tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88066671761075132302024-03-13T11:22:43.520-04:00A New Blessing in TallahasseeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-43448519615812454242011-01-17T12:40:00.008-05:002011-01-17T13:53:38.371-05:00SURPRISE! We're BACK!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TTSIq_zqx1I/AAAAAAAAAZE/MRVVQ_pLoa8/s1600/JadeRose%2526MamaAdoptionDay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TTSIq_zqx1I/AAAAAAAAAZE/MRVVQ_pLoa8/s320/JadeRose%2526MamaAdoptionDay.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563221711973435218" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></u></span></div><b>An explanation on why we stopped for awhile...</b><div><br /></div><div>My last post was on September 4th, 2010. The day we all landed back in the United States after our return trip from China, and the day that Jade-Rose became a US citizen.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I have two reasons for not posting in the last 4 months. One of them was because I was considering creating a different blog to document our future lives as a new family and keeping this blog as just the adoption process and travel blog. My second reason was because I wanted to give Jade-Rose some "space" and time to adjust to her new life with her new family, without having the pressure to continue with an adoption blog.</div><div><br /></div><div>Many people have commented to me that they wished we had continued, and then something happened today that made me want to continue on with this blog and our lives.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I have a penchant for design and decorating, even if I no longer have much time to do either with three 6 year old children and dealing with the clutter that seems to cling to them. Since I cannot do much myself, I still love to read blogs whose focus is of that bent. My absolute favorite is <a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/">The Lettered Cottage</a>. Layla, the author, seems as lovely in spirit as the home she designs for herself and her husband. Just recently, she has shared on her blog that they are in the process of adoption. Certainly I am going to be supportive of that!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/">The Lettered Cottage</a> also has a presence on Facebook. Layla made a post about meeting with other women who have adopted internationally. Most people made comments of interest and support, except for the one person who posted:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;">I wish people would adopt from their own lands.</span></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>This is certainly not the first time I have read or heard that comment for myself. I felt compelled to leave a comment in reply: <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><i>When we first started our adoption process, we had no specific areas selected, and investigated many options. China </i></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><i>was not even on my radar screen in the beginning, but that is where God led us. God doesn't look at country borders made by man. He looks at love and the children who need love, and sends some of us to foreign regions to love a child. My daughter is such a perfect fit to our family, that it often leaves me speechless. Love is Everything, and all children need Love.</i></span></span></span></div><div>and it also turned out to be the catalyst that got me back on this blog.</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 191px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TTSILTPf_cI/AAAAAAAAAY8/sx23b5Ct9Ig/s320/IMAG0195.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563221167434628546" /><div><br /></div><div>This is a concept that I would like most of you to understand, and perhaps educate others who make such ridiculous, judgmental (<i>and borderline racist, let's be honest here</i>) statements about international adoption. If you believe in God, then you may believe that He created the Earth and the Heavens and Mankind. He did not create ANY of the country borders created by man. If we are "to love our neighbors as ourselves," as it states in the Bible, that has to include ALL of our neighbors, not just John Smith in the split-level down the street. When I hold my daughter in my arms and look into her eyes, the love I feel for her is all encompassing. My love for her feels <i>exactly</i> as the same kind of love I feel for my biological children. I don't look down at her face and think "oh, what a sweet Chinese child." She feels like mine. She feels as much as mine as if she came out of my uterus. Do you see how ridiculous that sounds? I am only suppose to be able to love a child that comes out of an organ in my body? Or that came from a place with a 5-digit zipcode? Where is that in the Bible or any other spiritual context? </div><div><br /></div><div>However, here <b>is</b> something that does come from the Bible:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">Do not be afraid, for I am with you;<br />I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.<br />I will say to the north, `Give them up!' and to the south, `Do not hold them back.'<br />Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth--<br />--- Isaiah 43: 5-6</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; font-style: italic; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; "><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-size: medium;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-style: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-size: 16px; ">Normally, I am not someone who quotes from Scripture. But if it helps the ignorant to come to peace with their "not adopting from their own land/country" comments... then there you go!</span></i></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Jade-Rose <b>is</b> our New Blessing in Tallahassee. All children are Blessings no matter what town or country they live in. I have 3 Blessings that mean the world to me. If you care to follow our story and share in our blessings and our love, you are always Welcome.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-26683356488959527852010-09-04T22:55:00.002-04:002010-09-04T23:14:16.123-04:00A new US Citizen!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIMK0-0HIbI/AAAAAAAAAYo/P_rGNNLHD14/s1600/IMG_0845.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIMK0-0HIbI/AAAAAAAAAYo/P_rGNNLHD14/s320/IMG_0845.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513262274162663858" /></a><br />Jade-Rose became a new US citizen when we landed in San Francisco this morning. Luckily for us, and I mean<i><b> luckily</b></i> for us, the man who handled our immigration paper work let us stay and finish with him instead of going into a second line which was over 20 people long. This was the flight with only two hours to go through customs, immigration, new citizen status, baggage claim, re-check in/boarding passes and re-security checks. We JUST made our flight to Chicago. We were one of the last people to board. If the immigration man made us go into the second line, which he was making everyone else do.... we would have missed our flight. Good intentions, people!!! YAY!<div><br /></div><div>Right now I am posting this to you from my bed in the Sheraton Four Points in Chicago. A bed that does not feel like a kitchen table with just a sheet on top of it. It feels good to be on American soil again and to eat American food. We fly out in the morning to Miami, have about a 2 hour layover there, and then a short flight home tomorrow late afternoon.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just wanted to let you know that we made it mostly home, safely. A train ride and two air flights down, only 2 more flights to go!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-20595341029591759752010-09-03T08:22:00.000-04:002010-09-03T08:24:26.035-04:00Last Blog Post from China!Ni Hao y'all..<br /> A big thanks to all of you who have been reading our travel/adoption blog. We really appreciate the comments and the e-mails of support as we are 8,000 miles from home. It has been a huge adventure, both in the lengthy travels abroad and the addition to our family.<br /><br /> Presently, it is 3pm China time on Friday, September 3rd. We will be leaving our hotel at 6:30am tomorrow morning to catch a train to Hong Kong. Then a flight out of the Hong Kong airport at 2pm to San Francisco on Cathay Pacific. We are scheduled to land at 11:35am (West Coast time) in SFO (did you notice we will land in SF before we fly out of China? You figure it out... LOL). Then a flight to Chicago has us landing 8:10pm Central time. We will spend the night in Chicago, catching a morning flight to Miami and then Tallahassee on American Airlines flight 3619 at 6:10pm on Sunday.<br /><br /> I have asked for prayers and protective light before on our journey, but we will really need it for our travels. You can see we have much to look forward to. At the beginning of my blog, I mentioned that our entire trip will be 9 planes and a train. Tomorrow morning will be our train portion and then 4 flights to go.<br /><br />We will be 13 hours on our flight to San Francisco with 3 kids 6 and under. You KNOW we are going to need your prayers! The trip over went very well, and I have high hopes for tomorrow as well.<br /><br />I may not be able to post in SF, as we only have a 2 hour layover and have to get through customs and immigration to catch the Chicago flight, but I may be able to post something from Chicago. If not, then you will all hear from me once we are home.<br /><br />Feel free to join me in these intentions: <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I intend that our travels home from China are safe, easy, fast and comfortable. I intend that the children are calm, well-behaved and sleepy. I intend that our trip back home is as easy and stress-free as our trip over had been. I intend all of these things and So It Is, So It Is, So It Is.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-91566794572992160872010-09-02T09:14:00.007-04:002010-09-02T20:19:45.916-04:00Images of Guangzhou...There are primarily two areas where Westerners/Americans stay while in Guangzhou. Historically, it has been Shamian Island. The island has many beautiful French Colonial buildings that were built by the French and British in the 1800's. It has quiet park like streets and seems to be of a different world than the rest of Guangzhou. It is here, where the famous White Swan hotel is. The hotel where in the early years of the Chinese adoption process, everyone stayed. It is very luxurious and the most expensive hotel to stay at while waiting out the adoption process. If the rooms had been larger, we probably would have stayed there, just for the historical aspect of it. But with three kids, we really needed a larger room (and better economics).<br /><br />Here are some photos from Shamian Island and the White Swan:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9lJ7HlII/AAAAAAAAAXg/qQjWC1OzkFw/s1600/DSCF0735.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9lJ7HlII/AAAAAAAAAXg/qQjWC1OzkFw/s400/DSCF0735.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512473652429821058" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9kaBpKjI/AAAAAAAAAXY/yyv9c2hArIY/s1600/IMG_0793.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9kaBpKjI/AAAAAAAAAXY/yyv9c2hArIY/s400/IMG_0793.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512473639572286002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9j3ifmCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/PQOMRgbcZmY/s1600/IMG_0796.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA9j3ifmCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/PQOMRgbcZmY/s400/IMG_0796.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512473630314829858" border="0" /></a>Here is one of our favorite sites on Shamian Island:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-R1F_CfI/AAAAAAAAAXw/faN8ih3AHkI/s1600/IMG_0779.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-R1F_CfI/AAAAAAAAAXw/faN8ih3AHkI/s400/IMG_0779.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474419932367346" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-QmqzbAI/AAAAAAAAAXo/uxX-rRjDfhc/s1600/IMG_0781.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-QmqzbAI/AAAAAAAAAXo/uxX-rRjDfhc/s400/IMG_0781.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474398880394242" border="0" /></a>Some from the White Swan Hotel:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-9l6mlSI/AAAAAAAAAYg/bflAc8-Q7Jw/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-9l6mlSI/AAAAAAAAAYg/bflAc8-Q7Jw/s400/IMG_0783.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512475171772339490" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-9Ae6EMI/AAAAAAAAAYY/ATkBbDEYR1o/s1600/IMG_0785.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-9Ae6EMI/AAAAAAAAAYY/ATkBbDEYR1o/s400/IMG_0785.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512475161724063938" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-tW8k90I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/huNqfyILyOY/s1600/IMG_0786.