Red Couch Picture and Consulate Appointment

Last night, all the families got together in our room for a pizza dinner. The babies got a chance to play together. Each of them was in a good mood, and they really enjoyed getting together. Mia had been holding a Snickers wrapper all afternoon, and it captured the attention of every baby in the room. There were many times that Snickers wrapper changed hands. I'm not sure who eneded up with it in the end, but it was a source of many moments of entertainment.

It's a Snickers free-for-all!

Hannah says, "I got it!!"

Mia , in her sweetness, chooses another toy while the others still look for the elusive Snicker's wrapper.

Traditionally, all the adopted children get into a group photo at the White Swan on the "Red Couch". There are actually many red couches here, but we cose this one for our group photo. In all the adoptive photos, there is rarely a picture without at least one baby crying, one trying to get down, and many not looking at the camera. You wuld think with a group of 5 this should be eaiser. Well, indeed our photos were no exception.

Just the babes! Mia is not happy. Hannah wants to go over and take a look!

Mia is better, Adrianna is still checking on her. Kambry is just hanging out, and Hannah is ready to move on!

Kai joins the group and no one is crying!!

This afternoon, we went to the US consulate for our swearing in ceremony and to receive our US visa for Hannah. There are no cameras allowed in the consulate, therefor, there are no photos...

Usually the swearing in ceremony is quick, sweet, and goes without a hitch. However, today, due to some computer problems, the US consulate was only able to issue about 1/2 of the visas applied for. Our group was the only group to receive all of their visas. What a blessing. We had two families leaving this afternoon and 2 families leaving first thing in the morning, and we needed Hannah's passport back for our appointment with the German consulate tomorrow. Unfortuanletly, not every family in the other groups was as fortunate, and many were scrambling to make plans to rearrange flights and book additional nights at the hotel.

Medical exam day

Today Hannah underwent a medical exam for her visa. She was none too thrilled, but it went rather quickly. We didn't tell her that once she gets home that she has to go though another one :). Tomorrow we will be going to our US consulate oath taking ceremony, then she will have her US visa. One down, one to go!

Height 74.5 cm, or 30.4 inches and 20.7 pounds! What a big girl!

Everything is great, but Hannah thinks undressing is the hardest part of the exam!

All Done!!!

On the way back from the exam, we passed a school where they were having their morning announcements. They also participated in group exercise before school.

Nearby, the adults were also participating in a group exercise. It looked like line dancing to Chinese music. There was also a playground for adults. Everyone was working out this morning!

Tomorrow is the swearing in ceremony at the US consulate, where we promise (again) to care for and never abandon our new baby. After that, Hannah will have her US visa!

Can we say busy?

Life is certainly busier now that it has been in recent times. I had these idyllic dreams of posting every day and letting everyone back home follow along in our journey. Obviously that has not happened. It is not that I do not think of you all the time, but getting a moment in front of the computer is a whole 'nother thing. It seems that we are up early, off to go to an appointment, sightseeing, or paperwork, late home and exhausted at the end of the day.

On Thursday, we took a trip to the new Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing. It has only been open for a few months. There were many interesting exhibits on Chinese life, currency, wars, and the building of the Three Gorges Dam. We did not get to see it all in our short trip, but it was really nice. After the museum, we went out to dinner for Chongqing "hot pot". This is usually a very spicy dish, but they took it easy on us. It was quite good, but it did take us a little while to master the cooking.

Us in front of the 3 Gorges Museum

Famous hot pot dinner. The pots in the middle of the table are boiling. The outer pot is mild, and the inner pot is VERY spicy. You dip raw food in the boiling soup, then take it out and eat it once it is cooked.

Hanna sleeping through the hot pot.

Friday, we did paperwork...lots of it. Then Friday afternoon, we went to the Liberation Square in Chongqing. We at at McDonald's and it was the absolute highlight of the day. It is not that we do not like Chinese food, but that we are just missing home. We did a little bit of shopping, then had to catch a taxi home. That was interesting. We are not seasoned taxi riders, and flagging a taxi is not as easy as it seems. We were able to get them to stop, but when we showed them our hotel card, they would wave us away. Thank God for the bellboy at a hotel on the square. He came to our defense and got us a taxi. Seems that our trip was not short enough, nor long enough to be profitable to the taxis, so they were refusing to take us. Of course, they are not allowed to do this, but we were gullible tourists. We didn't know that you should get into the taxi and THEN tell them where you want to go. Lesson learned!!

Liberation Square is quite busy and full of shopping centers, most of which were quite expensive. We managed to find a bargain or two.

