Reunited-Back in the US

We are home and glad to be! This picture was taken this past Saturday morning. Everyone together and doing well.

Rewinding a bit to Friday when were in the middle of our flight-a-thon. We started in Guangzhou and took a 1 and 1/2 hour flight to Shanghai. We spent some time in Shanghai and then were in the air for 15 hours on this 757 where we spent the most time that day. It was thankfully a very good plane because it stayed in the sky amidst some of the most wicked turbulence I've ever experienced. Thankfully it didn't last long but just enough to encourage crying and barfing in the cabin... After arriving in Chicago we just barely made our flight after going through customs and waiting for shuttle trains.




Upon our arrival in Minneapolis we were reunited with our boys, family and a couple of close friends. Thanks to all for all of your prayer and support. We are very thankful!

Bethany experiencing some static while playing in the tents with her brothers in the basement.

Unfortunately we have run into a bit of a snag with Bethany coming home. Everything was going fine until we picked the dog up from our friend's...She is terrified of our dog Chewie. As a result he is spending a lot of time in his kennel until we can help her feel more comfortable with him. This has caused quite a bit of anxiety for the whole family but since many of our friends and just about everyone in our neighborhood have dogs... Chewie is not likely to go away. We are going to slowly work with her to help her feel comfortable with him. Not ideal but we are working with the cards we're dealt. Prayers needed.

Look at Chewie's pathetic look! He's had some time to perfect it!

Today Bethany had her first doctor appointment and it was confirmed that she has a double ear infection. She is on medication and hasn't displayed any symptoms of illness. That should be taken care of soon. We also contacted the cleft pallate clinic today to begin to determine what the next steps are for her future repair. This is something we want to do at the right time since the most important thing is that she feels loved and a part of our family. We also don't want to put it off for too long because without her pallate her speech development (among other challenges) are impaired.

Well, we definitely haven't been as good at posting the past few days since we were in China. I guess it has something to do with a job, three more kids and a life that doesn't involve free time in a hotel room or traveling to exotic places. We will however continue to share our journey as it unfolds but maybe not quite as often as the past couple of weeks.

Finally, please pray for our friends Tom, Deb and Ian as they continue on a challenging journey. Their story is shared here and I am sharing it with you in the hope that you will join with us to pray and support them in the days behind and ahead.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ianhenderson

Dan

Ok, one more from China...

Dan here,

Can't sleep, I guess its the upcoming travel. I feel compelled to talk about the many ways that God has blessed our journey. The most obvious evidence of that is through the people he placed along the way. We were glad to have shared part of the journey with all in our travel group, the Wades, Andersons, Davidsons, Rexroads and our guides Rosa, Maggie and Glen.

Most notably our travel partners and now friends the Grimaldis. They have been a great encouragement, comedic relief and shoulder to lean on as we've navigated this foreign land. We've been greatly blessed to have them with us for the entire journey. Hopefully we've been an encouragement to them as well. Here are a few moments captured along the way...

God bless you all as you go home tomorrow, keep the faith!

This is it...our last post in China!

We have been so blessed to have had great travel partners throughout our journey. These families have all been ordained by God to bring their children home from China. (West family missing)

Hello again...one more time...from a hotel room in China!

Today is the day we got to say things like..."this is our last breakfast here...this is our last lunch...tonight is our last sleep." It is wonderful. We have definitely enjoyed our time here and have learned a lot about where our daughter is from, but we are homesick and so ready to be home as a family of 6. Please pray for our safe travels tomorrow, and for our transition home...for our quick recovery from jetlag (everyone here says going back is worse than coming), for a peaceful introduction between siblings, and for patience for all of us as we find a new "normal" in our home. Thank you so much.

Yesterday and today God has really been speaking to my heart about remembering that he is in control. Watching coverage from the inauguration, God whispered this to my anxious heart. Reading the caring bridge update about our friends' son who is battling an inoperable brain tumor, God breathed this to my anxious heart. Thinking about our 3 flights over many miles and many hours, God spoke this to my anxious heart. Despite his wonderful provision and peace that He has given us in this journey, I still allow my fear and anxiety to cloud my vision of Him. Daily I stumble, and daily He lifts me up...our God is an awesome God!

