When God Calls.....

Update!

2008-08-08T00:58:00.001-07:00

We have been settling in and all the kids are doing amazingly well!

The boys already insist on praying even for a snack. It is really cute to watch. We also pray with each child at night before they go to bed. I am sure they do not understand what they are doing but they realize it is important.

Max will try to copy what we say and they all say AMEN! at the end of every prayer!
God has been very good!!!
I can only praise him for the blessings he has bestowed on us!

Today was the one year anniversary for Lexi's Forever Family Day!!!
I posted on our family blog and that is where all future posts will be.

Thank you all so much for the love and support and prayers you have given us on this leg of our journey, it has meant so much to us!

Thanks again and God Bless you all!!!

THANKS TO ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEART!!!

2008-08-03T18:21:00.000-07:00

This journey has been such a miracle! As one person put it to me "It is like being having a FRONT ROW SEAT on the MIRACLE ROLLER COASTER!!!" I must agree.

The day I left someone gave me $200 for the trip "just in case" I needed it. I was not going to take it but they insisted so I went ahead and took it. The second day there when finishing the adoption we found out I needed an extra $200 because the fees increased since they had been given to our agency the week before!

Then everything worked out well and we had all the expenses and everything covered. My budget was tight but we had enough for food and a few treats for the boys. When we arrived in Guangzhou our guide told us we needed 535 RMB for each boy for the medical and visa photo. It was a little more than anticipated but I had saved out what turned out to be just the right amount, so no problem.

When we were done with the medical while we were waiting for the papers our guide told our group that we needed $400 for each US visa application, that would be $800 US dollars for me. Unfortunately the agency had put it in the initial paperwork but when everything happened so quickly at the end it had not been repeated and all six of the families in our travel group did not remember anything about it in the final price list. At that point I am in a panic as I did not have an extra $800 US dollars. I went back to our room and fed the boys and put them to bed and was praying about it and worrying about what am I going to do? About that time two of the families came and said their expenses had been significantly less in Province than the estimate they had been given so they wanted to help and each one paid one of the boys Visa fees!

There is no way I can thank everyone enough for all the help and support we have received but we would never have been able to have these wonderful boys in our home without it! They are such a delight and so precious! God has been GOOD!

THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our four little one playing together, first day home!

The four and our grandson eating dinner!

Kevin one of our older sons playing with the boys!

Ready for bed our first night home!

Day 20 and 21 - August 2 We are HOME!!!

2008-08-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

First Picture of all of us the day I got home!

I have to post later, right now I am going to sleep, I have been up since I got up in China for the trip home. When we got home my 4 oldest kids came over and made lunch for us and we got a couple pictures of all but two of the kids and our one grandson.

SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!!

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and financial support that made this possible! The boys did really well with a house full of new people.

Our Flight Home!

2008-08-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

Guangzhou at sunrise!

This is a picture taken on the way to the airport at sunrise on August 2! We got out on time, everything packed and the boys handled it quite well. On the way to the airport Max had quite a talk with our guide. He was worried still that I was not going to America with him. She told him he was going with me and he would be with me always! Then he was worried about school. He wanted to know if he would go to school and she told him yes but he was worried that we would take him to school and just leave him. She straightened that out and said that when he goes to school Mama will take you and pick you up and you will always sleep at home! He seemed quite relieved about that!

The wait at the airport was uneventful. The plane leaving Guangzhou was loaded for two hours before we finally took off. At that point I was very thankful Sue had booked it with a five hour lay over in Beijing! The picture above was the play area right by our gate in Beijing Airport! The boys were quite good with only a little upset with Marc about eating. Nothing major!

The last leg of our flight started out great! We had the center of a large plane with four seats across for the three of us! Marc got an aisle seat, then Max and the Mom with an empty on the other side of me (the TV did not work on that seat). It took over an hour before we took off but the boys were excited about flying so no problems! After take off the Movie screens started working and they had a couple cute cartoon movies so I set it up for both to watch there own. They are being little cherubs! I am thinking great we will have an awesome flight and it is only 10 1/2 hours so this will be awesome, they will watch a little TV and then fall asleep and then we will get there right?! Not right!

Well the first part worked, they watched a cartoon and had dinner, then we started on the second one and got 1/2 through it when it was about 8:30 PM and past time for bed. I was hoping they would just fall asleep watching TV but no such luck. Marc started throwing things and hollering, which is a signal he is going to escalate before he quits so I quickly pick him up and move him over by me and move Max over by the aisle. Well Marc is really upset then and he is overtired on top of it not a good combination! He is screaming and crying and yelling in Mandarin that he wants to watch cartoons! He has huge crocodile tears streaming down his face at this point and trying to bite me along with hit and kick all in an airplane seat! Well this is a Chinese airline and mostly Chinese people flying to the US. I am trying to calm him down and in the process am drawing a crowd! People are standing up all around us and leaning over our seats, I am holding him at this point, and jabbering in Mandarin! Then they start telling me what to do! Their biggest suggestion is to let him watch cartoons, well because he has such an audience he cranks it up a degree or two! I try to tell them he is tired and needs to go to sleep. They keep offering suggestions and I finally tell them that he was watching cartoons when he started yelling and throwing things and I will not reward his bad behavior by turning cartoons on now when he is acting so bad! I went on to say if I do that I will have little boy that would be intolerable to everyone around him and that it would not be in his best to do that. I also said I was sorry they had to listen to him scream and cry! After that everyone shut up and went back to there seats!!! Guess what he calmed down and fell asleep and slept for about seven hours!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful other than when he woke up he wet his pants which he has not done since the first day I got him. We changed into dry pants since I brought an extra pair in the plane in case of spills or other accidents! Then once we got to Seattle in the Imigration line he wet his pants again, unfortunately no more dry pants so we met the family with wet pants and changed as soon as we got home. I think it was a more stressful day than he let on otherwise.

Day 19 - August 1 Swearing In Day!

2008-08-01T07:27:00.001-07:00

We woke up to beautiful blue skies in Guangzhou!!! There was only one other family in the dining room this morning all the others had left early in the morning for home. We had a leisurely morning, walked around the Island a little and ate lunch at Lucy's. I got the boys their first chocolate milkshake! Although to me it was like chocolate milk that had been whipped up.

We were the only family that our guide had at the swearing in so she was able to talk with the boys a lot. For some reason Max still thinks that he is going to America tomorrow and he will not see me any more and he said that makes him sad. Our guide told him I would be his Mommy forever!!! Then he wanted to know if he was going to school and I would leave him there. She told him if he went to school I would take him and pick him up, he would not stay at the school. It sounds like from what he has told her that he has been moved around a lot. He told her he did not have a Mom and Dad and that he is a orphan and has no home! She said he was very matter of fact about it! It just makes my heart break that any child should have to go through that and hopefully soon he will start to understand forever! I will be his Mama FOREVER!!!

By the way Baba, he told our guide that he talks to his Baba everyday in America and that his Baba is very handsome man!

The first four pictures are just some the streets on the island. Then the next picture is the boys walking to Lucy's for lunch! I thought it was cute that they were holding hands. Marc was holding my hand and was upset that I let go of his hand to take the picture.

Lunch at Lucy's and the first milkshake!

There are several artists around China that paint like this using the side of their hand the palm, fingers and fingernails. They make beautiful pictures with great detail.

The above picture is taken from the steps of the building the US Embassy is in where we go for the Visa. I was surprised to see Ikea right next door. So after our swearing in we decided to visit Ikea. After walking through it we got ice cream cones just like Ikea at home only these were much smaller but the ice cream was better. Probably because it was so hot outside that it tasted great!!! The lady making the cones did several at once. The picture below she is doing 4 at one time.

This guy was a street vendor right outside Ikea. He sat down right at the edge of the sidewalk with his two baskets.

Day 18 - July 31 CA

2008-07-31T09:23:00.001-07:00

Today we got to do a little touring and went to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, an active Buddhist Temple in Guangzhou. It has changed since I was there the summer of 2005, they were doing some maintenance and remodel last time. The picture right below was taken from a raised highway through Guangzhou. I thought the house right beside the highway was interesting, I would not want to live there though.

Here is some laundry hanging out to dry. Our guide said most people cannot afford a cloths dryer so they just hang it our this way and it dries real well. We had a major downpour shortly after this picture was taken so I do not know if they got it in or it got soaked again.

These next pictures are taken at the buddhist temple.

This wall was just being built last time we were there. The boys are looking at huge gold fish down in the water.

While we were there someone made a huge donation and the priests came out to bless it and say a prayer for the donor.

The boys were very fascinated by the fish in the water and they kept coming back to it. I was afraid one or both of them would end up in it. Accidentally or on purpose but fortunately they stayed dry except for the sweat. While here our guide told me they just accepted our paperwork and everything is good for the passport, so tomorrow is the swearing in for the boys!!

he picture below is in the pearl market. The boys were more interested in the chairs that twirled than the pearls! It was so hot and humid you can see the sweat on Max's face.

Red Couch Pictures!

Day 17 - July 30

2008-07-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last night July 29 our guide came to our room and we did the papers for the consulate appointment. She was going to see if they would do it today but they said no. They did check it over to make sure we had all the documents and found out we had to do a couple more since they wanted everything for both boys files as if it was alone. So that is all taken care of and tomorrows CA should be no problem!

This trip has really been a test of faith, but God has always worked things out and used some wonderful people to bless us along the way!!!

Today was pretty much a free day and we looked around the island a lot. Many people are very surprised we got two boys at one time. They keep asking now which one this time? I keep saying both and they look at me like I must not have understood them.

The following three pictures are of Beatrice's and it is truly closed. Then the row of shops that were right by the White Swan are also not there. We have heard conflicting things. Some have said the government made them close as they were below ground and another report I had said a company bought out the building and is going to renovate it.

I did find Susan's Place and had wonderful tea while the boys played. They had a great time and I enjoyed myself in front of an air conditioner. The tea was wonderful!

The Cow and Bridge is still there and still has wonderful food. That was my one splurge on food on this trip and it was very good.

A very hot Mama and her sweet little boys (most of the time)!

Day 16 - July 29 Examination!

2008-07-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

On the flight yesterday, Max was visibly sad and the Purser said he told him that his misses his foster Mom a lot! He has grieved the hardest in some ways but then other times he is all rambunctious boy! I am just glad he can vocalize it.

