Pictures

OK, this access thing is getting annoying. The access to where I started putting pictures (opera.com) is blocked like the other sites. I put them on facebook and said to let everyone see them. To facebook that seems to mean people who have created an account. You can do that at no cost, but it is annoying. So I will include some of them here for your viewing pleasure.

The end of the day

It is evening and the day has gone well. Alison woke up from her nap crying. She misses her friends at the orphanage. I guess I would be homesick too. We took her out for a while, ate dinner, and did some shopping. Alison wasn't shy about picking out some things she wanted. Neither was Brenda. I guess some things are the same world over.

I have placed some pictures on the photo album site. I will try to do this at the end of the day each day. The link for that is on the left task bar. It is hard to choose which ones to post. As a proud dad I guess I think you should look at them all. But I will spare you that.

Sitting here looking at my new daughter takes me back a lot of years. I remember sitting and just watching my other daughters when they were Alison's age. The thoughts and feelings are the same. All I can say is God is good. I now have four daughters I can look at with pride and say God is good.

So, to sum up the day--it is a good day, a very good day.

Lynn

In our room... dressing her doll

WOW! She likes us. We went to the Civil Affairs Office @ 10:30 this morning. We were the only ones there. Alison was in the main room when we got there and made a mad dash for the restroom. She was very shy at first but has warmed up nicely.

We went to a private room to "meet" and she came right to us. We only stayed in there for a short time and then went back to the main room. Within moments she was leaning into me and held my hand. She sat on my lap and wants to stay close. She didn't shed a tear. She got our package. I pulled out her doll from a bag and she immediately smiled and was stroking her hair. She played with the doll for about 15 minutes and then got distracted with the signing of papers and reviewing the pictures. She went through the photo album we had sent her and she pointed to our pictures and then to us. When she got to the picture of her room, I showed her doll on the dresser and she smiled.

We are doing so fine. We came back to the room for a bit and she ate a snack. She has played with the Dora water color book and we colored one picture in another coloring book. She is taller than I expected. The clothes I brought are not warm enough with this cold weather. The pants are a little short (the ones I bought). We have to go shopping tomorrow. I should have brought more of the clothes I had a home.

We went to eat lunch. First to the bank. We walked into the White Swan and she seemed uncertain and held my hand tightly. We did a little shopping but no one has clothes her size. We bought a yo-yo. Then on to Lucy's Bar & Grill. She ordered her drink and picked the meal she wanted. Not forceful in her decisions but quietly showing me what she wanted. She shared my french fries but ate her Tai spicy beef. Good eater but not too much.

The lady in the shop was trying to talk me into buying all sorts of things. We stopped at books and she read Alison some of a story from a book and I asked her to have Alison read it. She says she doesn't read yet. We thought she would be in third grade but now find out that she is only in second. She had some piano lessons before she started school two years ago but not since.

We are back in our room trying to thaw out. Did someone say layers? She has 3 shirts on and a silk jacket and silk vest. She has quilted pants under her silk pants so her body is warm but she has the coldest hands. I have gloves and hats at home but not here.

We are watching a kid program on TV. Alison is sitting on her roll away bed dressing/undressing her doll. and playing with her dolls hair. I wish now I had left the doll's hair long, I bet she would have loved playing with longer hair.

So far so good. She is very easy to please now. She didn't ask to buy everything in the stores. She ate well and didn't make any messes...was very careful. Her hands are so tiny and she was eating with a large spoon (not a teaspoon) so it looked so large as she ate. She picked out pink often as we shopped. I think I have a fu fu girl! (however you spell that).

She does have a cold but it doesn't seem too bad. We will do a bath later. She put the pink pajama bottoms on her doll already. They can be dressed alike tonight as they sleep.

Well, that is all for now. It seems later than it is (only 3PM). We got up very early today...imagine that. So far so good.

Brenda

Sunday Update - Tomorrow is the day

First let me say that I can read your comments. Once you can open the blog site (as Lynn said) you can right click on any of the comments and "Open in a New Window". Thank you for all who have passed along messages.

We have two small portable heaters running in our room and there is heat coming in as well. We are comfortable in our long sleeves. The thing you need to know is that China does not heat or cool their public areas much. They do try to accommodate us weeny Americans though with some heating and cooling.

