I am going to add photos of our trip to my Live web site.
Use the link below to get to the public photo albums:
http://cid-b29f08cb1c317288.skydrive.live.com/albums.aspx
We will try to update both the blog and the photo gallery as often as we can.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday in Guangzhou
Today was a very tough day for us all. We had to take Annabelle to the medical clinic. The exams were very basic but she had to have 5 shots!! Ouch!! She had one shot in each arm and each leg. Then another TB shot in her forearm. She was pretty tough actually. She did not cry until they gave her the fourth shot. At that point, I guess she had enough. Very rough on Daddy too, he had to hold her. Mom had to leave the room. Daniel just played his Nintendo DS game. she is 24.5 pounds.
Our room here is very nice. It is very roomy. The room we had in Nanchange was pretty small. Even worse when you add a full size crib. This room in Guangzhou has two areas and a large bathroom with a bath an a shower. Three beds and small crib fit just fine. Great view as well, we are on the 32nd floor. Yikes! The breakfast buffet is on the 45th floor and it rotates. Very cool! It takes some time to get used to the movement.
We had some lightning storms yesterday too. It struck the mountains quite a bit. We saw a small fire start after the lightning strikes. It did not get too big, they put it out very quickly.
Annabelle seems to be having a great time. She just loves her stroller. To push and to be pushed. After all the shots yesterday she got a small fever. We gave her some children's Tylonol and she was better. She slept from 5 PM Saturday night to 5:30 AM Sunday morning. Whew!! all those shots and excitement did her in. Poor baby. She is still eating VERY well. Her skin looks better every day. Her hair is softer. Her cheeks are getter a little poofier, too. She is very happy with us. Apparently, she is an outside girl, we cannot wait to show her our house and animals! She will probably be in our back yard with Becka most of the time.
I will try to get some pictures posted soon. I may just put them on my Live website and put a link in this blog. I am guessing all of China is blocking blogger. I cannot log in from any hotel so far. Oh well.
More to come. . . . . . .
Our room here is very nice. It is very roomy. The room we had in Nanchange was pretty small. Even worse when you add a full size crib. This room in Guangzhou has two areas and a large bathroom with a bath an a shower. Three beds and small crib fit just fine. Great view as well, we are on the 32nd floor. Yikes! The breakfast buffet is on the 45th floor and it rotates. Very cool! It takes some time to get used to the movement.
We had some lightning storms yesterday too. It struck the mountains quite a bit. We saw a small fire start after the lightning strikes. It did not get too big, they put it out very quickly.
Annabelle seems to be having a great time. She just loves her stroller. To push and to be pushed. After all the shots yesterday she got a small fever. We gave her some children's Tylonol and she was better. She slept from 5 PM Saturday night to 5:30 AM Sunday morning. Whew!! all those shots and excitement did her in. Poor baby. She is still eating VERY well. Her skin looks better every day. Her hair is softer. Her cheeks are getter a little poofier, too. She is very happy with us. Apparently, she is an outside girl, we cannot wait to show her our house and animals! She will probably be in our back yard with Becka most of the time.
I will try to get some pictures posted soon. I may just put them on my Live website and put a link in this blog. I am guessing all of China is blocking blogger. I cannot log in from any hotel so far. Oh well.
More to come. . . . . . .
Monday, August 24, 2009
meeting Annabelle
Ni hao from China !! it is tuesday now and we've had a whirlwind monday to say the least. our plane landed in Nanchung (capitol of Jiangxi province) about 10:30 am on monday morning. we went straight to the hotel and had about 10 min to freshen up and went down to the hotel lobby and met our little girl. the orphange director and another gentleman were there. we had 5 min to look at her and they gave her to us and we headed up to the room with her and our guide (Coby), filled out some paper work (about 20 min) and then had time with her (about an hour). then it was off to do more paper work at the adoption center. there were 4 other couples there that were also adopting. one couple was from the UK and the others were from the US I think. that took about an hour and we received the finalized documents. then it was off to the notarty (short office appt. where i left behind my bag accidently) . major brain fart ! but i think we are intitled to some slack here :) no worries ,our guide went back by himself and picked it up for us. then it was off to the chinese super center (a store with 5-6 floors and they sell everything from fresh food to cosmetics and clothes) because we forgot to pack bottles (more brain farts :) ). we picked up some KFC chicken and french fries and came back to the hotel for the night. WOW what a day. so tired and emotional !!
