We are going to China! It's official!

Okay, we finally got our consulate appointment and itinerary today so we are pretty much finalized with our trip. We are in the middle of making our purchase for the international flight. I am only blogging because we are waiting for our travel agent to check on something for us. So far, we are leaving for China on February 18th and returning March 2nd. We have a crazy two days of flying from here to Chicago to Hong Kong and then Nanning, China. We are expected to arrive at the airport in Nanning at 10:15pm on February 19th and that is if everything goes smoothly. We are going to be one tired and cranky family. However, we get to meet our new daughter and sister the next day, my BIRTHDAY! February 20th is our Gotcha Day! It is amazing how God has timed everything so perfectly for us! And to think we have been complaining and whining this past year at how long it has taken and why doesn't it happen in our time...because God had His plan in place. We will be in Nanning through the 24th and then we all catch a flight to Guangzhou for the remainder of the trip. Brielle will have a medical exam and our consulate appointment in Guangzhou. As for Nanning, we will have four days to bond with Brielle and learn about her province. I think we are going to opt out on visiting the orphanage. We were disappointed that we were denied access to Longji's orphanage, but looking back, we feel like it was a blessing in disguise.

We are taking the infamous train trip to Hong Kong (those who are following this blog from our last trip know what I am talking about), staying overnight and then we will fly back through San Francisco to San Antonio. We should be home at around 7:00pm March 2nd...tired and cranky again, but one happy and complete family (at least we think it will be complete).

Merry Christmas

We have had an eventful few days and we are not close to slowing down now that we have TA! Let the packing lists begin!

We had a wonderful time with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We generally spend Christmas Eve at John's parents and then Christmas day at mine. When it is all said and done, Longji ends up with three stockings full of goodies, mostly candy. This year's anticipation was a little different for Longji because he had a better understanding of the holiday, whereas last year it was his first Christmas and he new something exciting was going on, but didn't quite get it until it was all happening. It can be extremely overwhelming for us parents, but for a six year old boy who has never had this kind of experience before, it is quite an event. His focus this year was more family oriented and of course, he congratulated Jesus on his birthday and sang to him a couple of times. Don't get me wrong, he loved all of the presents he opened, but yesterday at home he would open a gift from John and I and then get up to hug and kiss each of us telling us thank you. It was so sweet and he truly appreciated his gifts.

As for this week, we will spend some time cleaning out the garage...again. We have some serious planning/organizing to do and it is best we knock things out now while we are on break from school. January is going to be crazy and we will have little time on the weekends to prepare for the trip. Jordyn turns 16, John has a birthday and we will celebrate Chinese New Year also. This is one of the Chinese cultural events that we decided from the beginning we would celebrate every year with our family. We should know Wednesday for sure what our itinerary is for the trip and then we simply (it's really not that simple) wait.


The Laymon Family


John and the kids (soon to be 5 of them)


The boys


Santa's treats


Longji, Ginger and Jackson Christmas Eve


Christmas Eve, practicing with the new camera we got from John's parents. Yes, I'm in pajamas.


Christmas Eve, right before bed.


The stockings were too heavy for the bookshelf so Santa placed them on the couch. We are going to have to upgrade in the near future. More space will be a necessity.


Christmas morning, right out of bed. John and I were anxious parents up at 6:00am ready to go. Longji, however, slept until 8:00am and then we really started making noise to wake him up.


This of course is after we opened gifts. The "big" gift this year was the
Nintendo 3DS. Now John wants one! You can see one of our dogs, Ginger, with her little Santa in the mouth. She paced through the house for hours trying to find the perfect spot for her "baby." She's still pacing...


Airplanes are always a winner with Longji. Look at that smile!


Thank you Great Grandma!


More goodies!


Check out that happy boy!

Ice Skating and Sea World

Today was such a fantastic day! First, we received our TA as mentioned in the previous post...still shocked about it. We took on some ice skating this afternoon which was quite the adventure. I will be feeling it tomorrow. John got some action photos of Longji. He is falling in most of them, but he had such a blast. We wrapped up some last minute errands this afternoon and then we went out to Sea World's Christmas show this evening. It was cold, but we had a great time. Unfortunately, some of the pictures from Sea World are a little blurry, sorry. The camera batteries died out on us and the Flip camera doesn't take the greatest pictures at night. I have also included a picture of Longji this evening enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate and some cookies with "Flat Frosty." He is also in an ice skating picture with Longji's cousin, Avry. We had an eventful day, full of family fun and many blessings. Looking forward to the next few days of Christmas and thinking of Brielle. Her stocking is up and ready for her as are all of us.

TA Baby!

We got TA early this morning! Looks like we are traveling mid February and I will meet my little girl possibly on my birthday. We met Longji on Mother's Day and now Brielle on my birthday...wow! We are skipping the Beijing tour this time around so that may put us on a plane Saturday, February 18th. Still waiting on final dates. I hate the fact that we are traveling in just under two months. It seems so far away, but again, we know it's His timing, not ours. These next seven weeks will move quickly and before you know it we will be back at school counting down the days to summer! Here we come Brielle!!!!!!

On another topic, we are attempting ice skating today so I will post pictures later. Should be interesting.

Christmas Pictures and Brielle Update

We have been busy this last week with various holiday events so I am posting some pictures from these below. No word on travel dates yet. We do, however, have our visas in our hands so we are officially ready to get on that plane. Meanwhile, it is getting harder and harder to wait, especially with the holidays. Brielle really should be here celebrating her first Christmas and New Year's with us.

Christmas is Here!

Below are a few pictures from our FCC Breakfast with Santa event. Initially, Longji was a little scared to go up to Santa. Santa called his name and Longji sat silent and still...hoping nobody would notice him. This is not characteristic of our little boy so we were shocked! It was a nice event and we always look forward to meeting up with current members and new ones for these types of celebrations.













Last night we tackled the Christmas tree and some various decorations around the house. I have a lot of nice Party Lite pieces so I like setting these out every Christmas and when they are lit up the house is just beautiful with the tree up. Of course Thomas, the elf, has been kind enough to work around the decorations everywhere. He is still visiting and listening to Longji every day.







Sadly, no update on Travel Approval yet. We did receive an e-mail that explains what happens to travel during Chinese New Year. We are hoping for a Christmas miracle that this won't affect us. If we are not on a plane by January 2nd, we can't travel until February 5th. Another long agonizing month...this is like an elephant pregnancy!