Packing, packing and repacking

I had forgotten how difficult packing for China is.  Our entire living room floor is strewn with clothes, toys, medicine, paperwork and more.  It's all going, we just have to figure out how to put 5 lbs. in a 10 lb. bag.  No problem!  We are allowed one check in for the in-country flight that has a weight restriction of 44 lbs.  The last few trips, we've made it just under.  This time around, I'm feeling packing challenged.....I want to pack everything but the kitchen sink for the kids, especially for Leah.  Thankfully, Ralph is all packed, bag sitting by the front door ready to go.  So we're 1/5th of the way there.....

Our little man is bouncing off the walls with excitement, which is awesome considering that just a few months ago, he wanted nothing to do with getting on a plane and going to China.  His fear has given way to pure joy and we are so happy.  We know its from lots of prayer and talking about how much fun the plane ride is.  I think what pushed him over the top was telling him that the flight attendants would bring him soda.  And he is over the top excited about pulling around his little angry birds suitcase.  Meticulous Makena is making sure that everything is just so and she keeps checking with me to make sure we are taking what we need, especially for Leah.  They are going to be amazing with their mei mei (little sister in Mandarin)

A friend's kids were asking about our trip and she suggested we post some info in case anyone else was curious.  Our flights going and coming back have a layover in Seoul, Korea.  We took the same flights when bringing Josh home & it is a really cool airport, with little indoor playgrounds for the kids to play in.  Our flights are 15 hours going (13 from here to Korea, 2 from Korea to Beijing) and 14.5 coming back (3.5 from Guangzhou to Korea, 11 from Korea, home).  The time difference is 15 hours ahead.....an easy way to figure it out is to take NY time and in China it is the same time, just the opposite (pm vs am & vice versa).  Its always a little confusing when making travel arrangements and trying to make sure we get there the day/time we need to get there.  And I still think its cool that we arrive home a mere 3.5 hours after leaving China!

In addition to all of the "stuff" we are taking, we are also carrying precious cargo to take to the orphanage......photos of children previously adopted from where Leah is.  Contrary to what some might think, the orphanage staff love these children and, while they are happy to see them united with their adoptive families, they miss them and want to know how they are doing.  It has been amazing to see the photos and the beautiful glowing smiles on what was once an expressionless face.  We are also taking photos from a family to a little girl who waits for them.  Hopefully they will be traveling in August, but until then, she will have the gift of seeing photos of her forever family.  Rest assured families, these precious gifts will be carried and presented to the staff with love.

Well, back to packing.  We'll check back in before we leave.  Have an amazing day!

And Leah makes three.....

By God's grace and for His glory, here we grow again! We're packing for China and in a little over a week will get to kiss this beautiful face. Can't wait to hold her tight and tell her how much we love her. We have all of our normal pre-trip jitters - me about flying, Ralph about making sure all of our electronic devices will work properly.....the kids are rollin' with it all, just looking forward to meeting their sister. Well, Josh is also a little concerned that they might not have hot dogs in China. We're headed straight for something amazing.....our adoption of little Leah Hope. Despite having been through this twice before, we're still in awe of God's amazing ways. We have been blessed beyond measure and can't believe we are standing here, on the brink of our third (and for those of you who might be wondering, last) adoption journey. We continue to pray that Leah's transition to our family will not be too difficult. It will be a big adjustment for all of us, but this precious little girl, our daughter, is about to have her entire life turned upside-down. Sometimes, in our excitement that she is joining our family, it is hard to remember what that means for her. It is going to be a completely new world....new sights, new smells, a new language, new foods. And while many will say, and we agree, it is a better world for her, it is different. And different is scary for a 3-year-old. She didn't choose this life. Unfortunately, she is joining our family as a result of someone's else's choice. Poor choice or wise, it left little Shun Mu Yi (her Chinese name) without a family to love her, hug and kiss her, teach her right from wrong and show her all of the wonderful things this world has to offer. And this is where we feel honored that our desire for another child was met with her need for us. If you're checking out our blog, thank you :) We are humbled to have others care enough to share in our journey. We'll try to post daily and include lots of photos!

Safari on Wheels

One of the outings was a trip to the Zoo. The zoo has a driving and walking section. We did both in about 3 hours. It was very crowded because of the holiday. The driving part reflected the driving in China, accepted chaos.

