for nå tar vi av............

T-7

Yepp! It is only 7 days till we leave for China. Got some more documents ready today. I thought that I was done with them until we were in China but alas, no. Compared to going to get Rebecca we are much more relaxed this time around. On Saturday we are invited to dinner at some friends house and we are actually going. That is something that we wouldn't even concider when we were getting ready to travel for Rebecca. I guess the jitters will come sometime between Sunday night and Wednesday.

Ja! Det er bare 7 dager til vi tar av på tur til Kina. Gjorde unna flere dokumenter klare i dag. Jeg trodde at jeg var ferdig med dokumenter til vi er i Kina men dengang ei. Sammenliknet med forberedelsene til turen til Rebecca er vi mere avslappet denne gangen. På lørdag er vi invitert på middag hos noen venner og vi skal faktisk gå. Det er noe som vi ikke engang ville vurdert når vi forberedte oss på turen til Rebecca. Antar at nervene vil sette inn en gang mellom søndag kveld og onsdag.

While we wait / Mens vi venter

When you are waiting for something good the time always seem to go way to slow. To alleviate for that we have been keeping ourselves busy with packing and more importantly, setting up doctors appointments for Matthew when we get home. We were lucky enough to get the initial appointment at Childrens hospital in DC as soon as March 28th. That is less than two weeks after we return, thank You Lord. Normal wait for an appointment with one of their specialists is 6 to 8 weeks. We have also researched more about the Panda resort and shopping in Chengdu. We are so looking forward to going and Rebecca is asking every day now when we are going. Now we can tell her that we will be on an airplane in only 12 days. :)

Når du venter på noe godt går tiden alltid for sakte. For å bøte på det har vi holdt oss opptatt med pakking og det som er viktigere, sette opp time hos lege time for Matthew ved Childrens Hospital i DC så tidlig som 28nde Mars. Det er mindre enn 2 uker etter at vi kommer hjem, Takk Herre. Normal ventetid for en time til en av spesialistene deres er 6 til 8 uker. Vi har også undersøkt videre om Panda parken og handling i Chengdu. Vi ser virkelig fram til denne turen og Rebecca spør hver dag nå om når vi skal reise. Nå kan fortelle henne at vi vil sette oss på flyet bare 12 dager fra i dag. :)

Itinerary / Reiserute

This is the itinerary for our trip to China. Her er reiseplanen for turen til Kina.

FEB. 28, 2007
UNITED AIRLINES Flight # : 415 Economy
From : BALTIMORE WASHNTN, MD 0738A 2Hr 08Min
To : CHICAGO OHARE, IL 0846A Non Stop

FEB. 28, 2007
UNITED AIRLINES Flight # : 851 Economy Multi Meal
From : CHICAGO OHARE, IL 1242P 13Hr 23Min
To : BEIJING, CHINA 0405P Mar. 1, 2007 Non Stop


MAR. 1, 2007
AIR CHINA LIMITED Flight # : 4110 Economy Dinner
From : BEIJING, CHINA 0650P 2Hr 30Min
To : CHENGDU, CHINA 0920P Non Stop

The plan for our in-country stay will be. Planen for oppholdet i Kina er som følger.

Mar.01: Arrive in Chengdu on flight CA4110/21:20, guide will meet them at airport and transfer to Prime Hotel.
Mar.02: Go to the Civil Affairs will meet their children and sign the adoption agreement in the morning. (This means we will get Matthew three days earlier than what we thougt. I will have to update the ticker.)
Mar.03: Shopping on this day. (Every girls dream, huh?)
Mar.04: Visit the Panda Nursery. (This is a breeding resort for the Giant Panda. This is the resort where Tai Shan's momma came from. We are really looking forward to this one.)
Mar.05: Go to the Civil Affairs for the registration and applying the passport in the afternoon.
Mar.06: Continue to do the process for notarization.
Mar.07: Visit the Du Fu Memorial Hall. (This I believe is a museum of one of the most famous Chinese poets.)
Mar.08: Free. (Wow. Relaxing in between, translated, do whatever you want.)
Mar.09: Pick up passport. Chengdu to Guangzhou on Flight CA4309(19:30-21:30) Transfer to Victory Hotel.
Mar.10: Medical for baby and take photos.
Mar.11: Visit Six Banyan Temple. (A budist temple. We might skip this but we'll leave it in the plan for now.)
Mar.12: Pearl River Cruise. (Dora the explorer says to put the life-jackets on.)
Mar.13: 09:30 am at U.S.Consulate for visa appointment. (Raise your right hand. Is all information given true? Yes! Go back to the hotel and wait for visa.)
Mar.14: 16:00 Pick up the visa in the afternoon.
Mar.15: Leave Guangzhou for home on Flight CZ301/08:25. Transfer to airport.

Homebound itinerary is. Turen hjem blir slik.

