tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34416703027364487172024-03-21T18:12:01.283-07:00Our Journey to Isabella Yong MeiUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-39224692531141691752012-12-11T01:48:00.000-08:002012-12-11T02:13:59.827-08:00Isabella's appointment with the American Consulate<strong><span style="color: red;">December 10, 2012</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Mei Mei did great last night, as I mentioned in my previous post, she is no longer grieving and is sleeping well in her playpen all night. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">We woke up early, had breakfast and headed downstairs to meet Grace and the Cole family to head to the U.S. Consulate for lan lan's and mei mei's appointment. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">We took a van to the U.S. Consulate appointment which was about a 30 minute drive. Mei Mei did not want to eat much for breakfast and I am glad she didn't because on our way to the consulate appointment she threw up when we had gotten there in the van.I am not sure exactly why. I at first thought she may have been getting sick but once we got in the building, she wanted to have a mandarin orange that I had in her bag. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Anyways, we got sworn in and took the Oath. Shortly after we were called up to the window and we had an American officer interview us. We turned in all of Mei Mei's paperwork and the process was painless. Before you knew it we were done and off to the next place on our agenda. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">On our way back to the hotel, Mei Mei threw up again (all 11 pieces of mandarin that she had eaten, poor baby) I figured out afterwards that it had to have been that she got carsick. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">At 11:30am, we met as a group and headed to the Pearl market. The Pearl market was a great big market place with like 8 floors. I have to say that all the stores and malls here are huge and they have high buildings everywhere. Very Very high !</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">At the pearl market, we bought Mei Mei her very own Pearl Necklace and matching earrings. This is a gift that will be given to her the day she marries. Many years from now. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After shopping at the market place, all the families kinda went their own way and we invited Grace, our guide to have lunch with us. We went to a nearby Pizza Hut. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After lunch, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Children's wholesale Market place. This was another huge shopping strip with clothes, shoes and anything you basically need for children. Basically, the only thing I was looking for were jeans for mei mei. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">It took us awhile to figure out how to shop there. Since it is a wholesale market, you can't just walk into a store and buy one piece of clothing. They sell the items by volume. Hence, wholesale market. What they do have are bins outside their shop and in these bins you can find one piece items and buy them. We finally found a store that had jeans for mei mei... Such cute jeans too ! We ended up buying 8 pairs of jeans for $25.00 u.s. dollars. Super cute jeans. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After our shopping spree, we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel. It took us forever to get a taxi to stop for us. I think the cab drivers don't stop for Americans because of the language barrier. Seriously, it took us like 20 minutes to get a cab to stop for us and you pretty much have to get in the way and hope they don't run you over and then open the door to their car. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">It was a long morning and afternoon. We were told by grace to all meet downstairs in the lobby by 5:15 as we were going to take our group picture from CCAI and also have all the babies take their pictures too. Not on the "Big Red Couch" like the one at the white swan but our imitation of it on the "Big Brown Couch" at the China Hotel. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After our pictures, we then headed out as a group to the marina to go on the Pearl River Dinner Cruise. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">It was a nice 1.5 cruise with a buffet dinner. I did not eat the dinner because it didn't look that great but Mei Mei ate like a horse while we enjoyed the scenery of the buildings all lit up. We got to see the 2nd largest building in the world. It is a TV satellite building and I was told that there is a mid-point in that building that people are allowed to bungee jump... That is just plain crazy. After the dinner, a funny looking clown came out and entertained everyone by juggling and doing some cool tricks. Mei Mei enjoyed the clown, got a balloon and got to spin a soccer ball on her finger (I tell you, this kid is talented). </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After our dinner cruise, we came back to the hotel and called it a night... We were busy busy busy !</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Our beautiful daughter is officially an American Citizen</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Isabella Yong Mei Bosch</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> The Cole family</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Lan Lan and her beautiful smile</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Forever foster Sisters from Guanxji Province</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Pearl Market Place</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Herb checking out the Pearls</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Pearl necklace and matching earrings for Mei Mei</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Carl, little Kyle, Jennifer and little Evan from North Carolina</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Kathy, little Maya & Her husband Jodi</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Chong, Chong fell in love with Mei Mei</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Becky, Sadie (aka - chong chong) and John</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Little Maya (14 mths old)</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Cole Family</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Chong, Chong, Maya, Mei Mei & Lan Lan</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Mama, Mei Mei and Daddy</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Our CCAI Group picture</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Chong, Chong; Maya; Mei Mei; Lan Lan; Evan & Kyle</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"></span></strong><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-3857849390641596502012-12-11T01:10:00.000-08:002012-12-11T01:10:03.584-08:00Sightseeing tour of Buddhist temple; Old Chen House; and Arts & Crafts shopping center<strong><span style="color: red;">December 9, 2012 </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Isabella has no longer grieved. Her personality is shining through each day that passes and we are realizing that she has some minor behavior issues that need to be adjusted and have been dealt with here in China. When she doesn't get her way she bursts into a full blown tantrum but she is quickly learning that this behavior will not cause her to get her way.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Today we woke up early had breakfast and headed out on an optional tour with our group. We did some sightseeing of the Buddhist Temple, Old Chen House and the provincial arts & crafts shopping center. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Buddhist temple was beautiful. A serene environment, aptly suited for the Buddhist way of life, surrounds the Bright Filial Piety Temple. It is one of the major Guangzhou attractions that one will come across during their stay in the city. This ancient Buddhist temple has a history that is about 1,700 years old.One much like the one that we saw in Nanning. We did hear a service going on while we were visiting and we got to see many locals pray to their different buddas. Again, it gave me an appreciation for the one and only true God that we serve, our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After the visit to the temple, we went to the Old Chen House. The Guangzhou house of the Chen family is commonly known as the ancestral temple of the Chen family. It is now the site of the Guangdong folk art museum. The 100 year old temple was once the ancestral temple and study of 72 Chen families in Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty. It is now the largest and best preserved and decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong Province. We had the chance to have the master chen write Isabella Yong Mei's name in chinese on a large scroll. So we got that for her and hopefully she will appreciate it when she is older. We also got the boys a smaller one for their rooms in chinese as well. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After our visit to the Chen House, we went to the arts and crafts shopping center. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Here we visited a jewelry center where the sell authentic Jade. It is a custom in China that a child is given jade three times in there lifetime. The first time it's given to them by their parents when they are born. They can give them usually a small pendant jade or earrings. We bought Mei Mei a beautiful pair of Jade earrings that we will put on her once we get back home and can get her ears pierced. The second time they are given Jade is when she gets married (usually given by her parents or by the in laws) and the third time is when she turns 60 years old and its given to her by her children.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">One thing I can say about the Chinese culture is that they have very strong family ties. The children look after the parents (the way it should be). </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Oh let me mention while we were at the jade shop, we were getting ready to pay. Next to the register there was a Budda (very common to have buddas in stores for good fortune and money) Mei Mei was in her stroller and she saw the budda. She made it clear that she wanted to get out of the stroller. She kept pointing at the Budda and saying Mo Mo. So I went and grabbed our guide and asked her what mei mei was saying. Grace began to speak chinese to mei mei and what mei mei was saying was "that she wanted to touch the Buddha". I am not sure if the foster parents ever exposed her to buddhism or not but I took her to the buddha and she touched him and smiled. I asked grace what type of buddha that was and they said it was the buddha for money and good fortune. So, of course Herb went and rubbed everything on that buddha, lol (crazy man). </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">We got back to the hotel around 1:00pm and then at 4:00pm, we met our group downstairs to do visa's paperwork. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">After the paperwork we all got together and went out for a group dinner at the Macau Street Restaurant. </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">We had a great day, here are some pictures of our day !</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Group Dinner at the Macau Street Restaurant</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Eating with chopsticks</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Buddas at the Temple</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Pagoda </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">A form of prayer for the Chinese</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">A buddhist Monk</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">These are what they call the master buddas</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Another form of prayer</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The detailed architect at the Chen House</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Master Chen working on a scroll with Isabella name on it </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Final Piece</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> This was the Buddha that mei mei was rubbing and so was Herb</span></strong><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-79664958372981096982012-12-09T03:34:00.000-08:002012-12-09T03:34:13.504-08:00All Isabella Yong Mei<strong><span style="color: red;">So this post is about all the things that we have discovered our girl can do... </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Mei Mei can do the following things: </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can eat with CHOPSTICKS (all fine motor skills) </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can put on her own shoes</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can eat by herself with a fork and spoon </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can climb just about anything </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She does pee and poop in the toilet (almost already potty trained) </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can read (hahahha just kidding) </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can and will eat anything that doesn't eat her</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She cleans up her mess </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can help me comb her hair</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can sing </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can dance </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">She can make you laugh </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">And she can definitely melt your heart, Just sayin :) </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;"></span></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-7705068467885403632012-12-08T23:39:00.000-08:002012-12-08T23:39:09.962-08:00Dec 8th, 2012 - Medical & Visas trip in Guangzhou
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Last night mei mei fell asleep again with no grieving. She
has not grieved in a few days and she seems to be happier as the day’s
progress. Every day that goes by we are falling more in love with this sweet
girl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We set a wake-up call for 6:30am. We had to meet Grace, the Cole
family and the other family from Alaska down at the lobby by 8:30am to head to
the clinic to get the girls their physical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Breakfast was MUCH better. The hotel and buffet is
westernized and much like the buffet in Hong Kong. Mei Mei is doing great with
her eating. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After breakfast we all met down in the lobby and headed
toward the clinic. We walked into this nice building and headed to the 5<sup>th</sup>
floor. Upon entering this floor we immediately went to this room to have Mei
Mei’s picture taken for her visas. This was pretty quick and then we headed to
the other side of the medical area. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There were many Chinese families waiting to see a doctor.
There was a section that was just for adoptive families. We all headed to this
area and waited to be seen by the doctors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The physical check consisted of three areas. One was the vital
sections area (where they took her height and weight) the second was the ear,
nose & throat area, lastly, we moved to the general area (where they
checked her abdominal area and the rest of her body). Everything checked out
well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We probably spent about 1.5 hours at the medical office and
then we headed back to the hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, Grace told us
that Josh & Lily (the owners of CCAI) were in town and they wanted to meet
us. They live in Denver Colorado; the headquarters were CCAI is based out of.
They were in Guangzhou for staff training. We met them and they wanted to see
the babies. Mei Mei was sleeping so they did not get to see her awake. We took
some pictures with them, they are really nice. The rest of the afternoon was
free time and we could choose to do whatever we wanted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We choose to stay in the room while Mei Mei was sleeping.
After she woke up we got ready and took a taxi to Shamian Island. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Shamian Island</span></b><sup id="cite_ref-1"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamian_Island#cite_note-1"><span style="color: blue;">]</span></a></span></sup><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">, formerly known as <b>Shameen Island</b> or <b>Shamin
Island</b>, from its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese"><span style="color: blue;">Cantonese</span></a> pronunciation, is a sandbank island in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan_District" title="Liwan District"><span style="color: blue;">Liwan
District</span></a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou" title="Guangzhou"><span style="color: blue;">Guangzhou</span></a> city, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangdong" title="Guangdong"><span style="color: blue;">Guangdong</span></a>
province, China. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in
Chinese. We visited “Jenny’s Place”. My mom seriously recommended it. Here I
bought some gifts and we bought Mei Mei like 7 squeaky shoes. They are so cute.
