Ready to Head Home

The time sure has flown by on this trip, as it always seems to do when I am in China. I have such a deep rooted love for this country and its people. It almost takes me by surprise the emotions I feel when I have to say good-bye. I feel so fortunate to be able to visit here as often as I do and get my "China Fix" at least once a year. But more than these trips, are the life long gifts we have been given in raising these children.

As we were out and about today, our five Chinese kids were up ahead of us...laughing and holding hands! It was such a sweet sight to see!! I never would of imagined my life to turn out quite like this and I definately never thought we would have five Chinese children enriching our lives. But we do....and how blessed we are.

We are all ready to head home and settle into a more normal routine. Ryan has been much quieter these past few days, as I am sure he is totally confused about his life now. He probably thinks eating out every night is normal and that every 4-5 days you move to a new place to sleep. This has to be so confusing for him. His anxiety level is still high when we are in crowds or around too many people, but he just nestles in next to Andy or I for comfort. We can't wait to get him home and and let him experience what "normal" will be like for him. He needs so much time to just be a kid and play and have fun. Hopefully, we can help that little worried look he carries with him much of the time, disappear soon.

We are in Hong Kong and are leaving this afteroon. The kids were great travelers yesterday as we took the train back to Hong Kong, then another bus ride, then another train before we checked into our room at 10:30 p.m. It will be a LONG trip home, as we fly straight through to Denver. I am reminding myself to keep a good sense of humor on this last leg of the trip, as everyone is pretty wiped at this point!!

Thank you to everyone who has followed our family along once again on this journey. I have appreciated so much the wonderful support from our friends and family.

We will be taking some time to settle everyone in at home, but will post again when we get our feet back under us!

Lantern Festival

We were fortunate to be in Guangzhou during the Lantern Festival on this trip. I always thought "lanterns" meant something hanging down like a traditional lantern. While that is true, it really means something that is "hollow inside and can hold light". We have seen so many types of lanterns on this trip. Throughout the hotels they have traditional hanging lanterns everywhere, and floating lanterns on the lakes and the ponds, along with just big inflatable type lanterns. It is so beautiful!!

We were fortunate to visit a beautiful park here in Guangzhou which has huge lanterns everywhere, especially floating on the lake. I wish we would have been there at night when they were all lit up, but I guess the crowds are crazy then, so we settled for a day time visit. Many families are still off from work, so the restaurants and parks are especially busy with people. We were able to enjoy our lunch at a local restaurant that specilizes in dumplings.......they were SO good!

It was a beautiful day, but very humid and hot. As you can tell the little ones were pretty exhausted by the time we left! :) We finished the day off with a "Cinderella" movie night back at the apartment, which the kids loved.

Our time in Guangzhou has gone so quickly, but the weather has been so pleasant and it has given our family some wonderful time just to soak in the culture and relax some. All of our paperwork is complete and we are just waiting on our visa for Ryan before we head home.

No Internet

Hey everyone, we apologize for the big gap in time here. We are currently in Guangzhou and have NO internet access where we are staying, so any more updates will have to wait till we return home to the states.

We are all doing great and enjoying the warm weather here in Guangzhou. Ryan is doing well, but we have seen many more meltdowns here. We are actually glad he is letting his wall down some and showing more emotion to all of the changes in his life. He has definately not been "out" in the world much and crowds of any size send him into a panic. We walked into the playroom at the White Swan yesterday and he totally freaked out. I think he thought we were taking him back to an orphanage, as there were a ton of kids there. He is still very concerned about food, but isn't eating as much. When he was brought back to the orphanage, he was put back on the bottle and now prefers to only drink everything. He is repeating a few words, although not clearly at all, but at least he is trying. He does try to please and is helpful most of the time. So we bounce between a little boy who is almost four to a little boy with behavior like a two year old. We expected this all and are just taking one day at a time. Baby steps.....baby steps.

The apartments we are staying at are very nice....actually too nice! :) This is a community where foreign families come to live while working in China, so lots of expats here. I could easily just stay right here and live......although I would never survive the hot summers.

We visiting a beautiful park today full of incredible lanterns. Today is the Lantern Festival Day and it is an awesome sight to see the colorful lanterns everywhere. If we can find some better internet access where we can use our laptop I will load some photos.

A Wonderful Day

Today has been a wonderful day for us and one that has been very enjoyable! Ryan is doing incredibly well settling in with everyone and the kids are having so much fun with him. He has calmed down alot more today and has laughed so much!! It is so fun to watch him open up as he begins to trust us and become more comfortable with us. He was quite worried today when we were out in the streets of Shanghai, but would quickly want Andy or I to pick him up and then he would calm down. We never expected this transition to go this smoothly but are sure enjoying it!!