MAR. 15, 2007
CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES Flight # : 301 Economy
From : GUANGZHOU, CHINA 0825A 55Min
To : HONG KONG, HONG KONG S A R 0920A Non Stop

MAR. 15, 2007
UNITED AIRLINES Flight # : 862 Economy Multi Meal
From : HONG KONG, HONG KONG S A R 1150A 11Hr 43Min
To : SAN FRANCISCO, CA 0833A Non Stop

MAR. 15, 2007
UNITED AIRLINES Flight # : 294 Economy Food for Purchase
From : SAN FRANCISCO, CA 0235P 5Hr 03Min
To : BALTIMORE WASHNTN, MD 1038P Non Stop

I know it is a long post but now you know how our trip will be. Jeg vet at dette innlegget er langt men nå vet dere hva vi vil gjennomgå på turen. Jeg har ikke oversatt beskrivelsene så hvis du har problemer med å forstå, spør en venn som forstår om å oversette for deg.

We are getting closer / Vi nærmer oss

The status as of right now is.... We will be taking off from Baltimore Washington International airport on Wednesday February 28th at 7:38 in the morning. Our son will be with us on Monday March 5th in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. That day will change our lives totally and forever. We are all looking forward to that with fear, excitement, and humble anticipation. We will add to our family in only 27 days. Hey that is less than a month....

Status akkurat nå er.... Vi vil ta av fra Baltimore Washington International lufthavn Onsdag 28nde Februar klokken 7:38 om morgenen. Sønnen vår vil være sammen med oss på Mandag 5te Mars i Chengdu, Sichuan, Kina. Den dagen vil forandre livene våre totalt og for alltid. Vi ser fram til det med frykt, spenning og ydmyk forventning. Vi vil ha familieforøkning 27 dager fra nå.... Hei, det er mindre enn en måned....

It's crunchtime / Tid for stress

Now that we are getting closer to travel, we are getting more and more into crunch mode. We have to pack, book flights, pray, pack, panic, arrange transportation to the airport, pray, try to sleep, get catsitter and so on and so on. Oh by the way the travel approval is in Utah and our family coordinator has already requested our consulate appointment. So far it looks like travel will be the two first weeks of March. We are hoping that Wonderwoman manages to get us in earlier though. Travel plans and itinerary will be posted as soon as we know it.

Nå da vi nærmer oss avreise med stormskritt føler vi stresset bygger seg opp. Vi må pakke, booke flyreise, be, pakke, roe nervene, ordne transport til flyplassen, be, prøve å sove, finne kattepasser og så videre og så videre. Reise tillatelsen er forresten i Utah og familie koordinatoren vår har allerede bedt om time ved det Amerikanske konsulatet i Guangzhou. Akkurat nå ser det ut som at vi vil reise de to første ukene i mars. Vi håper selvfølgelig at Superdama kan få oss inn tidligere enn det. Reiseplanene og reisetider vil bli lagt ut så snart vi vet dem.

While we wait / Mens vi venter

What do you say to getting to know Matthew a little bit better? Well since you ask so nicely. He was found at Yibin Cuiping District Central Market on November 16th, 2004. Changjiang Ave. police investigated to find the parents. His parents could not be found and on 2004.11.16 he was brought Yibin Children’s Welfare Institute for fostering. Based on his physical development and umbilical cord conditions his birth date was inferred to be 2004.11.12 and he was named Zheng Xiong. He has stayed at the orphanage ever since. In the end of June 2006 his file was placed with Childrens House International for placement. We saw his pictures, fell in love, discussed it, prayed over it and found that we just had to put in for him. In August we got the call from our family coordinator, Stefani (or wonderwoman as I call her), saying that we had been chosen to become this lovely boy's new family. The reason I call Stefani wonderwoman, is that she herself has a whole soccerteam of kids, all adopted, and has helped hundreds of families like us bring their children home. She is truly a huge asset in the adoption community. Thanks Stefani. To be continued....

Hva sier dere til å lære Matthew litt bedre å kjenne? Siden dere spør så pent. Han ble funnet ved Sentral markedet i Cuiping distriktet av Yibin den 16 November i 2004. Politiet prøvde å finne foreldrene hans men hadde ingen lykke. Samme dag ble han sent til Yibin Barnehjem for fostring. Basert på hans fysiske utvikling og navlestreng ble fødselsdatoen satt til 12 November 2004 og gitt navnet Zheng Xiong. Han har vært i barnehjemmet siden da. I slutten av Juni 2006 ble opplysningene hans sent til Childrens House International for plassering. Vi så bildene hans, ble forelsket, diskuterte det, ba over det og fant at vi bare måtte prøve å bli foreldrene hans. I August fikk vi telefon fra familie koordinatoren vår, Stefani (eller superdama som jeg kaller henne), om at vi hadde blitt valgt til å bli denne herlige guttens nye familie. Årsaken til at jeg kaller Stefani superdama er at hun har selv adoptert et helt fotball lag i tillegg til å hjelpe hundrevis av familier som oss å bringe hjem barna deres. Hun er i sannhet av stor verdi for adopsjons samholdet. Takk Stefani. Følg med i neste episode av.....