Jenny had some Christian scriptures around her store and I asked her if she was
a Christian and she said she is and has been for 8 yrs. now. I then got alittle
bolder and said so you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and she
said yeah! I thought that was way awesome. She says that she goes to a Christian
church on the Island. She was at the store with her husband Mark and her
beautiful little son. She gave me a necklace with a cross on it for free and
also a Chinese CD as a free gift to my mom for recommending her. She also gave
Mei Mei a ball for free. She is a very nice lady and I told her that I would
tell all my friends to visit her shop when in Shamian Island.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After spending some time at
Jenny’s place, she had her friend walk us over to “Lucy’s” (an American Diner) the
food was yummy. I had some fried chicken and French fries, Herb had a burger
with fries and Mei Mei had egg noodle soup, mashed potatoes, my French fries
with ketchup, my chicken and an apple juice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After lunch, we grabbed a
taxi and headed back to the China Hotel. It was a successful afternoon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">We barely had any time when
we got back to the hotel before it was time to meet Grace and the rest of our
group for dinner. I took mei mei a quick bath and then we met Grace downstairs
by 6:00pm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">We all walked about 10
minutes to a nearby Chinese restaurant. When we got there, they put our group
in a private room and Grace ordered all kinds of food for us to try. They put
the food on a lazy susan and you spin the table and grab what you want. I like
the way the Chinese eat and I wish we had this method in America. We ordered
Goat meat, which herb and I passed on but little Mei Mei ate of course. There
was like noodle potatoes, this bean looking thing (that was delicious) some
vegetables and just a ton of other things. It was good food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After dinner we headed back
to hotel and relaxed, watched a little TV and then went to bed. The days are
passing quickly, which I like because we are ready to go home and see our
family and friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Tomorrow, we are doing a
sight-seeing tour into the city with 4 other families. We are going to visit
the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, Temple of Chen family and also we will be
visiting a market place where they sell authentic Jade. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Having breakfast at the China Hotel</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Yum, Yum, Yum</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Cole family in the back and the Alaskan family in the front</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Mei Mei getting weighed in</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Ear, nose and throat doctor</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> I love this girl to pieces</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Check out this building</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Lily (CCAI), Jay with Lan Lan, Bonnie, me with mei mei, Herb & Josh (CCAI)</span></strong><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> <strong><span style="color: red;">and then baba and mei mei taking a nap</span></strong></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-87125434708995128072012-12-08T15:47:00.001-08:002012-12-08T22:14:32.076-08:00<span style="color: red;"><strong>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>DECEMBER 7, 2012 (LEAVING NANNING GUANXJI PROVINCE) </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong></strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Las</span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">t night Mei Mei DID NOT grieve before going to bed. It was
warm in the room. I took off her pajamas, left her in a diaper for a few
minutes and allowed skin to skin contact with me. I cradled her as a baby and
she fell peacefully asleep snuggled to mama. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>In the morning we woke up, got dressed and headed down for
our regular breakfast. We woke up a little late. We were to meet David
downstairs to head into town at 11:00am for an appointment to get some Chinese
Massages. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>The Chinese massages were an amazing experience. We walked
into this building. On the bottom floor was pharmacy, then you had to walk
upstairs where it felt more like a hospital. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Mei Mei had to go NEOW NEOW (meaning she needed to go potty) –
so I went to take her to the bathroom and there was no light. The power had
gone and they said it would eventually turn on. Jay Cole had a flashlight we
could borrow so I took mei mei to the bathroom using the flashlight. The
bathrooms here in China are not toilets. They are holes in the floor and you
have to squat on the floor to pee. Most of the time when I took mei mei to the
bathroom, I had to strip her, take off her diaper, have her squat and then get
her dressed again. (This part of the trip allows me to have a deep appreciation
for what we have in America). <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After using the bathroom we went to a room where there must
have been about 6 massage tables. Herb and I got situated on the massage table,
lying on our stomach. (They massage with Clothes on). David took Mei Mei and
was holding her for a few minutes. When it was David’s turn to get his massage,
David had Bonnie hold mei mei while we were getting our massage done as well. I
did not hear Mei Mei crying at all, she was such a good girl. When I was done,
I walked outside to find Mei Mei fast asleep on Bonnie’s shoulder. She is such
a good girl who is on like clockwork for her naps. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>The experience of our massages was interesting. Herb was a
big cry baby. It was so funny though. All I kept hearing was Herb whining “Oh
my sweet Jesus, Ouch… Man, you are strong. You are a woman with man hands”
David and I were cracking up during the entire 30 minute session. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>The massage therapists were really strong. They are petite
woman with lots of strength. It felt like this woman removed every bit of knots
that I had in my back area. They really did an amazing job. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After our massage adventure we headed to the nearby mall to
get some lunch. We went to Pizza Hut for chicken wings and pizza. The restaurant
setting is not like the one in the United States, it is so much nicer. Also the
menu is not just pizza; they have a much more variety. La-La and mei mei shared
a spaghetti dish, again our sweet girl eats like a horse.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After lunch we headed back to the hotel to pick up our
luggage and check out. After checking out, we went to the majestic hotel to
wait while David ran to the passport office to see if Mei Mei’s passport was
ready. It was not ready until after 4pm. We left to the airport and David
advised he would fed-ex the girls passports to Guangzhou. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>David took us to the Nanning Airport. We checked in and went
through customs. The customs agent kept reviewing mei mei’s adoption documents
to let us through. It seemed like forever and I was getting a bit nervous. I
don’t know what was the issue but the Cole family went through very fast and
they kept checking out all of our documents. Eventually, we went through and
headed towards the gate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>When we got to the gate, Jay & Bonnie were already there
along with another American family from another agency. This other family
adopted a little 16mth old baby boy with a cleft lip / Palate. They named him
Jackson. He is such a cutie. A few minutes later like 4 other American families
arrived at the gate. So on our flight there was a total of 6 families with their
cuties attached to their hips. We boarded the plane and off we were heading to
Guangzhou. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Mei Mei did pretty well on the airplane ride. It took about
45 minutes to an hour to arrive in Guangzhou. Prior to boarding, mei mei had
fallen asleep and right before getting on the plane she woke up. I was carrying
her during the entire flight and all she did was lay her head on my chest with her eyes
wide open. I can see the concerned look on her face as to what is happening
now. Anytime there is a change in environment, the look of worry comes about.
One thing I know that will remain consistent is her mama and baba’s face. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We finally got to Guangzhou at about 7:30ish. We were greeted
by CCAI rep, Grace. She was holding a big CCAI sign and so we got our luggage
and headed to the van. The ride to the China hotel was about 40 minutes. When
we arrived, it was like heaven. We felt like we were back in part of the United
States. People spoke a little more English and the hotel was amazing. Let me
just say that inside the hotel is a Starbucks, Yep pretty amazing. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Right next to the hotel is a 24hour McDonalds. After checking
in we walked over to McDonalds for a quick bite to eat and then it was hit the
hay time. We were tired and hungry and were ready for bed. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>I ordered chicken nuggets for mei mei with French fries. She
ate the fries and preferred a hamburger. This kid can eat! <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>All in all it turned out to be a long but productive day. Tomorrow
is Mei Mei’s physical exam at the clinic and also we are going to take her picture
for her Visa to get into the USA. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>5 more days and we will be heading home. I miss our boys. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>The building where we got our massage </strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxbHtczTEyWVzytLWgi0aaea-jmAeHaoDU-yAkazLC2BhZGHp6AWOfoWHhjfIT255s1mDZ92Juko5ltulyyEUMK20jXMs9ahBy6wlAsRAmDBt753Z1hI8Vg_O4gfBa9qyCIz02LbhCPFp/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: red;"><strong><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxbHtczTEyWVzytLWgi0aaea-jmAeHaoDU-yAkazLC2BhZGHp6AWOfoWHhjfIT255s1mDZ92Juko5ltulyyEUMK20jXMs9ahBy6wlAsRAmDBt753Z1hI8Vg_O4gfBa9qyCIz02LbhCPFp/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></strong></span></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong> The massage room</strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Christmas Tree in our hotel lobby at the Wharton International</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> The Pharmacy inside the massage building</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Christmas decorations outside the hotel in Nanning</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Wharton International Hotel in Nanning</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> China bank in Nanning</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Lan Lan playing with Mei Mei's hair as she sleeps</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span> <strong><span style="color: red;">Nanning airport - leaving to Guangzhou</span></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="color: red;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span></div>
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</strong></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-45422522894521712542012-12-06T16:03:00.000-08:002012-12-06T16:03:19.101-08:00Green Mountain & Dinner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06ZVxQDBXQeKegXT6iy42kY0-a6yLl6McVz0noANSb0Vr_RVJkhzlrtVM01KELyUcSpLX2pnvezLvjuojHxpA1pFKnBF35Tf_G02sAQa8yeMdX2G5X9eBtNZSQBF6ZP_OPaAn-bljq12a/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj06ZVxQDBXQeKegXT6iy42kY0-a6yLl6McVz0noANSb0Vr_RVJkhzlrtVM01KELyUcSpLX2pnvezLvjuojHxpA1pFKnBF35Tf_G02sAQa8yeMdX2G5X9eBtNZSQBF6ZP_OPaAn-bljq12a/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>This was the restaurant we ate at, much like the melting pot</strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Miss independant eating by herself</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Yummy watermelon</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> At Green Mountain</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Cuteness sucking on a lollipop</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Feeding the Fish</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Last night the grieving was very similar to the prior nights,
the only difference is that instead of sleeping with daddy, our baby girl slept
with mama. In our room we have two queen size beds. So mei mei slept with daddy
every night and last night she slept with me. I believe she grieves more at
night when she is with me because she relates me to her foster mama. I am so
thankful for the way the foster mama was taking good care of her. Mei Mei
impresses me every day at what a little hero she is. She is attaching herself
to the both of us and yet allows us to see her grieving little heart into the
evenings. This allows me the opportunity to hold her /swaddle her tightly and
love on her. I take this time to really look deep into her eyes and if anything
she can feel my love for her, not necessarily understand what I am saying other
than the few words in Mandarin that I have learned. I have learned how to say
“Mama loves you”, I now understand when she says “Neow” (this means, potty). I
know how to say come to mama “Bow, mama”. I have also started to sing her
“Jesus loves me” while she is grieving. I know right now she is hurting but
later on she can remember this song in her little heart and it will be soothing
to her. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">This morning we all woke up around 8:15am. We actually woke
up kind of late and were rushing, as we were supposed to meet David down in the
lobby at 10:00am. We went down for breakfast and had our usual. I am not
impressed with the breakfast here at the Wharton Hotel. I hear that the
breakfast at the China Hotel in Guangzhou will be a lot better. Mei Mei ate
hard boiled eggs, plain congee, potato slices, fruit, yogurt and some egg roll
looking thing. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We finally met up with David and the Cole family downstairs
and we headed to Green Mountain. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Green Mountain Park is the most famous tourist destination in
Nanning. It’s located in the southeast of Nanning. The main Peak is 289 meters
above sea level. The beautiful mountains and clear waters of the Green Mountain
Park Scenic are attractive to tourist. The Green Mountain has been noted as one
of the ten best tourist destinations in Guangxi. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">At Green Mountain Park we went to visit a Buddhist Temple. It
was so interesting to see and learn about their faith. We witnessed many locals
praying to their Buddha of choice. I also learned there are many Buddha’s that
represent many different things such as happiness, health, peace and so many
more. It allowed me to learn about other people’s belief but at the same time
it gave me a deep appreciation for the one and only true GOD in my life, Jesus
Christ. We bought some flowers and offered them to the master Buddha, they were
very appreciative. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">On the same grounds we were able to see turtles & koi
fish in the waters. Mei Mei LOVES animals, especially the ones we have seen
like turtles and fish. She is amazed by them. We went to another area and were
able to feed the fish. This was crazy; we have never seen a frenzy of fish like
we did in this area of the park…It was crazy! You will see the pictures. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Right across from where we were feeding the fish was the
Pagoda House. I had never seen a Pagoda house/tower before so this was so cool.