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-tW8k90I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/huNqfyILyOY/s400/IMG_0786.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474892876183362" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-rIVJCuI/AAAAAAAAAYI/f6LO4YEVof8/s1600/IMG_0789.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-rIVJCuI/AAAAAAAAAYI/f6LO4YEVof8/s400/IMG_0789.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474854592940770" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-quyJZcI/AAAAAAAAAYA/X_rTWadBrrQ/s1600/IMG_0783.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-quyJZcI/AAAAAAAAAYA/X_rTWadBrrQ/s400/IMG_0783.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474847735276994" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-qIAPwdI/AAAAAAAAAX4/yXoALlAPzhI/s1600/IMG_0790.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TIA-qIAPwdI/AAAAAAAAAX4/yXoALlAPzhI/s400/IMG_0790.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512474837325431250" border="0" /></a>Then there is our part of Guangzhou. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Shifu in the downtown area of GZ on a famous pedestrian shopping area. It is also a 15 minute walk to Shamian Island.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jeUXawII/AAAAAAAAAVo/xcrWeKNTu24/s1600/IMG_0812.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jeUXawII/AAAAAAAAAVo/xcrWeKNTu24/s400/IMG_0812.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304210183110786" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jdi9cAwI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Id6ZFXWaq-k/s1600/IMG_0813.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jdi9cAwI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Id6ZFXWaq-k/s400/IMG_0813.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304196920804098" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jc2GBKKI/AAAAAAAAAVY/N_SBFkh2rxY/s1600/IMG_0814.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jc2GBKKI/AAAAAAAAAVY/N_SBFkh2rxY/s400/IMG_0814.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304184877197474" border="0" /></a>These pictures are the view from our hotel room. I don't know if it is clear in the pictures, but from our elevated perspective, we can see the "old" (and I mean ancient) buildings that look like what Americans would consider a "shanty town," and the elegant and new facade attached to the front of the buildings to hide what is really there. This was done because the Asian Games are coming to GZ in November. The government is trying to "clean up" the city as much as they can in preparation for the Games. From the street, you cannot tell what is behind it.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jtc8bqrI/AAAAAAAAAWA/LzlvcY0tUHQ/s1600/IMG_0826.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jtc8bqrI/AAAAAAAAAWA/LzlvcY0tUHQ/s400/IMG_0826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304470183881394" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jsn_eU-I/AAAAAAAAAV4/k9QFJaZ7A7Q/s1600/IMG_0825.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jsn_eU-I/AAAAAAAAAV4/k9QFJaZ7A7Q/s400/IMG_0825.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304455969559522" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jsO_wJkI/AAAAAAAAAVw/C4RwDTTmWKs/s1600/IMG_0824.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-jsO_wJkI/AAAAAAAAAVw/C4RwDTTmWKs/s400/IMG_0824.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304449259841090" border="0" /></a>Today we went to the US Consulate for our oath taking process. This is the final step in the adoption process and tomorrow we will receive Chen Jie's visa and will be able to leave the country. I was very proud of myself for not crying on Gotcha Day/Forever Family Day, but I did cry while taking the oath. I couldn't even get through it, I just let Dave speak for me and I kept my right hand raised.<br /><br />We aren't able to take pictures while inside the Consulate, and the exterior just looks like an office building but here it is, an a picture of us after taking the oath.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-k7omEVEI/AAAAAAAAAXA/onM4cZzZpnA/s1600/IMG_0815.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-k7omEVEI/AAAAAAAAAXA/onM4cZzZpnA/s400/IMG_0815.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305813341099074" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kA1fJKdI/AAAAAAAAAWI/nHlE2z-ZJtM/s1600/IMG_0817.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 349px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kA1fJKdI/AAAAAAAAAWI/nHlE2z-ZJtM/s400/IMG_0817.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512304803189434834" border="0" /></a>I'll wrap up with some of the typical Chinese markets and pedestrian traffic that we see everyday. The one nice thing about where we are staying as opposed to Shamian Island, is we see more of the "real" China. We also have more shopping and restaurant choices. We are less isolated. Some people might not like that, but Dave and I figure if we came all this way to China, By Golly we are going to see China.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kfLZfGaI/AAAAAAAAAW4/nxuqt6aTgUM/s1600/DSCF0752.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kfLZfGaI/AAAAAAAAAW4/nxuqt6aTgUM/s400/DSCF0752.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305324467362210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-keeUZs-I/AAAAAAAAAWw/SBbvt39ZWn0/s1600/IMG_0798.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-keeUZs-I/AAAAAAAAAWw/SBbvt39ZWn0/s400/IMG_0798.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305312366441442" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kdp8gQeI/AAAAAAAAAWo/lrrvZsZKNOI/s1600/IMG_0799.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kdp8gQeI/AAAAAAAAAWo/lrrvZsZKNOI/s400/IMG_0799.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305298307564002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kc2IYNfI/AAAAAAAAAWg/KH8cLGjX5cc/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-kc2IYNfI/AAAAAAAAAWg/KH8cLGjX5cc/s400/IMG_0808.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305284398724594" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-k8cfWEAI/AAAAAAAAAXI/mPiETreTIT4/s1600/IMG_0823.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH-k8cfWEAI/AAAAAAAAAXI/mPiETreTIT4/s400/IMG_0823.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512305827271544834" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-58560036513726457342010-09-01T08:57:00.007-04:002010-09-01T09:17:16.602-04:00Travels and Travails....I haven't posted in a couple of days because I didn't think there was all that much interesting to share. We are just existing as a family and doing our day to day things. If day to day can be described as "living" in a luxury hotel with an extravagant buffet breakfast everyday ("luxury" at US budget hotel prices). Going out to eat at every meal and buying souvenirs in one form or another every day..... I'm afraid our girl will be in a bit of a shock once we are home and realize that life is not all luxury and fun and games everyday. Oh well..<br /><br />I will gloss over some of the sightseeing that we have done. I have already described the events at the Great Wall and other Beijing sites.<br /><br />In Hefei we went to the orphanage in Luan one day, and I also described the park near our hotel where our entourage liked to gather. In Hefei, we also went to the Hefei Aquarium. The Aquarium was actually very nice and indoors away from the heat. Do the Chinese use air conditioning? Sometimes and somewhat. In the aquarium I still found it a bit warm, even though the lighting was very low. Air conditioning is used only minimally.<br /><br />Here are some pics from the aquarium:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5QTKmNLdI/AAAAAAAAATg/-AT3R-SAniE/s1600/IMG_0727.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5QTKmNLdI/AAAAAAAAATg/-AT3R-SAniE/s400/IMG_0727.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931284140404178" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5QSd5ySII/AAAAAAAAATY/hA1SBNNGvWw/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5QSd5ySII/AAAAAAAAATY/hA1SBNNGvWw/s400/IMG_0707.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931272142932098" border="0" /></a>The highlight for Alex and Nathan were not the dolphins or sea lions or all of the unique and beautiful fish. The Hefei Aquarium had a Spongebob Squarepants play area. The boys could run around to their hearts content. And Chinese people could freely take their picture....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q3TB3Y-I/AAAAAAAAAUA/R4Y8JLENL_g/s1600/IMG_0660.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q3TB3Y-I/AAAAAAAAAUA/R4Y8JLENL_g/s400/IMG_0660.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931904879191010" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q2SNGcGI/AAAAAAAAAT4/LJTK6DjQQkM/s1600/IMG_0661.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q2SNGcGI/AAAAAAAAAT4/LJTK6DjQQkM/s400/IMG_0661.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931887478009954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q12r1PsI/AAAAAAAAATw/1DNZMdQHN8c/s1600/IMG_0664.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q12r1PsI/AAAAAAAAATw/1DNZMdQHN8c/s400/IMG_0664.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931880090713794" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q1YODw2I/AAAAAAAAATo/aMBgtJrTJUM/s1600/IMG_0665.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5Q1YODw2I/AAAAAAAAATo/aMBgtJrTJUM/s400/IMG_0665.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511931871912772450" border="0" /></a>Here is a group shot.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5RGstdCyI/AAAAAAAAAUI/GQkyVpLwQ54/s1600/DSCF0675.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5RGstdCyI/AAAAAAAAAUI/GQkyVpLwQ54/s400/DSCF0675.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511932169470937890" /></a>I've told you in other posts that we are in Guangzhou and have been since last Friday night (it is Wednesday right now). One of the touristy things that we have done was to go to an animal safari. It was quite good, but excruciatingly hot. Tallahassee in the summer feels much cooler to give you a comparison. :-0<br /><br />They had a great train ride around the park to see animals. Many of the animals come right up to you and are very close. The train ride was the best, the park was very nice and would be great in cooler weather. They did have an incredible panda exhibit. Since Dave and I used to live in Washington DC, we have seen a panda before. But nothing like this. Almost all of the pictures that I take are from my iPhone. My iPhone does not have a telephoto lens, so you can see how close we actually were to the pandas. They also looked happy, healthy and active, very unlike the DC panda.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SMsQJzxI/AAAAAAAAAVI/CQ4tW4ygH58/s1600/IMG_0752.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SMsQJzxI/AAAAAAAAAVI/CQ4tW4ygH58/s400/IMG_0752.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511933371938885394" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SME5DgLI/AAAAAAAAAVA/N_Xip5Xk3ho/s1600/IMG_0765.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SME5DgLI/AAAAAAAAAVA/N_Xip5Xk3ho/s400/IMG_0765.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511933361373020338" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SLv2gt_I/AAAAAAAAAU4/22lcvXIrqWo/s1600/IMG_0768.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SLv2gt_I/AAAAAAAAAU4/22lcvXIrqWo/s400/IMG_0768.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511933355725207538" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SLOFNRoI/AAAAAAAAAUw/C2Qgobm6JOk/s1600/IMG_0769.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SLOFNRoI/AAAAAAAAAUw/C2Qgobm6JOk/s400/IMG_0769.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511933346660042370" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SKnfkFzI/AAAAAAAAAUo/zwim3ZeEXeE/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5SKnfkFzI/AAAAAAAAAUo/zwim3ZeEXeE/s400/IMG_0771.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511933336301606706" /></a>Dave and the kids also got to hold a baby white tiger. That was really cute. This safari had many white tigers. I think they must specialize in breeding them for other parks or zoos or magician couples.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5R13dqm9I/AAAAAAAAAUg/NBjjNa-0c3g/s1600/DSCF0746.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5R13dqm9I/AAAAAAAAAUg/NBjjNa-0c3g/s400/DSCF0746.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511932979811359698" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5R1Of9UMI/AAAAAAAAAUY/XB1Sv9qm-LM/s1600/DSCF0748.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5R1Of9UMI/AAAAAAAAAUY/XB1Sv9qm-LM/s400/DSCF0748.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511932968815120578" /></a>I'm trying not to bore you with too many "family photos." I will save that for a big slide show when I get home (ha, ha just kidding).