Wednesday, January 31, 2007
We're here!!
Our wake up call this morning will be at 5:00 - obviously no need for that. We're going to meet downstairs for breakfast and then board the bus at 6:20 to go back to the airport. What a whirlwind! We catch our plane to go to Guangzhou at 8:45 and I think it's a 3 hour flight. By the time we get there, we'll have just enough time to throw our bags in our room and we'll be out the door again to get Samara. Can you believe that? It's so soon now. And the funny thing is that it still doesn't seem real. I suppose it's gonna take having her in our arms finally to make it very, very real. We were looking out our window last night saying, "I can't believe we're in China!"
We had a chance to call home quickly last night. It was nice to talk to the kids (and you too Peggy). They sound like they're having a lot of fun.
Thank you to everyone who has left comments and emails. When I opened my sympatico account this morning, I had 48 messages! Awesome. It's so nice to hear from everyone.
For those of you who had problems leaving a comment, this is how you do it: Underneath this post it will say 5 comments or however many comments there are for this post. Just click on that and you should be able to leave a comment without a blogger account by just signing in as anonymous.
We're here!!
Our wake up call this morning will be at 5:00 - obviously no need for that. We're going to meet downstairs for breakfast and then board the bus at 6:20 to go back to the airport. What a whirlwind! We catch our plane to go to Guangzhou at 8:45 and I think it's a 3 hour flight. By the time we get there, we'll have just enough time to throw our bags in our room and we'll be out the door again to get Samara. Can you believe that? It's so soon now. And the funny thing is that it still doesn't seem real. I suppose it's gonna take having her in our arms finally to make it very, very real. We were looking out our window last night saying, "I can't believe we're in China!"
We had a chance to call home quickly last night. It was nice to talk to the kids (and you too Peggy). They sound like they're having a lot of fun.
Thank you to everyone who has left comments and emails. When I opened my sympatico account this morning, I had 48 messages! Awesome. It's so nice to hear from everyone.
For those of you who had problems leaving a comment, this is how you do it: Underneath this post it will say 5 comments or however many comments there are for this post. Just click on that and you should be able to leave a comment without a blogger account by just signing in as anonymous.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sleep?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Specific Prayer Requests
We know that so many of you will be thinking about us while we are away and here are a few specific requests to add to your prayer list:
- pray for safety and good health for us (including my mom) as we travel and during our stay in China
- pray for health and safety for Samara and also pray for her as she goes through a huge life change
- pray for health and safety for Victoria and Austin and Grandma and Grandpa Carmody as they stay behind and that all may go well with that
Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers.
Stay tuned . . . the best is yet to come.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
2 more sleeps . . .
Friday, January 26, 2007
The Cute Canada Outfit
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Thursday
Monday, January 22, 2007
Oh Canada!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Nine more sleeps!
We've reached single digits now! Only nine more opportunities to sleep . . . I hope I'm able to sleep for all nine of them. :) So far so good in the sleep department. I think because my mind is so busy all day long with a hundred and one things all at once, by the time bedtime comes around I'm so exhausted that I fall right to sleep (last night it was 8:30 pm!) Hopefully I'll continue to have good sleeps so I feel rested when we board that plane in nine short days.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
In China Itinerary
We leave Toronto airport on Tuesday, January 30 and have a short stop over in Vancouver. From Vancouver, we fly direct to Beijing and arrive there (with the 13 hour time difference) on Wednesday, January 31. We will stay for one night in Beijing and on Thursday, February 1, we will fly from Beijing to Guangzhou and that same day is GOTCHA DAY!!!! For those of you who aren't familiar with adoption lingo, that's the day we actually get Samara. We will stay in Guangzhou until February 9. Here's the hotel we will be staying in:
During our stay in Guangzhou we will be busy sightseeing, shopping, and just trying to get to know our daughter. We are scheduled to see things like the Six Banyan Temple, the Guangzhou Zoo, the White Cloud Mountain in between all the paperwork that needs to be completed such as the final adoption paperwork and Samara's passport. So needless to say, we'll be very busy!
On Friday, February 9 we will be flying from Guangzhou back to Beijing and will be staying in this hotel:
Again, we will be very busy touring around and taking in as much of China's culture as we can. We will be seeing thing such as the Great Wall, Tian’an Men Square, Forbidden City and again more paperwork and a medical for Samara.
Between caring for Samara and all the sightseeing that's scheduled, I have a feeling this trip will go by very fast. On Thursday, February 15, we will be flying directly from Beijing to Toronto.
Wow, it's still so hard to believe that we will finally be united with our little girl. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we get all the last minute details in place.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Carmody Pharmacy
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Chinese Lanterns
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Packing . . .
I can't believe what a big job it is. I haven't even attempted putting it in a suitcase and weighing it yet. Apparently Air Canada will let us check in two suitcases per person, each weighing no more than 50 lbs. (100 lbs per person). But then when we arrive in China we will need to leave some of our luggage in storage in Beijing. when we fly from Beijing to the province where Samara is (Guangdong) we are only allowed to take one suitcase per person, each weighing 44 lbs. That's a huge difference! So we'll have to get it all figured out here and have it all weighed so we know exactly what we're taking to Guangdong since I'm sure the hotel room in Beijing won't have a bathroom scale. Just typing about this is stressing me out!!