When we got to Guangzhou our guide let us know how much RMB we would be needing for the medical and Visa photo so I went across the street to the bank to make sure I had the right amount. I decided to use the ATM to get RMB out. This was a new experience for me. I had to try 3 times before I figured out what I was doing wrong. I would get through all the screens OK and put in the amount of RMB I needed and then it said correct or a couple other things, I thought it meant correct amount, yes! Instead it meant do you need to correct the amount! Once I figured out it was a breeze and beats the lines and everything else required to convert money.

We got to meet up with the rest of our group from MAA, it was nice to put faces with the names. We met up in the lobby and walked to the place for the visa photo and then off to the medical exam.

Marc weighs 18 Kg and 108 cm tall and Max weighs 23.5 Kg and 117 cm tall.

When they did the eye exam, they have hands on the chart and the child Max in the photo below is supposed to say which way the hands are going. Well if you look closely to the picture Marc is making his hands go the same direction.

The doctor that examined the boys! He has a white lab coat on and then like sport shorts on under it. I wondered how he could have all those cloths on, we were hottttt!

For those of you that have been here before, Lucy's is still here. I took the boys there for dinner, they both like grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries. We also got stir fried broccoli which was the first thing to the table, Max loved and and Marc started crying and refused it. I think he thought that was all we were going to eat. After the sandwiches got there he did eat one piece of broccoli.

Day 16 - July 29 Off to Guangzhou!!!

2008-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it to Guangzhou!!!

I took these photos on the way to the airport. This looks like a market for used bicycle carts. The second picture the guys had a big thing that looked like a huge griddle and it looked like their cart was full of eggs and they were cooking them for people coming up to their cart. It was breakfast time. I just thought the third picture was interesting since there were several bicycle riders on the side street.

Our flight was early which was nice since they were saying a typhoon was headed towards Guangdong Province. It was a fairly easy flight. We were 5 rows back in the plane right behind the purser who spoke Mandarin and English. He would talk to the boys and then translate it to me.

Day 15 - July 28 Last day in Dalian

2008-07-28T08:33:00.001-07:00

We have been together as a family (part of the family) for two weeks today!

Our last day in Dalian!!! Tomorrow we get up and leave by 6:30 AM for Guangzhou!!! I just received the boys passports, YEAH!!!!! CLOSER TO HOME AND THE REST OF MY FAMILY!!!

I want to REALLY THANK EVERYONE that has left comments, sometimes that is the only email I can get and I feel like it is a lifeline!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! I have had real weird internet reception but the comments that are left have been getting through pretty consistantly (I set it up to email me each comment before I left) and those seem to get through when nothing else does! I guess God knew I needed them!!!

Today was a very laid back day! Nice to have, the boys played, we went out a couple times, I worked on packing and most of the stuff is packed at this point. We did not take many pictures but we are ready to go!

This is right across the street from our hotel! Marc and his kung fu moves!

My sleeping angels!?!

The boys have definitely settled in with me. They did not have any problems packing up today! I keep a running dialogue going about getting on a plane tomorrow and we are going to Guangzhou for a few days then we will fly home. I have no idea how much they understand but they are not alarmed like they were when I starting packing in Shenyang. The first thing we packed were their backpacks and laid out their cloths for the plane, then I packed the rest of the stuff while they played together.

Our guide dropped the passports off tonight! As I was checking things over to make sure they were correct I noticed that they were issued on July 21! This is suppose to be what we were waiting for and they were issued a week ago! All I can say is I am glad I have them now!!!!!!

On a lighter note, when I was checking to make sure I had packed everything I found this box tucked way back in the back of the night stand. I pulled it out wondering what it was. It said Emergency kit on it.

Then on the top it says we will get charged if the seal is broken?!? Wondering what it was I turned it over some more and on the other side is an explanation.

Emergency Kit! I guess it would be a good thing to have if you have an emergency!

Can you tell I am ready to come home?!?! It has been fun with the boys but I miss my husband and my other children as well! Next Saturday we will be home at noon!!!!

Day 14 - July 27

2008-07-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Every morning for breakfast they seat us as far as you can get from the food. We have this low table which means the boys are always spilling things. I usually get them a plate with fried rice and whatever meat they have for the day, usually chicken skewers every day plus one or two others and eggs. Then we eat a full plate of watermelon and follow that with yogurt and juice.

Out the window by Marc you can see part of a street market and the arch that was in the pictures yesterday. The market right behind Marc is great to get some things at, the fruit is good but cheaper other places. I got dish soap there and batteries for the boys' toys, they also have water and soda if you want it. So far I have not bought any soda. The boys asked for soda the first few days but I could not tell how much sugar was in it and did not feel they needed to be loaded up on sugar, so we either drink water or fruit juice. (Mostly water)

This is one of the shops in the underground market place, technically you are not supposed to take pictures down there but this shop owner did not mind. Each shop seems to specialize in just a few types of items. The interesting thing is there are a whole lot of little shops that all have the same thing and are in the same area. For example, all the shoe shops are almost all on one floor and all grouped together in the same area. About the third floor down is a cell phone market place and there are at least 50 little shops with cell phones.

The gelato shop would not let me take a picture but we have been there twice. They will give you a sample with little spoons. Max has had Mango both times even though he had other samples and Marc had strawberry both times even though he had other samples. They are getting much better about sharing and do offer each other a couple tastes and Mom a couple tastes. I must say both flavors are refreshing in the heat!

This is the main entrance to the underground Victory Shopping Center between the Saxophone and the Guitar. The green glass covered escalators go down and if you go down to the second floor and then walk in to the middle escalators you will find the gelato shop right by the next escalator down to the third level.

On the right is a KFC and on the left is McDonald's. They actually have a lot more KFC's in China than McDonald's. If you were to keep going straight and into the building directly in front of us and down a story you would get to the really good bakery that is in Dalian New World Market. The prices are great also.

And today is another blue sky day!!! There was a nice breeze out, but it was still
very humid and after walking just a little way it felt like I had just gotten
out of the shower (only much stickier and smelly!)

I just thought it was interesting to see appliances and some of the brands we have at home.

This is a little cake we got at the bakery! Max picked it out, unfortunately he thought he was going to eat the whole thing by himself and got very upset when he found out he was sharing it with Mama and Marc! The frosting tasted sort of like cool whip and it had a couple layers in the middle, one was the frosting and I think the other was raspberry or something similar,
it was really quite good.

Day 13 - July 26

2008-07-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

The train station. See the hills in the background that you could not see in the earlier pictures!

These first three photos were taken out of our hotel window this morning! It is a beautiful day!!!!! It was absolutely gorgeous!!! We did our normal morning routine and then went out for a walk around! We came to our favorite bookstore which happens to be right next to a McDonald's so I decided to get the boys something special since they have been so good today! I got a container of the corn you see in the picture below and the boys both got chocolate sundaes! They loved them and they were very good about sharing with me and each other! It was very cute! I gave them bites of the corn also but they were not as thrilled with it as I was. I really enjoyed it!

If you look over the umbrella's and to the right ish of this picture the tall skinny red sign on the building is for the bookstore. To the right of it is the McDonald's. This is the street markets! You have to be very careful as there are a lot of pickpockets here.

This big brother and little sister belong to the store owner of the fruit stand that we like. She has split pants and earlier she had a cute little hat on. The brother was watching her while Mom and Dad ran the fruit stand.

The Dalian New World Shopping Center is the building behind these bins of cloths. This is a sidewalk sale they are having. It is really kind of expensive to buy anything inside. We went and looked and most of the children's cloths were 250-300 Yuan each piece. Which for China is kind of expensive.

This is our hotel across from it on the Victory Shopping Plaza! We went outside and walked around this evening. The weather was wonderful. Earlier in the day when we walked it was very hot. I would be just dripping very quickly but this evening was very balmy with a gentle breeze and it felt wonderful! I wish it was like this all the time! I started a new game with the boys, they can go a little ahead of me but then when I say stop they must stop until I say go. It seems to be working very well most of the time!

This saxophone is on one corner of the Victory shopping Plaza. If you look in the third picture from the top the saxophone is in about the middle of the left hand side of the picture. The arch in the picture below is beside our hotel. It leads back by a whole street of vendors. The hotel is the red brick building on the left of the picture below.

Day 12 - July 25

2008-07-25T07:46:00.001-07:00

Another day closer to home!!! Only eight more nights in China!

I have a huge praise today! A few days ago I woke up with a swollen jaw and cheek, and a lot of pain in my jaw. Not sure of the reason but it was either smog causing a sinus infection (I am very allergic to smog) or an infection from a tooth that broke just before I left for China. Last night I prayed and asked God to heal it as there is no way for me to fix it here and I did not bring any antibiotics to save on expenses. This morning I woke up and it is gone!!! No swelling, no pain nothing! Praise God!!!

I stuck to our routine today! Up to breakfast back to the room to play for a while while Mom washed the cloths out and out to walk around for a while and back to the room to have lunch and out again for a walk and supper.
I gave the boys some new stickers today and they love to put them in their little notebooks I gave them. This is one of their favorite quiet activities.

This is a Holiday Inn Express. You can see it in the picture below. It is not very far from the train station and it is a beautiful newer building. The interesting thing is going over a street and looking back through the other buildings it is such a contrast to the buildings around it. If you are walking you go down the street from our hotel and when you get to the Holiday Inn Express you turn left and you can walk down to Russian Street.

This is my favorite fruit stand. Their mangoes are delicious!!! Also the best price I have found around town. This is on the way to the Holiday Inn Express from the Ramada.

I had to throw this picture in!!! It is the first time I have been in China and seen beautiful BLUE SKY!!! It is not overcast and NO SMOG!!!!!!!!!!

This is where we had dinner tonight, we were going to go to the Thia place that Regina and Bobbie went to but when we got there they were closed to redecorate. This still had good food. They have the best fresh mango juice! Then we were back to our room and ready for bed with hardly any fussing and of to sleep by 7:30!

Day 11 - July 24

2008-07-24T08:42:00.001-07:00

The boys woke up at 6:30 this morning but by the time we got ready and went down to breakfast it was 8 am. Breakfast went pretty good only spilled the yogurt. They will not put the napkins even in their laps so I have learned the hard way to always put their cloths on from the day before and then we go back to the room and wash up after breakfast and change into a new outfit.