<br /><br />As for our travails. There has not been much. Chen Jie/Jade-Rose is still doing remarkably well. Monday was our first day with tears. She started to cry after she threw something in play and it hit Alex in the head. I tried to get her to hug him to apologize and to tell her not to do that again. That was the trigger. But then it clearly just became the gateway for other tears to come.<br /><br />Dave took the boys to the pool and I held Jade for about an hour while she cried. I have never seen a child cry that long. I guess it all needed to come out. Better out then in. All of this was expected. I also expected her to push me away. She did a little bit. It was an interesting dynamic to observe her body language. We were laying on the bed together and she kept her arms around my neck the whole time, but was using her lower body to push me away at times. It was like she was fighting two different emotions needing to push away to be alone, but not wanting me to leave to make her alone. Poor little baby.<br /><br />As the tears subsided a bit, I pulled out my laptop which was also on the bed and started to look at pictures. She LOVES to look at pictures of herself. I also clicked on some video that Dave took of our first day. The first moments when she was scared as she walked into the Civil Affairs office. Moments afterwards when she started blending in with our family. And video of her later all laughing and happy. By then she was happy in my arms as well, and we made it through our first emotional breakdown in this process of older child/international adoption.<br /><br />We are still blessed and doing exceptionally well. Here is a pic of her on one of the famous red couches of the White Swan Hotel here in Guangzhou. This is a tradition established by adoptive parents many years ago when the first Chinese adoptions began. It started with groups of babies being all lined up on the couch for an official good luck portrait. Since we are not in a group, it is just Jade-Rose.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5RkTwAbFI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/cx50BsFTPLY/s1600/IMG_0789.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TH5RkTwAbFI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/cx50BsFTPLY/s400/IMG_0789.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511932678166834258" /></a>Keep us in your prayers and protective light. I will especially need it next Saturday when we begin our travels home.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-86415010241051508782010-08-28T13:45:00.004-04:002010-08-28T13:53:03.386-04:00She's not just Mommy's little girl....Before I begin my next post topic, I thought I would catch you up on a couple of things. In my last post, I mentioned that we are now in Guangzhou. I don't know if it is because more Westerners are here for their adoptions (this is the city we ALL have to come to regardless of where in China our children come from) or because we are so close to Hong Kong, but I can finally access BLOGGER (sometimes...). I can't see any pictures and I cannot yet respond to your comments directly on the blog, but I can read my text and most importantly, read your comments! Thank you for the comments, it is so nice to feel we still have a connection back home.<br /><br />Some of the comments have asked when we are coming home. We are scheduled to come home on Sunday, September 5th at 6:10pm on American Airlines, flight number 3619 out of Miami.<br /><br />Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post......<br /><br />I wanted you to know that Chen Jie is bonding with Dave just as much as she is bonding with me. Sometimes an adopted child prefers one parent over another in the beginning. So far, that is not happening on our front. Here are some pictures of Chen Jie/Jade-Rose with her Baba (Daddy in Chinese).<br /><br />This one was our very first day.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlLmDDRztI/AAAAAAAAASo/IgLHmSMCIB4/s1600/IMG_0553.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlLmDDRztI/AAAAAAAAASo/IgLHmSMCIB4/s400/IMG_0553.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510518736090681042" border="0" /></a>These three are from the great breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn Hefei.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMTgIwS4I/AAAAAAAAATA/Q3DTOx4rsFo/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMTgIwS4I/AAAAAAAAATA/Q3DTOx4rsFo/s400/IMG_0645.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510519516992392066" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMS4_0MJI/AAAAAAAAAS4/4x-HqEUDyYU/s1600/IMG_0657.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMS4_0MJI/AAAAAAAAAS4/4x-HqEUDyYU/s400/IMG_0657.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510519506485915794" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMSSp7DzI/AAAAAAAAASw/McHg8FHBX94/s1600/IMG_0658.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMSSp7DzI/AAAAAAAAASw/McHg8FHBX94/s400/IMG_0658.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510519496193543986" border="0" /></a>This one is from Chen Jie's first airplane ride. Notice the smile. Nothing has fazed her so far....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMvAVyI6I/AAAAAAAAATI/9QxXgBf5H1c/s1600/IMG_0734.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMvAVyI6I/AAAAAAAAATI/9QxXgBf5H1c/s400/IMG_0734.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510519989493441442" border="0" /></a>Happy girl playing with Daddy and a Chinese parasol.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMvryRLPI/AAAAAAAAATQ/RRUPg70bGa4/s1600/IMG_0743.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THlMvryRLPI/AAAAAAAAATQ/RRUPg70bGa4/s400/IMG_0743.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510520001155640562" border="0" /></a>I hope y'all are enjoying our pictures and our story. It will mean alot to us if you can keep us in your prayers and positive intentions. So far, things are going very, very well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-36407864833870467922010-08-28T09:10:00.005-04:002010-08-28T09:18:07.649-04:00A Trip back to the Beginning....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLGiYDMLI/AAAAAAAAARg/vlXWhCcPFPc/s1600/IMG_0638.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLGiYDMLI/AAAAAAAAARg/vlXWhCcPFPc/s400/IMG_0638.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510447825999311026" border="0" /></a>The next day we went to Chen Jie's orphanage or Children's Welfare Institute (CWI) in Luan. Luan is a city about an hour and a half west of Hefei. Our usual driver and Erin our facilitator brought us there. It was explained to Chen Jie ahead of time that we were just going for a visit and for her to say goodbye to her friends. We were worried, of course, that she would think we were bringing her back to the orphanage. She looked a little worried when Erin was explaining this to her, but in the end she was fine.<br /><br />Here is the Luan CWI.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLF0UrJ2I/AAAAAAAAARY/vZvOYKXvLMw/s1600/IMG_0592.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLF0UrJ2I/AAAAAAAAARY/vZvOYKXvLMw/s400/IMG_0592.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510447813637121890" border="0" /></a>We were greeted by the Director and by Madam Hu. Madame Hu is the main caretaker and has been for many, many years. If you are reading this blog post and have adopted from the Luan CWI, Madame Hu probably was your child's nanny. When she saw Chen Jie she fussed and fussed all over her and pretty much took charge and kept Chen Jie with her. Good thing I'm not the jealous type. Nor am I the talkative type necessarily, and Thank Goodness because such a chatterbox is Madame Hu! Even our facilitator Erin kept shaking her head and saying "My, she talks alot..." But she has a good heart and it was obvious she cares for the kids. Chen Jie's attachment to us has been great from the first hour of our introduction. That would only happen if she was well cared for in her orphanage. We feel very blessed that our daughter was cared for as best as possible. We take nothing for granted.<br /><br />Madame Hu fussing over Chen Jie:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLgF0_yVI/AAAAAAAAARw/uXwOhclkoXI/s1600/IMG_0585.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLgF0_yVI/AAAAAAAAARw/uXwOhclkoXI/s400/IMG_0585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448265012693330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLf1YKpqI/AAAAAAAAARo/OjrjIRmk9HQ/s1600/IMG_0588.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkLf1YKpqI/AAAAAAAAARo/OjrjIRmk9HQ/s400/IMG_0588.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448260596803234" border="0" /></a>Here are pictures within the CWI. Here is Chen Jie's crib. Yes, she still sleeps in a crib. All the kids do. Her group was the toddler group. They stay in that group until about age 6. Then they move to another room with older kids. In the hotels where we have been staying, Chen Jie also sleeps in a crib (they're big). I may have to make some accommodations back home with one of our toddler beds for her. Right now I have a full size bed in her room. I guess we will have to wait and see how that goes...<br /><br />The center bed was hers.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkL06iimpI/AAAAAAAAASA/SODIrD8XGzw/s1600/IMG_0631.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkL06iimpI/AAAAAAAAASA/SODIrD8XGzw/s400/IMG_0631.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448622759746194" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkL0tL_qqI/AAAAAAAAAR4/gSeaGnr-vhQ/s1600/IMG_0632.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkL0tL_qqI/AAAAAAAAAR4/gSeaGnr-vhQ/s400/IMG_0632.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448619175520930" /></a>Here are pictures of Alex and Nathan distributing candy to the children. Most of them are much younger than Chen Jie as she was one of the last of her peer group to get adopted. They had expected us in May, and it is now the end of August, so you can see how long we were delayed. :-(<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMFUaLuCI/AAAAAAAAASQ/w1RHlAjCmb4/s1600/IMG_0625.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMFUaLuCI/AAAAAAAAASQ/w1RHlAjCmb4/s400/IMG_0625.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448904581920802" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkME_9vmUI/AAAAAAAAASI/Jq1UFiShkOI/s1600/IMG_0626.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkME_9vmUI/AAAAAAAAASI/Jq1UFiShkOI/s400/IMG_0626.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510448899093928258" /></a>Here is the poignant part of the story..... These photos are of Chen Jie's "finding place." This is where she was left, at approximately 3 days old. She was not left with any information or keepsakes, and the doctor's estimated that she was about 3 days old, so her birthday is also a guess.<br /><br />She was found at the gate of the CWI. The white building you see behind the gate is the guard shack and a female guard found her in the morning around 10am.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMWbqCafI/AAAAAAAAASg/FOI8ViL-eRQ/s1600/IMG_0635.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMWbqCafI/AAAAAAAAASg/FOI8ViL-eRQ/s400/IMG_0635.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510449198585244146" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMWFw1v8I/AAAAAAAAASY/cy_Ib0VpaH4/s1600/IMG_0637.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THkMWFw1v8I/AAAAAAAAASY/cy_Ib0VpaH4/s400/IMG_0637.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510449192708194242" /></a>We are now in Guangzhou, the last major part of our trip. I am trying to catch up on blog posts. We will be here 8 days. Guangzhou is completely different from Beijing, Hefei and Luan. To help you visualize the amount of people the entire STATE of Florida has just over 18 million people. Guangzhou city has over 12 million. Dave says Guangzhou looks like the city in the movie Blade Runner, without the flying cars. I will let you guys figure that out...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-15980041793704175672010-08-25T23:40:00.004-04:002010-08-25T23:52:43.195-04:00The beginning of many Firsts....The adoption and bonding process continues. As a family unit we are all doing very well. After reading many stories about other Chinese adoptions prior to coming over here, and the possible problems or hurdles to get over, we do not seem to be experiencing any of them. She is a happy girl. We can hold her, touch her, hug her, kiss her and she loves it all. She and the boys play great together and she is always smiling. Sometimes when she is experiencing something new for a first time (which is just about everything) she will hesitate. But you can tell she is just looking and observing and figuring out what is expected of her.... then she does whatever it is. So far, she has not been overwhelmed nor have we seen any tantrums.<br /><br />The pictures I will attach will be some of the official adoption photos. We had to go back to the Civil Affairs office the day after we got Chen Jie for her official adoption from Anhui Province. They asked us if "we were satisfied with the child" and "why did we want to adopt a child from China?"