Hannah's first taste of McDonald's. Yum!!!

Saturday was spent at the airport and flying to Chongqing. Hannah screamed through taxiing the aircraft, but then slept through takeoff, flight and landing. I had forgotten what it is like to take a baby on a plane. Looks like we will get some more practice later this week, when we go home. We are staying on Shamian Island off the southern coast of China and our hotel looks over a harbor that is better lit than Vegas!!

Today is Easter. We really wanted to go to church today, and there is a Christian church on the island, but we did not find out about it until later in the morning. It was cool and cloudy, and we spent the majority of the day walking around the shops. Everyone here is happy to help us spend our hard-earned dollars. The shop owners are well versed in what to say to get you to stop in and shop at their stores. Everyone wants to give you a "discount - only for you". Yeah, we know...but it doesn't keep us from buying it anyway. You can go broke saving money here, so we have tried to be careful. :)

Hannah after her morning bath...isn't she a doll??

Hannah's favorite activity...eating!! She loves to eat everything, and all the time!!

Sorry we didn't post

Yesterday...Hannah officially became a member of our family. Not that she has not always been a member, but now China recognizes it officially. It was a very busy day. Hannah had her first bath with us, had her first hairbow, changed clothes 3 times while Mommy tried to decide what to she should wear and what would fit, ate her first breakfast with us, went with Mommy and Daddy to fill out a ton of paperwork, changed clothes again, went to the civil affairs office, saw her Nanny, posed for pictures, watched Mommy and Daddy put their thumbprint on their signatures, and then went to a celebratory dinner. What a day!!!

Hannah's first bath. She LOVED it, and didn't even cry when we washed her hair.

First hairbow, then Mommy changed her clothes! Mommy is so silly!

Hannah's nanny from the orphanage.

Hannah was helping Mommy eat at the celebratory dinner.

But what she really wanted was her own bite!!

Daddy's girl!!

Today...We all went to the zoo to see the Pandas. Hannah was not too impressed, and fell asleep. Daddy held her the whole time. We did a fair amount of walking around the zoo, and looked at some animals. The girls got plenty of attention from the locals! We gave them a good looking at too, especially when we saw a set of twins, who were happy to pose for a picture for me. later, we went to an art gallery and picture museum for the Flying Tigers. We had a picture of Hannah's name in Chinese made and purchased a famous Chongqing leaf painting. After that, we went back to the hotel for a rest and some lunch. Lastly, we too another trip to Wal-Mart for some necessities followed by a Pizza Hut picnic in the Johnson's room. Another busy day!

Pandas!!

Daddy and Hannah at the Pandas

Hannah loves being held by Daddy. Mommy is OK, too, but Daddy is better!

Twin girls

Panda embroidery at the art gallery/Flying Tigers Museum

Rice paper paintings

Tomorrow we are off to the Three Gorges Museum, and possibly a trip the the city square, and a famous Chongqing hot pot dinner.

Life is a little busier now that we have Hannah. She is a little fireball! For a 10 month old, she is into everything! She loves her toys, her Daddy, Mommy and her brothers. We got her first smile, hug and laugh in the first few minutes of receiving her, and it hasn't stopped! She has her moments, but for the most part, she is just a happy go lucky, curious, active baby. She stands, crawls forward a little bit, wants to eat what you have, sleeps all night, takes her bottle well, makes kissy faces. She is an absolute doll and we are totally in LOVE with her. We can't wait to get her home and share her with everyone. For now, I am off to bed. Love to you all!!

Hannah is here!!

She's here! She's here!

I'd give you the rundown, but instead for now, i will just post pictures. Maybe later I will write about our day.

Waiting families

We were first!

Beautiful baby girl!!

Proud parents

Family photo

Group photo

On to Chongqing

Guess what we did today...that's right! We got on an airplane to Chongqing. However, even that seemingly simple task was an adventure. First, our flight was supposed to leave at 1330 (1:30 PM for you non-24 hour clock kind of people). Now, you would think that we wouldn't have to be at the airport until say...12:30, right, for a domestic flight? However there was another couple going to Jilin province today while we were going to Chongqing. But their flight left at 11:30, so we had to be there at 10:30, which means that we were packed up and leaving the Beijing Mariott at 9:30 AM. It could have been worse, we could have been leaving at 8:30!



But there is more - our flight to Chongqing was delayed by an hour and a half...so even more waiting. Too funny! When it was time to board the flight, our seats were all over the place. Some people were together and some miles apart. After, we all got on, we found that there were empty seats next to some of the families while their spouses were clear across the plane - go figure!



