Our Journey to Hugh

We Got Hugh's Visa Today

2009-03-17T08:31:00.004-05:00

We got Hugh's Visa to travel to the United States today. Here's a picture of us at the United States Consulate in Guangzhou right after we got his Visa. We fly to Shanghai first thing in the morning and then from there to Chicago and from Chicago to St. Louis. We should arrive at St. Louis on the evening of Wednesday, March 18th. Heath and the girls are picking us up at the airport. I can't wait!! It's been a fun trip, but I'm missing the rest of my family and friends.

Guangzhou

2009-03-16T20:03:00.005-05:00

On Sunday and Monday, we had some leisure time in Guangzhou, which we all enjoyed. We did some shopping, let Hugh play in the play room at the hotel for awhile, and took a dinner cruise. The weather was perfect. Here's some pictures. Just ignore the first two pictures. They don't really go in this movie, but I'm too tired to redo it tonight. : )

Hugh's Medical Exam in Guangzhou

2009-03-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

We had breakfast at the White Swan Hotel and then got Hugh's medical examination today. He is a healthy boy. Here's some pictures.

Our Flight to Guangzhou

2009-03-13T22:01:00.001-05:00

On Friday, we flew from Nanning to Guangzhou for the final part of our adoption journey. Here's a picture of Hugh's first airline flight. Our guide picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel. We're staying at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, which is very nice.

Liuzhou City - Hugh's Orphanage & Finding Place

2009-03-12T07:26:00.004-05:00

Today, we visited Liuzhou City. We went to the orphanage where Hugh lived. We were not allowed to go inside, but we were allowed to take pictures outside, and his nanny came out to visit with us. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then went to the park where Hugh was found when he was a newborn baby. The trip from Nanning to Liuzhou City was 3 hours each way, so we did not have time to do much else there. It was a nice trip, and we all really enjoyed it. Here's a few pictures.

Tomorrow, we fly to Guangzhou for the last part of the adoption paperwork. There's also lots of good shopping there right outside our hotel, so that will be fun, too.

Park in Nanning

2009-03-11T19:13:00.017-05:00

On Wednesday morning, we visited a beautiful park in Nanning. It was tropical, and the temperature was perfect. Hugh and I rode a few rides at the amusement park there, and he loved that! We had lunch at Pizza Hut and then went shopping for a little while at Wal Mart. I could not upload the movie, so I just uploaded the individual pictures.

We Adopted Hugh Today

2009-03-10T02:44:00.002-05:00

Today was adoption day. It's official. Hugh's ours now, and he's doing great! He's soooo sweet, and he's adjusting beautifully. I couldn't be happier. He's already calling me mommy and running to me when he's scared. It's wonderful. Here are a few pictures. As you can probably tell, I'm one happy momma!

Gotcha Day

2009-03-09T06:05:00.003-05:00

We got him today, and he is soooo adorable. He has a cold, but, other than that, he is doing great. He did not get upset when he came to us and has been doing just fine. I'm going to try to post some pictures.

We Made It to Nanning

2009-03-08T06:06:00.002-05:00

We flew out of Beijing at about 11:15 a.m. today and arrived in Nanning at around 2:30 p.m. Our guide and driver picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel. We're staying at the Nanning Wharton International Hotel. It's very nice. We checked into our room, unpacked, had dinner in a restaurant downstairs, and are back in for the night.

Our guide is taking us shopping at Wal-Mart at about 10:00 in the morning and then to the Civil Affairs Office to pick up baby Hugh at 3:00 p.m. I'm soooo excited to finally be getting him. I've already packed his diaper bag and picked him out an outfit to wear tomorrow. : )

One day this week, we'll travel to Liuzhou City, where he is from, and visit the orphanage and the place where he was found. I'm really looking forward to that.

Say a prayer for me that his transition will be as smooth as possible. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow night.

We Toured the Temple of Heaven Today

2009-03-07T02:23:00.007-06:00

I've added the Temple of Heaven photos to the slideshow of our Beijing trip. Hit the play button to start the slideshow. We also toured the silk factory and went shopping in the antique market today. I bought several beautiful paintings there.

Today is little Rachel's 3rd birthday. Happy birthday dear Rachel. We'll all have a huge birthday celebration for you when we get home.

Tomorrow, we fly to Nanning for the adoption part of the trip. We should get baby Hugh the following day. Yeah!!

We Climbed the Great Wall of China Today

2009-03-06T16:08:00.009-06:00

Today, we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling. It was amazing. We then toured a Cloissonne factory and shopped there. We also visited the Beijing Olympic Stadium and then had dinner with the family of a good friend, who arranged the Beijing tour for us. They were so nice, the food was wonderful, and we really enjoyed our visit with them.

We Toured the Forbidden City Today

2009-03-05T21:00:00.005-06:00

Today, we did lots of site seeing. We had a big delicious buffet breakfast in the hotel. Heath called me here at the hotel, and I was able to talk to Emily and Rachel. They were doing fine. Vivian also got to talk to her hubby and children this morning.

At about 9:00 a.m., our tour guide and driver picked us up and we drove to the Forbidden City. We did a tour there. It was really fun and interesting but a little cold. It was probably in the 30s or 40s and windy.

We had lunch at a local family's house, which was fun. They prepared a feast for us and were very sweet. Three generations lived there together. They were outgoing and seemed very happy. They didn't speak any English so our guide translated for us.

After lunch, we took a rickashaw ride through Hutong -- an old neighborhood that has been preserved to keep its old look and feel (instead of being demolished so that skyscrapers could be built there). That was fun, but, again, it was pretty cold. We then went to a local shop for a pot of hot tea, which warmed us all up.