Jay, Bonnie and I climbed to the top of the tower while Herb & David stayed
down at the bottom. It was so cool when we finally got to the top but there
were about 15 staircases to climb and probably over 1000 steps. The climb down
was a lot faster than the climb up. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Afterwards we left Green Mountain and went to Pizza Hut for
lunch. The Pizza Hut in China is very different that the one in the states. The
inside is much fancier, at least this one was. Also, they had a lot more of a
variety than just pizza. We ordered chicken wings, pizza, and spaghetti for the
girls. As usual, mei mei ate like a horse. She is such a good eater. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">After lunch, David had to leave to go to the Notary to pick
up our documents. So the Cole family and ourselves stayed at the mall to walk
around for a bit and then we took a taxi back to our hotel. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">It was a laid back afternoon. Isabella fell asleep on our way
back to the hotel and took a 2 hr. nap. She woke up crying and sad. It took her
about 1.5 hours to snap out of it. I took her a warm bath; she hates it when I
wash her hair. Then I gave her dinner. She ate Raman noodles, and a yogurt drink.
She LOVES to eat candy. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Tomorrow afternoon we head to Guangzhou province. This is our
last leg of our trip and then we are headed back to the United States with our
girl. Thank you all for all the prayers, they were truly heard. We are blessed!<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-88508175659947930072012-12-06T01:02:00.003-08:002012-12-06T01:02:46.291-08:00A few pictures of Mei Mei at People's Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK-WC29zSTz0KvpozTGnjyPiblXqvSw_M94NQ1Y2dTJIL7u8vYd4lh1c4iD2YgCzqnK7kfAkK-7XhO1l_WtL1mNsDjv3-noHsSsyTCYNcZ7tght6KHtV1SlwtzPy0_LfYprN4BUHEYcR1/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEK-WC29zSTz0KvpozTGnjyPiblXqvSw_M94NQ1Y2dTJIL7u8vYd4lh1c4iD2YgCzqnK7kfAkK-7XhO1l_WtL1mNsDjv3-noHsSsyTCYNcZ7tght6KHtV1SlwtzPy0_LfYprN4BUHEYcR1/s320/007.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong> Isabella (mei mei) looking at our family book</strong></span> <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>Mei Mei loved playing in the ball pit at people's park</strong></span> <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong> Mei Mei LOVES to swing</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7yh2255NL2R9_UqMZGkgoGKJxlGaACWNxn6T9mJwIkpnIgqDK4YQIfEjOR723IJ3wEzGcrY3JzHATVGg5IcvgY5co36oUrXgP7ACId-555xNjRvXDZJPYR8aRX4_O4CuWizhvYsNpmou/s1600/114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ7yh2255NL2R9_UqMZGkgoGKJxlGaACWNxn6T9mJwIkpnIgqDK4YQIfEjOR723IJ3wEzGcrY3JzHATVGg5IcvgY5co36oUrXgP7ACId-555xNjRvXDZJPYR8aRX4_O4CuWizhvYsNpmou/s320/114.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Can our daughter get any cuter</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2LE1TlA2Xt72Xe0BhD5ViWjYnlbEgnrd97WpVWMLI5H6DWmeZxqSnzSMUAnQRau1or_Ev-ofI2sJuGZ9q7HyvH0UIyLCRFeZfUnlYIRHr9gOEZrn-80RTqxebPWSpgS-kGSg-avS0fUg/s1600/124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2LE1TlA2Xt72Xe0BhD5ViWjYnlbEgnrd97WpVWMLI5H6DWmeZxqSnzSMUAnQRau1or_Ev-ofI2sJuGZ9q7HyvH0UIyLCRFeZfUnlYIRHr9gOEZrn-80RTqxebPWSpgS-kGSg-avS0fUg/s320/124.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong> She loves Candy</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_P9P_xBuiq66Rt8_SkMvUI3SdDfyF0bK__h2Y2pzfJrgOvYXl9UyZTuvXJTZR3aZyN0es1qWNgDTJ3lxiJEEW75Cvg6UVw7Y911lUaayCyfiHVW1JOhnNb8ItfV6AG2NFRrN5N5PUvkdE/s1600/130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_P9P_xBuiq66Rt8_SkMvUI3SdDfyF0bK__h2Y2pzfJrgOvYXl9UyZTuvXJTZR3aZyN0es1qWNgDTJ3lxiJEEW75Cvg6UVw7Y911lUaayCyfiHVW1JOhnNb8ItfV6AG2NFRrN5N5PUvkdE/s320/130.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong> Daddy giving mei mei some sugar love </strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> Waking up after her Nap</span></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-67901002841520412792012-12-05T05:59:00.000-08:002012-12-05T05:59:34.350-08:00Our Rest Day<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Our sweet girl slept 10 hours last night, with only 2
grieving periods. Both grieving periods I held her in my arms as she starred
deeply into my eyes with tears rolling down her cheeks. I can see the hurt
& confusion that she holds in her sweet little heart. As I held her, I
prayed to Jesus for healing, I prayed for her birth parent, her foster parents
and her foster sister whom will never see again. I asked the good Lord to give
me patience, peace, understanding, wisdom and most of all the continued heart
to Love as only HE can. Our hearts are so in love with this little one and we
are beyond blessed to call her “Our Daughter”. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>She woke up just a little after 7:00am, we called my sister
in NC to Skype and my sister can vouch that she looked sleepy and sad. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We then got dressed but upon changing her into her clothes, I
had the clever idea to take off her diaper and sit her on the toilet. What do
you know after a few minutes, she not only pee’d but she also POOPED inside the
toilet… I am one proud mama and baba is even happier because he says we may not
need to buy diapers too much longer, lol. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We then went downstairs for breakfast. Today mei mei ate 2 hardboiled
eggs, some plain congee, fruit (watermelon and melon) some type of Chinese
bread, yogurt and milk. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We then met with David at 10:00am downstairs in the lobby. We
headed towards “People’s Park”, this is a local popular park in the city of
Nanning. Boy I have to say this park is amazingly beautiful. I am so glad that
we took the opportunity to go. I have to say that we got a lot of looks from
different people in the park and yes, we had one elderly lady come up to us and
say to cover the baby’s legs. We did dress her warm but the pants she was
wearing go up a little when she was sitting in the stroller and we did not have
long socks on her so her legs were showing. The Chinese people like to have
their children completely covered when they are outside and if you don’t have
them covered they will tell you to cover them up. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>This park is surrounded by natural green beauty. In the
middle of the park lies a beautiful river with a bridge that unites both sides
of the park. You will find middle age people doing exercise and Tai-Chi
throughout the park. You will also find the elderly people playing music and instruments
like the violin in the area. The park also has an area called “Children’s
Paradise” – it’s basically an amusement park with all kinds of rides. Best
thing is, the rides were free. Herb and mei mei rode a ride that is similar to
the “Tea Cups”, oh boy she did not like this at all. As soon as the cup started
to rise, she started screaming. It took forever for the ride to end poor baby. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We also had the opportunity to take the girls to an area with
a bounce house, a ball pit, slides, swings and things to climb on. She has
great mobility and loves loves loves the swings. This girl is so smart; she
hung tight to the rope and pumped her legs to get a good swing. The more I
pushed her, the more she giggled and the happier my heart would become. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Just a little after 12:00pm, we walked some ways and headed
to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. Isabella (Mei Mei) fell asleep and
slept most of the time we were eating. The local Chinese food is really good,
nothing like the states except maybe with the fried rice. We had pork, green
beans, some spicy noodles (which I passed on) and some pumpkin fingers, OMW it
was so yummy, I hope we don’t get sick from all this food we are eating. There
was nothing raw though, everything was well cooked. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After lunch we headed to some shops and I took the
opportunity to by Isabella some long socks, a bib and some cute sock shoes to
wear indoors. We then headed back to the hotel for some rest time and then we
will be meeting David downstairs at 5:30pm to head out for dinner. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Since Isabella had slept through lunch, I took some food from
our lunch back to the hotel and fed her there. She ate all the fried rice and I
also learned that she doesn’t like bananas. At least I’ve offered it twice and
both times she has refused. I tricked her and put it in her mouth and she spit
it out. But she does like Kit Kat chocolate bars, Marshmallows and potato
chips. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After lunch, I took off Isabella’s diaper and sat her on the
potty and would you know it, this child immediately pooped again in the toilet.
She was so happy when she finished and of course her mama was cheering her on.
Her belly was tight, all cleaned up and she was ready to play. We bought her at
the park the bubble shooter thing, she found it and wanted to play with her
baba. I got a video of her playing and giggling with her daddy while they
played on the floor. She then laid on the bed with daddy and started watching
cartoons. She is a really good girl and we love her to pieces. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Tonight David took us to another local Chinese restaurant in
Nanning. It was just like a melting pot restaurant, where you pick your food
and cook it yourself. Everyone including the girls ate me not so much. Mei Mei
ate pork and mushroom dumplings, pork and mushroom meatballs, some vegetable
looking thing, rice white, mushrooms, onions and beef. Our girl eats almost
everything, very different from our Seth back at home. She is so sweet, when
she was done eating she sat on my lap facing me and gave me a real big cuddle,
oh I love this girl. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We got back to the hotel a little after 8:00pm. I took mei
mei a bath, I put all 3 Mr. Ducks in the back and she allowed them to swim with
her but she did not touch them. She babbles in Chinese and has such a cute
personality, I can’t wait for our family and friends back home to meet this
total sweetness. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="color: red;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-68455354790654995552012-12-04T12:50:00.000-08:002012-12-04T12:50:05.081-08:00Completing the Adoption day <strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Today started off at about 6:00ish am. Isabella had a pretty
rough night of grieving as I have mentioned in my previous post. She had night
terrors and is missing her foster mama very very much. She seems to be great
during the day and then into the evening, when things start to calm down is
when she misses the most and the grieving begins. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">In the morning, Isabella woke up and she was pretty happy.
