Update!

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!!!

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!!!

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!

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!

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

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

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)!