Ok, that's not all I've been up to. I went shopping with my sister yesterday. We met at Vaughn Mills and shopped till we dropped. I took Austin with me and my sister took my 3-year-old neice along too. Shopping with kids isn't always recommended and can often lead to frustration and cutting the trip short . . . however, they were great and had a lot of fun together. We arrived at 10:00 am and left at around 7:00 pm. (that includes playtime breaks and two meals - lunch and supper). But it was a long day and Austin crashed pretty much as soon as we got into the van to drive home. But being a prepared mom, I already had him in his pj's and transferred him right into bed when we got home. What a great day we had - and probably my last outing for a long time. I bought a few things for Samara - The Children's Place had some great deals and I really couldn't resist. The best deal though was at Please Mum where I got two pairs of tights for Samara for a grand total of $2.10!!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Please pray
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Congratulations!
Well referrals are pouring in all over the world right now. We just want to say congratulations to all those families who are seeing the faces of their little ones for the first time today (or perhaps tomorrow). We know exactly the joy and excitement you're feeling right now. I love looking at all those pictures on the blogs - so cute!
It's only been a month ago since we got our referral phone call about Samara but man does it ever feel like forever ago! C'mon January - are you almost done??
China from the Inside
Debut: Documentaries about China, focusing on topics like women, nature and freedom. First up: the Communist Party's control over 1.3 billion people. Included: village elections; corruption and people's trust; comments from citizens.
Think they'll give us any tips on what to pack for an adoption journey??? (ha ha!!)
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Beautiful City Names
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada:
Victoria, British Columbia is always in season! Victoria has the mildest climate in Canada, and is a place so green all year that flowers fall out of the sky and even the lamp posts bloom. It is no wonder that it is called The Garden City! The wild beauty of the Pacific coast and the adventure of the great outdoors are within the city limits and ocean and mountain vistas will follow you wherever you go. (taken from the Tourism Victoria website)
Austin, Texas, USA:
Austin is the seat of Texas' state government. The Texas Capitol is the largest state capitol(taken from the City of Austin Website).
Austin is just simply not like the rest of Texas. From the quirky cast of characters that populate Congress Avenue to burnt orange-clad University of Texas students, bats to Longhorns, four-star restaurants to down-home barbecue joints, corporate CEOs to struggling musicians, Texas' capital city stands apart from the rest.
It's hip and trendy, yet in a vintage sort of way. It's high-tech and laid-back. It's politically charged and culturally rich. It's eclectic by nature and creative by design. Most of all, it's a place where people like to have a good time (taken from the Austin, Texas website).
Well, guess what? Samara is also a city - in Russia:
Samara is located on the left bank of the Volga river. Most of the city area occupies the country between the Volga river and its left tributaries — Samara and Sok. The city length down the river front is 50 km from the north to the south, its northern boundary is formed by Sokolyi Hills ranging on the bank of the Sok river.
The city stretches out from the Volga to the east for 20 km and adjoins limitless prairies (known here as steppes). The land within the city boundaries covers 46 597 ha. From the heights of Samara one can see one of the most picturesque places of the Volga bend. Most of the Zhiguli Hills area is situated on the territory of the national park Samarskaya Luka.
Samara is situated in the zone where climate is of continental type characterized by hot summer and cold winter. The average temperature of the warmest month (July) is +23.2°C. In summer the temperature can be as high as +39°C, and in winter it sometimes drops to -43°C. (taken from the official website of Samara)
And Samara is also a beautiful beach!
Samara Beach, Costa Rica:
Costa Rica's hidden tropical paradise on the Pacific coast.
Samara has a superb coral reef and its own picturesque wooded island in the bay - Isla Chora. It's popular with swimmers and windsurfers, and it's an ideal beach for your kids. Samara is not only a charming beach resort, with a wide choice of friendly and attractive hotels, restaurants, bars and discos, but, unlike other Pacific Ocean resorts, it is also a thriving fishing and farming community (taken from the Samara Beach website).
Boxing Day deals
Well we decided to go shopping anyway just for fun. The first thing I found was this Leap Frog doll "Lily" for Samara.
I've thought about getting one for her before because I think it would be a good way to teach her colours, numbers and letters. When I saw it on Boxing Day at Sears it was a good price and I couldn't resist. Then when I went up to pay for it, it was even cheaper than I thought - gotta love that! We plan to give this to Samara for her 1st birthday and I feel good that I will have something to give her because we will only be home from China for two weeks when she turns one and I can't see myself getting out to do a lot of shopping in that time.
After we left the mall, we headed over to Chapters bookstore just to browse. When I walked in the door I saw a large display of Robeez slippers and was immediately drawn to them. I had a pair for Austin when he was little and they're great. Since I've never seen them go on sale, I was so surprised to see the "50% off" sign. That's right . . . 50% off!!! Can you believe that?
I think they were on sale because they're part of the 2006 Holiday Collection. So despite the fact that Samara's footwear will be outdated, I think they're cute! In fact, I liked them so much, I got a blue pair for my little nephew too (now you know how much I paid for them David and Christel!)