Dragon Boat Cruise on the Pearl River

The pictures are from the boat cruise on the Pearl River. The boat, Dragon Boat, is a replica of an ancient Chinese boat that sailed to Sweden and sunk just 900 meters short (bummer). The boat cruises are very popular specially this week, the start of a week long holiday. The cruises sails down the river and turns right out by the White Swan. Some boats have large electronic billboards that are so bright that the light shines through our hotel room window at night.

We ordered pizza and ate it on the boat. After almost two weeks of Chinese food, pizza never tasted so good. About half of the families went on the cruise. Tomorrow, we visit a zoo.

We're coming home!!!

I know, promises, promises...we have failed to post the past two nights. We're sorry. It has been so nice here in Guangzhou, we end up taking walks around the little island after dinner and last night we went on a river cruise on the beautiful dragon boat. So by the time we make it back to the room, we are wiped out. Anyway, here's a little recap of the past few days:
We opted out of the tour to the Banyan Temple on Monday morning. Instead we visited the White Swan Play Room - its a big room here at the hotel that Mattel has outfitted with a ton of toys and games and even a flat screen with DVD player (that we couldn't get any sound out of unfortunately, though Ralph tried and tried). It is a nice little gathering place for families and an enclosed space for the kids to run around and get rid of some energy. The afternoon was the oath taking ceremony. It really is not much of a ceremony, but it is a celebration nonetheless, as it means we are done and we can go home. It means Joshua has his visa and he is ready to be an American citizen. We took a bus ride to the consulate and gathered in a big room to await the ceremony. They had to check our passports and Joshua's to make sure that we all matched the faces they were looking at in the little books. After about 45 minutes, a very nice gentleman came out and talked about how much he enjoys the adoption oath taking ceremonies - he has two Chinese daughters that were adopted as well and so it really is something near and dear to his heart. Then, he had us stand, raise our right hands and swear that all of the information that we provided on Joshua was correct to our knowledge. Once we said, "I do", he said congratulations and we were done. It is quite comical really, as one would expect a little more pomp and circumstance, but it is over in about 10 seconds. As with Makena, though, I found myself emotional once again at this little ceremony. Once we hear the congratulations, it is as if all of the time waiting, praying, hoping, etc., all comes to a magnificent end.
The river cruise last night was beautiful. It was a warm night, the boat was beautiful and the lights along the water were amazing. The Holt staff ordered us Papa John's pizza to eat on the boat and we were served hot tea. Makena had a great time playing with the older girls that are in our group. It was a very peaceful evening.
Today was a busy day. We visited the largest Safari Park (or zoo) in China. It was very crowded because people here are on holiday. We first went on a train ride that took us through animals that are roaming out in the open. The train went pretty fast and didn't stop, so we are hoping most of the pictures came out. We saw yaks, deer, bear, giraffes (one ended up running right along side of our train), hippos (which Makena had really wanted to see), elephants, zebras and more. After the train ride, we walked through the rest of the zoo. It was really cool to see the panda bears. We've seen panda bears before, but for some reason, to see them in China was different - its their home turf. Makena crashed after seeing the panda bears and we had forgotten to bring the stroller, so it was a bit of a tough walk to the bus, each of us holding a kid and a heavy backpack......we've really got to learn to plan better. Joshua just kind of took it all in. He likes being on the move and whenever we get ready to go anywhere, he will bring us his shoes and sit down for us to put them on. So he was a happy camper throughout the whole zoo experience.
When we got back to the hotel, I took the kids to the play room while Ralph went to the exit meeting - where they give us all of our departure information and some of Joshua's documents. We thought we would give the pool another try, so when Ralph got back, we got the kids in their suits and headed out. The pool here is great and there is beautiful landscaping all around. We were a little nervous how Joshua would do. Makena, of course, jumped right in and was swimming around like a little fish. Joshua cried at first, then he loved it! There is a little wading pool and when he stood up, the water came up to about mid-chest and he was fine with that. He was splashing around and wanted us to let go of him so he could walk around by himself.
Well, the battery is dying on the computer and Ralph already packed the power cords, so got to go. We'll see you all very soon! We'll post more at home!