She drank her formula out of the bottle (1<sup>st</sup> time) and munched on
some puffs. We all got ready and headed downstairs for breakfast. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Our baby girl is quite the eater and I am so thankful. She
had hard boiled eggs, a little bit of the plain Congee (which is similar to
oatmeal), French fries, ham, apple juice, water, & some bread with butter. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">After breakfast we met David, our CCAI rep downstairs and we
headed to the Civil Affairs office to legally complete our adoption and make Yong
Mei officially ours. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Shortly upon arrival at the Civil Affairs Office, we were met
by the orphanage director and one nanny from Yulin City, Yuzhow Social Welfare District.
This is the orphanage were Isabella was taken too upon being found. I had the
opportunity to sit and ask the Orphanage director any questions that we had
regarding the baby, and so this is what I asked and what we now know about our
sweet baby girl. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We already knew that she was abandoned at a local market
place; <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">She was taken to foster care on Aug. 29, 2011 (so she spent
just a little over 3mths in the orphanage before she was taken to foster care).
<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">She was in the Grace & Hope program; <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Her foster parents were fairly young maybe in their 40’s. And
she had a foster sibling, older sister (17 years old – biological daughter of
the foster mama & baba) her foster sister was in a boarding school and only
came home 1x a week. Isabella and she were very close and every time the foster
sister would come home, Isabella would run to the door to greet her. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We were so blessed, as the orphanage director has given us a
CD with 118 pictures of Isabella from the time she was a baby until today,
along with pictures of care takers and her foster family. So at least we can
put some pieces together, thank you JESUS. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">I asked if she was ever hospitalized. And they said no. They
would take her to the orphanage clinic with normal child hood issues, colds and
so forth but for the most part she was and is a pretty healthy baby. Never has
had an ear infection and she doesn’t have any allergies that they are aware of.
I also asked if she was potty trained and they said sort of. She doesn’t like
to pee in her diaper so she would tell her foster mama when she had to go
potty. So needless to say, I quickly learned in mandarin/Cantonese that “Wo yow
neow” means “I have to go potty”. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Our baby girl’s personality is quickly shining through. She
is very independent, likes to do things on her own and quickly makes it known
when she is not happy. But on the flip side, she is very loving, sweet, funny
and playful. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">So after we met with the orphanage director, Isabella started
yelling “WO YOW NEOW. WO YOW NEOW”, so I immediately ran with her to the
bathroom, stripped her down and sat her on the toilet seat. Once she pottied,
she clapped and was very happy.. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We then went into a waiting room with all the other families
until our names were called to go and sign off on all the legal documents and
also to be interviewed by a government official. We were the first family up,
so we went in and we sat down in front of this official. She began to ask
questions, why we wanted to adopt Yong Mei? I informed her because we have
always dreamt of having a daughter and this journey has allowed our dreams to
come true. Then we had to swear that we would never neglect abuse or abandoned
her. We both sweared that would never ever happen, we then signed off on the paperwork,
turned in most of the money that we had to give to all the officials; and
turned in our gifts to the orphanage director, nanny and government official
who completed our adoption. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">The orphanage director seemed like a fairly young man, he in
turn gave gifts to us for Isabella. One of the beautiful gifts was a bracelet
with the name of her orphanage on the inside and her orphanage given name in Chinese
on the outside, it truly is beautiful. We also received a certificate of the
adoption from them. After both of our families were sworn in, we then had the
opportunity to take pictures with the kids and the orphanage director and
nanny. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We then left the Civil
Affairs office and headed to the Notary office to get all the adoption
documents notarized. Again, there was the Cole family, then us and another
family with a different agency there. While waiting in the room Isabella comes
running to me again with the WO YOW NEOW, WO YOW NEOW, so off I ran with her
again to go pee pee in the potty. She was so happy. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">We then finished up with the notary, gave her a small gift
and headed back to the hotel to drop off some items and head out for lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Our guide took us to this beautiful local mall in Nanning.
This mall has about 10 escalator floors, it was insanely huge. Anyways, David
wanted to take us to eat Chinese in this great restaurant. It was so so good.
We all stepped out of our box. David ordered the food for all of us including
the girls and the lunch was delicious. We had sweet and sour pork, fried
noodles, onions and vegetables and some sort of chicken. The girls had some
sort of creamy soup which Isabella hardly touched. She was more into the
noodles that we were eating. She showed her personality at lunch today and we
will have to make some modifications with her when we get home. She likes to
eat by herself which is fine; however, she was playing more with the food then
what would go in her mouth, she does not like to wear a bib and had a hissy fit
upon putting one on her. So, we have to start teaching her table manners
because today was a bit off the wall. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">After lunch we walked to the Wal-Mart to pick up more items
that we needed. Isabella fell fast asleep after lunch. We took a short cab ride
back to the hotel. Isabella and I went to the room while Herb and David went to
pick up some new glasses that Herb wanted. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Isabella and I laid down together and we took a nap for a
while. After our nap time, we decided to stay in and order room service. We
ordered some fried spaghetti with meat sauce and it was so yummy. We all had
dinner in the room and Isabella ate her little heart out. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">After dinner we played for a little while and then it was
bath time. She still is very calm during her bath time and again I tried to see
if she wanted to play with the rubber ducky but no deal. Mr. Duck went back on
the shelf. I took her a warm bath, wrapped her up in a big towel and brought
her to the bed; I then grabbed baby lotion and massaged her little body as I
put on her PJ’s. She continues to make excellent eye contact while the bonding
is growing. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">She fell asleep again around 9:00pm, tonight she’s had 2
meltdown (grieving pretty hard) and while I was rockin her in the midst of her
grieving, she was making excellent eye contact with me and she was saying mama,
mama… Oh how my heart breaks that she is hurting and does not understand what
is going on and on top of it all, I cannot even explain to her anything because
of the language barrier. All I kept saying is “Mama, I nee mei mei”… which
means, I love you. Btw – Isabella goes by the nickname of Mei Me, that is what
she has been called all of her life and what name she goes by. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">When she finished grieving to some degree, her baba came in
and she turned to him and said “Bow, baba baba” (which means “I come to daddy”)
so she went with her baba and minutes later was fast asleep. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="color: red;">Praying that tonight she sleeps the whole night. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><strong><span style="color: red;"> </span></strong></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><strong><span style="color: red;"> </span></strong></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><strong><span style="color: red;"> </span></strong></o:p></span></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
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<o:p><span style="color: red; font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></div>
<strong><span style="color: red;">
</span></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-90474981233001000792012-12-03T23:28:00.002-08:002012-12-03T23:57:40.307-08:00Gotcha Day<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Today has been amazing. I woke up at about 4:45am. I did some
blogging and jumped into the shower.</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>The city of Nanning was rainy and
overcast; it lightened up throughout the day. We went downstairs for some
breakfast and I have to say that I was not impressed. They had hard boiled
eggs, fruits, sweet cakes, congee (which I thought was nasty but children eat
this day and night). French toast (without syrup) the closest you will get to
syrup will be honey. The coffee was good. I just pretty much had some bread
rolls and butter, the broth of some noodle soup and some cookies with coffee,
not your healthiest breakfast but it will do. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After breakfast we met with
David, the rep for CCAI. The Cole family and ourselves walked to a nearby
bank to exchange our funds. We exchanged $7000.00 U.S. dollars in Chinese
Money and the exchange was for 6.14 to 1. So how much Chinese money did we have
to walk with in my bag? Approximately 45,200.00; </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Immediately after we walked
back to the hotel, we opened the safe (which I have to say, is bolted down to a
cabinet but the only problem is that the cabinet is not bolted to the ground,
so anyone can walk off<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with the safe and
the whole cabinet. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Hubble was a little concerned about putting the money in
the safe but we didn’t have a choice. It was either that or walk around the
city with 42,000 (not happening). We put the money in the safe and locked
it, when we went to open it again to put more stuff in it, the safe door jammed
and we could not open it for the life of us. So we called David our guide and
told him what happened. He came upstairs to try and help us and it didn’t work,
so they had to call the hotel manager to come and open the safe. Eventually she
got it opened and she saw all the money in the safe. This made us a little
nervous, although we changed the code again; this woman has a master code and
could open the safe at any time. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Again we have to trust that everything
would be fine. After this whole ordeal, we left the hotel with the Cole family
and with our guide David and took public transportation to Wal-Mart. It was
very cool, we got to see part of the city and we got to go shopping at
Wal-Mart. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>The Wal-Mart is China is very different than the Wal-Mart back in the
states; I will post some pictures soon. We spent about 70.00 U.S. dollars at
Wal-Mart; we bought snacks for us and Isabella. Afterwards, we took a taxi back
to our hotel with all of our groceries and it was about $2.00 U.S. dollars. We
had about 1.5 hr rest time before it was time to meet David downstairs in the
lobby to head to the Civil Affairs Office. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We arrived at the Civil Affairs Office at about 3:25pm. The
Orphanage director and the two nannies had not arrived yet. There were other
families there waiting for the Orphanage directors to bring their children to
them. Finally, our van arrived with the two girls. One nanny got out with the
Cole family child, she is cute as can be (18mths old) and then another nanny
stepped out cradling Isabella Yong Mei. Our sweet girl had just fallen asleep
about 15 minutes prior to them arriving. Their trip from Yulin City to Nanning
is approximately 3-3.5 hrs. Our rep. told the nanny holding Yong Mei that I was
the mama and she immediately handed her over. I was able to snuggle her up and
squeeze and kiss her as much as I wanted because she was asleep. Shortly after,
all the families were taken upstairs so we can take our family pictures
together. I handed Isabella over to Herb while she was still sleeping and after
about 5 minutes, Isabella opened her beautiful eyes and looked dead on into
Herb’s eyes. There eye’s had met for the first time, baba & daughter. I
then called out her name Yongmei and she quickly looked over to me and then
smacked the glasses off of Herb’s face and busted into a laugh. I thought “oh
wow, this is going to be fun”. We then took our family picture which they will
give to us on Thursday and headed back to the Wharton Hotel. We did run into
Joan Curley, a mama from my September 2006 LID group online; she too was
waiting for her sweet Hazel. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We arrived back at the hotel at about 4:30ish. Isabella loved
the revolving door to get inside the hotel. Herb was playing with her while
carrying her, he kept going around and around and she was just laughing out
loud. She truly did great, I took her a bath. She was a bit reluctant meanwhile
observing everything around her. I tried to give her some rubber ducky’s to
play in the water but she was afraid, so we put the rubber ducky’s away for
another time. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>At about 7:30, we fed her dinner. She refused to take the
bottle at all yesterday. So she ate a lot of snacks and at dinner time we gave
her some Raman noodles in chicken broth with vegetables and she really enjoyed
them, followed with some grapes for dessert and water.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>At about 9:15 she fell asleep. I put her in the crib and
maybe 35 minutes later she had her first night terror. What is a night terror
(like a nightmare, it’s very common with children that our adopted during this
stressful transition). From that moment on it was sleeping on and off and
crying hard until almost 5:00am. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>She woke up around 6:30ish am and so are day begun. </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong></strong></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong></strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong> packed and ready to pick up our girl</strong></span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XdOqlSTQXws7Ki5E_jsJ3CuQIJchpcyp8NTKaxxJcguqesOgihlgjd-NZ0kX04S7CPgC92bFXB5r_M2aIYxNPkH5kgYsl-8nxWQmJUrMDrVglt-B_NQX7qU14YCuJ9InVeFJIFTikkkg/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2XdOqlSTQXws7Ki5E_jsJ3CuQIJchpcyp8NTKaxxJcguqesOgihlgjd-NZ0kX04S7CPgC92bFXB5r_M2aIYxNPkH5kgYsl-8nxWQmJUrMDrVglt-B_NQX7qU14YCuJ9InVeFJIFTikkkg/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>The crib at the Wharton International Hotel</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>David, Jay, Bonnie & Herb waiting for public transportation</strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>Entrance to Walmart in Nanning Province</strong></span> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> They sell dry fish at Wal-mart</span></strong> <br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong> Dry shark for sale at Wal-Mart</strong></span><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">There I am ready to go and pick up our girl</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Civil Affairs office in Nanning Province</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">The Van that brought the girls from Yulin City</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">My first picture with our sweet Isabella Yongmei</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;"> "Is that Baba"?</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Already has baba wrapped around her finger</span></strong> <br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Walking into our hotel</span></strong> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><o:p><strong> Running towards Mama</strong></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="color: red;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-55632783919011237532012-12-02T13:44:00.001-08:002012-12-02T13:44:07.225-08:00Our Arrival In Nanning China<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Today was another long day and our sleep pattern is still off
but getting better </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>every day. After we got back to the hotel in Hong Kong from
touring with our </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>group, </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>we took another nap around 4:00pm. I woke up around
1:30am and could </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>not go </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>back to sleep. This was the day that we would be
catching another plane at </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>4:40pm </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>and heading to Nanning, the baby’s province.
