Our Trip

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
~Ancient Chinese ProverbCome with us to China! This is where you will come to see the latest adventure of our family while we are in China for 2 weeks. Each day we will post a daily recap of our activities with pictures so everyone can see our adventures!

OUR ITINERARY

Wednesday, Feb. 16 Depart for Beijing

Friday, Feb. 18 Arrive in Beijing 9:45 am. Rest and Beijing Sight-Seeing

Saturday, Feb. 19 Holt Orientation meeting and Beijing Sight-Seeing

Sunday, Feb. 20 GOTCHA DAY!! Morning-flight to Jinan; Afternoon-We meet Wang Le Tong at our Hotel

Monday, Feb. 21 Adoption Day! Lia is officially ours!!

Tuesday, Feb. 22 Fast Train to Qingdao to process passport application

Wednesday, Feb. 23 Waiting for notarized documents; Visit Qingdao SWI

Thursday, Feb. 24 Notarized documents collected; Sightseeing & Shopping Qingdao

Friday, Feb 25 Lia’s passport collected. Travel from Qingdao to Guangzhou. Lia’s first Flight!

Saturday, Feb. 26 Medical Exam, TB Test & Consulate Paperwork

Sunday, Feb. 27 Free day

Monday, Feb. 28 Back to the medical center for observation of Lia’s TB test result

Tuesday, Mar. 1 Collect Medical and TB test report. Consulate Appointment for visa

Wednesday, Mar.2 Free Day visit Safari Zoo

Thursday, Mar. 3 Visa ceremony & pickup Lia’s visa

Friday, Mar. 4 Depart from Guangzhou for home! Lia becomes a United States citizen when our plane touches down at 4:40pm! We can’t wait to celebrate and introduce her to Nate, Emily and Ryan.

“Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the East and gather you from the West.”~ Isaiah 43:5

Meet Lia

“An invisible red thread connects those that are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but never break.” ~Ancient Chinese proverb

WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!!

With indescribable joy, we introduce our girl Lia LeTong. The descriptions below provide what we know today about our little lady.

Chinese Name
Wang Le Tong

Soon to be Named
Lia LeTong

Height (Nov 2010): 107 cm

Weight (Nov 2010): 18 kg

Estimated to be born on February 10 2005, our beautiful little girl was found in Qingdao Children’s hospital on August 9,2005 by the staff who worked there.

From August 10, 2005 to September 30, 2006, she was cared for at the Children’s Welfare Institute of Qingdao City. In October of 2006, when Lia was approximately 20 months old, she went to live with the foster family who has cared for her to this day.

Her name’s origin
The family name Wang (meaning “King”) was given to all the children admitted in 2005 to the Children’s Welfare Institute of Qingdao. The Institute staff named our little lady Le Tong.

We were told LeTong means “Hope for happiness”

We chose to give LeTong the American name Lia after the Le part of her Chinese name which means “happiness”. In greek translations, Lia means “Bringer of good news”.

Tidbits we've learned about Lia along the way:

• Her nannies describe LeTong as: “a cheerful, active and zealous little girl.” She is not choosy in food.
• She prefers wheaten food, such as steamed buns, bread and rice. She likes dumplings the best. She also likes eating vegetables and fruits. Cabbages, potatoes, eggplants, oranges and apples are her favorite.”
• LeTong likes listening to music and singing. She is talkative and has a ready smile. She is energetic and is fond of outdoor activities.
• LeTong is a bright, active and cute girl who loves speaking and smiling. She loves everyone around her and expresses her feelings with words like “I kiss mama,” “papa is so kind,” “ I miss teacher”, etc.
• She is fond of playing with balls and likes to play passing and throwing ball with others. She also loves plush toys and is happy to play with them alone.
• She had a best friend named Wang Xuanyan who was adopted by a foreign family.
• She enjoys attending classes at the sister school and likes to play together with other children. Her favorite game is a role playing game called Wa Wa Jia.
• Her caregiver’s name is Wang Hui and all the children call her teacher.
• She likes playing with the other children. One of her favorite games is "Passing Ball", but her arms can't raise too high. When she finds other kids crying, she will help to wipe their tears.
• Everyone calls Lia by her nickname Tong Tong kindly.

Here are our the most recent pictures of our little one! We can't wait to meet her.  

Meet Lia

Lia is our beautiful daughter. We are forever thankful the Lord has trusted us to become her parents.
It's been a long journey to bring Little Miss Lia home but I can honestly say it is the single most rewarding thing we've ever done.



I am more amazed by her resilience, determination and happiness each and every day. Someday soon she will be in our arms and Oh what a day that will be!