The only thing on our "agenda" today was our visit to the U.S. Consulate to swear that all of our paperwork was accurate for the processing of Bethany's passport and visa. Our guide kept saying, "Now we will go to the Consulate to swear." It was funny. Anyway, since we had a lazy day, we did a little packing and then took a taxi with the Davidsons to "Beijing Road" which is where the locals shop. Our guide, Rosa, said this is where she shopped, instead of the touristy Shamian Island. So off we went, to have yet another authentic Chinese experience. The place was very busy with literally thousands of Chinese...in shops more Western than Chinese, although a few of those shops were peppered in as well. The most memorable part for me was almost running into a little boy who had dropped his pants in the middle of it all to pee. I had heard the people in China do this, but this was the first time I had actually seen it. Needless to say, we were careful not to step in any puddles. :)

Chris enjoying the cab ride to Beijing street in Guangzhou.

Kristen, Jonah, Becky, Bethany and I all jammed into the back of the cab.

Shopping on Beijing street. Kind of felt like going to the Minnesota state fair. There was even food on a stick!

A sea of people moving in every direction.

One of many examples of how the locals bundle their children up needlessly. It had to be at least 70 degrees outside. This guy had on at least two layers and in some areas three. A sweat box!

The "swearing ceremony" was noisy, as there were probably 50 adoptive families there. Cameras were not allowed, so Dan couldn't take any pictures. It only took a minute and that was it...we have crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" and signed all there is to sign while in China. There is some paperwork to do once we are home (and unfortunately another $1000 or so in fees), but we are official and able to go home. Praise God, Hallelujah, and AMEN! From there, 2 families left right for the airport to leave, and the rest of us save 1 family leave at 6 am tomorrow morning for Shanghai. The last family goes to Beijing for 2 more days before they head back to Boston...hang in there, Andersons! We all head back to our respective homes with our families brand new! Now it's off to bed, as our wake-up call will come at 4:30 a.m. and our luggage collected at 5 am!

We hope you have enjoyed following our journey...we have enjoyed recording it. See many of you soon!

Love,

Dan, Becky and Bethany :)

This was actually from a couple of days earlier at the White Swan hotel. A beautiful pond and waterfall inside the hotel.

Hello everyone!

Two sleeps left before we make our way back home. While we continue to experience great things here, we continue to swing towards home in our hearts. We miss family, friends and co-workers. It is still surreal that I am here in China bringing home a little girl to change her life and our family forever. Thank God for this opportunity, the blessing of a daughter, and the great support that we have and continue to receive from family in so many ways. We are excited about our homecoming and the many memories that we'll be able to share in the coming days and months.

This morning we woke up later than usual as there wasn't anywhere to rush off to. Our guides went to the Chinese consulate to obtain visas for our children to leave the country. This didn't require our presence only that we be available in the event that there were questions. As of this evening all of the paperwork went through with no problems for all in our group. Another hurdle crossed! Tomorrow we visit the consulate to finalize everything before we are totally ready to leave the country with our children.

After we were released from our hotel, we ventured out to CarreFour (grocery store) with the Grimaldis to pickup some supplies. That was fun as we were able to catch a cab using the card that the hotel concierge wrote up in Chinese telling the cab driver where we wanted to go. We had lunch and got back just in time to leave with the group to the Chen Dynasty Museum and Art Display. I have included some pictures below of some of what we saw there. Many ornate buildings and art pieces. Truly amazing how much detail was put into the artwork and buildings.