At 6:30am, we headed down </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>to the </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>lobby for breakfast. The day was cloudy, rainy
& cold in Hong Kong. After </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>breakfast </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>we walked around the hotel and took
pictures. We then headed back </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>upstairs to pack </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>and rest, as we didn’t need to
be ready until 2pm. At about </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>1:00pm, we walked </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>downstairs to the lobby to meet
with the Cole family and also </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>with Matthew, whom </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>was taking us to the airport.
Our ride back to the airport was </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>uneventful. Check-in </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>was fine; I had a coffee
from Starbucks as we waited for </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>our plane to begin </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>boarding. We flew Hong Kong
airlines from Hong Kong to </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Nanning. When they </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>issued our seats for some reason
they had me sitting in a </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>three seat row with Jay & </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Bonnie Cole and then
they had Herb sitting in the row </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>of front of us with two other </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>ladies. It turns
out that upon boarding our plane, </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>when getting to our seat after </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>settling in,
the two ladies that Herb was sitting </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>next to were from my Sept 2006 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>L.I.D.
group. I knew of a lady that was going to </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>be traveling just days after us to
</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>pick up her 2.5 yr old daughter and she told me </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>she would be traveling with her
</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>sister and they looked alike. So, when I got to my </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>seat I see these two ladies
that </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>looked very similar, she then asked me “where </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>are you from”? And I said, “We
are </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>from Fl”, she then said “Are you Ileanna”? </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>hahaha, “yes, I am Ileanna, you
must be </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Joan”. We then said “hello” with a warm </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>smile and began talking. The
cool thing </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>about belonging to an adoption group </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>online is that you are bound to
eventually meet </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>some families in person during </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>this journey. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Our flight was 1hr 20 minutes long, we arrived in Nanning
airport. I mentioned to </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>the </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Cole family that I had to go to the bathroom really
bad so while the plane was </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>still </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>taxing in, I ran passed them and went to use
the airplane bathroom. Thank </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>God I did </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>because Bonnie used the bathroom in the
airport and she said it was a </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>hole in the </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>ground with no toilet paper, welcome
to China I say. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon landing at </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>the
airport, </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>you don’t connect directly to the airport, you have to get out of the
</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>plane and take a </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>shuttle bus to the main airport. So, we all got on the bus and
</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>headed to the main </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>building to clear customs & immigration and pick up our
bags. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We were then greeted by our CCAI Rep. His name is David Shu.
Nice young guy </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>and </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>really funny. I have to say that our first impression when
we got to the </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>airport was </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>very intimidating. The Chinese people are very
serious and they will </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>run you over if </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>you don’t act fast. The government officials
mean business and </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>you can see that </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>from their firm body language and facial
expressions. We got in </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>the van with the </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>driver and our guide. The ride to
Wharton International Hotel </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>took about 35-40 </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>minutes. The streets are well
developed and we were on one </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>main highway, not </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>many turns. So I did not get car
sick. On our ride, David talked </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>to us about what </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>would take place today. He
said that we are to have breakfast </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>downstairs anytime </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>between 6:30-10:00am, we
then are to meet him on the 20<sup>th</sup> </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>floor of the Wharton </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>with our
adoption paperwork. We will fill out documents and </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>then we will head to the
</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>bank to exchange our funds to Chinese money. We are </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>going to exchange $7000.00
</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>U.S. into Chinese funds to cover our adoption fee / </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Nanning. This is the
breakdown </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>he gave us in Yuan; <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Orphanage donation: 35000<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Notary: 2500<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Passport: 900<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Registration: 250<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Finding Ads: 200<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Family Pic: 100<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>Totaling: 38950 YUAN = Approximately $6,172.00 <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>After the bank, we are going to head to Wal-Mart to buy the
babies or ourselves </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>things that we may need. Our guide provided us in our rooms
with lots of bottled </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>water, apple juice & drink yogurts that the babies
like. <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>We will then head back to the hotel and wait until 3:00pm
(China time) 2:00am </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>U.S. </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>time to head to the Civil Affairs Office. Isabella
should be in our arms by </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>3:30pm </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>(China time) 2:30am (U.S. time). <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>So, David did get some information about our babies, since
there are only 2 </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>families </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>(Us and the Cole family) we almost get personal
service which is great. </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>He said that </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>he knows one baby likes grapes and the
other baby likes oranges but </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>he didn’t </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>remember right now which baby liked
which, he said he would have all </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>this </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>information in the morning. Apparently,
he already has Isabella’s passport </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>with her </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>picture because when I showed him who
she was, he already knew. He </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>was telling </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>us to have a lot of patience with the
babies when we get them, he </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>shared </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>information with us that I already knew and
was mentally already </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>prepared. He said </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>that because the babies have been in
foster care and not in the </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>orphanage, they </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>have been attached to their foster
family. He said they may cry a </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>lot and very loud </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>and just to be patient. He
also said it is very common for the </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>babies to not poop </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>between 24-48 hrs. and
he said that is due to the amount of </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>stress that they will </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>undergo and not to
worry. He brought us apple juice to </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>loosen the bowels if needed </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>(this mama
brought apple juice just in case this is an </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>issue). He also said to dress </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>the
babies very warm, the Chinese people dress </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>warm and like everything hot. (This
</strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>is something I also already knew and I am </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>prepared for). <o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>So this basically sums up everything up to now. Right now it
is currently 5:30am </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>in </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>China and 4:30pm U.S. time. I am already up, feeling
good and going to jump in </strong></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>the </strong></span></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><strong>shower to begin our day…Today is the big day, OMG’osh.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"><strong>
</strong></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-18691638210769011742012-12-01T05:09:00.002-08:002012-12-01T05:09:33.460-08:00Pictures of our Tour in Hong Kong with CCAI group<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-15209752852756343762012-12-01T04:33:00.000-08:002012-12-01T06:22:26.862-08:00Touring Day with CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption Agency) group 1938<span style="color: red;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">This morning began so early. It is currently 7:30pm and I felt like I have been up for </span><span style="color: red;">days at a time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">The morning began with a yummy buffet style breakfast downstairs. </span><span style="color: red;">This is the first time we ate real food. In their buffet we had choices of American </span><span style="color: red;">style food or Chinese food. I ate scrambled eggs, toast & bacon with raspberry </span><span style="color: red;">yogurt and 2 cups of coffee (yes very bland and boring). Herb on the other hand, ate </span><span style="color: red;">like a horse (his excuse, “I haven’t had a hot meal for like 3 days”, lol) Anyways, </span><span style="color: red;">Herb had eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, 2 HUGE bowls of noodle soup with fish </span><span style="color: red;">and beef, which he claims was delicious and much more. Our bellies were tight and </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we were ready to embark on our tour and meet the rest of the group. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">We all </span><span style="color: red;">gathered downstairs at 10:00am. We were greeted by a representative from CCAI </span><span style="color: red;">named Joey, an Asian woman, nice as can be. She asked us if we were “The Bosch” </span><span style="color: red;">family and then united us with our group. She introduced us to the rest of the families. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">So here are so the people that are in our group. We have Jennifer & Carl, this </span><span style="color: red;">family is from Winston Salem, North Carolina and they are adopting a precious </span><span style="color: red;">14mth old baby boy whom they will name Kyle, he is from Jiangxi province. (They </span><span style="color: red;">have with them on this trip their 19mth old (little Evan) he was adopted from Ohio, </span><span style="color: red;">cute as can be. You will see some pictures of Evan. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Then, there is Becky & John. T</span><span style="color: red;">his couple is from Alaska and they don’t have any other children. They are adopting a </span><span style="color: red;">beautiful 9yr old girl from Guangdong province. (I believe they said they are going </span><span style="color: red;">to name her “Sadie”. Her friends call her mei, mei = little sister in Chinese). </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Lastly, there is the Jay & Bonnie and they are from Kentucky. They have a set of 3yr old </span><span style="color: red;">fraternal twin boys at home, and are adopting a 14mth old baby girl from the same </span><span style="color: red;">province as Isabella (Guanxji) and coincidentally, they are from the same orphanage. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Bonnie says that their baby girl was in foster care also, but they don’t know if she </span><span style="color: red;">was in the Grace and Hope program like Isabella. We, Jay, Bonnie, Herb and I, will be </span><span style="color: red;">meeting with our travel guide tomorrow at 2:00pm downstairs to head to the airport </span><span style="color: red;">to fly to Nanning, China. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Jay and Bonnie told us, they </span><span style="color: red;">not sure if the Wharton International Hotel in Nanning has internet service. I did </span><span style="color: red;">some research and it says the hotel does have internet service but I am not sure if </span><span style="color: red;">they have it in the room or in the business center. I read the reviews that the </span><span style="color: red;">internet service was very, very slow. So if you don’t hear from us, don’t think </span><span style="color: red;">something has happened. Just know that we may not have the access that we have </span><span style="color: red;">had here in Hong Kong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Ok, so now about our day. The first stop we went to was </span><span style="color: red;">Stanley Market. Wow! What a beautiful place, it was very near the ocean. Some of </span><span style="color: red;">us had a choice to go to the shops and some could go towards the beach area. F</span><span style="color: red;">or those that know me well, you know that we are beach goers, so we skipped the shops </span><span style="color: red;">and headed down towards the beach. It was so beautiful. We took lots of pictures by </span><span style="color: red;">the water. There were people in sailing and fishing boats and the weather was perfect, not </span><span style="color: red;">hot and not cold, and a calm breeze. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">After strolling the beach area, we all met up at our </span><span style="color: red;">meeting point about 45 minutes later and we headed to Aberdeen Fisherman’s </span><span style="color: red;">village. <b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Aberdeen Floating Village</span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> is located at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen,_Hong_Kong" title="Aberdeen, Hong Kong">Aberdeen</a> Harbor in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_District,_Hong_Kong" title="Southern District, Hong Kong">Southern </a></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">District of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong">Hong Kong</a>. The harbor contains approximately 600 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship)" title="Junk (ship)">junks</a>, which house </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">an estimated 6,000 people. Since the 19th century, Aberdeen has emerged as one of </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">the most important fishing ports in Hong Kong. We took a ride on a boat, managed </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">by an elderly Chinese lady. I have to say she ran that boat like a champ. I tried to take a </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">picture of her but she did not want her picture taken. <br /><br />The harbor was filled with </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">many boats and yachts (there is a lot of money in Hong Kong, you will see the </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">photos). After we left Aberdeen Floating Village, we headed towards Victoria Peak. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></span><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Victoria Peak is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain" title="Mountain"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">mountain</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hong Kong</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It is also known as <b>Mount Austin</b>, and </span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">locally as <b>The Peak</b>. The mountain is located in the western half of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Island" title="Hong Kong Island"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hong Kong </span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Island. With an altitude of 1,811 ft, it is the highest mountain on the island proper, </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">but not in the entirety of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong">Hong Kong</a>, an honor which belongs to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_Mo_Shan" title="Tai Mo Shan">Tai Mo Shan</a>. The </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">actual summit of Victoria Peak is occupied by a radio <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunication" title="Telecommunication">telecommunications</a> facility </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">and is closed to the public. However, the surrounding area of public parks and high-</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name <i>The Peak</i>. It is </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">a major <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attraction" title="Tourist attraction">tourist attraction</a> which offers views over <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central,_Hong_Kong" title="Central, Hong Kong">Central</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Harbour" title="Victoria Harbour">Victoria Harbour</a>, and the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">surrounding islands. <br /><br />On our way to Victoria Peak, we passed by Jackie Chan’s home</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">(you know the Chinese actor back in the States who played in the movie’s karate kid </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">2 and Rush Hour and many others. Our guide Matthew said that Jackie Chan was a </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">friend of his, Jackie did not know him, but he knew Jackie very well, lol. <br /><br />After </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Victoria Peak, we drove to downtown Hong Kong where Herb and I visited </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">yesterday for lunch. This was an experience. We went to a local Chinese </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">restaurant. Our guide paid for the bill. There was a total of 11 of us. We sat at a </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">table with a Lazy Susan and our guide ordered the food for us. The waitress </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">brought out plates and more plates of food. This process is called Dim Sum. What is </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Dim Sum? Dim Sum is by definition “Tea Time”, where you go to a restaurant in the </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">afternoon and they serve you with small bamboo steamers that have all different </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">kinds of small bite size dumplings pork, shrimp, and rice balls. We also had special </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">fried rice and so much more. I can’t tell you the names of the things because I don’t </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">even know how to spell it, but I can tell you that Herb really stepped out of his box </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">and ate like a horse again (the excuse this time couldn’t be that he hadn’t had a hot </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">meal in 3 days) to him it was just delicious. I tried the food but my stomach was full,</span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"> so I didn’t eat a whole lot. However, I did have 3 cups of hot tea, which was </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">yummy. I did take pictures of our lunch, it was quite the adventure. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">After lunch, some </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">of the couples stayed in downtown to hit the stores while the couple from NC and </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">ourselves headed back to the hotel for a little cat nap. This time I called for a wake-</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">up call, hence the reason why I am now blogging. <br /><br />This pretty much sums up our day. I </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">will post a few pictures. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Next blog post will be from Nanning, China, if we can get </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">internet service. Please pray that we have safe travels and we can communicate via </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">internet. I need to upload pictures, so I will do so on a different post. </span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-85240083594820374912012-11-29T23:42:00.001-08:002012-12-01T06:08:55.957-08:00Out and about in Downtown Hong Kong<span style="color: red;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">This morning I was up by 7:30am after falling asleep around 5:00am. Our bodies are </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">slowly beginning to adjust to China time. Today was a free day for Herb and I, as </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">the rest of group 1938 from CCAI will be arriving sometime today to the hotel. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">We took the shuttle bus from the hotel at 9:30am and headed to downtown Hong </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">Kong. It was pretty much like NYC, very busy with a lot of people and lots and lots </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">of stores. For those who like shopping, you all would have thought you died and </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">went to heaven. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a few hours, I was ready to come back to the hotel. I didn’t </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">shop though, because I know that in China things are a lot cheaper. Hong Kong is </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">very westernized and it’s almost like being in the United States and almost everyone </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">speaks English. The prices of clothing equal about the same as the U.S., if not more. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only thing we did buy when we entered the market place (another word for </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">supermarket) was bread, chips and some sprite, lol. It was pretty uneventful. There </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were some really annoying salespeople who would spot Herb from a mile away and </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">want him to walk into their store – most of them were tailors. Ugh! After the 2<sup>nd</sup> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">one it got real annoying. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found a park that we decided to walk through and we are </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">glad we did. It was pretty and took us away for a few minutes from the noise of the </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">city. I will post some pictures of our day. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We got back to the hotel around 3:00pm </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and now we are just relaxing. Maybe we will go through a stroll somewhere by the </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hotel later into the evening. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking forward to going to Victoria Peak, Resolve </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bay & Fisherman’s Village tomorrow with our group. I will try and take pictures </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tomorrow of our CCAI group. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Entering Kowloon Park</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Herb buying bread, chips & sprite at the market place.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-13924803749701774232012-11-29T10:23:00.000-08:002012-11-29T14:27:15.845-08:00Working our way around!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">Hi everyone. So right now it is 1:15am (China Time) we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">are still in Hong Kong. After our flight landed, I said a </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">prayer to our awesome Lord thanking him for a safe and </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">excellent flight. I then asked him for total guidance as </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">we embarked the plane and began to approach the </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">people of Hong Kong to get us to Hyatt Sha Tin, which </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">is where we will be staying. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The very first thing we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">witnessed when we began</span> to walk in the airport where </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lots of people wearing mask around their mouths </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">especially the women. Herb kept saying to me, “Maybe </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they know something we don’t”, hahaha. I kept thinking </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">just don’t drink the water and watch what we eat. As we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were walking towards immigration & customs, we then </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">saw a Chinese couple get really mad at one another and </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the lady threw her cell phone across the airport into a </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">million pieces. I was like “Well ok then, welcome to </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hong Kong", and the boyfriend/friend/or hubby yelling </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stuff at her in their language. A piece of her phone </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">landed in front of the man and instead of picking it up, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he kicked it another few yards in front of her… I was </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">like, "Oh man, someone is not happy". </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh well, we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">continued to walk towards immigration. The immigration </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">officials took our travel documents inspected them, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">stamped our passports and sent us on our way. We then </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">went to baggage claim, picked up our 4 pieces of </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">luggage (which I have to say – they were all within the </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">limit and we did not have to pay extra for any </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">overweight items, yayy us – not typical of the Bosch </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Family, I always have a tendency of over packing). So, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we then approached the foreign exchange counter and </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we spoke to this nice lady and told her where we were </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">going and we needed to take a taxi to the hotel, she told </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">us more or less what taxi we should take (because they </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are color coded for different areas and different pricing) </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and how to get to them, and the best thing, she SPOKE </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ENGLISH!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then exchanged $100.00 American dollars </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">into Hong Kong money, the exchange rate is 9.1 to </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$1.00. Not bad! So, I then took out the address of our </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hotel in Chinese language that our agency provided for </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">us and worked our way outside to get our cab. </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Approached the green cabs, handed them the address, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the cab driver grabbed our luggage put them in the car </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and we were off. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It puts you in a very vulnerable </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">position when you are totally relying on some stranger </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who does not speak your language and you show him an </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">address that you have no idea what it says to take you </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to some place.. Herb said “If this man knew that we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">were loaded with all this cash, he would kidnap us and </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">take us to his cousin’s house and nobody would ever </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">see us again”. I said, “Really, Herb”? That makes me feel </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so comfortable, BUT He better not because we have our </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">daughter to pick up in just a few days”, lol. At any rate, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we asked the driver “if he spoke English and he said, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“No”. So we just sat quietly in his back seat and </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">enjoyed the ride for about 30 minutes to the hotel. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">notice though that his cell phone was on a little stand on </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the dashboard and he was texting and driving (NOT </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SAFE) but all in all we got to the hotel safe and sound. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"></span></span><br /></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The total cost for the cab was $216.00 Hong Kong </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">money (which was about less than 30.00 U.S.) he did </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">charge us an extra $10.00, we asked the luggage carrier </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">at the hotel why he charged us more than what the </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">meter read and he said “It was for the tunnel fee, the </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">luggage carrying at some other stuff” (I think he was </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">basically just adding his tip, it was all good though – still </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cheaper than what the lady at the airport said). </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we check in to the hotel “Hyatt Shatin”, what a beautiful </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hotel! We were welcomed by this nice young man who </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">takes our luggage and escorts us to the check-in desk, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the people behind the desk spoke English, so far we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have not had any problems with the language here in </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HK, we got checked in and the man behind the desk </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">escorted us to the elevator, pressed the 11th floor and said, "Enjoy your stay!"</span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we got to our room, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they gave us the room key and it’s not like the hotel </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">room in the U.S. that you insert your key in this hole </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and it digitally opens it for you. This key is like a </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">censor and you place it under this light, the door opens </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and then in order to turn on the lights in your room, you </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have to put the master key in this little box looking </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thing and it powers your entire room, very cool. Our </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">view in our room is of the bay and behind it our all high</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rise buildings, in the evening you see the moon shining </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on the bay and the lights lighting up their city, it truly is </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">beautiful from what we could see at night. The room is </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">very modern, the bathroom is HUGE. In one bathroom </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you have marble walls that divided the toilet, the </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">shower and the bathtub with very heavy matching </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">doors. Now what I liked is where the king size bed is, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you have the room with a desk (like a typical hotel </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">room), but it has a clear window so if you’re taking a </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bath, you can see the people in the bedroom. (I know </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that sounds weird but if you’re by yourself or with your </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">spouse only, it looks really nice). I will take a picture of </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our room so you can see tomorrow. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finally got to </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bed around 11:30ish and then all of a sudden our room </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">phone rings and it was our tour guide Matthew. He </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">welcomed us and we went over the plans for the next </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">couple of days. He said since we arrived a day earlier, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the rest of the group will get here tomorrow which is </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday 11/30/12 , this will be a free day, so we can do </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whatever we want. We will probably sleep in and then </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">go out and explore what we can without getting into any </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trouble we hope. We are having a sight-seeing tour with </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our group from CCAI on Saturday and we are to meet </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">down in the lobby at 10:00am, we will be gone all day </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and return back to the hotel by 4:00pm. In our group </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">there are a total of 10 ppl. Not sure if it’s 10 couples or </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10 individuals. The sight-seeing tour consist of visiting </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay, Aberdeen Fisherman’s V</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">illage and then we will have lunch with our group from </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CCAI. I am looking forward to this tour because at this </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">time we will be able to meet up with other people who </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are also adopting. <br /><br />Matthew also informed us that we will </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then be departing Hong Kong with another couple to </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Nanning”, the capital of Guanxji (where Isabella is) on </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday afternoon. Our flight takes off at 4:00pm and we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">are to meet downstairs with bags packed by 2:00pm. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is getting closer and closer until we meet our girl. Such </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">an exciting time. Well, that pretty much sums up things </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for today. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will post again tomorrow night with what we </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ended up doing on our own on Friday 11/30/12. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">thank you for all the prayers and support. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-39473906174108470612012-11-29T05:27:00.001-08:002012-11-29T06:28:22.905-08:00Arriving in Hong Kong - Day 1<span style="color: red;">
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nov. 28, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Today started off
really early. We didn’t get to bed until 1:00am and we were up by 4:00am doing
last minute packing and getting ready to head out to Ft. Myers airport (RSW).