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjrCLTnSI/AAAAAAAAAQY/-v8ePMIb9l4/s1600/IMG_0556.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjrCLTnSI/AAAAAAAAAQY/-v8ePMIb9l4/s400/IMG_0556.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560047615843618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjqsGyEPI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/AQVmrkxDnQE/s1600/IMG_0559.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjqsGyEPI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/AQVmrkxDnQE/s400/IMG_0559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560041691287794" border="0" /></a>This next picture is our official family portrait after all the documents were signed. We are standing in front of the official emblem of either China or the Communist party. We took over 7 photos trying to get a decent one. This one turned out the best, even though Alex looks a bit like Popeye.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjp0GjzuI/AAAAAAAAAQI/_6svjYBROVs/s1600/IMG_0567.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXjp0GjzuI/AAAAAAAAAQI/_6svjYBROVs/s400/IMG_0567.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560026657967842" border="0" /></a>Fairly close to our hotel in Hefei is a public park with a little amusement park in it. The children went on a few rides. Here were some moments of "firsts" for Chen Jie/Jade-Rose. Here is the first time she went on a slide. Ignore the precarious body posture where it looks like she is about to fall off the ancient slide on to cement. She got better at it as she kept doing it.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkIlI7SfI/AAAAAAAAAQo/-I4Pw72yWcA/s1600/IMG_0573.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkIlI7SfI/AAAAAAAAAQo/-I4Pw72yWcA/s400/IMG_0573.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560555217308146" border="0" /></a>Then we went on a little ride. Notice the hesitant look on her face. But in the end she liked it. Good thing, as her brothers are big amusement park riders (did I just hear someone say Disney?).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkH8K18DI/AAAAAAAAAQg/totfHsBwwsU/s1600/IMG_0570.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkH8K18DI/AAAAAAAAAQg/totfHsBwwsU/s400/IMG_0570.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509560544219492402" border="0" /></a>Here are other ride pictures.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkl017qpI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/rkkV0atvcTQ/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkl017qpI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/rkkV0atvcTQ/s400/IMG_0576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509561057648814738" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXklL705xI/AAAAAAAAAQw/CNJ9aid-ndY/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXklL705xI/AAAAAAAAAQw/CNJ9aid-ndY/s400/IMG_0575.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509561046667683602" border="0" /></a>This picture here of the group of people standing at a ride, was our entourage. No, I am not exaggerating when I say that. This was the group of people who followed us around and stood at each ride to watch the kids. There were so many people, I could not get up to the ride to watch my own children. The ride operator saw me and let me in, so I could stand near by while the ride was in motion.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkmmwptuI/AAAAAAAAARA/e1HD8xyqM8k/s1600/IMG_0577.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXkmmwptuI/AAAAAAAAARA/e1HD8xyqM8k/s400/IMG_0577.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509561071048439522" border="0" /></a>For our final photos of the day, we have the first time eating an ice cream cone with her brothers. She is always smiling like this. Whether or not she has an ice cream or not. I can't wait for you all to meet her.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXk829_-6I/AAAAAAAAARQ/pPRHq34x0K8/s1600/IMG_0545.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXk829_-6I/AAAAAAAAARQ/pPRHq34x0K8/s400/IMG_0545.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509561453356514210" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXk8TYrj2I/AAAAAAAAARI/yGyoBUdKRh0/s1600/IMG_0549.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THXk8TYrj2I/AAAAAAAAARI/yGyoBUdKRh0/s400/IMG_0549.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509561443804745570" /></a>Tomorrow will be the trip back to the orphanage.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-5798761465416708572010-08-23T21:45:00.005-04:002010-08-23T21:57:54.053-04:00Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day....Hello All! Well, the day has finally arrived. We went to the local Civil Affairs office where they were going to bring Lu Chen Jie to us. We arrived before she did, and here are some photos of the room we were in.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsiMaxII/AAAAAAAAAPo/GdHbfT0FfqU/s1600/DSCF0562.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsiMaxII/AAAAAAAAAPo/GdHbfT0FfqU/s400/DSCF0562.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789315739239554" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsaeyXII/AAAAAAAAAPg/rQOIdSYf4HI/s1600/DSCF0563.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsaeyXII/AAAAAAAAAPg/rQOIdSYf4HI/s400/DSCF0563.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789313668799618" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsJTrSxI/AAAAAAAAAPY/G5XM8TtVANA/s1600/DSCF0565.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMmsJTrSxI/AAAAAAAAAPY/G5XM8TtVANA/s400/DSCF0565.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789309058796306" /></a>The third pic has our interpreter/adoption facilitator Erin in the photo. She is very nice and her English is perfect. She met us at the airport on Sunday night, even though it was very late at night, with a driver.<br /><br />When Lu Chen Jie arrived, she was wearing the same dress that I have seen her in many times from the some of the pictures that I have of her. She also was very quiet, stoic and scared. A couple of times her eyes filled with tears from fear, but she never boo-hooed cried. That is when I was saying bu ku, "don't cry." She would look straight ahead and not respond. This behavior was completely expected, and I cannot imagine how much courage it took for her to be there.<br /><br />Here are some pics of right after the introduction while we were in the van on the way back to the hotel. You can see the deer in the headlights look on her face.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMm2oc0DvI/AAAAAAAAAP4/KwLxPiE_VOA/s1600/DSCF0568.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMm2oc0DvI/AAAAAAAAAP4/KwLxPiE_VOA/s400/DSCF0568.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789489217310450" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMm2dlrgrI/AAAAAAAAAPw/VkO6DcRlpP0/s1600/DSCF0569.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMm2dlrgrI/AAAAAAAAAPw/VkO6DcRlpP0/s400/DSCF0569.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789486301708978" /></a>Happily, and surprisingly, this did not last very long. Erin came back to the suite with us, and talked to her occasionally. We just let her hang out and get used to everything. At one point, she needed to use the toilet and Erin took her back. On the way there, Erin pointed out the clothes that I had brought for her, which were folded on a stand. Once she saw all of the pink clothes everything changed!<br /><br />Erin ran back saying her personality has completely transformed, and then Jie Jie came to get me and bring me to her clothes. She wanted to change her clothes into her new clothes. This was also something unexpected. Many children coming from an orphanage situation do not necessarily want to take off their clothes right away. It helps them to feel secure to keep them. I have read numerous stories where the children even want to sleep in their clothes and wear them for days. This was not going to be the case for Jie Jie.<br /><br />I had also brought a little purse with Disney Fairies on them, and she won't go anywhere without it. She is also very determined to have her hair done. I had brought new fussy flower pony tail holders and they had to go on as well. To say this child is a "girly-girl" would be an understatement.<br /><br />You can see the transformation in the next series of photos. These are when we went to lunch at a noodle restaurant. The first one is a family pic.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMnBBv5LCI/AAAAAAAAAQA/91xR5086AAc/s1600/DSCF0574.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMnBBv5LCI/AAAAAAAAAQA/91xR5086AAc/s400/DSCF0574.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508789667806915618" /></a>These are from the restaurant. She really enjoyed it when I fed her. Again, something great and unexpected, as sometimes it is hard to get eye contact from the child or get them to smile too soon. She is a big smilie girl, and loved it when I fed her. We get constant eye contact and engagement.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMluayUd-I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/fq19owff0Zg/s1600/DSCF0576.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMluayUd-I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/fq19owff0Zg/s400/DSCF0576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508788248598837218" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMlt2JxmFI/AAAAAAAAAPI/CbV_oVO-zAQ/s1600/DSCF0578.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMlt2JxmFI/AAAAAAAAAPI/CbV_oVO-zAQ/s400/DSCF0578.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508788238765103186" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMltub2amI/AAAAAAAAAPA/xuAKDPru2TY/s1600/DSCF0580.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMltub2amI/AAAAAAAAAPA/xuAKDPru2TY/s400/DSCF0580.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508788236693432930" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMltFzwWGI/AAAAAAAAAO4/CssHeHQcPCE/s1600/DSCF0582.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMltFzwWGI/AAAAAAAAAO4/CssHeHQcPCE/s400/DSCF0582.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508788225787844706" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMlszSyZ-I/AAAAAAAAAOw/DlVcu6oLF3U/s1600/DSCF0585.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/THMlszSyZ-I/AAAAAAAAAOw/DlVcu6oLF3U/s400/DSCF0585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508788220817729506" border="0" /></a>There is so much to say on this day, I think I will wait to continue this day at my next posting. We have all spent the night together and have had 3 meals together so far and it is amazing how well everything is going. No more crying, no bad behavior, tons of smiles and all the kids get along well (although the boys keep talking to her in English and don't understand why she is not answering them back....)<br /><br />Some people call this Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day. I think it will be the latter for us, as even though it has only been 24 hours so far, it already feels like Forever. She fits in so well and we all love her to pieces.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-60480318309789344952010-08-22T21:30:00.004-04:002010-08-22T21:37:20.435-04:00Did you know that Nathan and Alex were Celebrities..?Apparently in China they are. We actually have accomplished a great deal of site seeing in Beijing considering we have only been here for about 3 days, and we thought we would be adjusting more to jet lag.<br /><br />I already shared with you the Great Wall athletic event that we accomplished. We also have gone to the Forbidden City twice and Tiananmen Square which is across the street. Dave and the boys went to the Temple of Heaven and I went to the Pearl Market (did I buy pearls, oh yes!).<br /><br />People stare at us quite a bit as there are not too many blondes in China, but what is most amusing are the amount of people who want their picture taken with Nathan and Alex. Even if not getting their picture taken with the boys, various people would get out of their seats on the subway so the boys could sit down. Even elderly women were doing this, no matter how hard I tried to stop them.<br /><br />Twins in China are called shuang bao. Twin boys are considered particularly good luck. Many people stop us and tell us how much good luck it is to have twin boys. (they clearly have not spent a great deal of time with twin boys I imagine, but yes, we do feel lucky).<br /><br />Here are some publicity shots for the boys:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHP9QNj8LI/AAAAAAAAE0I/vNgEN47aCBo/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 274px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHP9QNj8LI/AAAAAAAAE0I/vNgEN47aCBo/s320/IMG_0503.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508412470481645746" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHP80BJVdI/AAAAAAAAE0A/iCz9dOJWOwQ/s1600/IMG_0510.