Scenes from the plane

The mountains were amazing!

The Big Iron Bird

I have not figured out how to get onto Blogger so I am going to email some pictures. We are here. The trip was wonderful and I am so excited to be here. We are at the Crowne Plaza Airport and a taxi to go to the Philip Hayden Foundation is coming for us at noon.

Korean Air Food

The food was actually really good.  The kids meal was wonderful for Harrison and I must admit....I loved the beautiful ladies walking the isles with bottles of wine.  It was right up my alley :)    Mike chose the Korean meal and I chose the "meat" meal for our first course.  Mine was wonderful.  Mike's...well, not so swift.    We had about 3 meals on the plane.  Just lovely!

This is how we roll

I know...its pretty scary, but it was 15.5 hours just on the first flight.

Locked and Loaded

I know, we packed too much!  The good news is that the biggest bag is all donations.    See ya on the flip side!

My Baby's Room

We used Piper's room as the packing room so now that I have pulled the suitcases out, I can see the finished product. I really like it. It is a tiny room, but once we got everything in it the room seemed to be the perfect size.

The bench and hutch was mine as a little girl and I love that I can give it to Piper. Harrison loved using it and called it his "kitchen," but he agreed to let Piper keep it in her room.

I just bought the ballerina bedskirt yesterday and I love how it looks. My friend from work, Jason, gave me the quilt from his father's business. Isn't it adorable?

I love seeing Piper's picture in the frames. The book next to the frame is so adorable and I had never seen it. It is perfect for Piper.

And the dollhouse....we went with my mom and Jack (Pa) to Disney all the time. The last time was 7 days before she was diagnosed. While we were there, she said she wanted to buy the castle dollhouse for "Baby China." Since we thought we would be back one more time before referral, we waited. After she died, I gave Harrison and Mike a trip to Disney. It was really to force us all to go back as soon as possible and just deal with it. We went and had a wonderful and emotional time. About 3 weeks after we returned a gift arrived from Disney from "Mom." Mike had remembered and had ordered it for me for Piper. The old guys is pretty good some time!

P.S. The little green play table was also mine as a child. The top has the alphabet and cute kiddie pictures on it. I just love it.

Travel Itinerary

1/26 Depart Atlanta at 11:55 a.m. for Seoul, Korea on Korean Air. Ride for about 15 1/2 hours. Try not to cry because I am a big baby on planes. Pray for no turbulance.
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1/27 Arrive Seoul with 1:45 layover. Board plane to Beijing, China. See end of first entry.
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1/27 Arrive Beijing, China at 8:30 p.m. and head to the Crowne Plaza Airport. Sleep. Try to convince hubby that I need a massage and facial at the spa.
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1/28 Philip Hayden Foundation picks us up for a night at PHF. See where Piper lived for a year. Love on the kiddos and spend the night. Fall in love with the kids.
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1/29 Play with the kids some more and then go back to Beijing to meet the group at Beijing Holiday Inn Downtown. Most of the group will be getting in today. Hopefully tour around a little that night while others sleep off jetlag. Hang out in the hotel.
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1/30 Tour Beijing with group.
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1/31 Tour Beijing with group.
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2/1 Depart Beijing for Zhengzhou on China Southern flight CZ 3180 (11:40-13:00). Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, where Piper QiuHan's sponsor orphanage is.
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2/2 Walk to the Registration Office and meet Piper. Cry eyes out. Blow nose. Try not to be a spectacle. Fall in love with my new family. Meet Jenny - yes, after tons of prayers the officials have asked her to come bring the kids. This never happens and is truly a huge blessing. Cry some more.
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2/3 Walk to Registration Office to finalize paperwork. Love on my two kids.
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2/4 Travel to Eagles Wings to see where Piper has lived since August. Love on the kids and deliver donated items. Hopefully be one suitcase lighter, unless I can fit cute little kids in there. Try not to boo hoo when we leave those other kiddos behind.
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2/5 Free time or optional tours.
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2/6 Free time or optional tours.
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2/7 Leave Piper's birth province for Guangzhou on China Southern flight CZ3971 (10:50-12:55). Hope that we soaked enough in to tell her all about it. Check into the White Swan - adoption family central!!
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2/8 Free time. Explore island. Spend money. Love on family.
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2/9 Piper's required physical. Shop and relax. Love on family.
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2/10 US Consulate paperwork appointment. Love on family.
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2/11 US Consulate oath appointment. Shop and enjoy last night on the island.
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2/12 Take train to Hong Kong and check into Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel. Go to Disney after check-in. Feel the Magic!
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2/13 Play at hotel and go to park again. More magic. Get kids ready for med and pack to get ready to leave. We will have to leave for the airport at about 8:30-9 p.m.
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2/14 at 12:20 a.m. we will depart on Korean Air from Hong Kong to Seoul, Korea. We arrive in Seoul with the time change at about 5 a.m. Check into Seoul airport hotel and sleep. If we wake up, go to the indoor playground, shop at the mall, go to the spa, or watch tv in the room. After our 13 hour layover, board at about 5:30 for a direct flight to Atlanta. Arrive in Atlanta and clear customs. Once Piper's feet touch after clearing customs she is automatically a US Citizen! Get spiffed up and go up escalator to hopefully meet our friends and family who will be waiting for us. After all this flying, layovers, sleep, etc. we will still be arriving on Valentine's Day thanks to getting a day back on the way back over. Hope someone is there to cart our tried bodies back. Love on my Valentines and sleep.

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2/15-3/22 Bask in the glory of being home full time with my babies.

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3/23 - 5/31 Go back to work 3 days a week with 4 days a week to love on my babies. I think this will be dreamy.