A Chapter Closes in our Lives

Before I even begin this post, I am amazed & emotional. It has been miraculous . The process of adopting Karah & MeiLi began with a small quiet voice in my spirit. I remember thinking with the initial thoughts of doing Karah's adoption, how impractical and hard it would be. I ignored it for a long time but it just would not go away. Finally I asked Mary if she had felt anything about adopting a little girl from China and she said yes, she had been feeling that way but since I was so deadest against adopting any more children ( we had 4 already from domestic adoptions) that she was not saying anything to me. With that confirmation we began the process. We had to do a major house addition to meet the requirements (our home was only 1200 sq. feet) . Then of course how do the finances come for such an undertaking? We spent a year to rebuild our home, all mostly done by our family (my 3 older boys did a lot of the labor and Mary's dad was a contractor who moved in with us to help us do it). Friends and family rallied to help us. My step dad Ricardo came to help with the labor. That process started in 2003 and was the beginning of a chapter for us. (I'm planning on going back and blogging Karah's adoption in a separate blog.) The opposition to doing all this was overwhelming at times. There were so many obstacles to overcome. One of our sons nearly died with encephalitis right before we went to China the first time but thank God he pulled through. We had to refinance our home 3 times to obtain the funds to rebuild the house and do Karah's adoption. Before MeiLi's adoption, last year, my job was eliminated and I was in a layoff. God again provided and I got another job within my company, just when it looked like I would be unemployed and have to sell the house. But we never gave up despite all the hardships. Friends and family have given us money to help cover the last minute unexpected expenses for MeiLi's adoption. You all know who you are. God will bless you richly for helping, you will see. From our hearts we thank everyone who supported us and prayed for us and encouraged us as we have dealt with the hardships. We are doing well now. MeiLi does have an ear infection so we have a Dr. Appointment for her today. Please pray for a quick healing for her. I am posting these photos I took yesterday of the girls playing on our yard. Later, I will do a post of some of the highlights of our China adventure as a recap, because I have some really neat photos that were on my HandyCam that I could not get posted until the DVD in the HandyCam was finalized to share. So check back once in a while.

The Chapter of the adoption process for these two Chinese girls is now closed. I've decided we can help others to adopt in the future as we have the resources but Mary & I both agree we are done adopting now. Our quiver seems to be full :-)

MeiLi at Home

We are getting caught up on sleep and unpacking our luggage. Mary got woken up by the girls at 1:30 AM. I woke up at 4:30 AM. It's going to take a few days to get back on California time.

Back in the USA

We are safely back home . Our Trip home started with a 4:45 AM wake up call this morning. We were already packed. Our flight left Guangzhou about 8:30 AM for a 3 hour flight to Tokyo, 2 hours of layover, then another 9 hours to San Francisco, then a 1.5 hour drive to our house. I did not sleep at all on the trip but Mary managed to get a few hours of sleep. The reason I could not sleep is because the flight between Tokyo and San Francisco was completely full and our family was split between 2 rows. Karah & I were in between two nice Japanese ladies but Karah is a sprawler when she sleeps. I had to stay awake to keep her feet out of the lap of the lady sitting next to her. MeiLi is smaller & was not quite as bothersom to her neighbors.

We pulled in to fill up the SUV gas tank about half way home and as I was standing there a couple of cars blasting their subwoofers and rap music pulled in. I thought to myself, what a contrast to the bicycle bells and horn beeping I got used to hearing on the streets in China. Both Mary and I still feel a bit squirely in the legs from the flights. MeiLi is settling right in. She's playing games with us like tag and keepaway. She also calls around to me "Baba! Baba!" when she cannot see me. That's probably because I have been within her eyesight almost constantly since we got her on September 8th and our house is much bigger than the hotel rooms we've been living in. When we get some rest I'll take some photos of MeiLi in front of our house & post them.

We took MeiLi's Chinese Passport & Visa, along with a sealed brown envelope given to us at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, to the appropriate immigration area after we arrived in the San Francisco Airport (SFO); they opened the envelope and stamped the documents, then congratulated us on the adoption. MeiLI is now an American citizen!

Last Post from China

Today is our last full day in China. We got the kids together for some traditional photos on the Red couches in the 2nd floor lobby and then in the center of the Atrium. Later, we traveled to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. We got MeiLi's Passport back with the visa to enter the US. We had to travel across town to do this and then went through a ceremony with 30+ other American families adopting from China. We are packing now for the long trip home from Guangzhou to San Francisco. I don't really have time to blog much tonight. I'll do some blogging when I get home with some of the pictures I've taken in the last couple of days here in China. God Bless & good night.

Free Day

Today our adoption paperwork for MeiLi was processed and we were informed that there were no problems. This morning was the usual breakfast buffet. We did a walk around the block, visiting the local shops. Then we went to the pool again which we all enjoy a lot. We got the arm
blow ups so we did not have to worry so much about the girls. Karah was pretty much hands off with those so it was more relaxing for me, not having to hold her so much. MeiLi has been VERY active in the pool too. She loves to play tag and keep away with a beach ball. The girls got very tired at the pool. Mary showered them there and we came back up to the hotel room. MeiLi went to sleep so we ordered take out Pizza by phone. We settled in and watched 2 Doris Day movies. Not a real exciting day but very fun, nonetheless.