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHP80BJVdI/AAAAAAAAE0A/iCz9dOJWOwQ/s320/IMG_0510.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508412462913377746" border="0" /></a>I forgot to mention that the first day we were at the Forbidden City, it was raining all day, thus the raincoats.<br /><br />Here is a family pic before we went inside.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQI_c3_xI/AAAAAAAAE0Q/_gkVteoyTJk/s1600/IMG_0498.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQI_c3_xI/AAAAAAAAE0Q/_gkVteoyTJk/s320/IMG_0498.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508412672140902162" border="0" /></a>The other photo op for the boys was when they went to the Temple of Heaven. This time an older girl wanted her picture taken with them. You will notice one of the twins is missing. That is because Alex likes to wander off and not listen to Daddy.... Here is Nathan and his new friend.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQZu7LwII/AAAAAAAAE0g/RFe6vfHRHyY/s1600/DSCF0554.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQZu7LwII/AAAAAAAAE0g/RFe6vfHRHyY/s320/DSCF0554.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508412959762399362" border="0" /></a>Dave and the boys at the Temple of Heaven.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQZFPN8FI/AAAAAAAAE0Y/gShHbH7K0wA/s1600/DSCF0549.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQZFPN8FI/AAAAAAAAE0Y/gShHbH7K0wA/s320/DSCF0549.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508412948572139602" border="0" /></a>I forgot to mention that the way we have been getting around the city is via the fantastic subway system in Beijing. Because of the Olympics, signs all over the place include English (or Pin Yin) as well as Chinese. The subways were easy to navigate and very clean. Crowding was another issue, but then again, this IS China.<br />Here are the 3 boys in the subway.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQrey2FaI/AAAAAAAAE0o/V0yIk6PQPUQ/s1600/IMG_0518.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cYzG_k1o1ZQ/THHQrey2FaI/AAAAAAAAE0o/V0yIk6PQPUQ/s320/IMG_0518.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508413264670102946" /></a>For those of you who are reading this blog from the States, we are a day ahead of you. Presently, it is Monday August 23rd and we are about to go get Jade-Rose in about 10 minutes. I am writing this blog to try to get us caught up before it is the Gotcha Day announcement.<br /><br />I hope you are enjoying moments of our trip and please continue to have us in your thoughts and prayers.<br /><br />4 planes down.... only 5 more and a train to go.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-14282957222766501822010-08-20T21:54:00.006-04:002010-08-20T22:03:48.549-04:00Train for the Great Wall even if......Even if you think you won't be climbing it. Because you just MIGHT!<br />Oy Vay! That's what happened to us yesterday, on my birthday, August 20th. Our plan was to take one of the cable car rides up to the wall, take some pictures and ride the toboggan slide down. Unfortunately, we did not know (nor were we told) that there are TWO cable car rides and the slide is only next to one of them. Ugh!<br /><br />I knew that the Great Wall of China was a huge structure that spanned thousands of miles. So large that it can even be viewed from space. I pictured in my mind great expanses of walkways on top of the wall. Ummmmm... not so much. Actually, there are some expanses of walkway on the wall but there are many, many STEEP staircases going both up and down. This was an incredible discovery for someone/family ill prepared for a great climb. What we decided to do since we were sent up the wrong cable car ride was to walk to the other cable car/toboggan ride area.<br /><br />[We pause in this story to show a picture of where we are staying. The first picture is of the Novotel Hotel in downtown Beijing. It is walking distance to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We hired a private van to pick us up at the airport and bring us here because it was so late at night. But we will take a subway back that apparently goes directly to the airport and is across the street from our hotel.]<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yPS0NtII/AAAAAAAAAOQ/4esN7bqRyP4/s1600/IMG_0478.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yPS0NtII/AAAAAAAAAOQ/4esN7bqRyP4/s320/IMG_0478.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676107627672706" border="0" /></a>Here are some pictures of our climb (there will be no pictures of me huffing and puffing):<br /><br />The first pic is of Dave and the boys against the wall.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yO-8bvxI/AAAAAAAAAOI/GU4gItlm_Rk/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yO-8bvxI/AAAAAAAAAOI/GU4gItlm_Rk/s320/IMG_0480.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676102293438226" border="0" /></a>I always like to take one of these type of pictures with the three of them holding hands.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yOXr8DSI/AAAAAAAAAOA/V1QQC_JqP9o/s1600/IMG_0481.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8yOXr8DSI/AAAAAAAAAOA/V1QQC_JqP9o/s320/IMG_0481.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676091755269410" border="0" /></a>Here is a picture with one of the watch-tower turrets that run all along the wall. You will notice that Alex's hand is extended in the air. He said he was posing like the Statue of Liberty. I guess wearing a red, white and blue shirt with the US flag on it, didn't scream American enough to him.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y90b_f9I/AAAAAAAAAOo/psbpN_jih94/s1600/IMG_0484.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y90b_f9I/AAAAAAAAAOo/psbpN_jih94/s320/IMG_0484.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676906926866386" border="0" /></a>The last two pictures show a bit of our climb. Particularly, the second picture. That entire stretch of the wall that you see in this picture, was our climb (it is not a walk, it is a climb). Way in the distance, at the top of the far mountain is a building that has a traditional roof on its structure. I hope you can see it. That is where we began.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y8-D5J8I/AAAAAAAAAOg/gGwM9YcFVUU/s1600/IMG_0485.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y8-D5J8I/AAAAAAAAAOg/gGwM9YcFVUU/s320/IMG_0485.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676892330272706" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y8er1RNI/AAAAAAAAAOY/5qTARaAVjyk/s1600/IMG_0486.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TG8y8er1RNI/AAAAAAAAAOY/5qTARaAVjyk/s320/IMG_0486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507676883907855570" border="0" /></a>Dave doesn't think that picture does it justice. He believes it does not show the steepness of the climb. At least you can judge the great distance. Dave just said that parts of it are as steep as a Black Diamond ski run.<br /><br />So, the moral of this story is, even if you think you will only be going to the Great Wall with two 6 year olds to take a nice ride and have a photo op, you may just end up doing much more than you planned!<br />Another lesson to learn if you decide to try the cable car rides, make sure you GET ON THE CORRECT RIDE. Here are the differences.<br />This is the WRONG cable car ride if you want to do the Toboggan ride down the mountain, <a href="http://www.micktravels.com/china/mutianyu/02-great-wall-mutianyu-cable-car.html">http://www.micktravels.com/china/mutianyu/02-great-wall-mutianyu-cable-car.html</a><br /><br />This is the Correct cable car ride. Notice it is more like a chair lift that you would see at a ski resort. Less like the enclosed cable car. (If you scroll down this guy's travel blog you can see the chair lift. It's the best picture I could find) <a href="http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-367408.html">http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-367408.html</a><br /><br />Here is a link to the Toboggan ride. <a href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Mutianyu-Toboggan">http://hubpages.com/hub/Mutianyu-Toboggan</a> A definite MUST DO! You have a choice of a single car, or a double car. The kids sit in front of the adult in the double car.<br /><br />My friend Diana is making the posts for me, as Blogger (and Facebook) are blocked by China. I have also noticed on other internet searches that many things are blocked by China. There are moments like this that help you appreciate the freedoms we all take for granted living in the US. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press is a wonderful thing to have.<br /><br />Love to all,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-30964713016954996972010-08-18T18:16:00.004-04:002010-08-18T18:46:36.874-04:009 Planes and a Train<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TGxeiwaTcSI/AAAAAAAAANo/AwgFy7vpQoM/s320/IMG_0459.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506880395571065122" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Hello All!</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div> We have started our journey and so far, so good. The picture above is when we first began at the Tallahassee airport. We had the nicest American Airlines person assisting us. We were even able to scan our passports right at a kiosk and we have our boarding passes all the way to Beijing. We were the only people in line, and I guess that is why she was able to spend so much time with us and help us out. We were grateful. </div><div><br /></div><div>Packing was challenging. I don't normally worry about losing luggage while traveling. But considering that we are literally going to be on 9 different planes by the time we return home from this special journey, I was a bit nervous about checking any luggage. Believe it or not, I was able to pack for 5 people in 2 carry-on suitcases plus our individual carry-ons. The boys have their backpacks and their special pillow friends (or C-pillows as they call them). Dave has a backpack and I have our old diaper bag (those <a href="http://www.skiphop.com/">Skip Hop bags</a> ROCK!) and travel purse. I was thinking of my friend Julie Guyot the whole time, as she encouraged me to attempt this international travel with just carry-ons. I did it, Julie. I did it!</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TGxe8CB3ZUI/AAAAAAAAANw/xB0a23f8Ds4/s320/IMG_0458.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506880829797131586" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>This picture is of Alex and Nathan on the flight to Chicago. I am blogging to you from a food court in Chicago O'hare. 2 flights down and only 7 to go. LOL!</div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TGxe8iTg_9I/AAAAAAAAAN4/F1ph60Dw79s/s320/IMG_0463.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506880838461095890" /><div style="text-align: center;">We hope all is well with you, and please keep us in your thoughts as often as you can. But I thought I would take this time in the beginning of our journey to let you know that we are all doing splendidly. Let's hope the boys sleep on the way over to China!!!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-83035021440525741212010-08-12T14:33:00.005-04:002010-08-12T14:40:01.518-04:00A difference in personalities<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hi</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> I just thought I would share this little story to help you understand the difference between the two personalities of my twin boys.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> If I ask them the same question, these are always their individual replies:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> Me to Alex:</span> <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">Who loves you, Alex?</span></i></div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Alex:</span> <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">You do, Mommy.</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Me to Nathan:</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;"><i>Who loves you, Nathan?</i></span></div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Nathan: </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">EVERYBODY in the whole world!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Guess which one is Nathan in the frames above.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-79466821183973051962010-08-11T23:54:00.006-04:002010-08-12T15:02:15.429-04:00Like my new blog design??<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div>Isn't it</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>P</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>*</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>R</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>*</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>E</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>*</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>T</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>*</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>T</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>*</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>Y...??