Beijing....Here we COME!!!! Travel Details...

We visited with our adoption agency representative, Karla, via conference call this week.  She helped us clear some of the muddy details about travel in China.  We hope to receive TA or travel approval this week.  After we have TA, we can make a consulate appointment in Guangzhou.  It looks like the earliest consulate date that we could get would be July 24th.  The consulate appointment is one of the last official things that we will do in China, so we can back up two weeks prior to the 24th and estimate that we would travel around the 10th of July. 

1.  We hope to pick Phillip up at Shepherd's Field near Beijing which is really a foster care facility. We hope to have a day or two there so that Karl and Brit can tour the facility, meet the children, and meet the folks in the offices and those that have cared for Phillip.
2.  We will still have to return to Phillip's original province, Shaanxi, in order to get his passport and to make him OFFICIALLY OURS!  We will need to stay there for a week.
3.  When we finish in Shaanxi Province, we will go to Guangzhou where all adoptive families go to finalize their adoptions.  We will be staying in the Garden Hotel where many other adoptive families will be staying as well.  We will be there for another week.  We were very grateful to learn that we won't be in government offices and working on paperwork all of that time.  Some time is built in for bonding and sight seeing as well.  During our time in Guangzhou, Phillip will receive medical exams and immunizations. 
4.  We can return to Spokane after 7pm on the night after our consulate appointment.  We may take the bullet train to Hong Kong in order to get a quicker flight home.
Thank you for continuing to pray about these things:
*Resources to travel, to complete the remodel on our home, and to care for Phillip's medical needs.
*Unity in our family.  That we would be free from stress and anxiety despite the many remaining details.
*That even now, God would be working in Phillip's heart and preparing him to come home.
*Safety/Health/Protection from injury as we travel.
*That we would be able to convey our gratefulness to Phillip's caregivers and our concern for his friends that he will leave behind.
*That we would do this God's way and that we would represent Him well.
*Bonding with Phillip
*A new wheelchair for Phillip.

Final countdown.....

Dear AMAZINGLY supportive Friends and Family,
     We're counting the weeks until we get to go get Phillip.  Many of you faithfully ask questions and bless us with your interest in Phillip.  Here are a few quick thoughts.
     *We met Carmen Devries at the airport yesterday.  He arrival is bittersweet.  We love to spend time with her while she is home from PNG, but we may miss her when she returns in July.  Since we might be in China upon her return, we'll visit with her this weekend.  We were really hoping that she would be here to meet Phillip.
     *We might meet a lot of friends in CHINA when we go to get Phillip.  Steve Allen and Spokane's Lilac Court will be in China at around the same time.  Several interns from Shepherd's Field that we've met via Facebook will be there as well.
     *Phillip's friend, Blossom, learned about her family this week.  Her adoption should be complete about 3 days before her 14th birthday.  Phew!  Unfortunately, her good news caused Phillip to be upset.  Sara Zhou comforted him and told him that he would get some good news soon.
     *Chantal Cox, a friend whose daughter was in my class and who has prayed for Phillip, made a beautiful Spiderman quilt for Phillip's room.  I was searching for the perfect quilt, but God had it covered!
     *We will take Brit and Kyle with us to China.  We've prayed about it and processed this long and HARD.  Someone asked us to go into the future in our thinking and to look back to the events of this summer.  Of course, we knew that there would be huge blessings in terms of bonding and shared experience.  Since Brit and Kyle will have to return to college soon after we return home, we feel this time as a family is crucial.  On a more practical note, many places in China do not have wheelchair access.  Friends that have taken Phillip into town have sometimes needed to carry him.  We may need all of us to move around China and to transport Phillip and his belongings this first time.
     Thanks for the many ways that you express interest in and support for Phillip and our family.  This is truly a leap of faith!
     The Crofts
     KKPB&J