After a few minutes relaxing at the hotel, we were off to dinner at the upscale Banana Leaf Thai restaurant. This is something that has been done with many other groups as a celebration for completion of all of the paperwork/process to bring your children home. It was a great celebration as we enjoyed the food, conversation and entertainment. Lots of pictures below. To end off the evening we stopped off at Starbucks for some sweets with Chris, Kristen and Jonah Davidson and walked back to the hotel to wrap up another day. Bethany is asleep and Becky and I are close behind. She has been going to bed so easily the last few nights. Actually she has been asking to go. I think we are wearing her out with all of the activity.

Good night all and God Bless!

Dan (& Becky)

A monument to Chen ancestors.

A comical piece of Chinese art...

A very small and old Chinese woman who had very much to say to two young boys running within the museum...

Becky and Bethany at dinner tonight...



The Davidsons getting ready for the big meal at the Banana Leaf.

The Rexroad family (the doctor) at dinner.



Thai dancer/singers sharing a Thai folk song, "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog"...

Shopping, anyone???

Bethany helped me to display 1/3 of the breakfast buffet that we enjoy every morning in the rotating restaurant on the 45th floor of our hotel.

Hello once again,

Three more "sleeps" as our fellow Minnesotans have said until we come home!! We found out today that we leave the hotel at 6 am Friday morning to make our 9:30 flight to Shanghai, which arrives about noon, and then we wait in the airport until 5, when we leave for the 13.5 hour flight to Chicago. From there we hopefully get through customs fast enough to make our flight to Minneapolis - HOME!! It's going to be a VERY long day, but well-worth it at the end. We also found out that our seats on the flights are NOT together, so please pray that we can negotiate something with the airline or with surrounding travelers that day. The flight will be long enough as it is, and even longer if we are not together.

Our friend Chris Davidson with his son Jonah before the reality of physical examination and thus the crying hit. Priceless.

Okay, on a more positive note, we got through another hurdle today...the "medical exam." I put it in quotes, because among adoptive families it is known as a joke...they don't really do much and in fact, our guides said that on the form which asks if our child has had a fever or not that we are supposed to check "no" no matter what. They basically weigh and measure your child, look in their ears, listen to their chest, and give them a look over - and that's it...but we need the signature to get the visa and get out of the country, so we fork out the money and get it done.

Sharon Grimaldi exercising her freedom of speech in places where it has never been exercised (or legal) before... Notice the sign above...


A red couch with all of the kids in our group. Not quite the red couch, not quite just the kids that were adopted on this trip...

After the official business,we had as much of the day as we wanted to do more shopping on Shamian Island, so SHOP WE DID. We also had lunch with most of our group at the infamous "Lucy's" where they have great western food. Dan had a cheeseburger and I had a chicken wrap. We then headed over to the equally infamous White Swan Hotel, where we had our kids line up for a picture on the red couch...not sure it was the couch we've seen on many other blogs, but it worked for us! It was a gorgeous day out, and we found some gifts for the boys and a few people that are taking care of things for us while we are away. The salespeople are very friendly, very service-oriented and very PUSHY, so it is quite exhausting. Bethany reminded us towards the end of our afternoon with some of her behavior that she is a tired 3 year old, and she fell asleep during the cab ride home. Upon awaking, she happily shared some Pringles with daddy. :)

Both of the above pictures were taken with shopkeepers that we made some purchases from. The lady in the second spoke Cantonese (Bethany's native) and was from Wuzhou City (Bethany's hometown).

Tonight we were finally able to connect with our fellow Minnesotans the Bjorlins for dinner at the Italian restaurant we had been to earlier in the week. They taxied over with a few other people from their group, and we "hosted" the evening. Evidently, the restaurants on our end of town are a little better on their end, so the place was a hit. Now we're settling in for another night in preparation for another day tomorrow.

The decorations for Chinese New Year in our hotel lobby...

It was good this morning to talk to our boys after they had been back in their own beds for a night after being gone 10 days in Sioux Falls. They were excited and refreshed and that makes it easier for me to be gone these last few days. I CAN'T WAIT to give them the hugs and kisses I've been storing up while we've been gone.

The light show on the front of our hotel. It's much bigger than the pictures gives credit for...