For me (becka), i'll describe the day as an out of body experience mostly. i was there going through all the motions, but everything was going so fast, i didn't have time to process (and anyone who knows me, knows i need alot of time to process). Today(tuesday) is better, i'm catching up to the enormous change that just occured yesterday. I will say that Annabelle is a very easy child so far. As long as you are feeding her she is happy. she loves the little cars we brought for her. she also loves the toy keys we brought. Cars and keys, maybe she'll be a race car driver :) !! She slept through the night, but would yell out in her sleep about every 2 hours....... that was kinda freaky. so we didn't sleep too well. hopefully tonight will be better. she is a neat and orderly child too. if she has socks on, she likes to pull them up to her knees and her blanket has to be flat and smooth. she is an articulate little one also. she is good at stacking, rolling, and turning things. very inquisitive. she seems comfortable with us most of the time. when she woke up this morning, she saw us and smiled and laughed. :) she has a halirous smile because of her cleft lip.
Today (tuesday) was nice. we woke up early (because that is when Annabelle gets up). leisurely got dressed and went down stairs for a nice breakfast. Annabelle sat in her highchair and ate a ton of food. she loves watermelon and eggs. then we met our guide in the lobby and walked down the street to a monument place called Teng Wang Ge. the original building is about 13 thousand years old, but was rebuilt 29 times because of fires and wars. it was surrounded by beautiful gardens and ponds. and up at the top of it (6 floors) was a traditional chinese show with singing and dancing. very pretty. HOLY MOLY, the weather, it's like 90 degrees and totally humid. we were all dripping with sweat and we were only out for two hours or so.
Right now Danny and Annabelle are taking naps.....all tuckered out. I am very home sick already and can't wait to see all of you when we return. jennifer, give my doggies more huggs for me !! we will update you soon. we are scheduled to fly out to our next and last province friday.
love to you.
For me (becka), i'll describe the day as an out of body experience mostly. i was there going through all the motions, but everything was going so fast, i didn't have time to process (and anyone who knows me, knows i need alot of time to process). Today(tuesday) is better, i'm catching up to the enormous change that just occured yesterday. I will say that Annabelle is a very easy child so far. As long as you are feeding her she is happy. she loves the little cars we brought for her. she also loves the toy keys we brought. Cars and keys, maybe she'll be a race car driver :) !! She slept through the night, but would yell out in her sleep about every 2 hours....... that was kinda freaky. so we didn't sleep too well. hopefully tonight will be better. she is a neat and orderly child too. if she has socks on, she likes to pull them up to her knees and her blanket has to be flat and smooth. she is an articulate little one also. she is good at stacking, rolling, and turning things. very inquisitive. she seems comfortable with us most of the time. when she woke up this morning, she saw us and smiled and laughed. :) she has a halirous smile because of her cleft lip.
Today (tuesday) was nice. we woke up early (because that is when Annabelle gets up). leisurely got dressed and went down stairs for a nice breakfast. Annabelle sat in her highchair and ate a ton of food. she loves watermelon and eggs. then we met our guide in the lobby and walked down the street to a monument place called Teng Wang Ge. the original building is about 13 thousand years old, but was rebuilt 29 times because of fires and wars. it was surrounded by beautiful gardens and ponds. and up at the top of it (6 floors) was a traditional chinese show with singing and dancing. very pretty. HOLY MOLY, the weather, it's like 90 degrees and totally humid. we were all dripping with sweat and we were only out for two hours or so.
