Home...I like it...

It would seem that Isaiah is settling in well to his home...he feels free to eat well, smile a lot and spend time on musical pursuits...as all great artists do...

Re-entry...we've nearly ground our feet off...

When the plane comes down...it hits hard and bounces around a bit...

When you return from foreign travels after nearly 3 weeks...your dream is to "hit the ground running..." Once again...we have the sensation that we've nearly ground our feet off trying to get back into the rhythm.

These are the images of jet lag...when you come in the door to warm food, a full refrigerator stocked with love and welcome signs...you're so happy...but all you can do is crash onto anything that will hold your weight...shoes and all...

Isaiah is doing very well. We had our first public outing tonight, though we were exhausted...we forced ourselves to carry on and break the power of jet lag that is reigning over us!

A few more days and we should be nearly back to our old selves again...funny thing is...seems like he's always been with us...being spectators to another miracle...how blessed we are...

I'm going to try to continue to blog weekly, so keep checking on us...

And there is love...

As we leave China...this picture says it all...Busy Bee and the little boy we came all this way for...her brother...

Riding on the bus...easy together...in love...

................FAMILY.....................

Shopping...Sailing and wet pants...oh, my!

Pictures of the market where we've spent a couple of days shopping...you CANNOT imagine how much stuff is in this place...stall after stall for endless hallways...we could shop here for weeks!
Isaiah's dinner on the Pearl River Cruise...
This is our travel group! Wow...what an awesome group of people...and then our kids....ALL the kids on our tour group...split over the couples represented in the adult picture...

Sorry for the delay in posting...we've been in a whirlwind of activity finishing our visit here to China...we're sad to leave...yet thankful to come home!

We've spent most of our time shopping these past two days in Guangzhou...had a great time at the Haizhu Square Market...and yes...it's September, and I believe I have my Christmas shopping done!

We took the Pearl River Cruise last night...it was enjoyable...but there were lots of laughs when the word reached me on the top deck that Isaiah had wet his pants and that it had gone all over our Chinese Family friend who is traveling with us here...

I quickly came downstairs, somewhat puzzled, because Isaiah is for all intents and purposes...potty trained. He does wear a pull up usually until I can be clear on his language for "potty." But...the report was so strange...that he would have wet THROUGH his pull-ups?

Sure enough, our friend's pants were soaked...a significant puddle on the floor and Isaiah's pants were very wet in a spot. So, I quickly undid the snaps between his legs, lifted his pants up and away and I received my first reminder/lesson...."Boys are Different from Girls"...

I nearly fell over laughing as it was clear that whomever had last pulled up Isaiah's diaper had not gotten his equipment securely stowed. In fact, it was trapped, along the waist band, in a directly upward facing position...an unobstructed, perfect fountain...

Note to self...confirm that essential parts are well covered by diapers in the future.... :)

Recent Daddy Funny: We were on the elevator today with several Chinese...one man received a phone call and he answered it in the typical Chinese fashion "Wey?" (pronounced just like "way")...Then another "Wey?"...."Wey?"...."Wey?" (at this point it was clear that there was a problem with the connection)...frustrated he folds up his phone and grunts....Daddy...without missing a beat, looks at him and says..."No Wey?"....lots of laughter ensued...

We leave for home in 5 hours...so I need to try to get a little sleep...please pray for our safe and SANE travel...we came with 5 "binkys"...at this point...we can only find one and we have 2 binky dependent souls on the trip!

We'll be home Wednesday morning...can't wait to see all of you!

1 Bicycle wreck, 2 white tigers, 3 hours of meltdown...

Picture 1 - The Bug...with our guide Connie...she loves to hang with her wherever we go... it really helps that Connie remembered her from last year and always comments on how well behaved she is!

Picture 2: Is of Daddy, er, I mean...a Giant Panda chillin' for my camera


Picture 3: This little guy was just peeking out at me as I walked by...it's a Red Panda...cute!




