Final China Update

I can't belied that we are actually typing this, but its our FINAL update while in China!!!!  The last few days have been filled with appointments, sightseeing, and down time at the hotel.  We discovered a park near our hotel and have visited it a couple times.  We also ventured out into the city in taxis and actually made it where we wanted to go and back to the hotel!  We found Shamian Island and loved the feel of Savanah Georgia that it had.  We will probably go back again Friday morning.  Today was our US Consulate appointment and all went well.  Now we just wait to receive the boys' visas and we are free to leave with them!  We leave for Hong Kong Sat am and stay there over night and catch our plane to the US Sunday morning.  Its hard to see all the other families leaving already, but we are just thankful that we got to come in Sept so a few extra days doesn't seem all that bad!  The boys continue to get to know us and we are getting to see more of their personalities come through.  We can't wait to be back home and feel like we can start living every day life as a family of 5.  Here are the last few pics we have from this week.  We would ask for your prayers as we prep for the 15 hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago.  We aren't sure what to expect from them, but prayers for rest and few diaper changes would be much appreciated!!! Also, please pray for the jet lag for all of us.  We know it will take several weeks to get completely back on schedule, but quicker would be great too!  We will post once we get back home and keep everyone updated on their progress.  Thanks again for all your support!!

Caffrey's hat choice!

Cavin's hat choice!

Fish Watching

Gibson's hat choice!

US Consulate Day

Med day done!

We have now been a family of 5 for a whole week.  As a family we've now traveled on a bullet train, taken a trip on an airplane, had many long bus rides, taken a river boat ride and as of today survived the dreaded medical appointment.  We were so thankful that the medical stations went fast and the boys were mostly happy until the blood draw for the TB test.  Of course Blair was waiting with a camera to capture their pitiful crying faces as the nurses brought them out to us.  The cries didn't last long and our afternoon was filled with plenty of fun and even Starbucks for mom and dad!  We now wait in the hotel room tomorrow for the results of the TB test and pray we don't get called back for a chest x ray.  Then the next day we have our consulate appointment and then wait 48 hours for the visas to arrive so we can travel home.  We are thankful now to say with each day that it is our last Monday, Tuesday, etc.  Again we thank all of you for your prayers as we near the end of this portion of our adoption journey.

Sweet and Sour: The Past 60 Hours

The much anticipated Gotcha day was on Monday and we were so anxious to become a family of 5.  We had no idea which boy would arrive first and were excited to see Caffrey was already waiting for us.  The pictures are on our camera and so we will have to post the actual reunion another time.  He was scared and cried most of the time we were there.  Cavin arrived about 20 minutes later and began making friends with the american children and didn't shed a tear.  Once all the initial paperwork was signed we were able to go back to the hotel to begin bonding.  The rest of the night went really well and the boys enjoyed playing with the few toys we brought with us.  Gibson did great keeping them entertained.

Day 2 with our boys was busy with a trip to sign and receive official adoption certificates for both boys.  This 2 hour adventure was followed by a trip to get Caffrey's passport photo and paperwork started.  When we returned last night we were exhausted but extremely excited to hear the boys asking for us to hold them and calling us mama and baba already!

Day 3(today) has been filled with challenges.  We had to wake the boys at 6:30 to be able to take the bullet train to get Cavin's passport started and to visit his orphanage.  The boys did well on the trip to the city but on the way back the early wake up and the fact that they both missed their nap made for a restless ride.  Once back at the hotel it was too late to put them down for a nap and so we did our best to keep them busy by visiting the pool.  Neither were huge fans, but they tolerated the water and even started splashing toward the end.  Since both boys were tired we didn't want to venture too far from the hotel for supper so we ate at the hotel's italian restaurant.  This was asking too much from our sleepy crew.  Many tears and tantrums later we did finish our pizza and got back to the room for a very early bedtime also filled with tears.

We are so thankful that our only trip tomorrow is here in the city to visit Caffrey's orphanage.  We should not miss naps and should get much needed rest.   Living out of a hotel in a foreign city with children who do not speak your language isn't ideal but we know this part of the journey will soon be over.  Please pray for needed sleep.  Overall we are so thankful that both boys seem to be bonding to us well.  Gibson too has been phenomenal and does all he can to make sure the boys are happy!    

Here are a few pictures we've taken with our phone.  Both boys have great personalities and their smiles just melt our hearts!

Bedtime stories with BaBa

Cavin's Nanny

This guy is a ham!!

Mommy's All American Boy

Bullet train to passport office

His bedding/nametage were still there just in case we decided no

He loves Daddy's sunglasses

Officially a Benefield

Officially a Benefield

Breakfast with Mommy

Beijing adventure

Wow!  That's about the best word to describe the last 4 days.  We had a long day of travel to get to Beijing (almost 24 hours from the time we left home until we arrived at our hotel in Beijing).  Even though it was long it was a smooth trip.  We even ventured out from our hotel and had our first local meal-Pizza Hut.

The next morning we met up with our travel group and began touring the city.  We visited Tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, took a ricksha tour of Old Beijing and ate lunch with a local family.  In the evening we were exhausted and on our own but we did find a Starbucks and walked around a shopping mall.

Today we got an opportunity of a lifetime, and walked on The Great Wall.  After climbing for about 2 hours we stopped at a Jade showroom.  Then we ended our afternoon with a acrobatic show.  We were so worn out we decided to skip dinner, walk around and take in the local food at the street vendors, and just pack up for our early flight in the morning.

Below are a few highlight photos from our last few tour days.  Thanks for all those who are continuing to pray for us.  We are so close to meeting our boys and are getting very anxious.  Our next blog will include pictures of our boys in our arms.  We can't wait to post those pictures!