First Week Home

Pic: Gracie wearing jie jie's (big sister)shoes.



Video: Gracie's Silly Walk

We've been home for a little over a week and things are finally starting to settle in to more of a routine. Gracie Li is adjusting really well and has been able to meet some of her family and spend time with them. Last Sunday our church family threw us a surprise welcome home/shower party after the service. During the morning gathering I had shared some personal spiritual reflections from out time in China complete with some video clips. It felt good to be back.

One funny moment occurred during the service just after I had prayed I look up and Gracie had somehow made her way up to the front where I was speaking and when I said 'amen' and opened my eyes there she was looking up at me. So I picked her up and officially introduced her to her new church family. She really enjoyed playing with the other kids and they did such a nice job of including her.

While Gracie has adjusted really well night time is still challenging. She usually screams a bit before settling down, but each night gets a little better and she hasn't been waking up crying as often during the night. In fact last night she only woke up once and was able to get herself back to sleep.

Gracie love to pretend she's cooking. We're not sure what she cooking up but we suspect its congee or stir fry. She love to be a big girl and share her food and she likes to feed her ba ba (that's me). I've gotten used to eating soggy crackers. It's an acquired taste. She won't take no for an answer either and she gets a rally frustrated hurt look when I don't eat what she's offering to me.

We went to La Costita Sunday night and introduced her to Mexican food. She loved the rice and fajita chicken. She also wanted to try a bite of my fajita. She pointed at it and opened her little mouth up wide and waited. It was so cute.

Gracie also gets excited whenever someone comes home. The other day when jie jie (big sister) got home from school Gracie could hardly contain herself and started smiling and giggling then ran around the screaming with joy. So much fun.

Quick hitters:

The first thing I noticed upon returning: English

The first meal I had after returning: Philly cheese steak from Quizno's.

The beds in the hotels in China and smaller and harder than the beds in the US. The double beds in Beijing we're slightly larger than a twin bed. The beds in Nanning were twin size and very hard (we took turns sleeping on the floor which was about the same). The beds in Guangzhou were the best ones. Still small but closer to double beds.

There is WIDE interpretation about what 'Western Breakfast' means in China. Nanning was the most unusual. They had one small table with some toast and cereal. Hot foods you had to figure out for yourself. Rice noodles taste good for breakfast!

Chicken was very interesting. They deep fried them heads and all including the comb and feet. Talk about strange looking food. We didn't order any because we were chicken :-)

Final Leg Home

Pics: Gracie and Diana on flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo. Gracie sleeping en route from Tokyo to PDX.
Right now I'm writing this in the skies just outside of Japan. Gracie is sleeping (yeah!) a sleeping baby on a long flight is a good thing.
Gracie is so beautiful and we are so blessed to be her forever family. Just writing this almost brings me to tears. Between a lack of sleep and the emotions of this event I'm not sure just what to do :-)
While we were riding the bus last night from Guangzhou to Hong Kong I glanced over at Diana as she was holding a sleeping Gracie and it hit me just how right that it all was. All of the time, paperwork, anxious moments, delays, more delays, more paperwork, and all of the money boils down to this moment of a precious little girl asleep in her mother's arms.
It didn't matter any more that Gracie had been abondoned by her birth parents at a carwash. She is now ours forever and when we clear US Immigration and Customs it will all be final. As it is right now there's no turning back but those final moments of waiting will be so worth it.
At the Portland airport Gracie will meet her new grandparents and some other members of her forever family. She'll probably be scared but that won't last for long once she realizes how Christmas works :-)
Often when I look at her I wonder what's going through her mind how much she remembers of her life the way it was and what she thinks about us.
One thing I know is that this journey has been a powerful reminder of the lengths to which God went to express His love to us and if this is in some small way how He feels when His orphaned children come home then His heart is blessed beyond measure.

Homeward Bound

We're sitting in the Hong Kong airport getting ready for the first leg of our flight home. First stop Tokyo then PDX.

We went to the Guangzhou zoo yesterday and saw the panda bear and some other great animals. It was really nice.

We also got Gracie's Passport and Visa.

Looking forward to getting home. Last night was crazy we had to go through customs to get into Hong Kong and then our driver had no idea we were going to a hotel. But we finally got checked in and got a few hours of shut eye and 430 wake up call.

See you all soon!

One More Night in Guangzhou

Pics: Family picture day and with the Doerr's the other Oregon family.

Today was 'wall' day. When runners race in a marathon there's a point in the race when they're close to the finish but their bodies are telling them that they can't go any farther that's the point in the race called the wall. That's how it felt today. It's been a great trip but we're ready to come home and settle in to a routine.