Right now Danny and Annabelle are taking naps.....all tuckered out. I am very home sick already and can't wait to see all of you when we return. jennifer, give my doggies more huggs for me !! we will update you soon. we are scheduled to fly out to our next and last province friday.
love to you.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Beijing on Saturday and Sunday - China time.
Hello everyone. We've had a couple of very busy days. We were so tired yesterday, we did not have time to blog. We got back from the days events, showered and went to sleep.
On Saturday our guide took us to Tienanmen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, a pearl factory and a great tea house called Dr. Tea. We also had two group meals along the way.
The square and Forbidden City were quite busy for us but apparently was normal for them. It was much, much bigger than we imagined. It got more and more beautiful the further in we went. The tea house was a very nice touch. The best tea you can imagine is there. Nothing in bags. Apparently, REAL tea does not come in little bags. Our guide, Rosa has been wonderful. She is very helpful and informative. We are learning so much about the city, China and the culture.
Sunday (today) we were taken to the Beijing International Christian Fellowship for a Sunday morning church service, a jade factory, a Cloisonne factory, THE GREAT WALL, and the site of the 2008 Olympics (water cube, birds nest etc.) and two group meals again.
Church was fantastic. We had a group of blind orphans come in and sing a French song. . .in French! Very sweet. The jade factory had the most jade I have ever seen. Very beautiful. The Cloisonne factory made these enamel coated copper items; bowls, vases, etc. Beautiful and extremely time consuming to make. The best part of the day was the Great Wall of China. We only visited a fraction of it, of course, it is something like 4000 miles long! Daniel and I climbed up a very steep set of stairs. Extremely exhausting.
We seem to be adjusting to China time pretty well.
Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for......we pick up Annabelle ! We are very exhausted and hope to be able to post some more pictures soon (kind of tricky as Blogger is blocked in China), so we will talk to all soon.
Much love to you all and God Bless :)
On Saturday our guide took us to Tienanmen Square, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, a pearl factory and a great tea house called Dr. Tea. We also had two group meals along the way.
The square and Forbidden City were quite busy for us but apparently was normal for them. It was much, much bigger than we imagined. It got more and more beautiful the further in we went. The tea house was a very nice touch. The best tea you can imagine is there. Nothing in bags. Apparently, REAL tea does not come in little bags. Our guide, Rosa has been wonderful. She is very helpful and informative. We are learning so much about the city, China and the culture.
Sunday (today) we were taken to the Beijing International Christian Fellowship for a Sunday morning church service, a jade factory, a Cloisonne factory, THE GREAT WALL, and the site of the 2008 Olympics (water cube, birds nest etc.) and two group meals again.
Church was fantastic. We had a group of blind orphans come in and sing a French song. . .in French! Very sweet. The jade factory had the most jade I have ever seen. Very beautiful. The Cloisonne factory made these enamel coated copper items; bowls, vases, etc. Beautiful and extremely time consuming to make. The best part of the day was the Great Wall of China. We only visited a fraction of it, of course, it is something like 4000 miles long! Daniel and I climbed up a very steep set of stairs. Extremely exhausting.
We seem to be adjusting to China time pretty well.
Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for......we pick up Annabelle ! We are very exhausted and hope to be able to post some more pictures soon (kind of tricky as Blogger is blocked in China), so we will talk to all soon.
Much love to you all and God Bless :)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
We Arrived!!
We arrived at the Beijing airport at 4:30 AM local time. The flight was only 11 hours 40 minutes not 12 hours 40 minutes. WOW , it was quit miserable. very tight seats, not very clean and I (Rebecca) got sick on the plan for the first half of the flight. We tried to sleep on the plan, not very successfully. So as you can imagine, we were so tired by the time we arrived. the weather is warm and humid. It was about 80 degrees at 4:30 am as we got off the plane. And cloudy today, but we are so glad to see the sun out. the whole time on the plan it was dark out, and the flight attendants kept turning out the lights on the plan. I guess they we trying to keep us on a schedule of some sort. :) The Beijing Capital Airport is huge and clean and beautiful and pretty empty while we were there.