</b></span></span></i><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Diana of</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><a href="http://customblogdesigns.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Custom Blog Designs</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">did it for me and I am just thrilled. I wanted to do a shout-out to her to thank her for sharing her talent and this lovely design. She is very quick, a great communicator and generous with her creativity.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I highly recommend her if you are needing help designing your blog.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Can anyone guess the connection between the new design and my daughter?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Post your guesses.....</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-80753684192562534592010-08-08T11:59:00.011-04:002010-08-12T01:42:53.337-04:00New Pics and Travel Updates<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hello Friends-</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> After receiving TA, our adoption facilitator in China asked Jade-Rose's SWI more questions about her. One of them was "Does she have a nickname?" </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">It is Jie Jie. Her Chinese name is Lu Chen Jie. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Jie Jie is very cute, and I like how the two "J's" of Jie Jie and Jade-Rose go together.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">They also sent us more pictures.</span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TF7VmFrvFMI/AAAAAAAAANM/kYCgLKTR_-I/s320/JadePoser.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503070645030687938" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Check out the water fountain on top of her head! I love how the pony tail on top keeps getting bigger and bigger with each new set of pictures that I receive.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TF7VljsOAQI/AAAAAAAAANE/t4M3RjKjZEY/s320/Jadeeatingwithfriend.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503070635905908994" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I also love these pictures of her eating rice with a friend. (By the way, if you are an adoptive parent, and recognize that friend in the pic as your daughter, please let me know. I have many pictures of her. She is in many of the same pictures that I have of Jade-Rose, and I would be happy to share.) </span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TF7VlaAHBHI/AAAAAAAAAM8/zY2_0py6Jr0/s320/Jadewithspoon.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5503070633304982642" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">As far as Travel Updates....</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We have our flights booked going and coming. What a whole new concept in the adoption process to stress over!!!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Summer time is the most expensive time to fly to China (take heed all of you AP's out there). Our travel agent</span> </span><a href="http://www.suesorrels.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sue Sorrels</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">said that she had never seen prices as high as they had been for this summer. Don't be misled by Sue's very simple landing page at her website. She is an expert in her field and very highly recommended in the adoption community. We tried figuring out our own flight plans, but nothing we came up with worked as well as what Sue came up for us.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Because Tallahassee only has a regional airport, it's hard to get flights in or out of here without a bunch of layovers. We are flying on August 18th</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Tallahassee>>Miami>>Chicago>>Beijing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Our Gotcha Day is August 23 and we leave China on September 4th </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"></span>Hong Kong>>San Francisco>>Chicago>>Miami>>Tallahassee</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We still have to book our in-country flights from Beijing to Hefei and then Hefei to Guangzhou.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We have Chinese travel agents booking our hotels in China, and the train we will need from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. We know where we are staying in Hefei (the capitol of Anhui Province, where they will bring Jie Jie to us). We also know where we are staying in Guangzhou (where most of the adoption requirements take place). We have asked the travel agents what they recommend for Beijing, but we haven't heard back yet. There really is SO MUCH to coordinate for a trip like this, </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">and I thought the stress from the paper chase was bad...</span></i></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-54825324640677914542010-07-27T19:53:00.008-04:002010-08-11T22:04:27.207-04:00WE GOT TA!!!<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Can you believe it? A smidge faster than the present timeline schedule. Our agency rep figured it would be about August 5th, and we got it</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b>July 26</b></span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Yesterday actually. This is my first chance to get on the blog. Yesterday I was a bit numb from the news, and today I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TE94el6PCwI/AAAAAAAAAM0/k-oog6bnwq4/s320/Buff+Orpington.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498746137010440962" /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;">Not this Chicken</span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Today's Run Around:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">1. I had to Fed Ex our 4 Visa applications to Chicago. For those of you on this adoption process, we used Denise Hope in Illinois whose business name is</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><a href="http://www.theres-always-hope.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There's Always Hope</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">- document and visa courier. Our agency rep recommended her because she can go to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, where it is less busy and has a quick turn around time. Our visas should be back here by next week, August 5th.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#996633;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">2. Before sending off the Visas, all 4 of us had to get more passport photos taken. We went to </span></span><a href="http://photo.walgreens.com/walgreens/welcome"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Walgreens</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">and they all came out really nice. Dave and I both said we wish those pictures were the ones in our passports. Boy, do we have some unflattering shots in our passport books. I hope we don't scare anyone when they open them up at Immigration. :-0</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">3. After passport photos, we went to Dr. Ness's office. We were there just last week when Nathan was diagnosed with strep. But I was feeling poorly with a terrible ear ache, so we all went back to be tested for strep. Dave was the only one who tested + for strep. Dr. Ness thinks my ear pain was from an infection in my gums where I had a tooth extracted. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> Lovely.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Anyway, 3 out of 4 of us are on Amoxicillin.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">4. I finally finished the little photo album we made for Jade-Rose, and I really wanted to get it in the mail today so *HOPEFULLY* she will have it before we get to China. She has a couple of pictures of us now, that I sent last October, and tonight I will be sending some to our China Facilitator by e-mail who will send those on to her as well. I was procrastinating a bit with the photo album because I didn't expect TA so quickly. I think it came out really cute. Inside the album, on one side is a plastic sleeve for a picture, and on the opposite page a place for you to write things down. We typed in simple words in a Chinese translator, so the description, opposite the picture that I put in there, is in English, Chinese characters and Pin Yin.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TE93uw1QaXI/AAAAAAAAAMs/7tx3uhkB_eA/s320/Jade%27s+photoalbum.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498745315308628338" /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> I only took a picture of the cover of the album. I literally had to race to the post office before it closed by 5. The outside of the album has Disney Princesses on it, with a little plastic heart. Inside the heart are little tiny beads which move around. It's really sweet. Here's hoping it arrives before we do.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">That's about it for today. I'll tell ya, it felt like alot.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-6832533721854176002010-07-07T23:33:00.011-04:002010-08-11T22:06:02.525-04:00Two New Pictures of Jade-Rose<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">A very nice adoptive parent sent me these latest pictures of Jade-Rose/Chenjie that she took when she was at her SWI. She looks so cute.<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I heard from another Luan parent today as well who met Chenjie and said she was smart and happy and an expert at playing Legos. That will be a great activity for her to share with her brothers in China!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Here are two pics:</span></span></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 151px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TDVKrvKRDxI/AAAAAAAAAL0/4gWbqRHSetw/s320/Chenjie-standingdress-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377435902545682" /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TDVKrxKNwwI/AAAAAAAAAL8/EaftAU_ZBlA/s320/Chenjie-PeacesignDress-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491377436439200514" /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-5434780881961689812010-07-07T18:09:00.008-04:002010-08-11T22:07:25.568-04:00Made a new decision<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hello to anyone who is reading our adoption blog! (</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I hope someone is</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">)</span></span></span></div></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">In previous posts, I have discussed how our wonderful friend Pam had offered to take ca</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">re of our twin boys while Dave and I go to China to get Jade-Rose. For the longest time, we thought that decision had been made and decided, and that was that, and we felt blessed by her offer. However, after much discussion last week, Dave and I decided to </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">bring</span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> the boys to China with us. SURPRISE! Well, it is a surprise for us</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TDUCYgZbaII/AAAAAAAAALs/e03ItcQRXDw/s320/004_4.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491297940684892290" /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">S</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">o.. last week, we talked to our physician and he looked at our boys shot records (I do a much slower schedule than the standard AMA recommendation), and he felt the boys were covered for most everything. The only shot they received was for Hep. A. Dave and I finished up our rounds for Hep. A and B., which were the last ones that we needed before travel. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> Since I am not a vaccine lover, let's change the subject....</span></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Dave called our agency today, because we still hadn't heard anything after our papers were delivered to the US Consulate in China. We were told they were going to picked up and delivered to the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) next Monday. That is the last step before TA.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This could go on for a few more weeks. UGH. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">However, Dave and I have written a letter which we are having translated into Chinese tomorrow. We are hoping, because Jade-Rose got accepted into the School of Arts and Sciences for August admission, that the officials at the CCAA will grant us a quicker travel approval for the sake of her education. That's what we are praying for anyway.