We then toured a local kindergarten. We took candy for all of the children, and, of course, it was a big hit. The children were all so cute. They sang several songs for us. They reminded me so much of my children. The kindergarten was nice.

We then went shopping at the Pearl Market, which is a big shopping area where they have very nice pearls as well as all kinds of souvenirs. You'd think that I would have loved that, but all of the sales people were so pushy that it actually gave me a terrible migraine. I bought a small gift for each of my children, but that was it. We left there early so that I could take my medicine and go back to the hotel for a nap. After about an hour's nap, I woke up feeling better.

We had dinner at a wonderful Chinese dinner show where there was ethnic singing and dancing. It was just lovely, and we enjoyed it very much. I'll post more tomorrow.

We Made It to Beijing!

2009-03-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

We made it to Beijing and are now in our hotel room for the evening. It's 8:00 p.m. here. The flight was smooth. It took us about 14 hours to fly directly from Chicago to Beijing, and our tour guide and driver met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. We're staying at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven in Beijing in an Executive Suite, which is on the 16th floor (the top floor of the hotel), and has a bedroom, a sitting room, and two bathrooms. It comes with lots of perks, too, like free soft drinks -- including Coke Light, which is what they call Diet Coke here in China, free snacks, free laundry service, etc. It's quite nice. I'm really tired and the bed looks very comfortable. I'll post more tomorrow.

We Made it to Chicago

2009-03-02T22:38:00.002-06:00

We made it to Chicago safely and are now in the hotel for the evening. We're staying at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, which is very close to the airport, so that we don't have to hurry to make our flight out tomorrow. The traffic was not bad at all, we had no trouble finding our way to the hotel, and the hotel is very nice. We had lunch at O'Charleys in Marion and dinner at a restaurant in the hotel. Our trip is off to a very good start. I'll post more when I can.

We Got New Photos of Hugh!!!

2009-02-27T10:59:00.000-06:00

We've Booked Our Flights!!

2009-02-23T15:47:00.025-06:00

Heath has decided to stay at home with Emily and Rachel while a friend and I travel to China to adopt Hugh. We're planning to tour Beijing for a few days before traveling to Nanning in Guangxi Autonomous Region for the adoption. We're so excited to finally be bringing Hugh home. Yeah!!! Here's our flight information:

Tue. March 3-Wed. March 4, flying from Chicago to Beijing
Sun. March 8, flying from Beijing to Nanning
Fri. March 13, flying from Nanning to Guangzhou
Wed. March 18-flying to Shanghai and then to Chicago

We Got Our CA (Consulate Appointment) and New Pictures of Hugh!

2009-02-23T09:00:00.008-06:00

We got our Consulate Appointment (March 16th) and new pictures of Hugh. He had an accident and hurt his head during the Chinese New Year celebration, but he's reportedly fine now. He's soooo cute, and we can't wait to bring him home!!! It won't be long now!!!!

We Got Our TA (Travel Authorization)!!

2009-02-19T18:06:00.003-06:00

We finally got our TA (Travel Authorization) from China. It was dated February 9, 2009. Yeah! We should get our CA (Consulate Appointment) very soon, and then it's time to travel to China to bring him home. We're sooooo excited.

We Got Our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!!

2009-01-07T12:14:00.004-06:00

We got our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China today. Yeah!! We'll overnight it back tomorrow, and then we wait for our TA (travel authorization), which our agency thinks will take 2-3 weeks. We're still hoping to travel in late February or early March. Yeah!

We Got Our LID (Log In Date)!!

2008-10-06T11:55:00.002-05:00

We're finally logged in. Yeah!! Now we wait for the LOA (letter of acceptance), which usually takes between 60 and 100 days. Hopefully, we'll be able to travel to pick up our little cutie in February or March of 2009. Yeah!!

We're Finally DTC (Dossier to China) !!!

2008-09-16T13:16:00.007-05:00

Our agency sent our dossier to China today -- Yeah!!!! We're one step closer to our little sweetie pie! Now, we patiently wait for our LID (log in date).

We Sent Our Dossier To Our Agency!

2008-08-06T14:18:00.025-05:00

We sent our dossier to our agency for authentication today! We're hoping that they'll be able to get it to China by the end of August and that we'll be able to travel to pick up our little cutie sometime in January. Yeah!!

We Got Our I-171H!!

2008-07-31T13:52:00.015-05:00

USCIS issued our I-171 (immigration approval) today. We were worried that we wouldn't recieve it in time to meet our deadline for getting our dossier to China by September 26th, so we're very thankful to have received it in July. Yeah. One step closer to our little cutie!

We Got Our PA!!

2008-06-26T15:51:00.011-05:00

We got our pre-approval today to adopt Hugh (Liu Qi Ju). We're doing the happy dance!!! Now we have to wait for our immigration approval, and then we can send our dossier to China!! We have until September 26, 2008, to get the paperwork to China, so that should give us plenty of time. Yeah!!!!

Our Son's Referral Photos!!!

2008-05-24T14:58:00.014-05:00

On May 22, 2008, we saw our son's referral photos for the first time, and it was love at first sight. Our agency calls him "Caden," and his Chinese name is "Liu Qi Ju." He was born October 26, 2006, and resides in Liuzhou City in Guangxi. We immediately sent our paperwork to the agency so they could get it to China asap. We're over the moon with excitement and can hardly wait to get him home!! We're naming him Hugh Hartley Hooks, after our maternal grandfathers.