When you enter this area, you drive right by Victory and drive straight to the White Swan (back door). Maybe that will help some of you know where we are. We walked about 2-3 blocks to the White Swan today and all around the hotel. We walked by the river and back down the main promenade. We ate lunch at Cow Bridge which is just around the corner from our hotel.

Sherry's Place is moving. The woman we spoke to said they had lost their lease. We went to the new store which she said was very small. We did not go into the old store. We have time yet.

We took a cab to a mall today. Don't shop on Sunday...there were 9 of the 14 million people at this mall. Didn't see any Prada or Coach knock-offs...maybe that is another mall. We did buy some videos for Alison. Typical...watch what you buy. I bought Toy Story I & II and the outside says English, Mandarin & Cantonese but when I play it on our DVD it is English & French. I bought several Disney movies that won't play on our DVD player but if we change our Region code on our laptop will play them (I assume...Lynn didn't want to change it). Then I have Little Mermaid 2, Cinderella 3 & Moulan 2 that all play on our DVD player. We will talk to David and see if he knows our options. Maybe we should buy a DVD player here and take back home with us for her videos. Bob Kilbourn do you know?

We had a tough time getting a cab to come back from the mall. They just didn't drive by but with the 9 million people at the mall and in the street they were in high demand. We probably stood outside maybe 15-20 minutes to get a cab. Not having tried to get a cab in New York, we probably did good but in Indianapolis I have my choice of cabs most times. Not that I take a cab in Indy though.

We have met a few families here at the hotel. The two we met today are at the beginning of week two so will leave soon. One family is from Evansville and they adopted a boy who is deaf. He is learning to sign and he is a hugger. I saw him stop eating and give his momma a hug three times. He loves being signed, " good boy". The other family is from Pittsburgh. Her sister is with them and she is from MIAMI. She said in 28 years living in Miami she has never experienced weather like this!!! Too funny. And I thought I was cold. She is freezing.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I will also be checking our home email. Oh, our travel companion from our adoption agency said she uses Skyp (I think that was it) and they have video cam capability via Internet. We might want to look into that for the Zhu Hai girls. Since they are all over the US, it would be a very good way they could see and talk to each other until we can get them back together.

Oh, I found Starbucks too. We didn't stop today but I am thinking a "skinny vanilla latte" - Vin... oh you know the biggest one is going to be on my wish list.

I napped earlier today around lunch and Lynn is napping now (7PM here). Tomorrow is our day! Can't wait. I don't care right now if I sleep or not.

Thanks for prayers and well wishes. ... Brenda

Completion of assigned task

Hi. This is Lynn. For those who want to look at their blog here in China I figured out how to do it. No, I'm not a computer genius like Brenda says. I am just good at finding ways around things. So, for the benefit of other adoptive families who want to use blogger, here is how to view your blog.

Go to blogger.com and sign on to your account. That will take you to the "Dashboard." It doesn't work to go straight to "View Blog". Instead, right below that click on "Layout". At the top of the layout page is a "Preview". Click that and there you are! To view a comment someone has left you can't just click it. But I found that if you "right click" the comment it gives you the open options.

So, like Brenda said, today is a free day. Thanks for your prayers and we will keep you with us in our hearts and on our website.

Lynn

News from China

We are in our hotel. So much for Miami weather. Everyone is running around here in winter coats and there is a very cold rain. Oh yes, and predicted to be here for a week. Oh well, I guess we shop for warmer clothes.

We made all of our connections just fine. The flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo was L O N G. I didn't sleep hardly at all on that leg. So to say I was just a bit grumpy... well, I told Lynn this was going to be a very long trip if he didn't stop asking me if we are there yet. I also suggested he not tell me how many hours down and how many to go. This leg was 12 hours. We got off the plan in Tokyo and walked right on the next. By then I was tired. I slept most of the five hours to Guangzhou. Overall, 24 hours in travel.

Remember I said I liked Chinese food. The airline food was ok most of the way but the meal I got on this last flight was chicken with something and sticky rice. I thought the something might have been tofu or some chicken part I don't normally eat. But, I am going to chalk it up to jet lag.