We arrived in Chongqing, which was cloudy and cool, and went to our hotel. The hotel is really nice, and each room came equipped with a crib, baby bathtub, baby toiletries, and a cute pair of baby slippers. It was exciting to walk into our room and have baby stuff.

Hannah's "for now" crib, already set up and waiting.

It came complete with a Panda, just for her.

Here is the bathtub and toiletries provided by the hotel.

And her own personal pair of slippers...maybe a little to big for now.

After our luggage arrived, we all went to the hotel restaurant. We decided that since we were going to have Chinese food tomorrow, and we all wanted a little comfort food, we thought that we would go to the "Traditional Bar and Grill". The "Traditional Bar and Grill" was complete with crystal glasses and a wait staff that outnumbered our group. We were expecting to be able to order burgers and fries, not lamb chops and steak. There was just a little bit of a language barrier (I know, imagine that) when they came and filled our glasses with water. "Is it tap water or bottled?" Hand motions and a wine menu followed. "Bottled water", followed by more motioning of one opening a bottle finally got the message across.

They brought our water and dumped part of one all over me. Brrr, it was ICE COLD! The waiter was more than just a little embarrassed. We got over that, and everyone's glasses were filled. The rest of the time was spent sharing stories about funny incidents, interesting experiences here, and conversation about our girls arriving tomorrow. As usual, once the food arrived, the conversation settled down and we ate. Several of the men ordered steak, and they all ordered it medium or medium well. They all looked pretty good, except Keith's. It was still mooing. Now try to explain that. More hand motions. How do you motion "raw steak"? Whatever we did, it finally got the message across, and they removed his steak, and later brought him a nicely done yummy chunk of beef. Much better!

They boys were hungry again very quickly after dinner, but we were pretty limited on our snacks, so down to the concierge dest to find a 24 hour convenience store. After much discussion between the reception desk and the concierge, the concierge took us for a walk. I guessed it was better to show us than to try to explain how to get somewhere. We went from a luxury 5 star hotel to a local residential neighborhood very quickly. We passed by street vendors and outside food stands everywhere. Our concierge stopped at a few places but was not satisfied with the answers that he received. We were not about ready to sample anything that he did not recommend. Finally after making it around the block, he said that we would have to wait until business hours tomorrow and took us back to the hotel. I'm glad he took us because I would have never entered that neighborhood on my own.

After we got back to the room, we remembered that we had some instant oatmeal and Kuyler had some cookies from the airport. So, the boys all got together for some late night snacking!

Now, we are all off to bed for some well earned sleep. The babies are supposed to be here tomorrow evening. We are going to Wal-Mart tomorrow to pick up some needed baby items prior to their arrival. We are hoping to do a little shopping for the orphanage as well.

Beijing Day 3

Well, I trust that my posts are going through, since I cannot actually view my blog from here. funny thing, the first day I could, but now I can't. My theory - China can't block everything, but they can block something once they know it exists. Maybe after I accessed my blog from here it signaled something to block it. I hate to think that there is anything on my site that would offend the Chinese government...

Today was a LONG day! Keith and I were up quite a bit of the night. It seemed that once we finally fell asleep, the alarm was going off. Now, it wasn't really that bad, but it was not a great start to the day. Fortunately, God has better plans for us than that and He is not hindered by our lack of sleep. At breakfast, we met the rest of the wonderful families in our adoption group. We have been so blessed by the people in our group.

After breakfast, we went to the Great Wall, but on the way, we decided to stop at a government owned Jade factory. Goods that are sold from a government store are of guaranteed quality. Goods that are not sold from a government store are not as closely regulated. So, if you are going to purchase a good quality anything, best to go to the regulated store, unless you can tell fake from real...which we can't. Here is a photo of one of the workers polishing a jade dragon statue.

After the jade factory we actually made it to the Great Wall. Keith and the boys climbed to the top and purchased bronze medals with their names on it. The are truly heroes, at least in the eyes of Chairman Mao who once stated that only real heroes make it to the top. I personally made it up a modest amount, but then headed back down to chat with some of the ladies from our group. I did at least make it up high enough to get some decent pictures.

This picture is also at the Wall. These are locks placed by people who have been married at the Wall to symbolize their union. Pretty neat!

After our jelly legs recovered sufficiently, we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. This particular restaurant happened to be located right next to the Pearl Market...MORE SHOPPING! I guess it is a good thing that we are made of money! Anyway, we managed to spend just a few of our hard-earned dollars there, too.

