Last China Post

Well we've come to the end of our China Adoption Adventure. We have been truly blessed in every way during our time here. Answered prayer was evident all over. Even today we saw God's mighty hand at work. We went to the US Consulate to pick up our visas for the babies to travel home. Two of the families' visas in our group had been switched and so they were not valid. The Consulate office said that they could not guarantee that it would be corrected today. Immediately thoughts of a delayed flight home for 2 homesick families heavied all of our hearts. We gathered together, sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and prayed. Thirty minutes later, they had corrected visas and are going home tomorrow as planned! Our God is so good. We "had church" in the US consulate office!

We are so homesick that it hurts. We miss the boys way more than they have missed us...which is also an answer to prayer. Apparently Caleb has learned to ride a bike without training wheels and Daniel has learned to shoot BB guns, thanks to Grandpa Bud. We cannot tell you how wonderful it was to get e-mails and posts to our blog. What an encouragement to us...we felt like we had 100 of our closest friends living this experience with us. Thank you to all of you. We can hardly wait for that 5am wake up call! Rachel is a joy and she is getting more and more used to us. Not sure what she will think of all of you though. :) Just kidding. We've been telling her all kinds of good things about home. God has set her into our family and it is beautiful. We can't wait to see you all and show her off!

Pray for our trip home...for good sleep for all, Rachel to not be fussy, good conversations with new friends, and good health (especially intestinal). We have many stories to tell and would love to fill you in on details. We may post to this blog again in a few days, so check back in a week or so. And so, it is with much anticipation, satisfaction, and great appreciation for our 2 weeks here that we say Farewell to China. May God bless this country and its people and continue to reveal himself to them through the power of His Spirit.

Our Last Day in China...

Here we go. Into our final day in China. What an amazing time we have had. China is beautiful. The people have been so wonderful to us. Everywhere we go, people tell us how beautiful Rachel is. (They're right!) We would love to come back here again to visit. We've had many international students from China tell us that we should visit their homeland, and they were right. We've completely enjoyed our time here. Yesterday we did the infamous White Swan Hotel red couch picture. This is a special place where most adopted babies have their picture taken. Rachel didn't like it much, as the picture clearly shows!

Last night we went on a river cruise and saw the city by night. It was so beautiful. They put neon EVERYWHERE! The building are big video screens and every bridge is beautifully decorated. It was a pleasant evening and even the babies enjoyed the ride.
















Caleb - here is your Happy Birthday picture that we tried to put up yesterday but couldn't. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we will be seeing you and Daniel soon. Tell Daniel that he'd better find a BIG, TIGHT hug for mommy and daddy in Chicago! We love you and miss you.

Caleb is FIVE!!!!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Caleb. Happy Birthday to you!

Happy 5th Birthday Caleb. I can't believe you are already five. Not that long ago you were as little as Rachel. We wish we could be with you on your birthday, but we'll be home soon. I know that you are having a great time while we are gone. I can't wait to hear about your birthday party at Grandma's house! We love you. Daniel - we love and miss you too! Today we made a sign that said Happy Birthday Caleb and took our picture holding it, but we can't get the computer to work to let us put it up for you. So, I guess we'll just have to show it to you at home.

Only one day left for us here in China. Tomorrow we go take our oath, get the Visa papers, and pack up to come home. What a great time we have had here. Looking forward to more great times in the USA!

Church and Rain

Today we went to church. It was packed. Probably 250 people there. The sermon was on the fall in Genesis 3 and Jesus redemptive work to conquer sin. It was very good, better what we expected. We even were able to get something out of it through the translator. Rachel was good in church and the Chinese young women around us enjoyed playing with her. We met a new Chinese friend at church today and went out to lunch with her. God was at work in a big way and it was certainly a diving appointment. We'll have more to tell in person when we get home.

It rained here all day and we discovered that Rachel really enjoys helping to hold the umbrella! We didn't get a picture in the rain, but she enjoyed posing in the room for us. Isn't she just such a cutie!?!?!

