Quick update

Well, sorry I am little late in posting this, but we made it to Guangzhou on Saturday after noon. Navigating through the train staiton once we got to guangzhou was quite stressful, because there was a miscommunication and our guide was nowhere to be found. Thank goodness our friends from b'ham, Derek and Rushton were with us. Derek and Stephen managed to track down a couple of taxis to get us to our hotel. This city is very different from Hong Kong. The smog is heavy and the drivers are worse than New York. There was definitely a feeling of 'we're not in Kansas anymore, toto'! Our hotel is absolutely beautiful and very accomodating. Once we got to our room they had a crib set up with a gift basket of baby stuff in it. I still cannot believe we are here! The time has almost come. It is 1:30am here and I am sleepless. My wheels are turning in my head, anticipating what is to come. Please continue to pray for Hannah, as this is her last night in the only place she has ever known. We were told that she is shy and does not like strangers, but that she loves to be around little kids. I must admit there have been a couple of moments where I was thinking 'now why did we bring our kids?', but after hearing her tell us that, now I know. Sarah Grace and Jacob a SUPER excited! We noticed that in every picture we had of Hannah she was always with her nanny. I am sure that the initial pass off will be so scary for her:(. Please pray that she will allow us to comfort her. The big moment will be at 2:30 this (Monday) afternoon. 12:30am your time. There are 6 other families getting there children at that same time. 3 of them are friends from my adoption coffee group back home. It has been really fun being here with them. Praise God for allowing us to be here together! I believe we will be leaning in each other quite a bit. How awesome that our girls will know some familiar faces once we get home. Well I am going to try and get some sleep.....BIG day ahead!
I am blogging on our iPad which is not letting me upload any photos (any ideas on how?), so I am just going to post our pics on Facebook if or until I can figure it out.
Will post again after Gotcha Day:)
Love,
Kim

Next stop, Guangzhou....

It is 7:30 am Saturday here in Hong Kong. We arrived at our hotel about 9 last night. It was a very long day, but the kids did so, so good. Sarah Grace slept almost a full nights sleep on the plane and Jacob slept about half that. We watched lots of movies! It was a pretty easy flight, but the last 4 hours seemed like eternity. Most of you know how I HATE flying and this was the thing I was most nervous about from day one. Well, huge praise.....I have never felt more calm and peace! I didn't even have to take my doctor prescribed 'chill pill';).
It truly warms my heart to see all the kind words of encourage and prayer coming from all of you back home. They are being felt!!
We are going to grab some breakfast and walk around downtown Hong Kong (which is a beautiful city and a lot like New York). Then we will take a 1 1/2 hr train ride to Guangzhou where we will be the remainder of our trip. We are so close to Hannah now!
Love,
Kim

Here we go....

The day started off very early, but everyone woke up quite chipper and ready to go. Sarah Grace talked ninety to nothin the entire way to the airport. She said "I am just so excited." The first flight was a success! Sarah Grace was a little scared at first, but ended up loving it. Jacob loved it too. I am surprising calm and Stepehn is, well, Stephen;). My mom and I keep saying that it still doesn't feel real! You may hear this a hundred times, but I am so thankful that she and the kids came along.
We are resting at a hotel in the Detroit airport before we take off to Hong Kong. We will arrive in Hong Kong when y'all are waking up tomorrow. I will post again when we get there!!
Love,
Kim

4 days and counting....

I cannot believe how close we really are! 6am Thursday morning we will be on our way to Detroit where we will have a 6 hour layover (UGH!) and then we are off on our 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. PRAYERS PLEASE!!! We will arrive there at 8:45pm on Friday, spend the night and take a train to Goungzhou Saturday, March 3, where we will stay the remainder of the trip. We will be taking the same route back in and arrive in Sweet HOME Alabama at 4:30pm on Friday March 16. I am tired just thinking about it. I feel as prepared as I am going to be. It has taken weeks to plan/pack for this trip. I have had to think out every possible scenario in my head. I have packed enough medicine and food to take care of a small army! Stephen laughs at me, but hey, he will be thanking me when we are stuck in the room with 3 kiddos on what appears to be quite a rainy trip. Looking at the next 10 days in Guangzhou, 9 out of 10 of them are rainy!!!