Picture 4: Daddy, Magpie and Busy Bee

Picture 5: Is Daddy, er...no, just an effigy of him at the park today (this guy is a trash can)...many comments were made by our traveling party about him and of course his likeness to Daddy... :)




Picture 6: The little man, honkin' on a bean Popsicle...not a mung bean, for those of you who know of our appreciation for them...just a plain old...very YUMMY bean Popsicle (I've forgotten to tell you that at Mc Donalds instead of Cherry and Apple pies...they have "Green Pea" Pies...YUM!


Picture 7: Potato...and ice cream

Picture 8: Busy Bee...and ice cream (Daddy said they looked like the "Dutch Masters" today when he saw them at the park)






Picture 9: This guy just stared and stared at me...

Picture 10: We fed this dude by hand...the kids went wild!
Picture 11: Busy Bee on the train ride through the safari park

Picture 12: Magpie and Isaiah...he was squealing and talking very quickly in Chinese at every animal we saw!



Picture 13: These two rhinos were having a dispute...but they of course made us think about our own Rhino...back in "fish-ville"


Picture 14: Sadly, though we saw several White Tigers...not a single spotting of Seigfried and Roy :(

Picture 15: The man team...just hanging out on the bench...thinkin' man-type thoughts...













Today we hit the wall...really. It's been a fantastic trip...but we just had a meltdown today. This morning we woke up and everyone was off..grumpy...easily disturbed...


We spilled orange juice all over the bed...we lost and subsequently found my purse...we wept at the breakfast table (others among us gnashed their teeth)...and while walking home from our meal...The Bug fell off a planter she was walking along and was run over by a bike in front of a crowd of 45 or so gasping, horrified, Spanish tourists!

Needless to say...it was a day that needed prayer...(The Bug by the way, sustained no lasting injury...only her pride remains bruised)...so we stopped and prayed as a family asking God to help us and redeem the day...and immediately, things began to improve!


At one pm we left for the Chime-Long Safari Park...THIS was a tour event WELL WORTH it...by far the coolest open zoo I've ever been to...excellent! The pictures well tell the story of the day so I'm going to devote most of the space to them...


On the way home in the bus, we nearly laughed ourselves silly as the children (keep in mind that there are 13 of them in our local group of 4 families)....got a hold of the microphone that our guide Connie uses on the bus and it was Karaoke time! Each of the kids sang a few tunes...it was a great day...

The weather is absolutely sauna-like! We were wringing wet most of the day but the outing to the safari park was well worth it. Our guide explained that the park is owned by one VERY wealthy man who is in his 50's...he was first a butcher, then owned a small restaurant, then a big restaurant, then a 4 star hotel...making more and more money...then he opened the safari park, a circus, water park and an amusement park...but the only part of this guys story that everyone talked about all day was that this guy has 8 wives! More specifically, 1 wife and 7 concubines! Even the kids were trying to figure out how that worked! Lots of jokes were made between our traveling companions about such a lifestyle...but Connie, our guide said that this was why she makes certain that her husband does not get too wealthy...with money comes concubines! IN THE YEAR 2007!


Tonight we had a pizza picnic in the hallway of our hotel...then a swim before bed...everyone ended the day on a very "up" note.


Tomorrow we hope to have our Visa approval in place for Isaiah to come home, then a huge shopping afternoon at a major street market that we've heard rumor of...we plan to take it by storm!

More from Guangzhou tomorrow....we'll be home soon now!

Pictures from our Day in Guangzhou

The first pictures says it all...it's our mantra...."Keep quiet"...but as you can see, Isaiah, at his medical exam today was anything but agreeable to the policy posted on the wall. It's kind of a funny sign because this room is the holding cell for dozens of adoptive families with their children who often are not so fond of medical exams...I imagine that the only time it is quiet in there is when no one is around to read the sign..."if a tree falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it...does it really make a sound?"


Picture number three is of a back massage line up at our dinner party tonight at the popular "Lucy's" restaurant...where you can always get really good American food. These kids are CRAZY excited about being together in China...we're having a great time!