This trip has been different from our other trips in that we have chosen to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel. The building is the outside of our apartment which is located in a local neighborhood. With all the kids, we felt we needed more room than two small hotel rooms could provide. It took us longer to settle in here, but now we are starting to feel like one of the locals. The laundry is hung outside to dry and we have been grocery shopping across the street for things that we need. It is like a game of charades when it comes to finding things at the store, since everything is in Chinese! We have been eating at a local Chinese restaurant nearby and are never quite sure what we are going to get or what we are eating, but that is all part of the fun of it. I sure wish we knew more Chinese. The kids have enjoyed the pool and game room in our apartments.

We walked to People's Square today, which is a famous park in the central of Shanghai. (Similar to Central Park in New York City, kind of.) Shanghai is a huge city with a population of over 17 million people and it truly feels like it. The streets are very crowded. People's Square was fun and it is just nice to see all the people out enjoying the nice weather. I just love all the bikes everywhere and the racks that go along with them. We managed to find a local coffee shop on the way home, which was a nice treat for us.

Trafic is interesting here, just like in the rest of China. Crossing the street is kind of like the game of dodge ball, only we are the balls!!! Just because you have a green light to cross means absolutely nothing here, it just means it is less risky than crossing on a red light. We have learned to cross with the crowd and run fast!!

Tomorrow we will be touring several different sights in the city and we are excited to see more of Shanghai. We are fortunate in that we learned we will be in China duuring the Lantern Festival as well as Chinese New Year. You can already see preparations starting to happen, as colorful beautiful lanterns are being put up everywhere.

Thank you to everyone who has sent us such encouraging comments and prayers.....we love hearing from everyone!!

Day Two



Look at that smile!!

Day two with Ryan has gone really well. There have been no tears and when we went to do all our paperwork today, he did not want anyone from the orphanage or any Chinese person to hold his hand and wanted nothing to do with them. He only wanted to hold mine or Andy's hand. I think he is thinking this is a pretty good deal with us! :)

He really has a sweet temperment about him and he loves to help out whenever he can. His smile is just contagious. He is a little rough around the edges and at times is like a bull in a China closet. He is continually testing his boundaries with us today, but in reality he is doing great for having just been with us for a little over 24 hours. He gets very excited around food and wants to hoard all the food around him, so he is sure he has enough. He is a very skinny little guy without his clothes, so I am sure he is just hungry. He follows instructions very well and copies what the girls do all the time. Ryan and Averi are going to be a pair. They both can be pretty silly and crazy at times.

The kids all really like him and were glad to know that we signed the papers to "officially" keep him today. We finalized the adoption today and now just wait for passports, visa, etc. to come back to us.

Naptime has gone well, as long as I sit in there by his bed. I am sure that is scary to risk going off to sleep and wondering if everything will be the same when you wake up. When he wakes he frantically looks for us, but breaks out into a big smile when he sees us.

We got all 3 little kids in the bath this afternoon and the girls were looking at his scar from his heart surgery, which runs the full length of his chest. I was trying to explain to them that his heart needed fixing and so they had to do surgery, when Jadyn (who is now 4) said "why did they cut him open" They should of just taken him to see the wizard to get a new heart"! Can you tell what movie she has been watching! :) I just LOVE kids minds!!

We took the kids to the Shanghai Circus Acrobat Show and they loved it tonight. We had a traditional Chinese dinner afterwards and the kids are now fast asleep.

Tomorrow we will have a "free day" with no set plans and just time to enjoy Shanghai and learn more about our sweet boy!

Our New Son Ryan......

About 8:30 this morning we headed to the local business office to pay all our fees and then quickly left for the orphanage.

Shanghai Children's Welfare Institute is a "palace showplace". It has beautiful gardens and an incredible building, but inside the story is the same........little kids who need a forever family to call their own.

We went into a small room with about 20 toddler kids and in the corner was Ryan. When his nanny pointed to us and said "mama and baba", he immediately started screaming!! Averi quickly said, "you were right mom, he doesn't know us". We spent about 20 minutes in this room just trying to get within a foot of him, but he was so terrified and sad. The report we received of him talked about his fears, and the only thing listed was "afraid of people he doesn't know". The staff was furiously trying to calm him down and shoving candy in his mouth as he was crying. The poor kid was just so scared and wanted nothing to do with us. His nanny carried him outside and calmed him down till we came out again and here came the tears.

It is one thing to pick up a screaming baby, but another to pick up a young screaming child. He is tall, the same size as Jadyn, but thinner. Andy carried him to the meeting room, where we had to sign a few documents and it took all his strength just to hold on to him as he was fighting to get away. I am so glad we had prepared the other kids for this situation, as they all just kind of stood back and every now and then would go over and pat him on the leg or back.