We got to talk to Daddy and little sisters and big sister Rachelle on Skype. The boys played in the room for a while and then we decided to go exploring. Regina's daughter woke up about the time I was ready to leave so we decided to go together.

We set out to find the Children's Park. We found it and ended up walking 5 miles in the process and I think it was the hottest day we have had so far!!! The kids actually did quite well. Both the boys got upset and were fussing and crying when I looked at a bubble blower but did not buy it as I felt like they wanted to much. I could have bought one cheaper at Wal-Mart in the US. Marc got over it pretty quickly but Max took a while which surprised me since it is usually the other way around. Then Max got really upset when he could not go on the rides. So we had to listen to a lot of crying. At that point I can not do it even if I had planned to because since I cannot really talk to them, I do not want them to get the idea that if they fuss and cry they get what they want. It makes it really hard as I would have liked to have done something special.

Max would just calm down and I would think about doing something and he would start again. I tried tickling, taking pictures, drinks of water, etc but nothing seemed to work. After we were walking back and I let him climb on the lion he seemed to be in better spirits. We stopped at the Market and got a couple different pastry breads to try and then went back to our room. We got so hot that we had cool drinks in our room and just hung out for a while.

We ended up with supper of the breads we got and cooked some noodles we had in the room, I was too hot and tired to leave again.

Day 10 - July 23

2008-07-23T07:44:00.001-07:00

Today was another laid back day. It was nice! The boys did not wake up until 8 am. Then we got ready and went to breakfast. We met a really nice couple at breakfast that are from Australia but working in Beijing for three years and down here for a weeks vacation. They have twin daughters 5 days younger than our Kaitlyn. We had a nice visit and the boys were quite well behaved. I think they were too busy eating to do anything else. After breakfast we went back to the room and talked to Dave and the girls, then I did our laundry. You can see pictures at the bottom of this post. The laundry at this hotel is quite expensive so I have been washing it out and hanging it up to dry. Makes me really appreciate my washer and dryer at home. The boys played together pretty well while I was doing the laundry. Only one mishap, Marc accidentally dumped a whole bottle of water on my bed. At least it was just water.

After I got the laundry done we went out this afternoon and walked around. These are a couple of street vendors. The one above is selling Mango's off the back of his bike and the lady below is selling corn on the cob which seems to be very popular here.

We walked around in the underground market for a while and I got the boys ice cream cones, Max had mango and Marc had strawberry, they were both very good, (they let Mama have tastes). I usually get something special everyday and the three of us share it. We are working on the concept of sharing which they are doing much better with. The first few times I did this they would have a fit and want the whole thing to themselves. Max was the worst about it but now he is the best about sharing.

We also found a large market that is kind of like a super market with a little bit of Wal-Mart thrown in. It is the best market I have found in China as far as the food goes. They had all kinds of things and a very nice, large bakery that smelled wonderful. I bought the boys a small bag of something from the bakery. It was kind of like a cross between a small soft roll and raisin bread. They really like them.

After we walked around for a while longer we came out at the Pizza Hut! I have gotten pretty good about finding my way around the underground shopping area. I decided we would eat at Pizza Hut, they are one of the few places that has a really nice bathroom with soap and water to wash your hands.

Both the boys were clowning around and were very cute! When the pizza came and was dished up Max got upset about something and refused to eat so Marc and I ate and then we packed it up and brought it back to our room for lunch tomorrow. After we got back to the room Max wanted to eat so I told him no, we had already had supper at Pizza Hut. He has done this several times where he gets upset when we are eating and refuses to eat then later wants to eat, I have always just fed him whenever he wanted to eat but decided he needs to learn that is not how it is going to be. Both boys can be very stubborn!!! They fit in nicely with the rest of the family!!! Anyway Max seemed to understand and did not ask again. I felt bad but he is getting in the habit of getting mad and eating whenever he want to. Better to end it now, he is a very smart little boy and I am sure it will not take him long to figure out it is best to eat when everyone else is eating.

After we got back to the room the boys played for a little bit then got their baths and got ready for bed. I wanted to take pictures in their new pj's, so they started clowning around. I would take a picture and they would immediately run over to the camera to see what it looked like. I finally got several in a row without them running to see the picture.

SLEEP AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And it is only 7:30)

I found these Ritz crackers at the market today! They are just like our Ritz crackers only they have chocolate sandwiched in between two crackers. They are really good!!! I wish they had them at home but it is probably really good that they don't!!!

Below are the pictures of my "Chinese Laundry"!

Day 9 - July 22

2008-07-22T07:40:00.001-07:00

My oldest son turns 30 today! Happy birthday Jonathan!

Today was a quiet day! Our exchange student was here for breakfast with her father, then she came to the room for a little bit while I showed her how Skype worked and she played with the boys a little. She was very good with the boys and the boys liked her a lot!

She was very open about talking with the boys and then translating to me. She told me Max thought he was going to America and I was going to stay here and that is why he threw such a fit in the evening after we had gone to the orphanage. He did not want to go to America if I was not going with him! Both boys have gotten to where they will play for a while and then run over to me and say "I love you Mama" in Mandarin and give me hugs and kisses and then run back and play! It is very sweet!!! It definitely makes my day better and easier to handle the melt downs!

Max also told Charlotte he is 7 years old. Charlotte explained that some provinces add 1 year to your age when you are born so by that he should say he is 6 now so we don't really know what his age is. His birthday is supposedly September 24 and he will be 6 by what we were give. He definitely acts more mature than Marc does and he has lost a tooth in front but who really knows, I sure don't.

The boys also told her they knew each other well and were friends at the SWI. We were shown Max's bed when we were there and not Marc's and all they would say is that they didn't sleep in the same room. We could not get any information out of them at the SWI. The Director rode with us from the hotel to the SWI and I asked several questions which the guide then asked her but he would not give me any answers. It was a bit frustrating.

Charlotte was taking pictures of the boys and showing them the pictures.

I took the boys to McDonald's for a late lunch and they did not really like it! It cost a lot more than KFC and seemed to me to be a lot less. We just had noodles in the room for dinner which they really like and it costs me a lot less. They are in bed now fast asleep!!!

These last two were the sunset tonight over the city looking out our hotel window! The blue rectangle in the middle of the bottom picture is where the boys were playing on the paddle boats last night.

Day 8 - July 21

2008-07-21T20:41:00.001-07:00

It was nice to relax today. We did not have a time schedule so I let the boys sleep until they woke up which was 7:30 am. Then we went to breakfast as usual. Then back to the room. Mid morning we decided to go for a walk and explore. We found the book store that Pam told me about, bought some VCD's and looked around. They had some CD's to teach children English so if anyone knows a good program out there let me know.

After that we walked around and found the Russian district. It was very interesting. Dalian was occupied by Russia at one time and also by Japan. The architecture is interesting but it has not been taken care of! Max got really tired walking and started whining, I am sure he never thought his Mama would find the hotel again! When we got back to the hotel and walked in the door he looked at me in surprise and got this big smile on his face!

Entering the Russian District

Looking down the main street called "The Russian Street in Dalian".

Walking down the main street this was a side street.

Day 8 - July 21 Continued

2008-07-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Looking down the Russian Street back at the City of Dalian! Quite a contrast in skyline. We ended up walking 4 miles, I am sure that is probably the farthest these boys have walked at one time in their life.

A functioning telephone booth!

We are hosting an exchange student from Shanghai for this next school year so when she found out we were in Dalian, asked if they could come and meet me and the boys. Charlotte and her father arrived in time for dinner and took us to the hotel restaurant and had a traditional chinese dinner. The food was good, the boys sure enjoyed themselves.

After dinner we walked around and in the center of the plaza across the street were some kid activities and Charlotte's Dad had them ride on the paddle boats and then drive a motorcycle and car. The boys loved that but when it was time to quit had complete meltdowns!!! Both of them were wailing. We had to walk back to the hotel with Marc and Max both crying hard! I gave them both a bath to cool off and they went right to bed.

Day 7 - July 20

2008-07-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a very emotionally charged day! After breakfast we met the Dalian SWI director in the lobby of our Hotel as she agreed for us to at least drive by the orphanage. I did not tell the boys in advance so they would not worry about it and it was a maybe thing. Even leaving the hotel she said maybe we could go inside but she was not sure yet.

We took two taxi's, one with Regina and her family and one with me, the boys, Steven our guide and the director. The boys asked Steven almost immediately where we were going. I asked Steven to be sure to tell them Mama wanted to see where they had been staying. Max got upset right away. We reassured him several times that he was leaving with Mama! The director even told him that it was illegal for him to stay that he belonged with Mama not at the orphanage. I could tell he was still uptight about it but he was not crying at least. Marc did not even seem to care at this point. When we drove through the gate of the Dalian SWI, Max started to cry, I hugged him and told him I loved him and that he was staying with Mama, but he would just cry harder. We pulled up in front of the orphanage and opened the door he got out and cried harder but still got out and went into the SWI, Marc on the other hand started to really cry and refused to get out of the taxi. I had to pick him up and carry him. I know some people would choose not to go but I felt it was very important for closure for both of the boys.

Once inside I was there with the director and the boys and Steven was trying to find the other family, I think the taxi dropped them at the front gate. The director left us in a room on the main floor so I started looking at the pictures on the wall and Marc and Max got interested in looking with me and not crying although they were both apprehensive. The other family got there and the director came back and said to come she would show us around.

We went up a couple floors and she showed us rooms with cribs in them and babies, Regina counted and said there were 30 babies under 1 year. It was sad to see as they did not have very many care givers and the babies were in cribs and they would just turn them over and change them and leave them.

We went up a couple more flights of stairs to the top floor with bars across the doorway and it was locked. The director rang the bell several times and then said she had to go down and around another way. Once we got in there we saw some rooms with beds and we saw Max's bed. He showed me which bed he slept in and let me take a picture.

