Two China Dolls and a Prince!

This blog chronicles the story of 2 of our adoptions, both older children when they came home. It begins in 2008 and will continue in the hopes we can be of encouragement and information to anyone thinking of older child adoption.



Saturday, February 28, 2009

A Day in Nanning........

We had such a wonderful day today! We got up leisurely, meaning we stayed in bed until about 7! Jr took Jazmin down to eat breakfast while Dad and I slept in. We went back to the People's Park and today, Saturday, there were all these cool stalls with food, trinkets, games, basically a whole carnival complete with amusement park! We never saw any of this the last time we were there; it was lots of fun!
Then we called our guide and went to see Qing Xiu Mountain and the Buddhist Temple. The Buddhist Temple was very beautiful and Jazmin wanted to know who Buddha was so we talked about how some people believe in Jesus Christ and lots of Chinese people believe in Buddha.
Jazmin has acclimated great, though is still tired out by 8pm. But she's up for anything and enjoyed our day thoroughly. We took our guide and driver out to a nice restaurant and Dad had fun trying out the local beer. He's having a great time and is glad he decided to come.
Now, one point I need to make: at 9pm Jr and I went to have a Chinese massage. I recommend this only if you enjoy GREAT PAIN!!!!!!!!! I am still so sore today no one can touch my skin. The little Asian women who did mine must have gotten a kick out of beating the crap out of the chubby American woman!
Now it's off to bed and to prepare for tomorrow, Gotcha!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Posting from Nanning, China!

Hi, once again! We made it to Guangzhou late Thursday evening and talk about wiped out! Our last flight was 4 hours of which Jaz slept the whole thing. I kept trying to wake her up so she'd sleep that night, to no avail. She went to sleep great, but was up at 3:30 raring to go. I tried to keep her quiet and she was really great about not making any noise. We got up at 6 for breakfast and scooted off to Nanning.
What memories when we landed! Nanning is where we got Jazmin, and the ride to the hotel was fascinating as always. We pulled up to the hotel and I saw Jazmin again as a sweet,scared 17 month old; now she is an energetic 5 year old coming back to see her country. The whole way to the hotel last night she kept saying "My China!". Today, she is just soaking it all in. She's finally getting a little more comfortable with all the people staring at her and us and trying to talk Chinese to her. She's saying "ni hao" and "zaijin" to everyone instead of being shy.
The "baby" restaurant is still there, right next to the Majestic hotel we're in; we ate lunch for 77 yuan or $11.50 US dollars that included spareribs, rice, fruit salad, and some yummy type of potato pancake. Then we walked behind the hotel to People's Park, a huge lake with walkways, statues, and places to stop and feed these HUGE koi fish; Jazzy loved that part. There's an amusment park I think we'll check out tomorrow. On the way back in to the hotel, we saw several adoptive families with their babies. Oh, so cute, and one of them, an 18-month old,w as absolutely breathtaking! It brought back such memories of our first days with Jazmin; I was even able to offer a little advice as they are experiencing a problem similar to one we had with Jazmin.
Haven't been able to phone the kids yet as it's only 2:48 am in Missouri, but Jessica passed her Constitution test! Yeahh for her! And we've been texting, they seem to be enjoying their time with their friends.
Will post again on our adventures tomorroow!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

1 down, 8 to go......flights, that is!

We're in Dallas! just waiting for our next flight to Tokyo that leaves at 10:10. Jazzy did great on her first flight (that she remembers). She said "awesome' at least 5 times on takeoff, then promptly fell asleep for the whole thing! Now she thinks the Dallas airport is pretty cool. So fun to see these things through the eyes of a child; reminds me to look at things with wonder and awe instead of thinking like an ! i think we actually didn't forget anything either, which is just simply amazing for me! We rushed out of the house so quick, i was sure we had. Then we got to the airport in KC at 4am! Got to do electronic check-in and no fees for checked bags; hooray! And even my heaviest bags came in at only 35 pounds, so way even under China's restrictions. i could have sworn they weighed 100 lbs, since i can barely lift them, that's sad, i'm such a weakling!
Well, i'm off to explore with Jaz; will post again soon! And Tina, if you're reading this, hope you're feeling better and on your flight!\

Sunday, February 22, 2009

3 more days!!

Only 3 more days to go..........I'm starting to finally get excited and not just stressed out! Got most of our packing done and I think to a manageable level of suitcases (i'll post a picture when it's all together!). Jazmin is all excited about staying in the hotels; I hope the long flights don't mess with her too much. But she's such a trooper, I think she'll do alright.
Our travel came in quite a bit higher than expected, but after some slashing and negotiating, it came down. At least I don't feel I have to mortgage one of the kids to go now! The biggest bummer is we had to take out the side trip to Jazmin's orphanage, due to the extra cost and incredible hectic pace it would have put us at. Now we are just staying in Nanning for a couple nights to recuperate and show Jazmin the places we went with her as a baby. I think that'll mean more to her anyway.
Jessica and James are just psyched as all get out to go to their friends' houses; almost to the point they're pushing us out the door early! I will miss them so much! I was never able to get webcams for everyone, so will just have to rely on Skype and pictures; hope it all works out.
Today, I just have to go to church, go to work for a few hours, work more with the kids' on their science projects, and go over our adoption paperwork packet. Just another typical day!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

We got TA!!!! on February 6th........

Well, I'm a little late, but we did finally get TA (travel approval). This means we are now officially approved not only to adopt Judi, but to actually enter the country to pick her up! It's been a frantic few days waiting for CA confirmation, which we got today. Now I'm having the dickens of a time getting airline flights; hopefully we'll get that settled tomorrow.
Now for the bummer; my dad's basement flooded tonight; a backed up drain or something. He's not sure he wants to go now; he feels like he can't take a chance on it happening while he's gone. I don't blame him there, but I still want him to go; maybe we'll try to get him to go for at least a week, then return home early. Why does stuff like this always seem to happen at the worst possible time??!!
On the home front, the kids are super-excited about us leaving, because they get to stay with their friends; a neat change of pace for them. Jazmin has the date we leave, Feb. 25th, circled on her little calendar; she can't wait to meet Judi. I just hope she handles the long flights alright. She's always up for an advnture, though.
Well, I have to go, just waiting for Jr to call and tell me what's going on with Dad's house; he went over to help suck up the water. Ta, ta for now!