Gotcha Day !

Breakfast before the BIG day begins:)

Huge Breakfast buffet

  We awoke after 5 short hrs of sleep and headed down to breakfast prior to heading to the train station.

Ready to be a big sister!

My family is so happy Momma packed LIGHT!

                     WE ARE WAITING NOT SO PATIENTLY FOR THE TRAIN





The High speed rail was a nice ride allowing us to see much of the countryside.  Momma was expecting Disney Monorail when we got on the train.....But instead it was more like a jet plane on tracks!!!
 Now watching us try to get all those suitcases on before the doors closed and the train left without us was a trick. However we managed. Did the whole thing in reverse when we got to Koashiong....throwing the suitcases off this time cause I wasn't missing seeing our girl ! We  looked like a band of gypsies dragging all this stuff thru the train station. Kelly and Ava went up the elevator first because keagan and I wouldn't fit with all the luggage. It was a glass elevator so I had some concerns after Kelly's "magic window " incident :). Cheryl saw Kelly coming up so she hid around the corner behind a big plant to keep her form seeing Kerrigan before the rest of us..ha. Kelly said that was the slowest elevator EVER ! Holly , Trena , John , Cheryl , Auntie Ashliegh and some of the Nannies came. What a great moment. All those months of waiting finally over ! We were actually holding little Kerrigan and Ava was beaming.

First Glimpse!

Ava was even willing to share her favorite Tiger Tiger Roar :)

  Now getting all that luggage into John and Cheryl's van was a work of art but we did it !

Momma packed LIGHT!!!

  Stopped for a Fruit slushy from a road side stand that was outstanding. Then headed over to "The House of Hope " (the orphanage/Young womens home) to tour it and meet some of the staff. Holly and Trena , the two wonderful ladies that founded and operate the house of hope brought us a scrumptious lunch of kimgee"...don't know If thats spelled right but we loved it. It was so nice to meet the nannies that have been caring for little Kerrigan over the past 7 months and CARING is truly the word to use. I wasn't sure one of the nannies really wanted to let Kerrigan go when we left there....and that made me smile.....because they really do love all the children in their care.

Keagan and Kerrigan

Daddy and Kerrigan

I believe Kerrigan was a favorite of Mamma Mia's

Kerrigan, Audrey and Mamma Mia!

Nannies having a good time with the babies!!

Nannies with Kerrigan, Audrey, Lily and Levi

The bath area where Kerrigan was kept clean the previous 7 months!

Sleeping area in the nursery!

Kerrigan's crib in the nursery!

Joshua playing with Kerrigan....she was squealing with delight!
she is gonna love having brothers!!  

Ava better watch it!  Joshua and Kerrigan will run over her :)

Joshua...LOVE him!

Ava loved playing with the babies!
Beckett, Audrey, Sadie, Lily and Kerrigan!

She is like the baby whisperer:)

Max wanted to play too:)

I got some sweet Max snuggles!

Kerrigan is loving her Bubby:)

Audrey!

Wrestling at the House of Hope!!

Cheryl and Max

Sweet baby!!

We had such a wonderful time at the House of Hope!  We felt like family and like it was HOME!!  So relaxing and to get to watch the Nannies interact with the babies....you could see how loved they each are!  Mamma Mia wasn't sure she was gonna let Kerrigan go with us...you could tell how much she loved her....makes my heart happy knowing she was loved so much until we could get here!!!  It was also awesome to see Kerrigan in the area she was comfortable in and to watch her play with the other babies!!!  SOOOOO CUTE!  And Ava loved playing here!  She was a little concerned we might have to leave Kerrigan there again....but when she figured out we didn't have to she LOVED it!!


  Then it was off to check into our Hotel at the Crown Plaza. Beautiful place , chandeliers as big as...well whole rooms at my house.

Big sister Ava and Kerrigan

Too Cute for words :)

Getting to know each other!

Wears a girl out to be a Bogard :)

Sleeping on Momma the first time!

Bubby snuggle time!

Momma and Baby Kerrigan

 Rested for an hour then over to John and Cheryl"s (friends of ours that are missionaries in Taiwan) for a pizza and swim party.  BIG FUN!!

swim caps are a must in Taiwan...and SEXY!

Daddy's girl!

Oh MY!!

sign at the pool....um reservoir!!  LOL!!!

Having a blast! and rocking that swim cap!

Marko and Alena Tse with their daughter Cadence.  It was great to get to meet them!

Our newest princess!

Kerrigan loved the water!

UMMMM the swim cap looks like........OH WELL!!

Swimming with her Bubby!

Jungle TIM!!

Moriah and Sadie, Tim and Kerrigan, Marko and Cadence

 

Momma's girl!

The swim caps are interesting! And ENTERTAINING!

Campbell's took us back to our hotel!
We could have fit a couple more kids in here I think!!
The kids thought it was great piling in the back!!
ONLY IN TAIWAN!!

Keag and his little buddy Joshua!

 What a WONDERFUL BLESSED DAY!!!

We are heading to the beach tomorrow for a couple days.....and the adventure continues !!!!!!

Taipai, Taiwan

We are HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Hardly any luggage! We are in Taiwan!!!!  WOOHOO

Mom and Ava.....Not looking too bad after 24 hours of travel!!!

Waiting for the hotel shuttle!