The nice thing about arriving late is there are not as many people around. We found our guide, David, right off and he got us to the van and the hotel. We are staying at the Victory (Annex) Hotel. OH MY GOSH. This is great. The bathroom is a little small but we have a king size bed and room for a roll away in our room right by our bed. I have a hotel computer, nice TV, refrigerator and safe. Then we have a separate small sitting room with a couch, chair, table and room on the floor for the luggage. I think I can live here for two weeks.

Sunday is a free day. We will explore (and shop). On Monday at 10:30, we go with David to meet Alison and then back to the hotel for whatever. I am nervous. This is a dream. Am I really doing this? As we flew into Guangzhou, I saw all the lights for all of the apartments. This is a city of 12 million people. All I could think was that I was coming to take home one of your children. One of your unwanted is being taken away to be nurtured and treasured as the gift that God gives. How sad that I (and others) have come to take your children to our homes so they can be loved and cared for as God prescribes.

We told David that we have a suitcase of gifts for the orphans. Yes, it ended up being a whole suitcase on its own. What can I say? I bought bibs, onesies, socks of all sizes, booties, hair things, tooth brushes and tooth paste, crayons, toys, small stuffed animals and books. Then we have 7 Colts T-Shirts, lip gloss, hand lotion, Hersey's bite size candies, and one Colts fleece blanket. David wasn't even phased by our 3 suitcases and two carry-ons and my purse. He just said we could have brought one more bag.

Oh, David said he would try to get permission for us to visit the orphanage. Because we have been to other orphanages and we brought gifts, he thought it might happen. We need to know by Monday because if not, we need to give the suitcase to whoever brings Alison.

Well, long and wordy. We survived. Long trip. Need to sleep. I have come to the realization that airports/airplanes are very noisy places. My IPod volume is locked at a highest volume and it is still too low so I can't hear it during travel. I will have to do some Internet searches to figure out how to unlock my volume because I don't know the password to unlock it.

On this computer, I can see our ZhuHai Yahoo group and can add to our blog but like others I am not able to view the actual blog. I will put my computer genius husband to work on that tomorrow or we will try it from our laptop and see if we get the same results.

I can't believe we are here. I can't believe we are doing this. I am so excited for what lies ahead. How often do we get a chance in life to make such a huge difference in someones life and how awesome that we can love and share in her life all along the way? God gave us a new course of action. It makes no sense but following God is a faith path and not a "by the book" venture. To God be the glory, great things He hath done (and will do with willing servants). Thanks God for choosing us and for choosing Alison to be part of our lives. To my children and grandchildren, thanks for understanding that God has a plan and that our love is big enough for you all.

Goodnight from Guangzhou.
Brenda

One Week and Counting

In one week and a few hours, Alison will be with us. We truly are on the count-down now. This still sounds crazy. Our lives will be so different. How will she react to us? Will she be happy to have parents without siblings in the home? I am so anxious for when we can really talk.

I am concerned about the struggle she will have in the first few weeks to grasp the language and how hard school will be for her for awhile. Alison has had a short changed life for nine years and I want it to be easier but it won't be for sometime. I want to take away the hurts of being on your own as a child. When will she know that she can trust us? When will she know for sure that we will love her unconditionally and always be there for her? I guess I want time to pass quickly to a point that we are on our way to really communicating. But I don't want to wish time away and miss the precious moments ahead as we get to know each other.

I still haven't started packing. I have to do that soon. Someone who is also adopting said she was feeling almost paralyzed in the moment and that is exactly how I feel. So much to do but I am moving things around and not really getting anything done.

We are not staying at the White Swain. I know the Victory will be a nice hotel but I was hoping to be at the same hotel as another girl from the orphanage (the family is there a few days before us but stays until Feb 6 like we do)so the girls could see each other often and maybe draw some comfort in their new situation. There isn't much distance between the hotels so I know it will work out just fine.

I guess I am just nervous about the unknown. Ready to go but have to wait. Want to be able to freely talk to Alison but that will take time. Be patient. It will all happen. Keep us in your prayers. Pray that Alison is prepared to become part of a family and that the separation from her orphan friends will not be too overwhelming.