Day 5 "Gotcha Day"

We'd like to present to you the newest member of the Campbell family,

Hannah Qingchu Campbell.


Just before leaving the hotel at 8:30 we stopped to take one last family photo of 4, wearing the new color coming into our house...PINK.



We all then boarded a bus to the government office where the "exchange" would take place.



We arrived at the government office and waited anxiously with 2 other families, full of nerves and every emotion possible.



We were literally counting the minutes away.



At exactly 10 minutes after 9:00 a.m. on October 10, 2011, the door opened and the first little girl was brought in.....and little Hannah Qingchu Campbell came into our lives!



And we all began to marvel.



At how beautiful and amazing she is.



And how happy she is.



And how amazingly easy the transition went!



And then the paperwork began....again.



Then she got her foot stamped in the China "red" ink.



Along with our thumb prints.



We cannot even begin to count the ways God revealed himself in this day. One of the things all four members of our family prayed fervently for was that she would recognize us immediately and not be afraid of us. We were amazed at how well she recognized us from a photo book we had sent a few months ago.





Hearing the boys say, "I love Hannah!" melts my heart every time.





And that, makes us a family of 5!!



And then, we took the poor child to McDonalds to celebrate with Happy Meals and meat filler! LOL!!!!



We THANK EVERYONE SO MUCH for your prayers for today! I can not count the times we looked at each other (with tears in our eyes) and said, "God answered our prayers". We are speechless at how great the day has been. We have only had a few moments where she seems scared and tries to withdraw (mostly when she woke from nap). But all in all, it was a FANTASTIC day!

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

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Day 4

Can you believe it, we all made it down to the lobby by 6:15 am? We even beat our guide today (this was a first). Maybe that's because we were all really excited about riding the bullet train today. And ride the train we did.


It was another amazing experience for ALL of us.


Riding anything over 240 MPH is fun for all ages.


Ok, except for this man who snored SO LOUD almost the whole trip!

It was such a great way to get to see the country side of China.


However, it was also an eye opening experience for me. I personally have never seen 1st hand that kind of wide spread poverty. So many of the homes didn't even have doors or windows, and the roofs were covered with whatever they could find. This was one of the better ones.


It being October, we got to see all the farmers out working the fields to bring in their harvest. I have NEVER seen so much corn in my life...and yes, I've been to Kansas and Nebraska both. To watch all the women work right along the men with their bare hands, a hoe, and a machete type knife to cut the stalks...and can you believe, not a John Deer in site. The amazing part is that you would have never guessed that most did not use a tractor by the perfect rows and clean harvest.


The other thing that we noticed is that most people do not have washer and dryers, no matter how nice the home. They just hang their clothes out the window to dry.


The best part is that it was a nice relaxing trip for us all...and very much needed!!!!!


We are all settled into the tinniest room in the world (after taking out 1/2 the furniture in the room...NO JOKE), and a diaper bag packed for our 9 am appointment to welcome Hannah into our lives. We are all getting very excited, and I admit VERY emotional. Just praying we can get some sleep tonight.

As I lay my head down on my pillow tonight (on the tinniest bed in the world...NO JOKE) I wonder if Hannah has any idea what tomorrow will bring? If I could talk to her tonight I would tell her that tonight will be the last night she will ever be referred to as an "Orphan", and that tomorrow she will take on a new title of beloved daughter, sister, grand daughter, niece, and cousin.

We are only miles and hours away now. I can not believe this day has finally come!

Gotcha Day Update

Well, so it sounds like we will have our Gotcha day as originally planned on Monday. This brings us SO MUCH relief to know we do not have to endure a day of rushing around all stressed out, to then go pick up Hannah who will also be stressed out. The calmer and more organized we are, then better we will all make that transition.

Now maybe I can nap on the train (cause I woke at 3 am today) instead of pack her a diaper bag and gather and check paperwork. Although, it's kinda sad to think she has to stay one more night. :(

Please pray God will give her the strength and peace over the next 24ish hrs. Also, pray she too will get a good nights sleep.

Thanks for all the prayer friends! BTW, we love hearing from each of you...kind of brings a feeling of home to China (which we sometimes need). The boys get SO excited when their friends or family leaves a little message for them too. So good to hear you really are praying...DON'T STOP!!!!!

~The Campbell Family

Day 3

Well, today was a bit of a hard day on all of us. 1) I seem to wake up hours before I need too (the rest of the family I think is now on China time). 2) We start our tours early in the morning and go ALL day, and went until late last night. Today was Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, and a traditional tea ceremony.