We continued down the hall and they showed us the bathroom, a classroom, eating area, a music room and at the end of the hall was a playroom. There were 4 children in there 2 little boys and 2 little girls with a couple little toys. The littlest girl would just sit and rock, we found out she was 18 months and just a tiny thing. The older girl is 3 and has a heart defect, we asked if her paperwork was in to be adopted yet and they said no it had not even been started. She played with Bobby (Regina's Husband) and I held one of the little boys, then he got up and the little girl came sat on my lap. She soaked up the love and attention. She wanted hugs and kisses and then they said it was time to go she would not let go! I wanted to just pack her up and take her with me!

You did not have to tell the boys twice to go! They jumped up and ran over to me and grabbed my hand and said "Bye Bye" to the director and Max was showing me the way out! He was very happy and very relieved!

Leaving Dalian SWI!

Day 7 - July 20 Continued

2008-07-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

Our guide took us to a shopping mall and the only thing we ended up doing there was go to Dairy Queen! The DQ is right above the Haagen-Dazs in the picture and if you look close you can see that there is a Starbucks on the left side of the picture. (It is two levels!) The boys loved the ice cream. Max had a Mango Blizzard and Marc had a Black Sesame and Almond blizzard. They both tasted really good.

This is one of the Olympic Mascots, they had a booth outside the mall and had two of the mascots.

I really appreciate there theme for the Olympics! Impossible is Nothing!!! It just needs to add With GOD!!!

More pictures Day 6

2008-07-19T21:13:00.001-07:00

Here is a white peacock! I have never seen one before!

Here is the gang except me as I was taking the picture!

Max carrying Marc since Marc said he was tired! Max was tired pretty quick!

Marc, Max and Steven our guide! I had to add the baby below since he was not wearing a diaper and only that little cloth in from with strings around his waist, legs and neck!

Day 6 - July 19 Continued

2008-07-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

These were like big balloons that you could get inside of and did not get wet!

I wanted to get a picture but Marc did not want to cooperate so he is a little sulky in some of the pictures. You sure know when he does not agree with something because he will throw a fit! Yelling, fake crying but crocodile tears, throw himself on the floor or just sit down wherever he is! Any or all of the above! Steven the guide said they were both very strong personalities and very stubborn and very smart! I agree on all accounts!

This is looking towards part of Dalian, this is out at the Ocean Park looking back into part of the city, but the beach part.

This is at the bird sanctuary feeding the birds. The boys really like being able to feed them.

Day 6 - July 19

2008-07-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

We had a busy day today! We were going to see if we could see the Olympic Torch Runner which was here in Dalian today but found out it is out in the countryside and you had to be in the area by 5 am and then they barricade if off and you had to stay until they opened it up again.
Here is a picture of it that was on the side of a building on an active billboard in Dalian.

So the rest of the day we spent at the Ocean Park which was right on the coast. It is a five star park in China that has several attractions. It kind of reminds me of Marine World in California. We got to watch a Dolphin and white whale show. There was an aquarium to go through. A few rides that we did not go on. Also a bird sanctuary that was interesting just to hot! The boys did pretty good. At least they got tired and cranky at separate times.

They had a lot of people asking about them. Some people tried to talk to me but I could not understand what they were saying so I would just say Mama! Steven our guide said a lot of people wanted to know if they were twins since I dressed them alike.

I was VERY HOT!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 5 - July 18 Evening

2008-07-19T06:25:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty good evening, we ate noodles in the room and then went out for a walk, did some underground and some above ground. The boys get pretty tired so by the time we get back to the room they are ready for a bath and go to bed. They were asleep in less than 5 minutes.

We made noodles in the room! The boys thought they were great! I on the other hand am not so sure!

We found the Starbucks in Dalian! There was one in Shenyang also but we just took pictures outside and did not try any!

On the way back to the hotel you see the KFC and McDonald's.

Day 5 - July 18 in Dalian

2008-07-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a rainy drizzly day so we have not been outside yet. The boys slept until 7:30 this morning and I was able to take a shower without wondering what they were getting into.

Breakfast went better than yesterday. We went down to the second floor where they have the breakfast buffet and they started to put us clear out in the outer realms of seating and I said no, I wanted no smoking and wanted a table close to the buffet so I could keep an eye on the boys while I got their food. I do not think they are used to someone questioning what they are doing especially a woman. The man in charge kind of hesitated and then said OK and put us at a table real close to the food.

I seated the boys and as I am walking away to get food Max gets his knife out and starts acting like he is going to have a sword fight. The guy got kind of upset with him but calmed down when I took the knifes away from the boys. Then as I am walking away again Mark gets his little ceramic rest for the chopsticks and starts clanking it inside a ceramic picture. I was quick to get that away from him before the guy came back frowning and moved us away!

The rest of breakfast was relatively uneventful, other than one of the items I brought for the boys must have been spicy and Marc does not like spicy, he started to chew it up and then wanted to spit it out. I could not get him to just spit it on the edge of the plate he wanted to put it on the table which I would not let him so then he starts to yell about it. I found a napkin and had him spit in the napkin. I have to be very careful to make sure I cut the food up that I put on Marc's plate as he will stuff the whole thing in his mouth at once and has almost choked a couple times. I do not seem to have this problem with Max.

After breakfast we went back to the room and just hung out. I talked to Dave and the girls on the computer. That has been a life saver for me and the girls. We video conference with Skype and it does not cost anything. They have to have their hugs from Mommy every night! Katy always wants me to brush her hair so I get the brush and pretend over the computer that I am brushing it. Today their big sister came by after work and Katy had to take big sisters boots, sun glasses and purse and pretend for me, she has to show Mom over the video conference. first thing Katy says when she gets on is always "Where is Marc and Max?", not hi mom, I miss you or anything just always wants to know where the boys are!

After we talked and the boys played for awhile we decided to try out the pool! This is our first pool experience. The boys loved it but hung on pretty tight! It is not very warm but we stayed in for awhile. They had their legs wrapped around me and hung on with both hands. They did loosen up a little after we had been in there a bit.

We met Regina and her crew there so we hit the balls around a bit and the kids seem to enjoy it a lot. We went back to our room and had left over pizza and apples.

Day 4 - July 17 Evening

2008-07-17T14:21:00.001-07:00

I think we finally had a major break through this afternoon! The boys were playing and I would play with them for a while, we would have a "tickle fest" and just goof off and be silly and then they would go back to playing with each other. In the middle of their playing they both run up to me and hugged me and gave me a kisses and said "I love you" in Mandarin!!! This was without any initiation on my part for a change!

As we were getting ready to go out for dinner, Marc had his sandals on the wrong feet, Max noticed it and switched them without my asking! It is so good to see them look out for each other!

Pizza Hut Dalian China!

Later we went out for dinner and decided to stop at Pizza Hut, it sure was nicer than the one in our home town! I don't think the boys liked it all that much though but I thought it was great! Marc like the pizza bones (the crust) but not any of the rest of it! This was the first time we have left the hotel since being in Dalian that neither of the boys had a melt down when we left the hotel! They also stayed happy the whole time we were gone!

They gave the boys the little eagles that you punch out and put together!

Marc ready to eat!

Day 4 - July 17 Evening - Continued

2008-07-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

Pizza is here!

This guitar is for my Dad, it is not very far from the pizza hut and at one of the entrances to the Victory Shopping Plaza!

After we got back to the room they got baths and I laid down with them and they went to sleep in less than 5 minutes, so I can actually type with no interruptions for a change.It is definitely getting easier. I want to thank everyone for their prayers, they are definitely working!!!

I have not seen Regina all day as she was not feeling well and Bobby and the kids were at breakfast but he said he did not feel that great either so I am sending prayers their way for a much better day tomorrow!

Day 4 - July 17 in Dalian

2008-07-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well life has been better today, so far! Breakfast started out interesting! We went downstairs to the breakfast buffet that is included in our hotel and first they place us as far from the buffet as you could physically get. I think the guy thought Marc would start screaming and crying again. But the seat was clear around the corner so I could not see the boys while getting them food. (Not really a good idea!) I went and got them a plate each and brought it back but there was no silverware. I asked about 5 people before anyone seemed to really understand what I was asking for. They finally brought silverware for me but not for the boys. Then I set out on finding some they brought them plastic everything. So I went and looked for food for me which is a little harder since I am vegetarian. I did find some and then came back to the table the boys are ready for more so I go get their food and come eat a little of mine. Then Marc is done and decides he wants to cry because he is not getting his way (he wanted to leave since he was done). I told him no that Mommy needs to eat first or we would all have a terrible day! Finally he settled down when he figured out that I was not going to leave just because he wanted to.

Playing with the trucks sister Kaitlyn picked out for them.

They got to open them while they were on Skype with Kaitlyn.

After breakfast we went back to the room and talked to Dave and the girls through Skype so we could video conference. It was great to talk to all of them. I gave Kaitlyn a hug over the computer and she said it was not cuddly enough! The boys played for a while then I decided to take them out and look around and then go to lunch. We get ready to leave the room (the housekeeper is there cleaning) and get part way down the hall and both boys start crying so I turn around and go back to the room and have to sit in a chair and hold them and rock them for about 10 minutes all the time the housekeeper is watching me to see what is going on. I can tell now that Max is saying in Mandarin that he wants to go home so I explain in English that we have to stay almost two weeks and he has to go out and eat sometime, but that Mama is taking him to America on a big plane but we can't go yet and that Mama loves them and won't leave them! All the while hugging and rocking and kissing them and pantomiming going on a plane! The maid did smile when they quit crying and we left! (Could have been she was just happy to get us out of her way!)

This is the view from our hotel window. Underneath all the cement and green is the underground shopping center!

We went and walked around without further crying. There is an underground square, Shopping Center across the street from the hotel. It is pretty cool temperature wise and interesting shops. I was the only white person I saw and I do get a lot of stares out with the boys. At least they hang onto my hand very tightly! We found a shop we ate lunch in and before we are over Marc decides he has to go to the bathroom so he runs out the door to a potted bush and starts to pull down his pants. The lady in the shop gets very upset and told him to go to the KF they have a bathroom and he can't go where he is standing because it is public. So I give her some money (because I had not paid for lunch yet) and we run out the door to KFC. When we get back to the shop we were eating at (I had asked to have the rest of lunch boxed) she gave me my change and food and thanked me for taking Marc to the restroom. She actually spoke quite good english, She asked if they were adopted and then said she shouldn't ask that that is private. I told her it was OK and yes I had just adopted them both. We had a nice little conversation and she thanked me for adopting the boys and told me they would have a much better life in the USA.