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Since we have decided to bring the boys with us to China, so that the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">whole family</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> can adopt Jade-Rose, and not just the parental figures, I thought I would post some pictures of the boys. They are very excited about having a sister and they cannot wait to teach her the ABC's and numbers! It is the opinion of many BTDT adoptive parents, that having children with you during the adoption process helps the new child to adjust easier within the family. It makes sense if you remember that for the last 5 years, she has been surrounded by children, living with children, eating and sleeping next to many children. I am hoping that with her new brothers there, she will feel less frightened then if it was just Dave and I. Two strangers that don't look like her or speak her language.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We are also thinking about our future as a family and family history and family memories. I think in the future it will be important to everyone, Jade-Rose and Alex and Nathan, that they were all together when our family of 4 became a family of 5.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Here are the world traveling 6 y</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">ear olds...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); "><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TDUCYQd4jKI/AAAAAAAAALk/RF-mWO73tMQ/s320/002_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491297936408612002" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> Nathaniel</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"> </span></span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102); "><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TDUCX6KdH7I/AAAAAAAAALc/jGZGscMXlNw/s320/001_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491297930421542834" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Alexander</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-80365590069159532472010-06-22T21:17:00.009-04:002010-08-11T22:08:48.859-04:00I-800 and National Visa Center papers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I am a bit behind in my posting. On May 22, my last post announced that we had received our I-800. In actuality, we received the </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">receipt</span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> that we wanted our I-800. You should have seen this "receipt," VERY official looking, and therefore it fooled us quite successfully.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We did get our official I-800 on</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">June 2nd</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We then received our National Visa Center approval paper (looking NOT AT ALL official) yesterday,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">June 21st</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">So, now we have more dates to add to our timeline.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Our papers will now be hand delivered to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, and then after their approval, the papers will sashay over to CCAA for the FINAL travel approval (TA). Gosh, can you say F*R*U*S*T*R*A*T*I*N*G.....? I just want her home already!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Dave and I are so hoping to travel in July instead of August. We are so hoping to be able to spend some time with her as a family before she begins school. We live in Florida, so school starts in August for us.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Please pray for us and our ability to get this little girl home as soon as possible. I know in God's hands he can assist the powers that be in China to move quicker on her behalf. But as always, I will fill you in on our happenings and time line.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Here are some recent pictures of Jade-Rose, that a lovely new adoptive Mom sent to me when she was at Jade-Rose's SWI adopting her new son. I love these pics because she is smiling! (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Thank you, Tasha</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">)</span></span></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TCFopNYf5sI/AAAAAAAAALM/zCRhSTDbvLY/s320/ChenJie+closeup.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485780878290314946" /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/TCFopU61LDI/AAAAAAAAALU/mw2N3U7IiJo/s320/ChenJie+looking+up.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485780880313363506" /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">And she has hair!! Did you notice the little pony-tail on top of her head. I'm so glad they are letting her hair grow out.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-64485065635745539052010-05-21T10:38:00.012-04:002010-08-11T22:09:55.584-04:00We got LOA!!!!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hello All-</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> I am filled with joy this week (even though it was also the deadline week for my magazine) as on Tuesday, May 18th we heard from our agency that we received LOA!! LOA stands for Letter of Acceptance and it is one of the biggest things that you wait for in this whole process. It means that the China gov't has given their official approval that Chen Jie/Jade-Rose is ours.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> As you can see from my April 5th post, there is still more paperwork to be done, before we get the next big thing from China, which is TA (travel approval). Here is just a little bit from that post: </span></span></div><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Acceptance Paperwork</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">- </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When the agency receives your LOA (Letter of Acceptance), we will mail you a packet that contains the following:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> The LOA from CCAA</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Legal paperwork for you to officially accept the child</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Statement outlining fees that are due at this time</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed I-800 application for you to proof read and sign</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed I-864-W for you to proof read and sign</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed DS-230 for you to proof read and sign</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Power of Attorney (if you plan for only one parent to travel) (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">not relevant for us</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">)</span></li><li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Visa Application</span></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> We received LOA on 5/18, we received our overnighted package on 5/19 and Dave and I signed everything we had to and overnighted the package back to the agency on 5/20. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hey Man! We are not foolin' around!</span></span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> The only thing we did not do was the Visa application, we will be doing that ourselves, but everything else on that list was completed and returned to the agency. Our agency rep. said she would Fed Ex our I-800 to USCIS today as well.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Steps Remaining:</span></b></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> 1. Once our I-800 is approved, USCIS will send our paperwork to the National Visa Center. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> 2. After they process it, they send our papers to the US Consulate in Guangzhou (all the legal adoption activity happens in Guangzhou, no matter where in China your child may be from).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> 3. After the US Consulate in Guangzhou does their thing, THEN it is sent to the CCAA. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> 4. It is the CCAA who has to grant us TA (travel approval).</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">AMAZING, right? Amazing how many steps and how many complete strangers and government offices both American and Chinese are involved in the adoption of a child.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Keep praying for us and sending out positive intentions to the Universe. I believe with God's help, he can assist all of the people involved in our process to move quickly and effortlessly on our behalf. I joyfully intend that we have the fastest TA turnaround that anyone has ever seen. It is my sincere wish..... And so it is.....</span></span></span></div></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; font-size:13px;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:130%;color:#0000BF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: normal;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; text-decoration: underline;font-size:13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></p></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 191); font-family:times, serif;"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-28608410703485073662010-04-13T08:33:00.011-04:002010-08-11T22:13:24.067-04:00Given an incredible gift.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I thought I would share with you an incredible gift that Dave and I received on Sunday. We have been debating whether or not to take the boys to China with us. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">The Pros are:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">1) trip of a lifetime, </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">2) they get to be there for their sister on Gotcha-Day, </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">3) very educational, </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">4) still with Mommy & Daddy (i.e., Mommy wouldn't worry about them)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">5) get to practice their Chinese</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">6) I'm sure they would have alot of fun in China and with the people of China</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">The Cons are:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"> 1) the vaccine debate (do them, or risk it)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">2) the cost of the extra 2 round trip fares to China</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">3) the length of the flights, and how to keep just-turned-6 year olds entertained</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">4) Alex's fussy eating habits. What would he eat in China?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">5) not being able to do all of the sight-seeing that Dave and I would like to do. (For example, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">getting a</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"> picture taken</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"> at the Great Wall of China, is different then </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">actually getting</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"> to climb</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"> the Great Wall of China!)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">6) keeping track of them, while at the same time, taking care of Jade-Rose's needs.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">7) trip of a lifetime, but will they remember it? (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">The only thing that I remember of age 6 is getting in trouble on the playground because I was mean to Marta Munoff</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;">)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">nitially, we were not going to bring them. Then, every time I thought I about that I would cry. God forbid, anything would happen to them while we were gone, I wouldn't be able to get to them because I would be on another continent! I guess I am too much of a mother lion to risk my cub's protection.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">So, then we said,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">OK! Let's bring them!</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I felt better emotionally about this, and we tried to focus on the Pros List, but you can see our Cons list is a bit longer and stronger, and I wasn't feeling better with my rational mind.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I have been praying about what to do. There are very few people in my life that I would trust with the boys. Not necessarily because I am too over-protective, but they are TWIN BOYS, and that IS a factor. They are good boys and loving boys, but they are BOYS multiplied exponentially. There is a bit of "handling" of them. We don't have any family in Florida to watch them. Most of our friends have jobs and their own families, so I would never want to impose on them. So, you can see how we were feeling a bit stuck. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Just a couple of days ago, I literally said to God,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">OK God, I am leaving it up to you. I will wait to see what you want us to do with this question. If you want someone</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#660000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> to watch the boys, you will have to show them to me."</span></span></span></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">This past Sunday, we went to the</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.peaceinthepark.info/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Peace in the Park</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">festival and there were many booths along with music. One of the booths was of the Magnolia School. The boys went there for a few months this year, and their teacher Miss Pam was there. She is also the boys Sunday school teacher at our church. We were all standing around and talking, and I was asked how the adoption was going, and then Pam volunteered out-of-the-blue, "If you need someone to take care of the boys I would be happy to do it." You could have knocked me over with a feather!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666600;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Pam is one of the few people that I would trust with the boys. She already knows them very well. She knows how they behave and what they are capable of. Her kids are grown, and she is very, very responsible. Especially because we also know Pam through church, I felt this was a gift from God. If we just offer up our problems to Him, he comes up with a better plan then we ever could. Gotta love that! Now that we are getting closer to the time of travel, this is a wonderful gift and a great worry off of our minds</span>.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Thank you Miss Pam (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and God</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">)!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/S8R3aPIWc3I/AAAAAAAAAJE/2zNzeZrKp3c/s320/shapeimage_4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459619940901745522" /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-25520628116798044472010-04-05T12:52:00.007-04:002010-08-11T22:15:06.612-04:00Very Long, but Educational Post<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Hello friends-</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> We contacted our agency today, because we were hoping to find out what the wait estimates were, and was there anything to prepare for while we waited to hear from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs). I am just going to post the memo that we received from our agency. It blew me away. It would have been </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">REALLY</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"> nice if they offered this info. before we asked for it, but as you know by now, they get a big 'F' in the communications department. I am amazed at what is still involved before we can get our daughter. This feels endless.... </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Acceptance Paperwork</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">- </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When the agency receives your LOA (Letter of Acceptance), we will mail you a packet that contains the following:</span></p> <ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The LOA from CCAA </span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Legal paperwork for you to officially accept the child</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Statement outlining fees that are due at this time</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed I-800 application for you to proof read and sign</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed I-864-W for you to proof read and sign</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Completed DS-230 for you to proof read and sign</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Power of Attorney (if you plan for only one parent to travel) (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">not relevant for us</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">)</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Visa Application</span></li> <li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Travel Packet (Information for you to read about your trip to China) </span></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Begin Planning Your Trip-</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You still have several weeks ahead of you before travel, however now is a good time to get in contact the In China Facilitator.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Introduce yourself and let her know who you are adopting and where your child is from.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If you would like to visit your child’s orphanage or finding site, please let her know at this time so that she can get pre-approval to do so.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She will make appointments for you with the provincial office, and can help you make your hotel reservations.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If you prefer not to carry cash with you on your trip, you can wire these funds to her and she will take care of payments for you.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I-800 Application</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">- </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When the agency receives the acceptance paperwork back from you, we will file your </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I800</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> application with USCIS.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is different than your previously filed</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I-800-a.</span></span></b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Your I-800-a approved you as a family.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Your I-800 will approve the specific child that you will adopt.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When your application has been processed, USCIS will send your approval to you in the mail.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Please contactthe agency when you receive this to make sure that we have received a copy.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If not, you will need to fax or email us a copy.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The time frame from submission of application to receipt of approval is approximately 2-3 weeks.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Chinese Visa Application-</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">While waiting for your I-800 approval you must apply for a visa from the Chinese Consulate.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The acceptance packet will contain information on how to do this.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">National Visa Center (NVC) Process-</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Once your I-800 has been approved, USCIS will send your paperwork to the NVC.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">After they have processed your case, they will forward your paperwork to the US Consulate in Guangzhou.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You will receive a confirmation of this in the mail.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Please email or fax a copy of this to the agency.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We must have a copy of this before we can proceed.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">US Consulate Process-</span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Once the agency receives your NVC letter; we will send your paperwork to our facilitator in Guangzhou.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She will hand deliver your documents to the US Consulate.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It will take the consulate 2 weeks to process your paperwork.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The facilitator will then pick up your documents and send them to CCAA.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We will then await your Travel Approval (TA).</span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Travel Approval and Consulate Appointment- After</span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> your paperwork has been sent to CCAA, it will take approximately 4 weeks to receive TA.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This will be sent to the agency.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We will call you when it arrives and begin to make travel arrangements.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You will need to let the agency know when you would like to leave for China.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We will then request a consulate appointment accordingly.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">A</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">s you can see, there is still so much that has to be done.... and so much of it will be out of our hands. Speaking of hands.. please pray for us, sincerely. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Pray that we are one of the families where all of the remaining steps, including the I-800 and TA approvals, move quickly and effortlessly. </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">We are in God's hands now, and we need His help to move things along. Please ask him on our behalf.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I'm sorry for the length of today's post, but for those of you who are reading this blog because you want to learn about the China adoption process or are involved in the process, I like to share as much for the educational aspect as for the personal. When I read this memo today... I had NO idea so much was still involved. I really had no idea this process would take so long.....</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-19863690005548925442010-03-22T19:01:00.007-04:002010-08-11T22:17:12.381-04:00Papers to China!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Today is</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6600CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">March 22</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">and our Dossier went to China today! It is 7:02pm and I finally heard from our agency confirming that the dossier, indeed, was mailed today.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">I don't know what this really means? I am not sure how long a response from China will take or what my next steps are. If you are a BTDT adoption parent, feel free to educate me. If you are reading and learning along with me, then as soon as I learn something, I will add that information to the blog.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Thank you for sharing in the little joys with me. The hurry-up-and-waits are truly the most difficult part in the adoption process. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">All of the paperwork is a pain in the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">patookis</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">, but the WAITING, is by far the hardest aspect.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-21263234500011547952010-03-08T11:46:00.007-05:002010-08-11T22:18:01.302-04:00Wo ai ni Mommy!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Today's post is about the new documentary</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMtH5zDf8I"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Wo ai ni Mommy</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000099;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">(I love you Mommy). I can't wait to see it, unfortunately it will not be shown on PBS until this fall, but the trailer is great. I have a widget attached to my blog if you are interested in helping out the young director who created the movie.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">For those of you who are involved in adoptions from China, this movie - I am sure - will be particularly touching.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8806667176107513230.post-25100979909594950082010-02-25T21:55:00.005-05:002010-08-11T22:18:56.434-04:00New Graphic.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/S4c4bvly9ZI/AAAAAAAAAEA/zbhSvOzWhLA/s1600-h/Jade-Rose+icon.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IuxrZsD91r0/S4c4bvly9ZI/AAAAAAAAAEA/zbhSvOzWhLA/s320/Jade-Rose+icon.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442380723983152530" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#003300;">Here is a new graphic for the new name. Looks pretty good to me!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0