Today was our swearing in ceremony at the US Consolate. The room was full of familes all adopting children. The woman who administered the oath began by giving a little speech about the US foreign service which seemed to drag on forever. I was holding Gracie and she decided to fuss and start getting loud which prompted the woman to get on with the oath. No I did not pinch Gracie she did it on her own.

Tomorrow we get Gracie's US passport and visa which means she will be a US citizen the minute we touch down in Portland, OR. Hooray!

Today Gracie said 'ma ma' for the first time, of course Diana was in the other room and didn't hear it. But at least Sarah and I heard it and could tell her.

We also took group pictures today with all of the familes and kids. It was quite a crazy few moments.

Gracie didn't take a nap today so she's pretty fussy tonight. She has been chatting alot today and when we walked by the duck kitchen she reached out her hand and pretended to eat the duck. She also started hopping around like a bunny in the room this morning. Too cute!!

Tomorrow evening we get to take a 'public' bus from Guangzhou to Hong Kong they told us the ride is 3 - 4 hours long. I'm hoping the bus is like a Grayhound bus, but we'll see.

We'll spend the night in the hotel at the Hong Kong airport. There will be one other family from our group staying at the same hotel so we'll have some company.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to make an update before we head out on Saturday morning, but if not we'll see you at PDX at 7:50A on Saturday, Nov. 7. NW Flight 0786

Quick hitters:

The Chinese buracracy is more efficient than the US one.

Shopping in China is raw capitalism at work. More so than America. Almost everything is negotiable.

Consolate Appointment Completed

Today was another big milestone day our appointment with the US Consolate was this morning and this is the appointment where they check our final US paperwork so they can issue her US passort and visa. What this means is that she can travel back to the US with us (a very good thing) and we don't have to stay in China any additional time (another very good thing). Tomorrow we go in for the official swearing in at the US consolate which is where we take an oath that all the information we've told them is true and accurate. Then we'll get her Us Passport and Visa and when we touch down in US Gracie will be a US Citizen (another very good thing!)
We have had one unfortunate situation occur. We have discovered that we are missing $1050. We think that somehow it was stolen either in Beijing or Nanning. Since We didn't need any extra cash in Nanning and because only part of the money was taken we didn't notice until we got to Guangzhou. We had hotel security check the video and key entries to our room but no one entered during the time in Guangzhou when it could have happened. So it had to happen before got here. There's a very remote chance we've misplaced it but that would be so unlikely its really not possible. Anyway, please pray that we get this resolved before we leave China. We have enough cash to get us by so its not an emergency. Just really disappointing.
Sarah and I are sitting in Starbuck's doing some homework.
We finished the day by going shopping and having dinner on Shiaman Island by the White Swan Hotel. We finished all of our gift shopping.
When we got home it was bath time for Gracie which is always fun time for her. Then when bath was done and Gracie was playing on the bed she started calling me daddy. Oh man she's really buttering me up!
Quick hitters:
They have weight loss products advertised on TV in China. It's really funny because they really have to work hard to make the before and after pictures look different. Let's just say that there aren't very many 'fat' people here.
The only American football highlight I've seen here was Brett Favre. He's big in China too, but Yao, Kobe and LeBron are more popular.

A Walk in The Park

Pics: walking in the park across the street from our hotel.

Today was a nice day off the clock. We had the whole day to spend together without having to rush anywhere or go to a specific meeting. So we slept in a bit this morning and then came back to the room for a rest.

Later the girls all went shopping while I made a phone call and then I went down to the lobby to check my email and fantasy football scores. The girls brought back McDonalds for lunch again today. Its much less expensive than the hotel plus its familiar and the fries actually taste better than back home because they can still use beef tallow here.

After lunch we went to the lake park across the street from the hotel. Its not simple to cross the street here you have to go down underground and follow the Chinese signs to where you're going. We almost made a wrong turn but noticed our mistake and found the park,

Its a beautiful park with a large lake in the center and a tiled walk all the way around it. The had an area for kids to play and a section with at least 6 ping pong tables all busy bring used. Everyone we saw could beat most of the people I know with their eyes closed. they are good.

We saw several brides and grooms getting pictures taken while we were there. This time of year is considered good luck to get married in China.

Gracie is an amazing little girl. She was eating all day today and she actually threw some good ol' 2 year old temper tantrums. The good news is that they don't last long.

There were some cute moments in the park. She saw the trees and leaves and started chattering. She chattered when she saw the birds. It was so adorable. In the shops here you see lots of those mechanical waving cats you often see in the states in Chinese food places. Gracie loves to see those and she chatters at them too.