After going through check points and turning in a little health declaration form (swine flu) and collected our luggage, Rosa from America World was waiting for us, walked us to a van right outside and drove us the our hotel (Best Western Premier Beijing). Very nice hotel, very clean. All the people here have been very kind so far. We came up to the room, ordered room service (the food on the plane was kinda funky) and took a nice long nap……feeling sooooo much better.
We plan to go walking around some today. We miss everyone (I totally miss my dogs, I didn’t say goodbye to them) :( Jennifer give them hugs for me, thanks. We are doing fine and will update you tomorrow. Love to you all.
This is us leaving our house at 8:30 PM Wednesday night, US time.
After going through check points and turning in a little health declaration form (swine flu) and collected our luggage, Rosa from America World was waiting for us, walked us to a van right outside and drove us the our hotel (Best Western Premier Beijing). Very nice hotel, very clean. All the people here have been very kind so far. We came up to the room, ordered room service (the food on the plane was kinda funky) and took a nice long nap……feeling sooooo much better.
We plan to go walking around some today. We miss everyone (I totally miss my dogs, I didn’t say goodbye to them) :( Jennifer give them hugs for me, thanks. We are doing fine and will update you tomorrow. Love to you all.
This is us leaving our house at 8:30 PM Wednesday night, US time.
This is the view of Beijing outside our hotel window.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Leaving a day early?
Well sort of.
We are leaving tonight. Our flight from LAX to Beijing leaves at 1:40 AM tomorrow morning. Since we are taking a shuttle which wants to plan enough time to go from Corona to LAX and we need to be at the airport well before the flight leaves. . . . we are being picked up by the shuttle at our house at 9:10 PM tonight!
When do we get some sleep? Good question! I think we may get some sleep when we come back home at night on Thursday September 3rd!!!
Love to all and thank you for your prayers and support!! Much more info to be posted in the coming days!
We are leaving tonight. Our flight from LAX to Beijing leaves at 1:40 AM tomorrow morning. Since we are taking a shuttle which wants to plan enough time to go from Corona to LAX and we need to be at the airport well before the flight leaves. . . . we are being picked up by the shuttle at our house at 9:10 PM tonight!
When do we get some sleep? Good question! I think we may get some sleep when we come back home at night on Thursday September 3rd!!!
Love to all and thank you for your prayers and support!! Much more info to be posted in the coming days!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
It's official!! We go to China on the 20th!
After nearly three years of waiting, we are finally going to China this month to pick up our daughter, Annabelle! We will leave Thursday August 20th and return on Thursday September 3rd.
We will not be reachable by cell phone. We will have a Skype phone with us to be able to make calls out from. We may also be available via Live Messenger. I will try to have my account logged in when we are at the hotels.
Check back often. We will try to update it as much as possible with pictures and maybe some video.
Please keep us in your prayers while we journey half way around the world. We are hoping Annabelle will be receptive to us and will fast become a part of our family. She has been in our hearts for so long now, we feel she is already with us.
Monday, August 3, 2009
America World received our TA from China today!!!
Our Travel Acceptance came in today!!! We will most likely be leaving for China on August 20th !!!!!
Woohoo!!!
We will know for sure in the next couple days but so far that is what America World is planning for the next group to leave.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Delay getting Annabelle
We were originally hoping to make the July group on the 30th but our adoption agency, America World, did not get our Travel Approval from China (CCNA). In fact, we are not sure if America World has received our TA yet at all.
The next group to go to China is tentatively scheduled for August 13th or the 20th.
Please keep us in your prayers. This is the most stressful time for us as we are so close, yet we do not know when we will go get our beautiful daughter.
Thank you.
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