We got to the airport around 5:30ish. Checked in our bags, got our boarding
passes and headed towards our gate. Our big boy drove us to the airport. We
hugged and said our goodbyes and this mama was so sad... Gosh, I HATE leaving
our boys behind. I almost started to cry. This is the first time in Seth’s
entire life that we have been apart, my mom told me that when he woke up this
morning, he asked for me and mom told him that we went to China to pick up
Isabella. He didn’t believe her. He walked to the other room calling my name,</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> after a few minutes though,
she said he was ok. <br /><br />Our flight to Chicago took about 3 hours. It was a pretty
fair flight, a little bit of turbulence but not bad. I slept almost the whole
flight. When we got to O’Hare (Chicago) airport, Herb and I went to have
breakfast and then we got on the tram to head to our terminal. Thank GOD we had
a 4 hr. layover because we spent about 1.5hr at the security checkout. Everything
so far is going well. We are now sitting at our gate getting ready to board
“Hong Kong” bound at 2:00pm. We should be arriving in Hong Kong tomorrow night
7:55pm (China Time) 9:00am (USA Time). Until then, keep us in your prayers for
safe travels!</span><span style="background: black; border: 1pt black; color: black; layout-grid-mode: line; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: X-NONE; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: X-NONE; mso-font-width: 0%; padding: 0in;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="color: red;">
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><span style="color: red;"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></span></v:shapetype></span><span style="font-family: "Batang","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still Nov. 28, 2012 (It is now 6:03pm – USA Time) we are on
Cathay Pacific Airlines, still on our way to Hong Kong. I have to say that this
airline is AMAZING! OMG’osh! We are in the economy section of the plane
and the seats are like recliners, and every
seat has a personal TV in front of them. You can track the trip to Hong Kong
and it tells you how much longer you have, how far is the distance (which is
right now 6,344 miles away), what is the current time and temperature and the
current time from the original place you departed from. Attached to the TV is a
cellular phone with a keypad on the opposite side where you can scroll through
the TV like a remote. You have many things you can choose from like movies (new
releases) comedy, drama, family films and even kids’ activities.. You can
choose to watch TV programs and even listen to music, it’s totally awesome. I
am grateful because at least I know that I can keep Isabella busy with some
kid’s films like Finding Nemo or such others. I can even choose the language,
so maybe I can even put in Chinese and she will understand it, this is so so
cool! <br /><br />As soon as we took off they gave us a choice of a drink and some peanuts
and then shortly after they served us dinner. It was yummy. You had a choice of
Salmon, Pasta or Chicken. Herb & I choose the chicken dinner; it came with
white rice, a dinner roll, fruit and vanilla ice-cream for dessert. Now our
tummies are full and they have dimmed the lights. <br /><br />The current time right now
in China is 7:15am. Isabella should be waking up soon to have her normal day. Little does she know that in just 4 more days, her life is going to change
forever, and so is ours. <br /><br />The majority of the people on board are Asian and its
starting to really sink in that we are closer and closer to our sweet baby
girl. Herb & I kept seeing little baby girls and we couldn’t help but
think of Isabella. All the unknown questions that we have about her young life,
what her personality is like? Her likes and dislikes? How things are going to
go on Gotcha Day? <br /><br />OMG’osh, we can’t wait! <br /><br />Well, that’s it for now. We expect to
be arriving in Hong Kong at 7:55pm or sooner (Thursday night). As soon as we
get into the hotel and settled, I will work on the computer system to get
everything up and ready for blogging. Until then, I will leave you with some
pictures that I took on the airplane.. </span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_12" o:spid="_x0000_i1032" style="height: 153.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 115.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-57512830990355814152012-11-19T21:07:00.003-08:002012-11-19T21:07:49.348-08:00U.S. CONSULATE <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kNoKqPtZSnV87eYrmzlmPHs1ogwJ9aXyyr5muB-jgjBLUaf_Gz0FLqRXh-xukp6QwekUePPbT-1QNmelz2Sdh2AdpZqTTbK4XI-wYU5X1iD_kVjqkDUgvGz0IVAIaOBI4dDnGNQzYy4t/s1600/us-consulate%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kNoKqPtZSnV87eYrmzlmPHs1ogwJ9aXyyr5muB-jgjBLUaf_Gz0FLqRXh-xukp6QwekUePPbT-1QNmelz2Sdh2AdpZqTTbK4XI-wYU5X1iD_kVjqkDUgvGz0IVAIaOBI4dDnGNQzYy4t/s320/us-consulate%5B1%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Today we received confirmation of our U.S. Consulate appointment in China to complete our international adoption. Our US consulate appointment is scheduled for Dec 10th, 2012. So what does this all mean? It means that we are leaving to China on Nov, 28, 2012. Again, are family is so excited. Everyone is feeling different emotions but nonetheless, we are thrilled to be adding a precious china doll to be part of our family and life. </span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-47247822368269802762012-11-16T21:24:00.002-08:002012-11-17T03:46:15.956-08:00Travel Approval<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><img height="253" id="il_fi" src="http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/15016846/2/stock-photo-15016846-travel-approval-form.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="380" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"> We finally got the call today informing us that our Notice of Travel document, also known as our Travel
Approval or TA was issued. It took18 days to get after our Article 5 was picked up
on October 30. So basically all we are waiting for right now is confirmation of our Consulate appointment in
Guangzhou, which we should have within 1-3 days. This will then allow us to have definite
travel dates, FINALLY, after 6 six years of waiting for our baby girl, it's finally happening. It all still seems like a dream. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: red;">Next post will be about out CA (Consulate appointment) and then our detailed itinerary to </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: red;">China. OMG'osh I can't wait. I am over the moon happy. </span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-77635187955623620992012-10-30T15:22:00.001-07:002012-10-30T15:22:25.792-07:00ARTICLE 5 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">We also just
received great news Today!</span></div>
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="color: red;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">The US Embassy
issued our Article 5, the last document we were waiting for & it is now in
the hands of the CCAA ( Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs ) who will issue us
our TA ( Travel Approval)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKoq51Z_DEJq0qbn0YOEkV0eqtBIIw17yofo33-5dIbHj_7RFcsU2P4P54lLWBEjuHEA9ebQGqGFy8_X4RFm9WT2tongXv2h4uQLWaUJYkIruANZD0GbT5OFghCwp-dwhyphenhyphenspVskBqedJ9/s1600/TLuA5%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKoq51Z_DEJq0qbn0YOEkV0eqtBIIw17yofo33-5dIbHj_7RFcsU2P4P54lLWBEjuHEA9ebQGqGFy8_X4RFm9WT2tongXv2h4uQLWaUJYkIruANZD0GbT5OFghCwp-dwhyphenhyphenspVskBqedJ9/s320/TLuA5%5B1%5D.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">This can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks, one step closer to our sweet baby girl. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-83958615356907272292012-10-20T19:56:00.005-07:002012-10-20T19:57:21.999-07:00Spiritual warfare & the Adoption Journey <h1>
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Spiritual Warfare & the Adoption Journey</span></h1>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">I am writing this in the hope of encouraging someone who is going through the fire as they journey to bring their beloved child home…</span></div>
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> When you say yes, to growing your family through the miracle and gift of adoption, you instantly become a thorn in the enemy’s side. satan hates you, he hates the over 147 million orphaned children in the world, and he hates God. The last thing the defeated one wants is a precious, little child coming home to the family the Lord has chosen for them. The devil does not want an orphaned child to be loved, and nurtured. he does NOT want a child to learn about Jesus! To know that God loves them, has a plan for them, that He died for them! </span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> Once you say yes, and the fiery darts start flying… don’t feel alone. That too is a lie from the enemy. Just ask any of your Christian friends who have adopted and most will tell you that they too experienced intense spiritual warfare… from broken major appliances, blown car engines, lost paperwork, incorrect paperwork, loss of jobs, verbal attacks from extended family and friends, your children that are already home come under fire, the list goes on and on… You are not alone. You are in good company with other soldiers in the Lord’s army. Share with other families, get to know fellow Believers in the adoption community, we are all in this together and they will be able to encourage and support you with their tales of battle and victory.</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"> When we begin our adoption journey… we declare WAR! The good news is that the battle belongs to the Lord! He is victorious and HE will get your family and your child through what ever trials, difficulties, attacks that come. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"> Stay the coarse brothers and sisters… Your child is waiting… God is faithful… To God be the glory !</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-66375894349364685492012-10-10T09:05:00.003-07:002012-10-10T13:31:30.214-07:00A Post From My Heart<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh Dear Jesus, <br /><br />As I type this post today and speak humbly from my heart, I pray that every eye that sees this post, sees NOTHING but love and goodness. May your heart be reflected and may this writing be an encouragement to all who read it. <br /><br />Today, my heart is being awakened to the LOVE that I have for orphans. As I stop and ponder what this means, <em>the love that I have for orphans</em>, I can't stop the tears that flow down my face as I think about what that means to you. If I love the orphans of the world, its only because you have loved me first as your orphan. <br /><br />Father GOD, In <strong>James 1:27</strong> your word states this -"</span><span class="text Jas-1-27" id="en-NLT-30254"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you". I know with every fiber of my being that your purpose for creating me in this world was to love and care for your orphans. You've given me not one, not two, BUT three orphans to raise, to love and to most of all show them what it is to know YOU as LORD and SAVIOR of their life. <br /><br />Many years ago when I first learned that I could not have children, in desperation I begged, pleaded and got on my knees many days and nights asking YOU for the blessing of a child.<br /><br />Shortly after I married the love of my life, you blessed us with our big boy. In raising this young boy who has grown up to be an amazing GOD fearing young man, I have learned to be a much better mama than I could have ever imagined. I have been tested and stretched in more ways than I ever thought possible. Yet, with your amazing mercy and grace, I could not have asked for a better son. <br /><br />In 2003, after much prayer, You allowed me to feel what is was like to have "LIFE" in my belly, not just for a minute, a day or even a month, but you allowed me to feel this life inside of me for 7 1/2 months!<br /><br />Just when I thought I couldn't be any more blessed, YOU HEARD MY CRY & YOU ANSWERED. I soaked up every minute of the life that I was feeling inside my womb, and then that moment came, where I no longer felt "LIFE" inside me anymore. I knew it and I held onto your words of hope as they're said in <strong>John 3:16</strong> "</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life". <br /><br />I chose to believe that even if the worst thing that could happen was that our baby boy was no longer living in my womb, I knew that HE was and continues to live in the arms of the One who created and breathed life into him, in the first place. And so the story continues. <br /><br />Yes, our precious angel that the LORD used to allow me to feel life in my belly was taken back up to Heaven on August 5. 2003. Meanwhile, the Creator and Master of my life continues to draw the picture of LIFE in my story. <br /><br />After losing our sweet baby Emmanuel, I walked the desert for 15 months. I grew spiritually like I had never grown before. I saw things in my heart that one cannot see with human eyes, yet through all the pain, suffering, and grieving that I had to do, my LORD and SAVIOR was walking with me every step of the way. HE never let go of my hand - <strong>Isaiah 43:5</strong> </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from
