We are ready for Trip #1

Needless to say, 2013 has been a good year. It's been a roller coaster of emotions, but we are definitely ending things on a marvelous note. God is good!!  There is a light at the end of our adoption tunnel as we have a court date scheduled for the end of January.  We are lucky in that we have over a month to make travel plans; so often, things happen so quickly that there is not time to adequately plan. Our flights have been scheduled.  We are thankful that there is a direct flight to Seoul from DFW. The main concern with the flight is the fact that its 16 hours! 16 HOURS! We've never been on a flight that long. We're not by any outlets either :( We're planning on buying those recharging devices because we know our iPads will not last that long. Does anyone have a brand or model suggestion for one of these devices?

We researched hotels and decided to stay at the Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS), which is the organization that handles affairs surrounding adoption, children and families in need, etc. ESWS has a guest house that is available for families. Space is limited so we were fortunate to reserve one of their three rooms. It has alleviated a lot of travel stress for us because the guest house is actually in the same building where we will first meet Bennett, our foster mother, Mrs. Lee, along with our social worker and other ESWS staff. It will be nice to simply take the elevator down a few floors for major meetings instead of having to navigate Seoul. We also have "met" (via a group on Facebook) two families who will be in Korea the same time that we will be. We all have court on the same day and are likely with the same judge as we're scheduled in back-to-back 10 minute increments. One of the families is staying at the ESWS guest home as well so we are looking forward to "knowing" someone.

We are researching all the touristy things we can do during our trip. I would like to visit the hospital where I was born and see what else I can find about my beginnings. We meet Bennett the first business day in Korea and then court is not for another 4 days. We wish we could see him more than once, but it looks like only one visit. We are also trying to figure out what to get for everyone in Korea. We are supposed to give gifts to our foster mother (and her family), social worker, and the ESWS staff. It's hard to give gifts to people you've never met. We would like our gifts to be somewhat meaningful, but we are struggling. For Mrs. Lee I am making her a scrapbook of all the photos we've received throughout our process. We've also had an ornament made with one of our favorite Bennett photos to give her. It's hard to give gifts that truly express your gratitude for the care and love they've given your child for the past two years. As for the social worker and the staff, we're at a loss. Any suggestions?

On another note, to those that ordered in our coffee fundraiser, thank you! We don't receive a list of those who order through our site. I requested one, but they don't save personal information from orders to pass along. We are going to continue to take orders into 2014! Shop online at Ground to Cup Coffee.

I'm sure I'll have many more questions for everyone and be needing advice as we countdown to our first trip. Stay tuned for more posts.
Amanda (and David)

PS: For the most part, Bennett's room is complete. I've posted before and after pictures below. The blue/green table is a train table and we'll eventually move that out into our living room to make a play area. I will be putting a reading corner together where the table currently is located. I've ordered these plastic shelves that you mount on the walls and hope to add a nice rocker.