3) I had a hard time with lunch today, so I didn't get the boost I was really needing.

4) The boys I think hit a delirious wall today, which can be very taxing on a person already not in their best mind. :( To their credit...they did an unbelievable amount of walking, and listening to a bunch of stuff they don't care about (much less understand).

5) The "toilet situation". I think the picture says enough!

Tonight is our last night in Beiging. We leave tomorrow morning on the fast train at 8:00 (this means we have to leave our hotel at 6:30 am) for Hangzhou. We will finally be in the same province as our daughter. We are a little nervous about what we can expect once we arrive at the train station in Hangzhou, because our agent said they had a request to change "Gotcha Day" to Sunday at 2 pm...our train does not arrive until 2:30 pm. :-/ The last we heard they decided to go ahead and let the other families get their children, and we would keep to the original schedule of Monday. I just don't like the not knowing for sure. There are many things to get ready before we go get her, and that would make things very difficult to get any of it ready before hand.

So tonight we pack, and pray for a really good nights sleep.

Isaiah 40:31 But those who put their hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.

Day 2

Today was a magical day (yet very LONG and BUSY). To get to stand on the Great Wall of China was an amazing moment for ALL of us!


I had a hard time leaving this place. It really was a beautiful moment. Oh, and the weather could not be more perfect y'all! 70's I would guess, with blue skies...well I'm assuming they are. Hard to tell from all the smog. :( Those aren't clouds sitting on the great wall people.

I was sad to leave, and really sad Hannah was not with us for this moment.

China Day 1 :o)

Ni Hao Y'all! (that's Hello for Chinese-Texan)

We've ALL been sitting around saying, "I can't believe we are actually here in China!" Very surreal! We arrived as the sun came up, and while walking through customs my heart did flip flops at the thought that Hannah and I will be enjoying the same sun rise for the 1st time...All smiles!!! :o) It feels good to be in her home country, and to know we are only days away now from meeting her.

We did survive (and very well I must say) our long adventure here. It was quite a journey over. The boys did great on all flights, and I wish so bad I had had a video camera to capture the boys expressions when we took off from DFW. The pure excitement on their faces was just priceless. Charles even let out a little squealing giggle as the plane lifted off. The long plane ride across the Pacific ocean went well, yet hard on all of us...there is nothing like the urge to want to stretch your legs up and out when you sleep. :~/ The boys had a good 8-9 hrs each, and the rest of us got what we could when we could (except Kevin who seem to be oblivious to the fact we were even on an airplane, and slept most of the trip). I have to say it was a strange feeling to be on a flight 14ish hours, and it was pitch dark every bit of that time.







Did I mention the pilots let the boys come up to the cockpit?













On a good note, we were very thankful for the AA Admiral Club passes one of our sweet neighbors gave us the night before we left, as well as the premium economy seats we decided to spend the money on last minute. We all felt like kings and queens and gratefully enjoyed every little perk that came our way like little children in a candy store (free snacks, cookies, cheese and veggie bar, warm towel-lets, house shoes, eye masks, ear plugs, little cute bags with mini lotions, toothbrush, toothpaste, combs, and hot meals with linens). We just thought we were going to get an extra 10 inches of leg room...which we were all so thankful for.




















On arriving in China we were greeted with yet another warm Chinese welcome, when a police officer in customs ran right up in front of me with his hand in my camera and said, "NO PICTURES" very sternly to me. Then he proceeded to tell us (after waiting in a long line) we needed to leave the line and not come back without a form filled out for every person in our group...reminded me of the good-ol Houston Chinese Consulate days...NO SOUP!

We did make it through customs (even with our "I am second" shirts on), and even had our first real Chinese meal in China (well, one of us anyway-note the spaghetti everyone but Charlie is having!).









Our last flight to Beijing also went very well, and we were all SO GLAD to finally be at our final destination (for now), and meet our guide for the next few days...His name is "David".



David took us straight to our 1st tour from the airport...Really, no hotel to freshen up??? He was not kidding! So, off to the Hutongs tour we did go, and it was AWSOME (just wish we all looked and smelled better).






Then we drug our tired bodies up 69 of the steepest stairs EVER! Did you know people have died coming back down these things? Just glad it wasn't us!