Day 4 - July 17 in Dalian - continued

2008-07-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

We went back to our room and they have been playing nicely!

Day 3 - July 16

2008-07-17T06:44:00.001-07:00

Well today has been my most challenging day so far! We needed to check out at 7 am so that meant eating breakfast early, which was OK except I had to wake Marc up and he was not ready to wake up. I was lacking sleep because yesterday when I started to pack the boys would unpack as fast as I could put it in the suitcases. I could not get them to understand that we needed it in the suitcases, needless to say I decided to wait until they went to sleep, unfortunately that did not happen until I laid down with them and turned all the lights out! Well, you get the picture! I woke up at 2:30 am and realized I had not packed so got up and packed then and went back to sleep at 4:30 and got up when the alarm went off at 5:30 AM.

After breakfast the guide came by our room to help me take stuff down and check out. He has been very good and tends to look out for the boys and me. While he was waiting for me to finish up the last little bit he told the boys we were going to Dalian by train today! I was not ready for the reaction! Marc was fine but Max became hysterical saying he did not want to go back he wanted to go home with Mama!!!!! Our guide had to talk to him for quite a bit and I just sat down and held and rocked him and kissed him and told him Mama loves him and will not leave him and that we would stay together forever!!! That he would fly on a big plane to America with Mama to go home to Baba. He finally calmed down and then was his happy self.

The Shenyang Train Station is the building with the green dome!

Inside the train station.

The boys waiting for the train to come.

Max and Marc were both big helpers and carried their back packs and an extra bag each, and we were off to the train. Max made sure he was always holding my hand though and would not let go! Once we got on the train the ride was interesting! I really enjoyed all the scenery and took lots of pictures. About half way into the ride the guide told us that we had two more hours to Dalian, so we were about half way! Max started in again wailing and saying he wanted to go home (in mandarin) and he did not want to go to Dalian! Then Marc started in so here I am on a train with both my boys crying at the top of their lungs, sitting on my lap rocking them and holding them with Bishops sitting across the Isle and nothing they can do, the guide talking to them in Mandarin and everyone in our train car with their heads turned watching us trying to figure out what is going on. I am terrified at this point that someone will think I am kidnapping them and feeling just helpless for their pain and agony! All I can do is sit there and rock them and keep telling them Mama loves them and they are going to America with Mama! (Not that they understood anything I said except maybe Mama loves you because I do know that in Mandarin) This went on for 20 minutes or more! They finally settled down some and Steven (the guide) took Marc to the bathroom and I kept rocking Max as he was still crying. Steven brought Marc back happy and Max had quit crying so life was much better!

Day 3 - July 16 - continued

2008-07-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well that was just the first half of the day!

We got to Dalian and while checking into the hotel Marc starts wailing! He was tired and hungry and he becomes very naughty when he feels that way. At this point we are in the lobby trying to check in and he is crying. He finally stops when we get to our room but we just have time to drop everything and we have to leave for the Police station where we get the passport photos and apply for the passport. Marc starts crying again in the hotel before we get to the taxi and on the way over to the building we needed to go to. He stops long enough for his photo and then is just naughty while I am having the interview for the passport. The policeman that talks to me speaks english and wanted to know my I wanted chinese boys! I told him we had two chinese daughters also and then he really wanted to know why we wanted more children? Then he wanted to know where my husband was? When he gets all done he tells me I have "two very naughty boys and they will take LOTS OF PATIENCE!" I said yes I agreed with him! He finally smiled and let me go.

We were done and back to the hotel by 2 pm, I decided we would relax in the room for a while, I had some nuts and dried fruit we could eat and then could go out later for dinner. The boys played really well in the room until about 6 and we decided to go out. I said something about going out to eat and Max lost it again. I met Regina and her family and by now Max was crying and swaying from side to side and everyone looks of coarse. We are still inside the Ramada Hotel at this point and the bell hop is talking to him and telling me he says he wants to go home. I tell the guy I adopted him so he wants the number of the SWI so we can call them so he can go back there. I am thinking this is not such a good idea so Regina and Bobby agree to bring us something back and I take the boys back to the room. When we get to the room I have them put their pj's on and then we turned something quiet on the tv and all got in bed and snuggled. As soon as Max got his pj's on he calmed right down. Marc fell asleep but Max snuggled up next to me and after a while started talking some English some Mandarin. The part I did get he said he wanted to go to America with Mama. I told him we would go to America on a big plane but 1st we had to stay here longer. Regina and Bobby brought him back a hamburger and fries from oo. He ate his hamburger and gave me the fries, then crawled in bed and was out. It did not take long for me to sleep either as the day was quite draining! But me made it through another day!

Day 2 - Adoption Complete!

2008-07-15T15:27:00.001-07:00

Getting Ready to go back to the Civil Affairs! Must have sticker decorations!
This is what it looked like outside when we were getting ready to go to the Civil Affairs office! Rain! Rain! Rain!
The boys were quite good especially when you consider we had 7 families crammed in this small conference room and we were the first to get there and the last to leave! This province has not done very many adoptions and for these officials we were the first family with two children and having only one parent travel so they stumbled over our paperwork a bit! But it is complete and we are now officially a family! (We were in this little hot room for three hours!)
The director and personnel from the Dalian SWI after everything was complete! It seemed to stress both boys out when they were around but they would be very happy when these ladies left the room.

First Bath

2008-07-15T14:54:00.001-07:00

They had a ball in the tub for the first time together! We had water all over the bathroom! Including on Mom!

Max is my builder!

2008-07-15T14:47:00.001-07:00

He loves to build things and will be quite happy for a while just building different things, well that is until Marc comes along and tears them apart. We are working on that.

Wal-Mart!

2008-07-15T14:44:00.001-07:00

I put Marc in the cart because he wants to touch everything, but then Max wanted in also and they do not make any two seater carts here like they do at home!

Enjoying KFC!!!

2008-07-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

More Gotcha Day!!!

2008-07-15T07:44:00.001-07:00

These are more pictures from Gotcha Day! They were both already smiles and holding Mama's hand! They do look out for each other! It is very touching to see!

Happy Gotcha Day!!!

2008-07-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

The first picture is shortly after I got both boys. Marc the smaller one was happy right away and said Mama and held my hand and right with me. Max was not there at first but got there about ten minutes after Marc. You could tell right away Max was not so sure about this. He held it together briefly and said Mama then started to pucker up. When he started crying and saying he wanted to go home Marc would rub his arm and tell him it was OK, I learned this through the interpreter.

I gave them matching backpacks with matching toys! I am sure glad I had them the same because when we went to the store later they wanted everything the same or Marc would have a meltdown.

Marc wet his pants at the Civil Affairs so when we got back to the hotel and changed him Max took off his cloths and wanted to change also so now they have on matching clothes.

On the way back to the hotel from the Civil Affairs office our guide told the boys that later we were going shopping and not to talk to people and stay with your Mama. We went to the bank and some people started to ask them questions and they turned away and would not answer. The bank was my first venture out with just the two boys and myself! It was interesting to see peoples reactions! I would have loved to be able to understand what they were saying!

Later we went to KFC for lunch and then Wal-Mart! Nothing like going half way around the world and going to those two stores!

Bye Mom

2008-07-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Bye Mom

Debby left for China today at 2:00 PM. Can't say thank you enough to all that have helped with your prayers, thoughts and funds. Next pictures you see will be from China.

AND THE WINNER IS.........................

2008-07-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

We want to thank everyone that participated in our raffle!!!

It really helped us out a lot!

The WINNER of the raffle is:

Pam Weber

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Will Post the Raffle Winner tomorrow AM

2008-07-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am working all night tonight so we will do the raffle
in the morning as soon as I get home!

I want to thank everyone who participated!!! You helped make this possible!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am leaving Saturday July 12 for China!!!

2008-07-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone that chose to be God's Instruments in bringing our sons home!!!

I WILL be leaving Saturday to Bring Our Boys HOME!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!

God is Very Good!!!!

I must give Him all the Glory because otherwise there is no way this could have ever been orchestrated so effectively!!!

It is all in His timing and His timing works!

Thank you again!!!

Buy your raffle tickets for a
BRAND NEW Canon Digital Rebel XT EOS to help with our TWO Boys Orphanage Donation!!!

We are leaving the raffle open through tomorrow as we have a little bit left to cover but it is pennies compared to what we needed!

Raffle ends July 10, 6PM Pacific Time!

THANKS FOR HELP!!! CHINESE YUAN???

2008-07-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

I want to really thank everyone that has helped us so far!

We received word on the 4th that the province our boys are in is requiring
me to receive them on July 14.
This means I leave on July 12, next Saturday OR we have to wait until
OCTOBER and pay more!
No negotiations in the matter! ............ So that being said we are still
SHORT MONEY!

If you have any CHINESE YUAN lying around and are willing to donate this to
help us get our sons home.... I would greatly appreciate it to use towards
meals....

You can send me an email privately and I will send you my address.
Money would have to be post marked by Monday for East Coast - so that I
would get it by Friday before I leave.
Any amount is greatly appreciated!!!

We still have our raffle for our camera going on our blog! And you can
donate through the Kingdom Kids Account or through OUR ADOPTION AGENCY
who is taking all money directly and applying it to our adoption.

I know our faith is being tested but I strongly believe that this will
happen so our boys do not have to wait until October!

I am working 12 hours every night but two until I fly out! I will be getting off work
and heading to the airport next Saturday!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!!!

TA!!!

2008-06-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

We have our TA!!! We received it June 30 but it was signed 6-20-2008! I should be going in July to get our boys!!! I will be traveling without Dave but there is another family in our group that goes to the same SWI that I do so I won't be totally alone if we can work out the arrangements.

Canon Digital Rebel XT EOS Raffle

2008-06-28T12:59:00.001-07:00

We are raffling a Brand NEW digital Canon Rebel XT EOS with a 2gig memory card and 28-90 lens to help raise our Orphanage donation! Because there are two boys the amount is double! For every $10 donation through chip-in your name will be entered in the drawing, so you can get as many chances as you want! The drawing will be on Thursday July 10 at noon pacific time so I can put it in the mail before I leave for China. Our TA was issued on June 25!!!