Sarah Grace and Jacob seem to have a grasp on what will go on. We have talked to them about the whys and whats for a couple of years now. They get it about as much as a 6 and 4 year old could, I guess. Please pray for them, as what lies ahead could be scary at times. Please pray that they will feel safe, loved, secure and pray that they would be okay with sharing some of the attention.

As for Hannah, pray for that moment that she leaves her nannies arms and is placed in ours (Monday, March 5). How scary that will be for her. Please pray for a smooth transition and supernatural comfort and healing of her greiving heart. Poor baby has been through a lot in her short 18 months of life. Pray that she would be able to fully trust that Stephen and I will love her unconditionally and take care of all her needs, forever.

Lastly, please pray for wisdom for Stephen and I. Decision making is tough as a parent. These little ones rely on us. Pray that we would seek God in every decision made, down to every tiny detail. Pray for God's hedge of protection around Hannah, Jacob, Sarah Grace, Stephen, Mom and me. My mom is stepping way out of her comfort zone traveling to the other side of the world to many unknowns. Please pray that she would feel God's presence at every turn. Pray for good health (SG and Jacob have this cough that they cannot shake and it is making me a bit nervous), and just a fun time! I am overjoyed that we can take this trip as a family:)

I have an incredible group of friends and family! Thank you all for your overwhelming support and prayers. Keep it coming, as this journey is just beginning! Thank you for loving us! We love you all very much!

Praise Him through whom all blessing flow!! And to God be all the honor and glory and praise!!!

Blessing!!
Kim

It's time!!!

After a long 22 months it is finally time to bring our daughter home! Two weeks from today we will be on an airplane bound for China! Hannah's bag is packed and her room is ready. We are coming, sweet girl, coming to bring you HOME!

More details to come!

The Home Stretch!

Okay, so I admit, I am terrible at this blogging thing! It has been forever since my last post. But pretty much it has just been a lot of waiting. I can finally say we are in the home stretch! We are now waiting for travel approval (well, the wait will officially begin once our paperwork is dropped off at the CCCWA in a couple of days). I really cannot believe we are at this point. The last year and a half have been incredibly emotional, but I would not trade ANY of it. God has revealed Himself in so many ways and His presence in my life has never been felt more! I am grateful that He has called us to this journey.
In the beginning, I had major anxiety about traveling that far since I am pretty much a home-body, but God has made me soooooo ready that I don't care how I get there, I just want to get our little girl!!!
What is really exciting is that my mom and the kids will be traveling with us! This was a last minute decision that the Lord made the way for. We are estimated to travel early March, but we are praying for late February. We are all so excited. I don't know if my mom is more excited about going or not having to keep my kids for two weeks;) We are thrilled to death that she wants to come along:) If it wasn't for her we would not even attempt to take the kiddos. What a blessing it will be for Sarah Grace and Jacob to get to experience the culture their sister came from and see what life is like on the other side of the world. All of our lives will be forever changed, and for this, I am grateful.
I have made so many special friends through this process and got to experience the tears and the smiles with them. It has been so much fun to watch some of them bring their daughters home! We will have a really big play group very soon when we all have our babies home with us.

The above picture is Hannah at 15 months. She is now almost 18 months and we are waiting on an update from her orphange. I will keep y'all posted;)!

Blessings,
Kim

The Moment We Have Been Waiting For!!!!

We are proud to introduce Hannah Marie Miller!!

We got the exciting news Sept 9th late in the afternoon. We will travel to China in 4-6 months. We are so ready to do this!! She is such a doll and we cannot wait to hold her in our arms and bring her HOME! She is 13 months old and will be around 18 months when we go to get her. The kids are super excited. Jacob continues to ask "Are you going to get my baby sister tomorrow?" Sarah Grace is excited to 'carry her around':) I am in awe of God's grace and faithfulness. He has brought me a loooong way as I know many of you have witnessed this. What a blessing this whole experience has been. Our lives have been forever changed!!!