We signed our agreement to keep him safe during our "trail period" and headed for the bus. Still raging and mad, we headed back to the apartment. He did quiet down for awhile but was very upset when he realized we were taking him up the elevator and closed the door behind him. That in itself was a huge realization for him, that his little life was going to change for ever.

He has done well this afternoon and ate a good lunch. He will not take off his coat or shoes....which is so typical of kids when they are first adopted. We have seen several smiles though and lots of giggles, when he plays with the kids. I am SO glad we have the kids here. It has been a lot of work taking them all along, but it is so wonderful to watch the language of children. A smile and a laugh is the same in any language.

It has been so inspiring to watch Andy take the lead with Ryan. He was the one who comforted him for the first few hours, which is a great start for them both. He already is calling us "mama" and "baba" and calling Andy "daddy" at times. Huge progress for just a few hours.

He is all boy and loves the tractors and cars. He is busy, busy, busy and LOUD!! He has the most precious smile that goes from ear to ear with dimples!! He listens and tries to please and help with everything. He is already trying to repeat words that we say, he seems very inquisitive and definately has no delays. He speaks fluent Chinese so the biggest hurdle for us will be the language barrier.

Tonight we were able to take him out for dinner and then the kids all played at the playground....on the rooftop on the 19th floor!! They all had so much fun....just being kids! He joined right in with the other kids tonight putting on his pj's and hopped into bed. All the girls gave him kisses at bedtime and he giggled very loudly after each one. He wasn't quite sure what to think about all that. After about an hour he drifted off to sleep.

So we are off to a good start, as we all begin to get to know each other. Having done this many times, we know this is a process. Love is not instant, it is something that grows slowly over time. We are so blessed that we are his family and glad that we will walk through life by his side.

Goodbye Guilin......Hello Shanghai

We said good-bye to Guilin this morning with a walk through the park near our hotel. It was so serene and quiet as we walked in the cool morning air. The kids were all fascinated with the morning dances and exercises the women were doing. It was very beautiful!

The first part of our trip has been a busy one for me and I feel this is the first real chance I have had to catch my breath and slow my thoughts down so my focus can now turn to Ryan and transitioning our family. We all are still struglling with our nights and days, so we are feeling a little sleep deprived.

We left for Shanghai, which was a quick two hour flight and went straight to our apartment. It definately has a lot more room than a hotel, but we struggled trying to get settled in. We have had to bring in more beds for the kids, and buy dishes, as their are none here. The poor people at the front desk are trying to help us the best they can, but in this type of setting, they charge you for everything. If you want another pillow and blanket...there is a charge. If you want dishes....there is a charge. The kids were climbing off the walls and was pretty tense around here for awhile.

We found an Italian restaurant nearby for dinner and the food was pretty good. We missed lunch so most anything would have tasted good.

Once we were settled in, the reality of how are lives were going to change in the morning finally hit us!! This time the meltdown was not the kids, but the parents!!! You know that feeling (many of you do who have been in our shoes) where you are about to embark on a something new and scary.....where you just flip out!! (Ok Carl, I know you have a good picture of this! :))
Well, that was us!!! We all shed a few tears, even the kids as we tried to explain how difficult this might be for Ryan. Our kids are so exctied to see him, but we want to prepare them that he might feel different. Exhausted both physically and mentally, we all went to bed about 8:30. We have a very big day in the morning.....we will meet Ryan about 10:00 a.m.

Please keep us all in your prayers as we add another child to our family. I know the transition will be difficult for Ryan.

What Special Moments

Guilin has been a very special time for Allie. Just being in the city where she was born has stirred many emotions for her. As we walked into the Foster Care Party last night, her foster mother and father were waiting for her. They quickly scooped her up and were so excited to see her. Allie was all smiles, but not overly friendly, which was a good sign for us. Allie gave them the gifts she had brought and they gave her one too. They are a very warm and loving older couple who really loved taking care of our daughter. Allie's foster mom was very concerned she wasn't eating enough at dinner and was continually feeding her all night. Allie was a great trooper trying all kinds of new dishes!

It was a very positive experience for Allie and I am sure she doesn't remember them much, but it has to warm her heart to know they really do love her still. For us, the best part of the night was when she grabbed MY hand and said "can we go now"! This is such huge progress for our family and we are so glad she is beginning to feel safe with us, but it sure has been a long hard road getting to this point!

As we were touring around the city today, Allie commented on how beautiful it is here in Guilin. "Much prettier than where we live"....which is true, especially after our long hard winter. There are so many beautiful things to see, no wonder it is one of the world's top tourist attractions!