Ready to get in our hotel room!

Cute...She Loves Bubby!
WE WANT SLEEP!!

   We made it to Taiwan !  Stayed at the Novatel hotel, the staff was great. Of course we had a large cart load of suitcases to be brought to the room(Kelly swears she packed light) so we had the bell hop assist us. While he was delivering our lightly packed suitcases (all 9 of them), Kelly and Ava were already  in the bathroom getting showered and were playing with the "magic glass" that makes up one wall  of the bathroom/shower. The magic glass becomes opaque when you push a button so no one can see you. Well Kelly says to Keagan "look you push the button and they can't see you " well the button has to be pushed for that to apply ! Kelly totally flashed the bell hop !  Keagan said "Mom I CAN SEE YOU ! The look on Kelly's and the bell hop's face were priceless ! Oh and Kelly's scream....ha ! Making friends all over Taiwan already...Kelly is such a social girl...ha. Now for breakfast and getting on the high speed rail (187 mph) to Kaohsiung to get little Kerrigan ! Ava Lu is soooo excited ! More pics soon friends.

Now you see me

now you don't (if the button is pushed )

Hong Kong!

 Hong Kong!

The flight to Hong Kong was long-15 hours but uneventful!  We watch multiple movies...slept some...and they fed us about every hour!  Best flight we have  ever had!  The staff was great and very friendly!  Highly recommend Cathay Pacific!

 

We landed in Hong Kong about 740 pm   We found our next flight without any problems!   

Momma told Daddy that I was sweaty and wanted water.....well guess he misunderstood because the water bought was called "Sweat water".  I think it was like propel at home. But Momma don't like that either;).  And we all laughed about drinking sweat!

 

Sweat water

Hong Kong!

Ava is enjoying her trip so far!

Ava is loving this plane...
They have totally spoiled her so far.....  Blankets, pillows, and a special surprise gift when we got on...and movies, music and games at her fingertips!   

When we took off she squealed!  It was very cute.  She kept saying look at the cars, look at the clouds-- in shear little girl delight!  It was fun for Momma to watch;).  

And Ava's dinner....Oh my goodness! 

 

Chicken nuggets

Curly fries

Bag of Potato chips

Corn

Tuna salad with an egg

Roll

Jello

M M's

Water

Yahoo drink 

A curly fish straw and fish utensils

 

Yes folks this was the kids Tray!  She was thrilled and stuffed!   And no she couldn't eat it all! 

 

Loving LIFE!

Kids Meal:)

Worn out!

Were on our way baby!

Chicago!

 Finally made it to Chicago....about 115!  Had a second delay in Evansille on the plane!  NOT fun sitting in that little plane on the runway for 50 minutes!  But Ava did some of her homework.  She loved it!  Funny girl!  We also had LOTS of turbulence! Ick!  Momma may be sick now!  Glad i remembered the zofran! But we are done with the first part of our trip!  Yahoo!

 

Whew!  This airport is big!    We had to take a train from the terminal we landed to the terminal we were heading to!   Little different than Evansville! 

And we had told Ava we had a surprise for her when we got to Chicago!  She had tried to

Guess what it is....but she had no idea!    When we walked through security someone yells AVA!   Her surprise was Keagan!   She didn't have a clue he was going to meet us in Chicago and go with us to Taiwan! ACTUALLY neither did we until Monday night. He decided to go with us and help!   He rode the train Tuesday to Chicago and got his passport and called the travel agent and Was waiting on us to surprise Ava!  She was very happy and he got a great hug as payment;).  

Let the fun begin...we are getting ready to board the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong!  

Loves her Bubby!

She is gonna love her bubby too:)

We are outta here;)

 At the Evansville airport!   We are ready!!!!   Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sherry saw us off!  Ava is already happy they had a play ground for while we waited and security gave her a sticker;) 

 

So far we are delayed in Evansville.....storms in Chicago.   Hoping to leave at 11 instead of 1010!

Playground fun

Ready to LEAVE!

All ready!

All aboard

First flight

Daddy doesn't like to fly!

 

Travel arrangements made!!

We are living in a whirlwind and LOVING it!!  Today Daddy made the flight reservations!  WooHOO!!  Looks like we are flying out of Evansville on Wednesday morning at 1040 and arriving back to Evansville September 14 at approximately 540 pm!  I will post more when I know more specifics!
GOTCHA should be Friday morning in Taiwan!  That's Thursday evening in Illinois!  I can imagine that like last time once Gotcha has happened you will be getting blog updates from the Daddy!!!!   Momma didn't update anymore once we hit China so we shall see!  But we will keep you updated and of course PICTURES!!
Just as our last journey everyone is welcome at the airport when we come home!  Last time we had so many people greet us at the airport that security threatened to arrest us...for blocking the passage....(they only have about 3 flights land there a day....so it really wasn't that big of a deal)  AND  we are hoping for a repeat!  :)
And as last time those of you that are coming to our house expecting to see Kerrigan.....WELL we WILL hold the baby hostage for REAL American food!  After 10 days of NO food we are accustom to I can assure you we will stick by this RULE!!!  SOOOO come if you like.....but bring GOOD food:)
We are very excited!  Thank you all for the prayers, emails,  Facebook post ETC!!  Love it all!!  So encouraging!  It's hard to believe we leave in 4 days!!!!!!!!