Garden Hotel

Not that it matters much, but just thought I'd let yall know that we are no longer staying in the White Swan in GuongZhou, we are now staying at the Garden Hotel. It is closer to the city, but it's views are of the city, not a lake. Also, the rooms are bigger! :) Which we like- but not any more expensive- which we like! :) Here is a pic of our new hotel. It is one of the few 5-star hotels in China:

In Him,
   Chelsey :)

Shutterfly

While in China, we are  unsure whether we will be able to access blogspot, facebook, etc, so my mom has created yet another online way of communication. :) Now we have a website centered around our photos. My mom plans on updating that daily (or whenever possible) while we are in China.If you click on the title of this post: "Shutterfly", it should take you directly to the website. If not, here is the address: http://caelynyibennett.shutterfly.com/

As my mom was showing me the site, she very excitedly explained that there is an intro, she has her first journal entry, and "if you click on the little albums, it opens it and pictures are revealed!" :) Gotta love her.

We appreciate your prayers as we are nearing our departure date. Just 4 more days and we are China bound! :)

In Him,
   Chelsey :)

Experiment

This is an experiment to see if I can email a post directly to my blog with out having to go to my blog. This will make it possible for me to update my blog in China if Blogspot is blocked.

In Him,

    Chelsey :)

More pics

Here are some more pictures that Laurie sent us. These were pictures that were in Avery's (her daughter- in the denim jacket) photo album. She scanned the pictures and sent them to us.


Caelyn is front and left. :) Making the face.
Caelyn is on the right (her hand is in front of her face). The sweet thing about this picture is that all four of these girls are either already home in America or on their way! :) Avery lives in Texas by the way, but we hope to keep her and Caelyn in touch.
You can barely see Caelyn in this one. Her head is right behind Avery's hood.
Caelyn is in the back row on the far left.
In this one, if you can see it clearly enough, Caelyn is in the front, on the ground second to the left (green jacket).

In Him,
Chelsey :)

Tickets and Pics!

My mom has been in constant communication with our Travel Agent for the past 3 days. We have finally decided to travel Delta and leave from Atlanta. What this means is that we will be driving to Atlanta Wednesday, January 20 (after school), staying in a hotel overnight, leaving from Atlanta at 7:30 am, Thursday January 21. Our itinerary (which we dont have yet) requires us to be in China on Saturday January 23, which is why we will be arriving in China on Friday late at night (which is good for jet lag!) Here are our Flight details:

Atlanta, GA -> Minneapolis, MI
Minneapolis, MI -> Tokyo
Tokyo -> HongKong
HongKong -> 2 hr train ride over to GuangDong
TOTAL: (about) 26 hours... (Not including time-change....)

So- with a 14 hour time difference, leaving Atlanta on Thursday the 21, will put us in Guangdong, China on Friday the 22. Thats a lot of earth to cover! :)

As you can see we are all very excited! We have recieved a few more pictures of Caelyn as well from Laurie (which are not on this computer, I will upload them later). We have multiple websites that my mom is trying out because we are not sure if Blogger will be available in China. Because of their government, many websites are blocked- Facebook is one (so we will not be updating our statuses for a while). I will also post the addresses to those sites.

Please PRAY for
1) school work to get done while we are in China. I am already losing what minimal motivation I had in school, simply because I have so much else that I could be doing (and would rather be doing- speaking of which I have to read 100 pages of 1066 by tomorrow...) I will be missing almost 2 weeks of school- which is a lot of work- especially Junior year at Westminster!! I will be writing my huge thesis/semester paper while in China... (though it is on adoption...)

2) Travel. I travel well. I've done it alot. However, I don't know how my family will handle having 14 hours of jet lag. I know its part of Travel, but we will be meeting Caelyn on Monday, January 25th, and none of us want to be "out of it".

3)And finally, we have 3 great praises!
First, thank God for providing some financial help! Some friends of ours have given us a BUNCH of skymiles! There were enough to cover all four of our tickets (round trip)! Caelyn's will be the only one we have to cover. How wonderful is that! Thank you Brian and thank you God! :D
Secondly we are meeting Caelyn on my mom's 45th birthday! How neat is that!? My mom loves telling people that (and tears up every time). We realized yeterday it was her "birth"day. haha
Lastly- we had a shower for Caelyn yesterday! I can't tell you how blessed we are to have so many gracious friends! It was a tremendous blessing! Caelyn has clothes for the next year ad toys for life! haha. Thank you everyone who helped out, came, or gave anything. We truly appreciate all of it! She's gonna be so excited!


Thanks!
In Him,
Chelsey :)

Consulate Appointment

Just an update on our travel dates: Karla was able to get a copy of the Travel Approval document, which apparently was enough to apply for a consulate appointment- our next step. When we receive our appointment to meet with the Chinese Consulate, we will plan our trip around that date. Right now, it is looking like our appointment will be on the 1st or 3rd of February, which would put us at leaving in less than three weeks. :) This is very exciting! Can't wait to see how God works this out!

Please pray for my family. We are under a whole lot of stress. That's all I can say as now my mom has called me to take the dog out. Please pray that we would feel God's eminent presence and be filled with his peace.

Thanks.

In Him,
Chelsey :)

Sight and Sound

A friend of ours that just recently got back from China (Avery Ya's mom) has sent us a video of Caelyn that she got when they visited the orphanage! Its very exciting to see her move! haha Its short but sweet! She's so beautiful! Take a look: this link should take you to Laurie's Flip videos, where you can watch it:

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/6a8142b8286b6a9ce30a5a1c00a59c5f/video/9013892

In Him,
Chelsey :)

The Waiting Wanes

Here are some pictures to give you a better feel of where we will be in China:



We will most likely be staying at the White Swan Hotel. This is the lobby. Isn't it beautiful?!?


Here is a map of China. We will be in southern China, in Guongdong province. Right now, Caelyn lives the city of Zhongshan.Just thought this was exciting. :)

In Him, Chelsey

June 15, 2008- January 5, 2010

June 15, 2008- Home from China missions trip
July 27, 2008- Initial paper work finished
August 2, 2008- First official home-study meeting
December 3, 2008- Fingerprints complete (this was a big deal)
April 6, 2009- Complete Home-study sent to Immigration
June 15, 2009- Immigration Approval
July 27, 2009- DTC/Docier to China
September 16, 2009- Official Referral for Yang Yi
September 17, 2009- LOI/Letter of Intent sent
September 28, 2009- LID/Log In Date
October 12, 2009- PA/Pre-Approval
November 16, 2009- LOA/Letter of Acceptance
November 27, 2009- I-797C (application recieved)
December 16, 2009- Visas recieved from China
December 22, 2009- Article 5 Letter completed and arrived in America
January 4, 2010- Travel Approval

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!

We have finally reached the end of our seemingly endless waiting! :) At 9:45 last night, I was lying in my bed, when I heard my mom scream, "TRAVEL APPROVAL!" :) The thrill and excitement that ran through me is indescribable! My heart may have skipped a beat as I ran to meat my sister in the hall, who immediately started spazzing out on the ground.

So yes, its true, we have travel approval. We wont have a specific date until Monday- we dont have a consulate appointment yet. Karla is aiming for January 26/27th for our appointment, which will put us at leaving on the 16/17th. :) Its very exciting!

Right now we're gathering information about travel, where we'll stay, etc- er... my mom is. I am trying to maintain whatever minimal motivation is left to keep going at school. XP Please pray for perseverence, focus, and strength in Christ my Rock and Salvation!

Thank you for your prayers! We have seen so many people providing for us! You are a blessing to my family!

In Him,
Chelsey :)