It is BRAND NEW! First time out of box is just to take a picture of it! We were going to use it in on our trip but because the money is so tight we are raffling it and using a borrowed camera! Dave has been unable to get a job after being laid off last year so we rely on my income! To add to that he got sick and had to have surgery but is doing much better now!

I am working as much overtime as I can get, we are having a garage sale next weekend, I am selling stuff on ebay and craigslist and working on some other fund raisers!

Doing four adoptions in three years with three being in the last 10 months we have been struggling but we know God will provide! He has worked so many miracles in the last two adoptions that it just amazes us!

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers and support!

Fund Raising!

2008-06-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

We are still very short of funds to bring our boys home! We have less than a month to get another $20,000 together to complete this adoption! I know this sounds like a lot to most people but I know anything is possible with God!

We have set up a Kingdom Kids Account where people can make a tax deductible donation! Just make sure you put Dave and Debby Harmon Family in the designation box.

You can purchase your everyday needs through the www.Healthy Legacy.com site and all profits will go towards our adoption. With a $75 purchase shipping is free. This makes it so you can just buy what you already need and you are helping a child come home from China!

We have a Chip-in account if anyone wants to use it. You will find it on the side bar.

I am working overtime anytime I can get it!
I am thinking about doing some kind of raffle.
I am selling stuff we already have on E-bay.
We are having a garage sale.
We are selling stuff on Craigslist.

If anyone has airline miles they want to donate that would also help out a lot!

We have applied to several grants but have not received any yet.

If you think or other things we could do please let us know!

And most importantly please include us in your prayers!

Thanks so much for your support!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Birthday Marc!

2008-06-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

Today is an awesome Father's Day! Our older kids came over yesterday and did the cooking for a late lunch! Great food! We got to hang out and relax and visit. It was nice and Dave is feeling better every day!

Happy Birthday to Marc! Today he is 5 years old! We were wishing we could have been with him for his birthday but this will be his last birthday in an orphanage! Can't wait to love on him!

New Pictures of Marc and Max!!!

2008-06-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Marc with his birthday cake!

Max and his dimples!

The look on Marc's face looks a lot like Lexi.
The boys have sure grown since their last pictures!
I cannot wait until we can actually meet them in person.

Marc is having a Birthday!

2008-05-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

We contacted Ann from Red Thread China about sending a package and cake to Marc for his 5th Birthday. She contacted Dalian SWI and they told her we needed to have everything there the first week in June because they were busy the next week when his actual birthday is. They also said they would get both foster families and both boys there only if we provided a cake for both boys! So we decided to have them celebrate both birthdays! Maybe we can make up a little for lost birthdays! Here are the presents Ann picked out for us to send both boys! Marc's gifts are above and Max's are below.

The cakes are ordered and will be delivered directly to the SWI. Ann has requested that they take digital pictures of the party and forward them on to her. She will then email them to us! Then there is tea for the foster families and Ann also interpreted a letter we wrote to each foster family explaining that we are adopting both boys and they will be brothers and that we should be coming sometime this summer! We also thanked them for caring for our sons and loving them.

LOA for our TWO BOYS

2008-05-28T11:36:00.001-07:00

Just last night Katy piped up out of the blue and said "Mommy let's get on the plane and go get Marc and Max!"

First thing this morning we had and email from our agency that our LOA is suppose to get to them tomorrow for our TWO BOYS!!!!!!!!

Were are doing THE HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!

Now we are PRAYING FOR OUR FINANCES! This has been a giant leap of faith and we are still quite short on the funds! I know God has a plan it would just be nice to know what it is!

Earthquakes in China!

2008-05-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Tremor injuries 900 and they say killed only 8 people but the risks of floods increase. I have been unable to actually write about any of the earthquake events it has just left me numb. I cannot even image being in their situation. I just want to sit and hug my children!

The overall death toll is in excess of 65,000 now and expected to continue to rise as there is close to 23,000 still missing. It is just beyond words or comprehension. All I can do is prayer for protection around those that are still living and especially for the children that have lost their parents! I worry about the teenagers that have lost everyone as they are too old to "adopt" and who will take care of them. To go through such loss and devastation and have no one would be absolutely horrendous!

We are so thankful our boys are not in the region affected by this earthquake!

Maria Sue Chapman

2008-05-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is one more tragedy that is incomprehensible! The Chapman family have done so much for the international adoption community it is so hard to see them loose their own child when they have helped so many orphaned children come home. I know I have been greatly blessed by their music and ministry.

Our prayers are with this family and we ask God to especially be with the son who was driving the vehicle, bring him peace lord. May tremendous good come out of this horrible tragedy!

May is starting out with a bang!

2008-05-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Dave came down with the "flu" on May 1st! Well it appeared to be the flu. He felt generally like crap, hurt all over, did not feel like eating, ran a low grade temp, etc. I was in a stretch of 7 night on at the hospital so for Thursday, Friday and Saturday I would come home from work, get the girls up and dressed, feed them breakfast and play with them a little bit then wake Dave up about 10:30 am and let him watch them while I slept for a little while and then get up fix them dinner and get them ready for bed and me ready for work. Needless to say it was exhausting.

Monday, May 5th Dave was worse, (kinda looked like death warmed over) so I called his doctor and got him in to see the doctor. He did some lab work and sent us home said it looked like the flu. Well on Wednesday the doctor called and wanted to see Dave to follow up on the lab work. I took him in, the doctor ran some more tests and then ordered a CAT scan which could not be done until the next afternoon.

Thursday the 8th of May I took Dave in for his CAT scan and we ended up in the emergency room at the hospital. It was not the flu after all it was Dave's Gall Bladder and it had partially ruptured so Dave was admitted for IV antibiotics. The surgeon said it was to dangerous to operate at this point because he would likely end up septic and he wanted to give him IV antibiotics for anywhere from 2 days to a week in the hospital depending how he responded.

Fortunately for us the good Lord was looking over him! The surgeon was amazed that the doctor had even caught it because Dave did not even have classic symptoms! Besides that he said no one ever goes this far as it hurts to much so they always end up in ER sooner rather than later. The IV antibiotics did there job sooner than expected and Dave was discharged on Saturday the 10th just in time for the Mother Days Dinner our kids had made for me.

We had an awesome weekend!

2008-04-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dave and I went to a leadership conference this weekend. It was really nice to get away without any children. My sister flew in to stay with the girls at our home and we rented a car to take out of town.

Saturday our oldest daughter took her aunt and two little sisters up to see the tulip festival. It was a great plan but she took our jeep that was having some difficulty, long story short it broke down and we ended up getting it towed back home. It was quite the experience long distance. Our older son is letting us borrow his 87 suburban while we figure out another vehicle. One more not so little expense to add in to our life right now but I know it will work our some way!

Kaitlyn never ceases to amaze me!

2008-04-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

We were riding in the car to church and Kaitlyn pipes up "Marc and Max are crying in China!" I said "Kaitlyn why do you think they are crying?" Here response was "because they miss you and me Mommy!" "Are we going to get them today?"

We moved to a larger House with fenced in Yard.

2008-03-26T13:55:00.001-07:00

Easter weekend we moved to a new to us house that has a fenced back yard with a swing set and slide. The girls love it! I am sure the boys will also! Some friends kept the girls all day Friday while we did the bulk of the moving! That was such a blessing. We finished the cleaning of the apartment last night so now it is just down to organizing our new home!

WE ARE LID!!!!!

2008-03-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

We ARE LID as of today!!!

(LID = log in date, means dossier is logged in, in China)

Other good news, we received new to us pictures of the boys!

They are both digitally dated 8-30-2007

Max

Marc

Our two little boys

2008-03-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Marc

Max

DTC Finally!!!

2008-03-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Our dossier was sent by DHL to China today!!!!!

On top of that we received updated measurements for our boys!

Katy and Marc are 41 inches tall and both weight 42 pounds. Katy is 5 months younger than Marc and Marc is 9 months younger than Max. Max is 45 inches tall and 54 pounds.

Am I addicted to Adoption?!?

2008-03-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

This was written by a fellow adoptive mother and it states my feeling so well that I asked her permission to post it here.

I'm Charlotte and I'm addicted to adoption....and PROUD OF IT! :)
Is it about addiction? Nope.

It's about being a mom and seeing kids that
need a mom. How can I ignore their cry??

Am I addicted to adoption? Yes and PROUDLY so!

Am I addicted to the paper chase? Oh heck no! I mean there are a few
joys, when you complete one task and can move to the next but
addiction worthy? I think not!

Am I addicted to the wait? Oh double heck no! lol I find no joy in
waiting for what I want, regardless of what it or they are. :)

Am I addicted in the attention received from adopting? Are you
kidding me? For the most part, I only experienced non-friendly
attention for adopting. Definitely not that.

So what causes the addiction? I'm a mom and I can not look past a
child needing me without the urge of rushing to their aide, scooping
them in my arms and saying 'I'm your mother now, you are no longer
alone in this world!' I walk the floor endless hours of the night
with my children, endure toddler fits and angry outbursts. Teach
manners and words, help with homework, play nurse when they are sick,
rejoice and dance with them when they learn a new task, cry with joy
upon seeing love for their family in their eyes and hearing a child's
voice tell me they love me. I proudly display the grade K paper from
my youngest son, proclaiming to his whole class, 'I love my mommy
because she hugs me'. I have days where the first words I hear
are 'You ruined my life!' because I insisted on lunch being ate
before playing in the snow and end the same night with the same child
signing to himself how he has the 'prettiest mommy in the world'.

So, is all this addiction worthy? In my books yes. And I don't want
any recovery! :)

Care Packages!

2008-03-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Ann from Red Thread China

is sending a care package to the boys for us!

We attached a letter to the director and a letter to be read to the boys. We included candy for them to share with the Nannies and other children at their SWI. We are hoping and praying that it is actually given to them right away and they don't wait until we actually come to get them.

I-171H is here!!!!!!!

2008-03-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

Our I-171H finally came Wednesday night with approval for two! Today we took it to Olympia and had it authenticated and then by FedEx to Washington DC where it will arrive tomorrow. On Monday the courier "The Assistant Stork" will take it to the State Department to get there seal and then to the Chinese Embassy. They pick it up Tuesday and it is FedEx to our Agency arriving Wednesday AM!