We are starting to think about packing up to come home. We are ready. It has been a great adventure on this side of the world, but we are ready to return to finish it with all of you reading this. You all have been such an encouragement and blessing to us throughout this process and while we have been here. We are blessed indeed.

Ticklish???

RACHEL IS TICKLISH! We've been tickling her all week with no response. Now, just under her chin, she will giggle away when we get her. I love to see her smiling face. I have thoroughly fallen in love with this little one! Today was a very pleasant day after yesterday she was pretty fussy (probably a repsonse to the long bus ride the day before). But today she has been so easy-going and happy. We went to the Guangzhou Zoo this morning and it was absolutely beautiful. When we got there I told her that we live near a zoo and go there often. She shook her head no. Oh well. There were lots of tall trees and bamboo everywhere. We got to see the Panda bear, but he didn't look very healthy. The monkeys were fabulous. American monkeys are pretty quiet...not Chinese monkeys. We could not believe the noises they were making. Caleb and Daniel, we can't wait to show you the video! We also enjoyed the other animals like black bear, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, and tigers. The weather here is beautiful, not nearly as hot as we expected. We are loving every minute, but very much look forward to coming home!

Strong Little One

As she is getting to know us better, she is showing us her true self more. On the day we got her, I wasn't sure if she could even roll over and now she is rolling over, getting on 2 hands and 2 feet and pushing herself up to the sitting position. She still falls over a lot, but I would imagine it is probably because she's never sat up on soft surfaces before. She is pretty strong willed too. She doesn't like us to eat. She cries through breakfast and dinner unless we are lucky enough to get her to sleep before we go. Right before bed time is our best time together. She loves to just play on the bed, gives us lots of smiles and I got a real kiss (at least it was a suck on the cheek...not a lick!) She is also consistently eating, sleeping, and pooping -- all you parents out there understand the relief that brings! She is bonding equally as well to both Eric and I, which is really good too.

Caleb and Daniel -- we love you soooo much. We know that you are having a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Don't wear them out too much. We'll be getting on an airplane in just 4-1/2 days! an't wait to see what Grandma and Grandpa got you for your birthday! I hear you are having fun with it, though.

Orphanage Visit

Our day started early so that we could make the three and a half our bus trip to Yangxi to see the orphanage where Rachel lived for 8 months. Emotionally, I'm still processing it all. It was heart-wrenching. If you are thinking about coming to China to adopt- don't delay. As we walked through the cribs of babies, all we could do was pray that God would rescue them quicky. It was very obvious that the nannies loved these babies and were doing their best. We were grateful that God provides for the little ones even now. We even saw some teary eyes from the nannies as they saw us walk back in with 2 of the babies from the group. There were 47 babies in one room from 4-9 months old. Our hearts went out to them as they cried with no one to comfort them. They laid in cribs with wood slat floors (no mattress), yes they laid right on the wood. Every crib in the room was full but one. All we could say to Rachel was that she was going home now. We got to see the crib that was Rachel's. The trip was priceless and we are still processing. The picture is the entrance to the orphange and it was where Rachel was found. More later perhaps...

Another Happy Day

We've had another good day here in Guangzhou. Rachel continues to get sweeter and sweeter. Today she spent some time playing with toys in her crib and babbled to herself. We've discovered that she knows how to flip over to her stomach, boost herself up to a position where she's on her hands and feet and then sit up all by herself. She was even scooting toward some toys on the bed. She may be crawling by the time we get home! As she gets more comfortable with us, she is showing us more of who she is. Such a sweet little person.

Typhoon went east of Hong Kong. We've had very little rain here, just gusty winds. Tomorrow's forcast is sunny. Tomorrow we plan to make the trip to the orphanage. It is about a three and a half hour trip - so pray that it goes smoothly. Our trip is half over. Time here is flying by. We miss you all at home, especially Caleb and Daniel, but are enjoying every minute here.