The fourth and fifth pictures are are a bit of a "story" of adoption for me...

Isaiah...still so tentative with his Daddy...unsure of these aliens who feed him, treat him well...but are so strange...

Then a picture of family...two sisters, biologically born of different mothers...half a world apart...once so unsure of each other....fearful and cautious, just like Isaiah is sometimes now...but look at them now...asleep together, having traveled many miles together...fully in love with each other and sisters in every sense of the word...the miracle of adoption...

Adoption is born of tragedy...a child loses his/her family...but when full grown, it becomes a hearty, magnificent hybrid plant...family...completely...

Thank you Lord!

It's hot people...and we're kinda wimpy...

We've had quite an adjustment to the climate here in Guangzhou...think sauna...with lots and lots of MOIST heat...really hot, steamy heat...and yes...the hair does so well in this climate!

Today we had Isaiah's medical exam done for the US government...those of you waiting at home to welcome him will be glad to know that he is free of all communicable diseases and he is big...just like I told you...although, he was not a real fan of the exam in general...

Then, we had our photos taken for the US visa...he looked so cute in his little Polo shirt, birkenstocks and plaid shorts...all of the families were commenting on how handsome he is...how true that is!

The afternoon was full of our final paperwork for this adoption so that Isaiah will become a full American citizen when he clears immigration at our port of entry in the US! I'll be so pleased when this part of the process is finalized..we like to have our children all carrying a US passport...citizenship is so precious.

This evening we went shopping...closed up the shops...I really like to bargain for my purchases..I've had many shop owners say that I am a tough bargainer (I'm sure they say this to all their clientele)...but tonight...it was so funny, because one of the shops I went in...the owner said...I KNOW YOU...You were here last year?....You are good bargainer! (Yes I did buy a few things from her store... :)

We also went swimming on the rooftop pool here at our hotel. Lots of kids and families (that being us, the Z family and W family)....we make up 19 in our group...when we arrived at the pool for our party...strangely...some others left?!

Isaiah was slow to warm up about his first swim...but as long as he was with me...he was okay...I think he'll be a little fish in no time at all.

In general, Isaiah is doing very well. He likes to laugh and play imitation games...and now he's taken to hollering at his sisters when they do something he knows is wrong..he yells "Jie Jie" (big sister in Chinese) then a string of Chinese words to them...he's got another thing coming if he thinks these big sisters are going to take any guff from him once they know what he's saying to them...

But they're devoted to him! Tonight, he got into some apple juice and it spilled on the carpet. Daddy was none too happy and when he took the apple juice away...the waterworks began...the reason this is a newsworthy report is that each of the sisters was SOOOOOO upset that their little brother was crying. Their reactions:

1) Magpie got teary and went to her bed...she said "he's just little Momma...he doesn't know any better"

2) The Bug decided to comfort him....she swooped down and tried to lift him into her arms...using her best Chinese and saying "Bu coo...Bu coo" (Don't cry, Don't cry)

3) Potato stormed in and said "Daddy...you making him cry...give him that juice Daddy!"

4) Busy Bee put her hands on her hips...and with her most scolding look said "Daddy...don't make him cry...he's a baby!"

All this drama...for Daddy simply taking the juice that Isaiah was squeezing through the straw gleefully onto the carpet and saying to him, "Bu Bu" (No No.)

Wow...what little Mommas...no kid better ever think he can mess with this little brother...he's "girl pack" protected!

Tomorrow we're going to a safari park to see lots of wild animals...we're hoping that it is a great tour...

We leave China in only 4 days...cannot believe how fast it has gone!

Please pray for opportunities to speak more in depth with our dear friend while we're here...only a few more days...

Thanks for all your continued prayers...we feel so loved and blessed.

Our God is so big...so powerful and yet wants us to experience him in such a personal way each day...being in China always makes me think of his expanse and his care for each of us...Praise His holy name!