Our Dossier will be off to China next week!!!

I-171H is Approved!!!

2008-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

We received an email today from Yakima (in response to my pestering) that our I-171H was approved on 2-11-08 and we should be getting it any day in the mail!!!

This is the last thing we need for our dossier to go to China!

Cultural Norms and Accepted Practices

2008-02-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

China Babies is an agency that does research on children being adopted from China or those already home. Here is a link to their site China-Babies. They do research all over China and do it in a very ethical manner. They have some very good points about cultural norms and accepted practices in the Chinese culture.

The following is from one of China-Babies' newsletters.

"Sometimes we hear discussions and rumors about folks who are scared to death of 'making the SWI's mad'. These stories probably originate from hearing about people who have tried to pry information out of orphanage staff or Directors without realizing the ramifications of how their methods are perceived or accepted.

Dealing with China, Chinese people, and Orphanage System workers who operate in a communist country is no simple matter. If one takes a 'Western' approach in dealing with them, or tries to pry into their affairs un-invited, this is asking for problems.

I am half Chinese and come from a second generation Chinese American Family. We have relatives and ties in China, and we are very aware of the cultural and communicative factors involved in dealing with Chinese that many in Western societies are often ignorant of.

We are careful to employ several critical elements when in pursuit of research and information for your family, for these very reasons.

To begin with, our researchers in China consists of Chinese Nationals who not only understand Chinese culture and the appropriate way to interact, but they are also working inside the Adoption System. They are familiar with the protocols, Directors, and Staff throughout the country, and when asking for permission to compile information and access records, they are not considered outsiders or strangers.

If an American, or even a Chinese who was not involved in the Adoption System, were to phone up an orphanage Director and request information, this would obviously receive a vary different reaction.

On top of that, our researchers observe Chinese cultural norms and accepted practices, some of which are outlined here:

1. Mianzi (Face)

The idea of shame, usually expressed as 'face' could be loosely defined as the 'status' or 'self-respect' in Chinese. It is the worst thing for a Chinese to lose face. We do our best to never insult, embarrass, shame, yell at or otherwise demean a person. Neither is it a good idea to try to prove Chinese wrong or shout at them in public.

We never make demands. We find we get much better results by calmly explaining the situation and requesting assistance politely in correcting the problem. By doing this, our host can offer an act of friendship rather than "losing face" by giving in to a demand. Most Chinese will go out of their way to help if it is presented correctly.

2. Guanxi (Relationships between People)

The fundamental glue that has held Chinese society together is the concept of guanxi, relationships between people. It is very important for the Chinese to have good relationships.

3. Keqi

Keqi not only means considerate, polite, and well mannered, but also represents humbleness and modesty. The expression is most often used in the negative, as in buyao keqi, meaning 'you shouldn't be so kind and polite to me,' or 'you're welcome.'

4. Greetings and Introductions

It is important when starting or opening a greeting for the most senior person to introduce themselves and then the next senior person, thus working down the rank in your company or organization.

Even when Chinese business people visit Western countries, they will mostly walk in the room with the most senior person leading the party. This custom is a matter of respect and honor, these two words are probably the most important in Chinese culture. Normally when you are shaking the hand of a Chinese official or business person it is polite to slightly bow your head forward, but not your whole body.

Chinese prefer to formally introduced to someone new. We always stand up when being introduced and remain standing throughout the introductions.

Shaking hands in an affirmative manner is wisely accepted and com practice in the Chinese business world.

We use both hands when presenting business cards and ensure the writing faces the person to whom we are presenting our card. Cards should also be received with both hands.

We do not immediately put the card in a pocket or bag - as this is considered rude. When seated, we often place the cards on the table and wait for an appropriate time to put them away.

5. Social distance, Touching & Gestures

The Chinese do not like to be touched, particularly by strangers. This is an interesting point to note, as Westerners often hug, back slap or touch peoples arms. Chinese, however, generally don't have the same sense of personal space that North Americans do. It's not unusual for Chinese people to almost press up against you while speaking to you.

Other gestures which can be considered rude are:

Pointing with the index finger; it is better to use the open hand instead.

Using the index finger to call someone; it is more polite to use the hand with fingers motioning downward as in waving.

Snapping fingers.

Showing the soles of shoes.

Whistling.

6. Eye Contact

We make an appropriate amount of eye-contact with our business partners during communications. Staring or absence of eye-contact can be considered impolite.

7. Dining Etiquette

Chopsticks should not be played with during a meal (for example banging them on the table), used for pointing or left standing up in a rice bowl.

The socially-acceptable method for eating rice is to bring one's bowl close to one's mouth and quickly scoop the rice into it with one's chopsticks, but simply lifting portions of rice to the mouth from the bowl held in the other hand is also acceptable.

8. Gift Giving

If invited to a family party, small gifts like wine, tea, cigarettes, or candies are appropriate. Also fruit, pastries, and flowers are a safe choice.

Wedding gifts and birthday gifts for the aged are always sent in pairs for the old saying goes that blessings come in pairs. The number Four reads like death in Chinese, this it is avoided.

Clocks are also in-appropriate, as it sounds like attending other's funeral. The colors black and white are connected with death and sorrow, so should avoided.

It is best to wrap gifts, but avoid using white paper as it symbolizes death. Red and gold are best.

When receiving gifts from the Chinese, we do not open them unless they insist.

9. Meeting Times

Chinese usually tend to come a bit earlier to show their earnestness. It is not regarded as being late if one shows up to a meeting within 10 minutes of its scheduled time.

10. During Meetings

When entering into business negotiations, verbal communications are enough and we avoid using to many gestures.

It is important to not take the Chinese nod for agreement; it's only a sign that they are listening attentively.

If a Chinese person gives a compliment, it is polite to deny it graciously. Modesty is highly valued in China."

They go on to say:

"As with everything we do, your privacy and the privacy of your child is our highest concern. We maintain strong relationships with the Directors and Staff of the SWI's and are careful not to do anything that would jeopardize those relationships. We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the research we conduct, and often cross-check facts multiple times. Anyone who has dealt with the staff of Chinese orphanages will be able to attest to why this is so important.

We hope this has helped you to understand why we have been so effective in securing information for hundreds of families over the years."

New Information on our Sons!

2008-02-20T00:25:00.001-08:00

We found out today that both of our sons are at the Dalian SWI and not in foster care. China-Babies has permission from the Dalian SWI to get some more information about our sons and get some new pictures! So hopefully in the next month we will have more information about them. We can hardly wait!!!

On the I-171H note we are still waiting for it to get to us! Please say your prayers that it comes quickly so our dossier can get to China!

I-171H

2008-02-05T23:46:00.000-08:00

We are still waiting for our I-171H !!! I emailed the Yakima CIS office and received a reply that it would still be a couple more weeks but that it is in the final phase, whatever that means. I am trying to relax about it but that is so hard to do!!!!!

WE GOT OUR PA!!!!!

2008-01-28T08:50:00.000-08:00

WE ARE BLESSED BEYOND MEASSURE!!!

We just got a call and our PA = pre approval came in today with approval for BOTH boys!!!!! Our sons are coming home!!! It is dated Jan 23, 2008! 40 DAYS from LOI to PA!

We are still waiting for our I-171H to come in the mail and we can get our Dossier sent to China!

Still Waiting

2008-01-25T17:12:00.000-08:00

We are still waiting on our PA and our I-171H!!!! We need the I-171H before we can finish our dossier to go to China! We keep praying that both come right away! Please keep us in your prayers!

Documents Authenticated!!!

2008-01-17T16:22:00.000-08:00

So our documents have been authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in San Fransisco and sent by Fedex to our agency this afternoon!!!!

We are still waiting for the I-171H! This is our last document. We are praying this comes soon.

We are praying we get PA = Pre-approval soon from China CCAA!!!

Chinese Consulate in SF

2008-01-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

So friday all our paperwork except two documents, was sent by FedEx to a courier in San Francisco to be taken in to the Chinese Consulate to be verified. This is the last step before it goes to the agency and then off to China as our dossier. It should get to the agency by friday of next week and hopefully out to China. I will be really excited when it is in China and more exciting when we get our PA (pre-approval)!!!!!

2008-01-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

Fingerprinting is Done!!!!

2008-01-03T20:37:00.000-08:00

We drove over to Yakima today and turned in our paperwork and had our fingerprints done. They said it takes three to four weeks but that they have six to complete it. Last year they told us four to six weeks and it took ten days so we are praying that they can be as quick this time. We would like to have our dossier in China before Chinese New Year.

It was a beautiful drive! There was fresh snow falling and both girls got to get out in it and play for a little bit up in the pass! Katy loved it but Lexi was not to sure about the whole thing!

Home Study is Complete

2008-01-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

We have our finalized home study in hand!!! Tomorrow we are driving to Yakima USCIS office for a walk in fingerprint appointment. Last year when we did this for Lexi it just took them 10 days to get our I-171H to us. We are praying they will be that quick this time.

Pictures sent to CCAA with our LOI

2007-12-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

Kevin, Lexi, Debby, Dave, Katy, Rachelle and Kurtis!

Dave and Katy Sailing on Our Daughters Sailboat!

Katy, Debby, Dave and Lexi on Katy's 4th Birthday.

One of our Princess', Katy's 4th Birthday!

More LOI Photos!

2007-12-18T18:59:00.001-08:00

Kevin's at UW college Graduation holding Katy!

Grandma and Grandpa with Kevin and Mom & Dad at Graduation!

Alexis

Kaitlyn

Part of the Family at Kurtis Graduation!

We sent several Family Pictures with our LOI, here is some more.

2007-12-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

Katy and Kurtis getting our Christmas Tree 2006

Dave and Katy 4th of July Watching Fire Works

Kurtis' Graduation with Katy, Rachelle and Jonathan.

LOI sent TODAY!!!!!

2007-12-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

OUR LOI was sent today for both our boys!!! Now we just PRAY and WAIT!!! Last week Diana sent an email to the CCAA giving them a head-up and priming them for our LOI. Both Sara and Diana are awesome to work with. Diana stated they sent a long letter with our LOI and not to get to anxious it could take a couple months to get a reply!

We will take all the prayers we can get. We are praying for a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

Orphans of God!