Good night, and happy inauguration day tomorrow!! :) (HA!)

Love, Becky for the 3 of us

The following were taken on Shamian island. Turns out it's a popular place for wedding pictures to be taken. And because the Chinese Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) is just around the corner, it's a very popular time of year for weddings. First they take the "western style" picture, and then the more traditional, usually red attire picture for the bride.

What day is it???

I constantly have to ask myself that question...what day is it here and what day is it back at home? It kind of feels like living in 2 different worlds at times - the one we are presently in, and the one we came from and are longing to get back to!

I'll tell you - I CANNOT wait to get back to western bathrooms!!! I am so sick of the squatty-potties, and even when there are western toilets here...the women still tend to squat over them, leaving a combination of shoe prints and urine on the toilet seats!! YUCK! I know it's probably more than you wanted to know, but trust me...much better for you to read it than I have had to experience it. With a three year old toddler who has a propensity to drink a lot of liquids and a small bladder, I have seen way more Chinese bathrooms than I ever would have preferred. If I never see another one again in my life, it's just fine by me!

Bethany's new sunglasses!

Our guides Rosa and Maggie.

Well, onto today's agenda: this morning we were taken to a "park" which our guide Rosa said we would a "botanical garden" back home. It was very green, very colorful, and very pretty with a huge variety of plants and flowers. I think Dan took a picture every 5 feet or so - seriously!! Whatever he posts on here is a minute fraction of what he has taken. I think he should put everything he has photographed into a (large) picture book and sell them to help pay off our adoption debt! :) (scroll down to the bottom for more text and even more pictures...)

After being at the garden for a few hours, we were brought back to the hotel, and that ended our day's planned activities. A group of us headed for McDonald's and after lunch we came back to our room for some down time. Last night Bethany soaked her bedding and jammies, and I think it was mostly because she was so tired from the past week. So, after some play-doh time, we put her to bed for some quiet time. Dan and I managed to briefly snooze as well, so we all got a little extra rest today.

Some of our friends came by for a chat in the late afternoon, and then we met up at 4:30 to walk to an outside cafe that served Korean food. Dan had a hot pot, and I munched on a little of his meal and some of Bethany's spinach soup. I'm really not hungry the past several days...not because I'm sick, but because I'm just tired of all of the different foods. I am really craving a chef salad right now, but it's not terribly safe to eat fresh produce here...the rule is, if you can peel it, it's ok.

Anyway, we had a nice time at dinner, and then we picked up some goodies from a bakery on the way back to the hotel and hung out at the Andersons room, which we have jealously labeled "the Presidential Suite." It's a lot larger than the rest of our rooms, so it's a nice place for a number of us to congregate and let the kids play. Bethany hasn't been too interested in interacting with the other kids much. She spent time playing with a baby doll, rocking it and feeding it. This would correspond with what we were told about her, that she likes to be a caretaker.

Bethany pointing out her Chinese zodiac sign.

Some of us adults spent some time talking about the lack of "gentleness" and inhibition in these kids. It's pretty interesting...Bethany can be pretty dainty and particular and focused in some areas, but then she can be rough and abrupt in others. A couple of the words we constantly find ourselves saying to her are "gentle" and "careful." She actually slapped Dan in the face tonight...not in a malicious or naughty way, but just because she was being a bit wild and crazy.

We are now ending our day, getting ready for bed. Bethany has gone to bed very easily the last 3-4 nights. We lay her down with a book and her doll and she's out within minutes. Hopefully, this will continue when we get home!!

Tomorrow we have Bethany's required medical appointment and then more time on Shamian Island for shopping. We are hoping to connect for dinner with the Bjorlins, the other family here from Minnesota that has been in the other travel group this whole time. Four more nights here until we can come home - I can't wait. Please continue your prayers for our safety...we really appreciate them. We give thanks each and every night we are here for our family and our friends, and for God's provision to us and to Bethany as we get to know each other.

Love from China, Becky (and Dan)