We are all SO VERY EXHAUSTED, and ready for a good nights sleep before we start our day of tours tomorrow morning at 8:15 am. :(

Goodnight to all our American peeps.Thanks for the prayers in getting us this far...God is good! Please keep praying for the health of everyone (the boys really need it)!

From China,
Charlie, Denise, Mark, Charles, Kevin, and Amanda

P.S. Sorry if these picture do not expand, or look grainy...too tired tonight to go the longer route to make them clearer. :(

Funny story...

Did I tell you about the time I thought it would be a fabulous idea to sign my whole family up for lessons on how to speak Chinese? I've always heard how hard it is to learn Chinese, but it was a class at our local library for anyone over the age of 6...perfect, my boys had just turned 6! If they can teach a 6 year old to speak it, then they can teach Charlie and I to speak it...right?

Oh, how wrong we were!!!! I'm not sure when during that 1 hr. class that we realized that this might be our last...could have been at any of the following times: 1) When the teacher began to introduce herself, and I leaned over to Charlie and said, "I can't understand a word the woman is saying. You would think she was talking in Chinese." Charlie said, "That's because she IS talking in Chinese!" I swear her English sounded just like her Chinese too...I'm not kidding y'all! 2) When the lady explained how important it is to SING the words in the proper tone, I looked at Charlie laughing and said, "Well, you might as well go ahead and leave!" :o) I love my husband, but he can't hit a proper note to save his life. 3) When I looked at my kids and found not one but both of them upside down in their chairs.

Long story short...We flunked Chinese 101 (on the first night) in a library class, as a whole family. The nice lady said something (not sure, cause we couldn't understand her), and graciously gave us our money back. :(

We have decided to move on to plan "B"...I've downloaded a translator app on my iPhone. :o) If that doesn't work, we will try plan "C"...Talk really loudly, and use big hand gestures (learned that from my friend while on vacation once..."Hi Misti").

So, I think we are all set. Ready or not China, here we come!!!!!! :o)

This is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Charlie, bar the door!!!!!

We just wanted to thank you all in advance for understanding our need of some alone time once we are home. I know how excited you all are to meet our precious gift from God (just like we are for her to meet all of you), but we also have to think about the emotional state she will be in and all the changes that will occur in such a short amount of time in this young little girl's life. Until she understands that we (her parents and siblings) are her permanent care takers, and that we are not going to leave her we will have to be very careful of how we introduce her to the rest of the world. We will also have to be very careful of who we allow in our home for the first several weeks. Please understand that this is nothing against any of you in any way, but about helping her establish a good secure level of bonding and attachment to us as quick as possible. Hannah will be almost 2 years old when we get her home. This is old enough to be very aware of all the changes and people coming and going in her life, yet too young to understand it all.

Due to us hoarding up in our home as much as possible, many of you have asked if you could come to the airport to greet us on the way home. The answer is YES...we would like to invite you (those who are able and want to) to come to the airport for a VERY BRIEF meet and greet before we head to the house and crash. Since the airport is already so full of people coming and going it would be better to do this there vs. our home. Please keep in mind that this will be a VERY BRIEF time due to the obvious. With all that said, we will eventually find our new normal, get her acquainted with life in the CrAzY Campbell family, take her to her new Sunday School class, and will soon have the chance to introduce Hannah to each of you...and we can HARDLY WAIT for that day to come. :)

Thank you all for your continued love and prayers for all of us. We could not do this without you.

Travel Itinerary....Where in the world are we going???

Isaiah 30:21 Whether to turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Tuesday, October 4          Flight from DFW to LAX (departs 5:15 pm-Central time)
Tuesday, October 4          Flight from LAX to Guangzhou (departs 11:30 pm-Pacific time)
Thursday, October 6        Flight from Guangzhou to Beijing (departs 9:00 am-China time)
Thursday, October 6        Arrive in Beijing (tours setup for Thursday-Saturday)
Sunday, October 9           Take Bullet Train from Beijing to Hangzhou
Monday, October 10        Gotcha Day!!!
Friday, October 14           Flight from Hangzhou to Guangzhou
Wednesday, October 19    Finalize adoption at U.S. Consulate
Thursday, October 20       Flight from Guangzhou to LAX (departs 9:00 pm-China time)
Friday, October 21           Flight from LAX to DFW (departs 1:55 pm-Pacific time)
Friday, October 21           Arrive back at DFW (6:55 pm-Central time) (Flight 2448 American Airlines)