While here, we have gotten to meet Tonya, John, Cossette and Daniel Eisenhauer. Daniel is a 6 year old Chinese boy they are adopting. It has been nice to meet them after reading their blog for a few months. Their blog is at http://www.builtbygod.blogspot.com/
We have met several other adopting families while here in Guangzhou. One family lives about 1.5 hours drive away from us in California so we exchanged addresses & phone numbers.

Today it was about 97F here and and very hazy with the usual high humidity. Now that it is night time, I think I'll go take another walk by the Pearl River to be amazed by the lights.

Shamian Island Nights

广州 - 沙面岛
Mary bathed the girls tonight so I slipped down to the second floor of the hotel where the famous red couches are. There was a pianist & flutist playing there and I walked over to the wall of glass to gaze out at the night lights on the Pearl River. It is very beautiful. We are on the opposite side of the hotel which also has a great display of lights but the Pearl River really takes the prize. I'm not a great photographer but I did find some photos that show a good representation of what we see at night here. One is of the White Swan itself as seen from the Pearl River. One is of a bridge we see across the river. The last shows the street here in front of the Hotel. This district is called "Shamian Island". It is a combination of old colonial buildings and new modern skyscrapers. It stays warm at night so it is pleasant to walk around outside. We don't go out much at night though, except to eat because the hotel restaurants are very expensive. With this post I'll say good night. Tomorrow we have a free day while our BLAS guides take our paperwork to the US Consulate to get the adoptions for the babies & toddlers finalized.
晚安

Guangzhou Afternoon

We spent time again this afternoon at the hotel pool. This is what Karah & MeiLi really look forward to. MeiLi is really adventurous and she keeps us busy. Karah loves for me to take her

under the waterfall. After spending a couple of hours there we headed back to the hotel and some Chinese folks just stopped us and wanted to have pictures taken with us. I spoke with them a little in Mandarin. The woman was giving us the thumbs up sign for adopting the girls. This seems to be a common way that the people thank us.

Guangzhou children

The medical exam was within walking distance of the hotel. On the way back, we saw some little children, probably Kindergarten age, all being moved along by their teachers. The teachers encouraged them to greet us with "hello, hello!". I responded with "hello!" back to them.

Medical Exam

MeiLi had her exam this morning; there were no problems found.

Relaxing at the Pool

After we got back from Safari we decided to cool off in the pool at the White Swan. We spent almost 2 hours there. It's quite nice with the palm trees and it sits right next to the Pearl River (well actually the entire hotel is right on the bank of the Pearl River). The girls seem to have a very good time. I think this may have been the first time for MeiLi to be in a public swimming pool. She had no idea of how to enter the pool or walk on the floor of the kiddie pool. But she got the hang of it pretty quick. They had so much fun that they did not want to leave the pool. I could have lounged there longer myself but we needed to go so we could get something to eat for Dinner. We ended up taking a long walk down to a Italian restaurant. It was good but I still like Olive Garden (back in the US) better. We got back from eating and I bathed the girls while Mary
chatted with Kathy on AOL Instant messenger. Now, as usual, I am typing in the dark here as Mary Karah & MeiLi are all turned in for the night. I need to turn in too because tomorrow first thing on the agenda is MeiLi's complete physical exam. Wan An! (Good Night)

Guangzhou - Safari Park

Today we visited the Safari Animal Park. I had MeiLi on my back the entire time. I'm not much for zoos but this was better. We rode around on a tram through the park and saw just about every kind of animal you would expect. The park itself is a sub-tropical garden. We saw Pandas too. It got very hot as the day went on. I was glad to get back to the bus with the AC.

Tonight is the Autumn Moon festival but we stayed in the hotel and ordered pizza delivery. We were just too tired and so were the girls, to go out into a crowded public place tonight. We had taken the girls earlier to play in the Mattel playroom and they wore us out too. I bathed them, Mary got to do teeth brushing tonight. So we are settling in for the night.

For anyone wondering why we are spending this time in Guangzhou, it is because we have to get MeiLi's visa, medical exam & go to the US Consolate for oath taking ceremony before we can depart for the US.