We visited the orphanaged this morning and I knew Allie wouldn't remember being there, as she only spent a few months there. She was SO excited though to pass out the knit hats she had made to the tiny babies. The first little girl just grinned SO big when we put it on her head!! Allie was a little worried that she didn't have enough hats for all the babies.......but she was very proud of the one's she did make. We are so glad she had this opportunity to give something back to these kids.

At the gate of the orphanage they had made a "Welcome Sign" for Allie, welcoming her back to the orphanage, using her Chinese name! She was all smiles when she saw this! The woman from the orphanage who brought Allie to Nanning for us was there to meet us as well. The directors gave all the girls gifts.....traditional Chinese dolls, which they loved of course!!

We always wondered how our girls would feel about being back in their "hometowns". For Allie, it has been a happy time. I think it has brought some closure for her on some things she has always wondered about and brought us closer as a family. We couldn't ask for anything more.

Our Foster Care Party

We walked up to the second floor of the restaurant and saw table after table of families and kids sitting together. The childlren were all dressed up in Chinese clothing and looked beautiful! Our daughter Malea (7 years) said "Hey mom...where are all the orphan kids". I was so glad I could tell her, "right here.....most all of these kids are". With a puzzled look she said, "but they look just like us.....they are all happy". Her statement sums up our entire evening......happy kids surrounded by loving families!

I have never questioned the importance that a family can make in a child's life, but when you sit in a room with over 90 families, you get the message loud and clear. EVERY child deserves to be in a loving family.

As we walked from table to table, each mother or father would quickly wave their hands to get our attention. They wanted THEIR foster child's picture taken. The pride and love these parents had for these children was so evident. They would hold up their child and then grin from ear to ear......they wanted us to know that their child was the most special child there. The families were thrilled to be able to come together to celebrate. The orphanage staff was wonderful in going to each table to make a toast and thanking each family for all that they do.

We took a ton of photos.....I just couldn't get enough of these kids!!! At one point, Andy said, "OK, now I see why everytime you come home from China you want to adopt more". We would have easily taken a few dozen with us if we could!!

The ordinariness of the families was so wonderful to see. The foster dads dancing with their little girls, the moms doting over their kids to keep their face, hands and clothes clean during the dinner, the many "nosy" kisses between moms and babies and all the grandpa's and grandma's that came along too!! It was so fun to see many of the older foster kids screaming with glee when they saw their best friend across the room. These families have come together to form a unique group within their communtiy who are a great support for each other.

Each child was given a small gift and bag full of toys and baloon. I actually survived my speech, and have decided that speaking in front of an audience who can't understand you, is not so bad!! :) My translater was great and made it easy for us! The dinner was traditional Chinese style with about 20 different entires and the food was great, although I have no idea what half of the things were.

One of the highlights of our night was when I pulled out a stack of photo albums and photos from families in the US, whose adopted children had once been in foster care. The director quickly got on the microphone and began to tell them she had some photos of kids who have been adopted. The room suddenly silenced and was dead quiet. As I handed a photo album to the director, she read the name of the child....we turned and saw the first foster mom running up to the front of the room....tears streaming down her face. She was SO excited to see photos of the child she had onced cared for. The excitemet in the room was so high, as so many families were waiting and hoping their name would be called. This went on till all the photo albums were delivered. I truly wish I had one for every family that had come and fostered a child before, it was a incredible gift to them. I know when I return home I will make sure I take the time to do these for my girls, now that I know how important they are to these families.

We were fortunate to experience such a memorable evening and one our family will never forget. But, the REAL thanks goes to every family in the US who sponsors a child in our program. Believe me when I say you are CHANGING THEIR LIFE.....these kids are flourishing and truly happy!! You couldn't give them a better gift!! Thank you to all who support these children!!

Beautiful Guilin

Although we may be biased some, this has to be one of the most picturesque places to visit. Guilin is a "small" town compared to most Chinese cities....only about 600,000 people. It is situated near the famous Li River and unique mountain formations. We had a few hours today to just walk near our hotel.

We are staying at the Bravo Hotel and there is a beautiful park on a lake right across from the hotel. We didn't see this part of Guilin on our last trip, so it was a special treat to get to spend some time there today. There are so many families out today, and the weather is clear and warm. A sense of great peace always surrounds us when we are in China.....it truly feels like a place we could easily call home. The people are so kind and relaxed.

The girls are sure enjoying seeing so many people that look just like them. It gives Andy, Jake and I a good feeling of what it feels like to be a "minority" in a country. We get constant stares from everyone, partly because we are Americans and partly because of all the kids we have too. It is always enlightening to look at life a little differently and experience things through someone else's eye.

We had an incredible experience with all of our foster familys. and our Chinese New Year Dinner......but I will have to write more later, as we have to leave for the orphanage. We will try and write more tonight.