2007-12-14T19:17:00.001-08:00

'Orphans of God' by Avalon. The message is clear - God knows no orphans. He is the father to the fatherless. It gives me some comfort knowing our boys are never out of his sight, or his reach and that he has everything in control!

The Wonderful Heart of a Child!

2007-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Katy just watched the "Orphan of God" video with me and we were talking about these children not having mommies and daddies. Her comment was "We need to get those babies and bring them home so they will have a mommy and daddy!" She would tell me this with every child she saw.

What a WONDERFUL HEART!!!!

Our Letter to the CCAA requesting our sons.

2007-12-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

We, James and Debby would appreciate the honor and opportunity to apply to adopt Guo Xiang Qi, born June 15, 2003 and Guo Wu Kai, born September 24, 2002, both from Dalian City SWI, in Liaoning Province. Please understand that we realize it is not an easy decision or a frequently granted request to adopt two from China, but we feel heartfelt to ask your valued consideration. We also understand the important decision making process that is involved when CCAA grants requests for adoptions. We have complete respect for the CCAA process of adoptions. It is with our deepest, heartfelt humble request for both of these little boys to be our sons and feel it would benefit them to be part of the same family as they are from the same city and SWI, they are close in age and have the same special need, therefore they will be able to not only have physical similarities but also share a part of their ethnic heritage of their country and province, and both of these boys are harder to place, as they are older. We respectfully request that you allow us to adopt Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai to be a part of our family. Our children are just as excited as we are about having Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai to become members of our family!

We are a strong, loving secure family with much to offer both of these boys. They will be loved and cared for equally as our other children. They will have siblings who are caring and excited with the possibility of having two brothers added to their family. They will also have grandparents and extended family who eagerly wait to meet them and share their love.

We realize we are older parents and we feel that would be a great benefit to both Xiang Qi and Wu Kai as we bring a lot of parenting experience into this family. They will be older than our two daughters adopted from China and would make a great addition to our family.

We will do everything we can to take care of Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai’s medical needs. We have already discussed Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai with our pediatrician, Dr Julian Davies and researched their condition with our insurance company. There will be no problems in getting the treatments either boy will need. Our first step will be to take Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Xiang Qi to our primary care pediatrician, Dr. Julian Davies, who specializes in health care for internationally adopted children. We have already had their files reviewed by our cleft surgeon Dr. Jennifer Keagle who works with a team of specialists at the very renowned Seattle Children's Hospital, which is only a 15 minute drive from our home. There, Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai will receive the medical attention they will need by a craniofacial team of specialists. This team of specialists offers various services in addition to surgery. Xiang Qi and Wu Kai will be assessed by specialists in the following fields: dental and orthodontic care, speech therapy, hearing, feeding needs, assessment of psychosocial needs, and nursing evaluation. We are very privileged to work with such an outstanding team of specialist, providing the best care possible for Xiang Qi and Wu Kai’s specific needs. We currently work with this team for our daughter, Alexis, also adopted from China, who now has a repaired cleft lip and palate and will be pleased to work with them again for Xiang Qi and Wu Kai.

In addition to outstanding available medical care I, Debby am a pediatric nurse and have a great deal of experience dealing with special needs professionally as well as personally as both of our daughters from china are special needs. They are both progressing exceptionally well, mentally, emotionally and physically. We have kept them active and learning, making sure they received all medical care necessary along with speech therapy and physical therapy for Alexis.

We are also very pleased to be a part of an outstanding school district. The City of Kirkland school district offers assessment and services in a specialized program for children birth to age 5 such as English as a Second Language, Speech Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. These services are also available to school aged children, which we can utilize if we feel Xiang Qi and Wu Kai will need them once they are in school.

It is our desire to cherish Xiang Qi and Wu Kai 's original language and culture. We recognize that heritage is very important. Therefore, we will be in contact with local organizations that can assist us in keeping Xiang Qi and Wu Kai 's original language familiar to them as they also learn English. Living in the Seattle Washington area we have more of these kinds of opportunities than what may be available elsewhere. We have hired Mia Nelson, Mandarin is her native language, to tutor our family in Mandarin so we can communicate with both Xiang Qi and Wu Kai on some level when we are united with them in China, this is something we plan to continue so all of our Chinese born children remain or become fluent in their original language. We also continue to keep up on current events in China, and continue to research and learn about Chinese culture so that Xiang Qi and Wu Kai can grow up being familiar with their Chinese roots.

Both my husband James and I, Debby, are very involved in the well being of our children, emotionally, educationally, as well as physically. Xiang Qi and Wu Kai will receive the same love, care and adoration from both James, and myself (Debby) as we have bestowed upon our children. We vow never to abuse or neglect Xiang Qi and Wu Kai in any way, but to love and cherish them with all our hearts, in word, in action, and in emotion, the same as if they were born to us. They already hold a strong loving place in our hearts.

We feel a strong desire to have both boys as part of our family; both Xiang Qi and Wu Kai are special to us. We cannot imagine having to choose between the boys and this is why we have asked for this special consideration. As we stated before, we feel we have a lot to offer both boys, but most importantly we feel we have an enormous amount of love to give Xiang Qi and Wu Kai.

We knew we wanted to return to China again to add to our family after adopting our daughters, Kaitlyn XiaoJing from Nanjing China and Alexis JinYing from Xuwen China, both of which were special needs children. They have been such an incredible blessing to us and are dearly loved and treasured by all our family and everyone who meets them. Having Kaitlyn and Alexis as our daughters has only increased our desire to bring home a son, and we would be deeply honored and blessed to bring home two sons. We cannot express how much we appreciate your consideration for us to adopt another child into our family, and it is our hope and prayer that CCAA will allow us the opportunity to proceed to adopt both Xiang Qi and Wu Kai to be a part of our family. We thank you for your gracious consideration and respect CCAA’s willingness and desire to find loving homes for each child, and of course, we respect any decision made by CCAA.

If CCAA feels they cannot grant our request to adopt both boys, we would greatly appreciate approval to adopt Guo Xiang Qi, though it is an extremely difficult decision for our family to choose between these two precious boys. We deeply feel Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai are both our sons and a part of our family.

We are entering into the adoption of our sons willing to accept whatever their future may bring to us as a family. In our hearts, they are already our sons. Thank you so much for your hand in bringing our sons Guo Xiang Qi and Guo Wu Kai to our family. We are so anxious to bring them home to love and care for them.

With great sincerity,

James and Debby

Boys Names

2007-12-06T02:16:00.000-08:00

So we have been thinking about names and we are not sure what we will end up with. Any suggestions would be great. We definitely want to use David for one Middle name and William for the other but not sure what first names to use.

For first names we are considering Maxwell, Michal, Marcus, Mitchell and Matthew.

Maxwell = Greatest

Michal = Who is like God

Marcus = God's Warrior

Mitchell = Who is like God

Matthew = Gift of God

2007-11-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

Wu Kai
born September 24, 2002
Resides in Liaoning, China

Likes Balls and Cars

"Wu Kai is clever, lovely, optimistic and generous. He loves to learn and to do
activities. He is very sociable. Whenever he goes, he is always one of the most
active children. He is very popular with little children and teachers."

He will be the oldest of the four younger children and shares a birthday with his big brother Kevin.

Four birthdays in one week in September!

IT'S TWO BOYS!!!!!

2007-11-30T13:06:00.000-08:00

We Have Our Other Son's Referral!!!!! Sara called and sent us the referral about an hour ago! His Chinese name is Guo Wu Kai, the other family, that had him on hold, called and said they were sorry and "did not know why it wasn't working out but he did not seem to be their boy"! I am amazed, it really looked like it was going to be one son and now it is two!

Now the real work begins! Keep saying your prayers!

I will post a picture as soon as I can!

Happy Birthday DADDY!

Home Study Started.

2007-11-28T22:51:00.000-08:00

Our social worker come to our home and checked it out. We gave him some of the signed documents and have more to fill out and give to him. He is willing to speed things along so we are one step closer to getting our dossier ready to send to China!

I still have a hard time believing we are really going to China again!

The agency called and they have placed all the other boys so it looks like maybe it is only one son, but I still feel like we are suppose to bring two home! I will definitely leave that up to God!

Sent in Application and Started HomeStudy

2007-11-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

Today we sent in our application to adopt again! We officially have started the process. We have also contacted an independent home study adgency in our area and Mike will be at our home on Wednesday for the preliminary interview. Our goal is to do walk in fingerpints in Yakima on December 19, 2007, at the latest by the first week of 2008.

We have started gathering all the other papers needed for the Dossier and we are praying the Dossier will be on it's way to China in January! We would love to be able to travel in May of 2008! Before Marc's 5th Birthday!

Somehow we have to come up with the money needed, this is a big stretch of our faith!!!

It's a Boy!

2007-11-20T16:50:00.001-08:00

We have offically acepted the referal for our son Xiang Qi DOB is June 15, 2003

He is in the Liaoning Province in China at this time and we are unsure if he is in a foster home our at the Dalian SWI.

"Xiang Qi is very handsome. With his big eyes and swarthy skin, he looks like handsome gentleman. He likes vegetable and fruit. Like most children, he also likes sweet foods. He is brave, with strong will, clever, kind-hearted, lovely, and naughty. His voice is resonant. He is loved by his foster parents and is popular with the children in the village."

2007-11-19T22:41:00.000-08:00

We are working with a wonderful agency that is submitting a request for us to adopt two boys at one time from China. It is something that rarely happens and even when there is an agency that will make the request, China rarely approves it. Our agency has two little boys from the same city, with the same special need and both their files are due to be returned on November 30.

God, you want us to do WHAT?!?!?!

2007-11-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

God, you can't really mean that! Another Child, oh not one but two!?!? We already have eight! You have got to be KIDDING!!! Are you really sure??? But Dave is past the age limit and we just came home three months ago with our wonderful baby girl and what about money? People say it is impossible to adopt two boys from China at one time that are not related to each other! Yes we know nothing is impossible with you!!! But aren't you stretching it a bit here???

OK God, if you REALLY think this is what is best than we will have to say yes, even if everyone thinks we are nuts! If you work it out than we will open our hearts and our home to two more wonderful children of yours! You are an amazing Father and nothing is beyond your ability, we will leave the details to you!