Yesterday we received an email from a woman who was helping sponsor the orphanage Gracie was assigned to. They provided resources for children to be in foster homes and Gracie was one of those children. Turns out this woman and a group she belongs to had actually been sponsoring Gracie and get this the agency had assigned her the english name 'Sarah'. Just another confirmation that God was working on this all along.

We also received some pictures of Gracie and her foster mom and the other girls with her in this foster home. They were taken two or three weeks before we came to China.

Quick hitters:

Wifi isn't as easy to find here as in the States, however its free at Starbuck's as long as you buy something you can sit down and surf. There happens to be a Starbuck's in our hotel but security might be getting suspicious of this foreign guy who keeps hanging around the door with this little handheld device.

Guangzhou is much more expensive than Nanning.

Hotel TV stinks unless you speak Chinese. No American football here.

Chinese commercials are a lot like in the US only in Chinese and some strange products but they use the same themes and ideas. They also use very anglo looking Chinese in the commercials. American/Euro is the desired look.

Its Official I'm Ba Ba

Pic: Gracie Li playing. What a Smile!

The TB skin test was normal! No chest x-ray and the last medical hurdle is now behind us. PTL.

After the test was checked we went to the shopping area near the classic White Swan Hotel where almost all of the adoptive familes used to stay because it so close to the American consolate, medical exam and of course shopping. Did i say shopping? There's no such thing as a firm price of the island and when you go to the shops that are a little off the main street they give you stuff to get you to come in a shop. Let's just say we bought some nice stuff for little money.

After shopping we went back to our room for some R&R and while Diana was napping I was playing on the floor with Gracie. Sarah was near by doing something else and suddenly the skies opened and this little angelic voice said 'ba ba' (the Chinese equal to pa pa or daddy)!!! Then she said it again and again and again with the biggest grin on her face. Those were the first 'words' that Gracie had spoken other than a little jabbering. Of course Diana missed it since she was napping but Sarah heard it so I have a witness.

Then a little later Gracie was playing with Sarah's 'Hannah' doll and prending to check her diaper and change her and after she finished she said 'good girl' to Hannah which is what Diana always says after she changes Gracie. Then as she was playing with Hannah she called her 'baby.'

These were her first words with us and probably her first english words ever. It was a great day!

We just finished dinner and it was quite an event. Gracie wanted me to feed her noodles using my chop sticks. It was like a mama bird feeding a baby chick. It was so cute. We were all laughing.

Tomorrow is an easy day for us. No appointments so we have a free day to do whatever we want. Maybe the zoo or more shopping or both.

Wednesday (Tuesday in US) will be our US consolate appointment. After that they will issue Gracie's US citizen paperwork, passport and visa and she will be offically ours in both countries. Right now she's officially ours in China, but not the US. That all changes Wednesday.

More to come.......

Guangzhou Day 2

Pics: Outside of cultural museum and an artist who wrote our names in Chinese characters.

Today we went to a cultural museum. Turns out that the Chen family is the most prolific Chinese family and the most wealthy. Way back they built a private ancestral worship temple which was also a school for their children. Now it's a folk art and cultural museum where you can see demonstrations of Chinese art styles and old carvings and relics so I fit right in.

After that we went to a tea house where we learned more about tea than I ever wanted to know. It's a big deal here.

Cute moment of the day came at the tea house. I was carrying Gracie and I asked her 'where's ba ba?' and she smiled and took her little hand and patted my chest. It's a good thing she doesn't yet know how to ask for stuff because she had me right in the palm of her hand and could have asked for anything and she probably would have gotten it.

The rest of the evening is free for us so we'll relax and mentally prepare for the TB test results tomorrow. Please pray it goes well so Gracie doesn't have to endure the ordeal of a chest xray.

Pray for Diana to be healed of her cold quickly.

I was pondering today about how blessed we are. Everyone who sees Gracie comments on how beautiful she is and how they can't even tell why she's considered a special needs child. She is an absolute wonder and its clear to us that Jesus hand picked her for our family even before she was formed in the womb. While we'll probably never know why her birth parents made the decision to abandon her at that car wash 29 months ago we feel blessed to be chosen as the agents of her redemption from an uncertain future and that no matter what happens from now on her life will be better than it would have been and so will ours. Who knows but she may grow up to own a whole chain of car washes now wouldn't that be a God sized turn about and a big ol' black eye to the enemy who tried to destroy her!

Speaking of which apparently the devil checked out of the hotel I haven't seen him at all today. Maybe he got swine flu since the last time I saw him he was with a nurse and doctor. Serves him right.