east and west". <br /><br />Boy, did he have a plan for me! This leads me to - <strong>Jeremiah 29:11 </strong>"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." <br /><br />Four years and a day later, on August 6, 2007, again I could say, "YOU LORD, HEARD MY CRY AND YOU ANSWERED". I was blessed again with a precious newborn baby boy, Seth James. Seth did not grow in my tummy, but he surely grew in my heart. He was an answer to my prayers. <br /><br />One year before Seth was born in 2006, after our precious nephew Kai came home from China, the LORD began to convict our hearts to adopt a baby girl from China. After much prayer and discernment, we began our paperwork and were logged in with China on September 12, 2006. Many of you already know how long this process has taken and for many years we did not know or hear anything regarding our adoption process until just recently. As I have posted on a previous post, we finally received our referral for our sweet Isabella on June 22, 2012. It was almost a wait time of 6 long years. <br /><br />Obviously within that six year time frame, lots of things had changed in our life. Not only were we blessed with another child, but the economy hit us hard. Our finances were not the same as they were back in 2006. There has been much pressure to basically even survive. However, GOD has remained the center of our lives and he has provided for our needs. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After receiving Isabella's referral, I began feeling immense pressure and stress, to the point that I had to go see a cardiologist to make sure there were no heart issues going on within. Praise the LORD, my tests have all come back normal. It hasn't been just financial pressure, but also the change of bringing yet another orphan into our life. It is flabbergasting. Not because it's another child, it's also the journey, the wait, the paperwork, the finances, the fundraisers, etc. It's a spiritual journey in which you have to put your heart out on a limb and trust that your Father in Heaven has everything taken care of. It's a TRUST that we as believers are called to act upon. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the past few days, my heart was being convicted of a sin. Which sin? The SIN of pride. Here are some of God's words that He has laid on my heart. <br /><br /><strong>Proverbs 21:24</strong> "</span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The proud and haughty man--Scoffer is his name--deals and acts with overbearing
pride". <br /><br /><strong>Proverbs 21:4</strong> "Haughtiness of eyes and a proud heart, even the tillage of the
wicked or the lamp [of joy] to them [whatever it may be], are sin [in the eyes
of God]. <br /><br /><strong>1 Peter 5:6</strong> "Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own
estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you". <br /><br /><strong>Habakkuk 2:4</strong> "Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him,
but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by
his faith and in his faithfulness. AND THIS ONE MY FRIENDS IS THE VERY REASON FOR THIS VERY POST - <br /><br /><strong>Isaiah 66:2</strong> "<span style="color: red;">For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into
being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look
and have regard: <strong><em><u>he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who
trembles at My word and reveres My commands. </u></em></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27"><span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><strong><em><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></u></em></strong></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="text Jas-1-27">In my alone time with God, the Lord revealed to me that I had a heart to love and to help many, but yet my heart was full of the sin of pride. <br /><br />With a humble, crying heart, I pray the prayer of David in Psalm 51 - <span style="color: red;"><em>"Have Mercy on me, O God. Because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. W</em></span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>ash me clean from my
guilt. Purify me from my sin.
For I recognize my
rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
Against you, and you
alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a
sinner yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
But you desire honesty
from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
Purify me from my
sins, and I
will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my
joy again;
you have broken me, now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at
my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean
heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me
from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the
joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
Then I will teach
your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
Forgive me for
shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
Unseal my lips, O
Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
You do not desire a
sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
<strong><u>The sacrifice you
desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God."</u></strong></em></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why do I say my heart was full of pride? Well, because I was too proud to ask for financial help to bring home our sweet Isabella home. <br /><br />I humbling myself before you all and am now laying everything down on the table. I am making my blog public and shouting to the world in a desperate plea, that we are in need of financial assistance to complete this adoption. <br /><br />Here are the numbers we are looking at: <br /><br />The last bit of cost that is needed to complete our adoption process is approximately $14,500.00. Since our family did not think we were adopting again, we presently have $4,000.00 put away. We are short $10,500.00 as it stands this very moment. The following is the breakdown:</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Visa to enter china: $140.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">US Domestic & International airfare: $1200-$1800 per person plus $200.00 for return lap ticket for child under 2. </span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In China Travel & Accommodations: Approximately $3000.00 for two adults. </span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Adoption Registration: $400.00-$800.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Child's passport: $100.00-$150.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Orphanage fee: Approximately $5500.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Food per couple: $600.00-$800.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Child medical & photo: $80.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Child's U.S. Entry Visa: $230.00</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a grand total of $14,500.00. <br /><br />As I mentioned earlier, we are now short $10,500.00. We have applied for several grants, but as of yet, have not heard back from any, except one that will issue funds December 14, which would be too late for us.<br /><br />Herb is working extra long hours to bring home whatever he can, but even with this, it will be impossible for us to bring in this kind of money in the short time period we have left before receiving Travel Approval.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have opened my heart and allowed for God's spirit to break the sin of pride that was dwelling within me. <br /><br />This is honestly where we are in our adoption journey. I have been blessed tremendously by having the courage to allow the spirit of God to break me this morning. Not only so that I can grow more spiritually and have the sweet fragrance of Jesus beside me, but also so that our Lord and Savior could be glorified in this journey. As HIS orphan, I am blessed and honored that He has chosen us to raise, love and teach these precious children of His what it is like to trust whole heartily in the Creator of this universe. <br /><br />I pray that everyone who reads this post receives some sort of encouragement as we walk out this journey called "<em>Life"</em>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh sweet JESUS, <br /><br />This morning YOU have broken my spirit to pieces. However, I rejoice now with you, LORD, for cleansing my heart and making me pure again in your eyes. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dear friends, <br /><br />I know times are tough for everyone, but I humbly come before you asking that you please prayerfully consider chipping by using our DONATION button at the top right side of our home page. Even the smallest amount will help, since we are putting away every cent we receive to bring our little one home.<br /><br />You can also participate in our fundraisers, <a href="http://jubileesjewels.com/when-love-takes-you-in-necklace" target="_blank"><strong>WHEN LOVE TAKES YOU IN</strong></a> for a beautiful piece of custom designed jewelry, or order some great things from <strong><a href="https://www.mythirtyone.com/shop/eventhome.aspx?eventId=E2281423&from=MYEVENTS" target="_blank">THIRTY-ONE FOR ISABELLA</a></strong> to help us bring our baby girl home.<br /><br />May God's peace and blessings be upon you and your family. Thank you doesn't even begin to express our gratitude. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">(And yes, feel free to share this post either through word of mouth, your blogs, or FB. ;)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MAY YOU, JESUS, BE GLORIFIED & HONORED IN THIS POST. </span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"> </span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-55605721687523176782012-09-26T13:54:00.003-07:002012-09-26T13:54:23.920-07:00Updated Info on our Sweet Isabella Yong Mei<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Today we received updated information on our sweet Isabella Yong Mei. Our baby girl is growing and she looks healthy and happy. The representative in China said that at the time the photos were taken she had a rash but since then it has cleared up. These are currently her measurements. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Chest: 18 1/2"</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Height: 31" </span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Feet size: 5</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Weight: 20 1/2 lbs. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">She is currently 17 months old. Enjoy these new updated pictures of our sweet baby girl. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-18836990143517896862012-09-24T13:55:00.003-07:002012-10-10T12:14:55.551-07:00Travel Cost to China <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">So we just got off the phone with the <strong><em>Travel Department</em></strong> from CCAI to get a cost more or less of our travel cost, orphanages donations and miscellaneous expenses. This is what were looking at more or less to pick up our baby girl. Our flight to China runs anywhere between $1400.00-$1800.00 per person and then the In China flights runs anywhere from $2800.00-$3200.00 and this cost is for 2 adults and 1 child under the age of 2, this cost also covers the hotel stay and the breakfast for us at all the hotels. We also found out that the Orphanage donation runs anywhere from $5300-$5500.00 (Isabella's province does not allow any money to be wired to them, which means we have to take this cash to them). So a safe number to cover orphanage fee, visa's, medicals, and miscellaneous expenses would be about $8000.00. So, we really need for our fundraisers to really move to help bring home our baby girl. I know that GOD will provide for us, He always does. But I admit, I am a bit anxious.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-84509135193527788242012-09-14T19:47:00.002-07:002012-10-10T13:49:40.487-07:00"Chip-In" Button <span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;">I have added a "Chip-In" button on the top right side of Isabella's blog, if you feel led to help. Please know that these monies are strictly being used for the sole purpose of bringing Isabella home. <br /><br />May God Bless you tenfold for the blessing that you are to us.</span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3441670302736448717.post-87124561040426918952012-09-13T12:29:00.002-07:002012-09-13T12:33:36.599-07:00September 12, 2006<span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">Wow, well yesterday 9/12/12 came and went and I forgot to post that yesterday made exactly 6yrs that we logged in our paperwork for our precious Isabella. Yup, we have been waiting for six years and we still have 2-3 months left before we can hold our baby girl in our arms. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff0000;">It has most defintely been a long journey but we are almost at the end of one part of that journey. I know that once we get Isabella in our arms, I will say "It was worth the wait", I just know it.</span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0