Mary's turn

I just thought that I would put my little bit in here also. We are enjoying our stay here in China so much. It is so interesting watching MeiLi open up to us more everyday and to watch her learn to trust us. I have had several other parents say that we make it look easy to parent an older child, but its just God's mercy and grace to us and MeiLi that has pulled us through... Thank you for your continued prayers. Please include one of the other families whose little girl is having trouble bonding to the mother (who is a great woman) and has superglued herself to her new daddy. I try to encourage her but since this is her first child its hard to accept. I'm sure that it will work out, but sooner would be better than later. We have offered to have Karah go to play with the little girl and mom together to model that momma is a safe and good person, but we haven't tried that completely yet... Maybe at the playroom they have here. Then Daddy could step out and she would be able to play with both mommy and Karah and MeiLi... (She likes Karah too.) We are looking forward to going shopping and getting some special things bought. I always see so many things I would like to buy. Today I saw a pearl in a special case ( had a magifing glass on top) there was engraved on the pearl a Chinese poem, but it was so small it needed the magifing glass to see it... pretty cool huh! I didn't have any extra money exchanged right now, so I let that one pass. We got MeiLi's "White Swan adoption Barbie" I put it aside so that the girls wouldn't be tempted to take it out to play with it. It's something that is a special keepsake and they only give them to the adoptive little girls at the White Swan hotel. Karah has one that I have put aside from her adoption too. I might try to find some Asian Barbie's that they can play with for the plane ride home. Or maybe some other doll or toy. Anyway, I guess I had better close now.

Karah, at Chen Clan Family Academy

Today we went to the Chen Clan Family Academy. This photo is about a man telling a story for others to hear, if they like it they would pay him for the storytelling, if not they would just walk away. We shot a few photos there but it is mostly like a museum with displays inside. I have some photos on my Handycam that I will post here later because I have to wait until the DVD is finalized to be able to copy them to this blog. I added some airport pictures that were taken yesterday (below). You can right-click and select "view in separate window/tab" to enlarge them. You can see some of the other children/babies in those pics. A few Chinese families came up to talk to us and thank us for adopting the children. The area we are staying in is full of foreigners and tourists. At night there are a lot of young people with boisterous activity in the streets. There are a lot of young American military men around and many of them have Asian ladies with them. There also are many, many adoptive families here in the hotel. In the morning buffet, they have a section already set up with a baby chair at each table. We went to a supermarket to get baby supplies. Right now it is almost 2PM here and we are resting in the hotel. The hotel is very posh. On the bottom floor it is like an art shopping mall/museum. There is a large waterfall in the center atrium. You can see the website at http://www.whiteswanhotel.com/ if you are interested. I just have been too busy to shoot many interesting pictures. I will try to get a few and post them later. MeiLi has become more demanding of us which is challenging but is a good thing .. she's feeling very comfortable with us.

She also has started finger-painting on the hotel window. I think Karah showed her how to do that. Tomorrow we got the an Animal park and will see Pandas amongst other animals. It is quite hot and humid here compared to Kunming. Maybe we will try the pool soon.

We are in Guangzhou

Just a quick post to let you know we have arrived at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. Mary has the girls down in the Mattel Playroom while I unpack a bit. We already went ovver to the 7-Eleven store to get drinks. Sprite is called "雪碧" pinyin "Xue-Bi" pronounced "shway-bee". Well they had the green bottle and the blue bottle here. I bought one of each and to our surprise, the blue bottle is peppermint flavored. We really like it :-) . Will post more, later when caught up.

Goodnight from Kunming

A Walk through Green Lake Park

Last day in Kunming

Today we ate breakfast as usual and then the group went to a tea tasting place. It was a tourist place but very fun and we did buy some tea. Yunnan is famous for very good tea, not that I am a qualified tea connoisseur but the teas was indeed good. After that we went for another walk in the park. This time Mary, Karah & MeiLi went with me and another family also accompanied us. This evening we received MeiLi's Chinese passport (which is why we were waiting here in Kunming) so tomorrow we fly out to Guangzhou. We will be paying for Internet service in Guangzhou and since it is quite expensive my blog posts may be short. Personally, I do not believe a hotel to be proper unless it has free Internet service :-) One thing about Kunming, the spoken English here is not really very good and not everyone speaks Mandarin either. So communication in the hotel was a lot harder than in Beijing. For example, it took us awhile tonight to get someone who could understand that we wanted to order one meal and split it between the girls. It was spaghetti and boy can MeiLi slurp noodles! They have a play area in the restaurant so we were ale to get some good pics of the girls playing.

Mary's comments

As Tim wrote we went to the Minority Village today. Thank God it was only about a half an hour away and today was much cooler. While we were in the Village we found some very cute authentic costumes for the two girls. They should be very cute on them. Will have to try them on very soon so that we are sure they fit. We plan on doing more shopping in Guangzhou where the prices are good and there is more choices. We were pretty rushed as far as shopping goes here, well except for Walmart on our own (there we had all the time we could ever have wanted), I got the girls matching sweaters the first day here because of the changeable weather and the local customs. They are really cute. Today the girls got some very inexpensive Barbie type dolls... MeiLi was so thrilled. Karah took all the accessories out right away, but I left MeiLi's in the packaging because I knew she wasn't able to change the doll yet. She did manage to pull off one of the legs already, but it just went back in. (Did I say cheap?) I still have a blow up beach ball I have yet to get out to play with. That should be fun. gotta go and settle the girls down for a nice nights sleep.
God bless,
Mary

Karah at Minority Village