The Beginning of our Story in Pictures

Christmas Eve 2009...Blizzard in Oklahoma!

Can Santa really make it here through this weather?

Katy and Macy reading "Where Will Nana go Next?"

Curtis really did make it home!!!

Finally, we are all in our matching PJ's!

Introduction

This all started the week before Thanksgiving 2009. Curtis was scheduled to come home Christmas Eve. Frank and I were thinking about trying to break up the long 5 months he would have after he went back in January until he comes home...finally for good after May 2010. Frank didn't have time in the spring to go for an extended trip to China. So, I asked him if he would send me and my mom as our Christmas presents! I was talking to Mike about taking mom, and his first response was "I want to go." Next thing I knew, Mike, Sheri, Katy and Macy were all going. The best part was surprising Nana at Christmas with the trip.

Sheri and I decided we would make Christmas Eve really special. After hours of shopping at Old Navy and Old Navy online, we came up matching pajamas for all 11 of us to wear on Christmas Eve. A limo was picking us up and taking us to the airport to pick up Curtis. I wrote a poem that we were going to read to open our pj's, put our pj's on, and load up in the limo. The girls, Katy and Macy, rewrote a book "Where is Nana Going Next" and the last page was all of us in China. We were going to have them read the book in the limo after we got Curtis.

Well...the weathermen started predicting bad weather on Christmas Eve. No problem, Mike, Sheri, Katy, Macy, Nana, Charlie and Sarah all came a day early. Ashley was ready to come on Christmas Eve Day. Little did anyone expect, but 14.1 inches of snow later, Oklahoma was literally shut down! Including, any flights in and out of Will Rogers airport. Poor Curtis, he didn't even know he wasn't going to make it here on Christmas Eve until he landed in Denver. Uncle Mike and Sarah barely got across town to pick up Ashley to bring her to our house! Needless to say, the limo was cancelled and we were all disappointed. We got Curt a hotel room in Denver. A little bit of snow wasn't going to ruin our excitement...the poem was read, but the pj's were going to wait to be donned on Christmas Day when Curtis did get here, and the girls read the book. They got to the part that Nana would go next to China, she read the itinerary and plane ticket printed for her and turned to Sarah and said, "Is this make believe!" Tears were pouring.

Santa Claus makes it to our house without difficulty! Katy and Macy kept Sarah and Ashley up all night they were so excited. We opened presents and had a wonderful Christmas morning, until we found out Curtis' flight was cancelled again! and again!!! and again!!!! Leave to Uncle Mike, somehow, I still think it was a miracle, he found a flight to OKC, we booked it, Curtis got on it and was coming home! WOW we couldn't have been more excited. Frank was pacing waiting to drive to the airport. I knew if anyone could make it safely there and back on those roads, he could! Ashley was fighting back tears of joy, she really was going to see Curtis. Frank, Sarah and Ashley, by the way in their matching pj's, headed to the airport. The drive took about three hours round trip, as the roads weren't cleared yet. Finally, we see headlights coming down the snow covered road...there they were! Our Christmas was complete.

Now, after numerous phone calls to plan the trip. Visa applications completed and returned. We are ready...or we think we are! We leave March 13th and arrive in Beiing on the 14th. I can't wait to see Curtis in China!

We will try our best to keep you updated on our adventures. Please be patient this will be a challenge for me!