From the Pearl Market, we walked to the Summer Palace, home of the largest pagoda in China.

Here is a glimpse across the lake at the Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace was the summer retreat for the emperors who lived in the Forbidden City that we visited yesterday. It was beautiful, but we did not see the whole thing. The place is HUGE! China does not seem to do anything on a small scale!

Inside the outer portion of the Palace, there was a gentleman writing a poem on the ground with long wet brushes. His writing was beautiful. This is a hobby of his and, according to Vivian, our guide, is a method for him exercise both body and soul.

Tomorrow, we are heading to ChongQing Province. We will have to leave pretty early for the airport, so this evening before I drag my sore, tired body into bed for a LONG night's sleep, I have to repack the suitcases. But, it is so worth it to be going to the province where Hannah will soon meet us. We are almost there!!

Beijing Day 2

Today we we joined with another couple from our adoption group, Tim and Jodie. We started the day off with a buffet breakfast in the hotel. It was good stuff - a nice combination of western, European, and Chinese.

After we had our fill, we boarded the van for a trip to Tian Men Square. This is a huge square, covering over 160 acres! The square is pretty much dedicated to Mao. His HUGE picture is on the gate to the Forbidden city. Which is where we went next. Now I know that you all would liek to se some pictures of this portion of our adventures, but I left my camera in the van. I did get some video, but it will take me a little while to sort through all the excess footage.

For lunch, we went to a Hutong family home. Hutong is a place where there are some single dwelling homes that share a courtyard. This used to be the way of life in Beijing, but in the 70's the government forced people out of these homes. It wasn't until 2004 that this particular family was given back their home.

The husband of the family, who did not wish to be included in the picture is a Tibetan Herbalist, and his family is considered higher class, and this portion of Beijing is a fairly well-to-do neighborhood.

There were only 7 of us, and they brought out TONS of food. Way more that we could have possibly eaten. It was all quite delicious!

To get to this house, we rode on bicycles with a bench on the back. These are called rickshaws. It was interesting weaving in and out of traffic, with some close brushes with walls and vehicles. The rain made it even more interesting. Still, though it was quite fun! This is the view from the rickshaw as we were passing the canal.

After lunch we went to a tea house. This teahouse was government run, which just means that it is regulated by the government. There we were shown a traditional tea ceremony and were given samples of tea to try. Of course, this was followed by the opportunity to buy said tea and teapots to serve it with. Yes, we made our contribution to the People's Republic of China and purchased a lovely tea set and some tea. Hannah will get to have a nice tea party when she is old enough.

Tomorrow we are going to the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. More pictures to follow...however the more important thing is that tomorrow is the last day of sightseeing for Beijing, because the next day we fly to Chongqing where Hannah is!

Beijing Day 1

Our first day in Beijing...exciting! We landed about 6 AM local time, cleared customs rather quickly, then were met by our guide, Vivian. She had a driver take us to our hotel where we checked in then promptly crashed.

After we woke up, we took a small walk around the local area to find some food. We went to a European-style bakery that our guide had recommended. David picked out a piece of cake with chocolate chips in it - or so we thought! As he was eating, we discovered that they were actually beans! Funny!!

We also ordered pizza (I know, not exactly Chinese). It was good stuff.

We walked around a littel bit more, wathcing the people around us. There were a lot of people walking and biking. Traffic is crazy with lots of horn blowing and weaving in and out of lanes! We hoped we were safe on the sidewalk, but weren't exactly sure.

After that it was to the 24 hour store to pick up some bottled wather, then back to the hotel.

We went swimming this afternoon, then had dinner at the hotel. Tomorrow we are doing some official sightseeing!

We are here!!

We have arrived safely in Beijing, and also have taken a much needed nap. We are getting ready to go explore for a little while. The next post will include pictures!

Take Off!!!

That's right! Today id the day! We leave home in a couple of hours and fly out this afternoon. The next post will be from beautiful Beijing, China!

One!!!

We are done packing - almost! The kids are done with school and we have all of their assignements. David has his Eagle Scout Board of Review (interview) this evening. Just a few more boxes to check off and we are ready to leave tomorrow.

Two!!!

We are leaving day after tomorrow. Today, we plan to finsih packing, install the car seats, put up the baby gates, and all the last minute stuff we can cram into one day. Tomorrow will be almost as busy with all the really, really last minute stuff! I can't wait. China, here we come!

Three!!!

Sunday! I love Sundays! We did not do much in the way of preparation for our trip today, except show Jarod around the house. He is the wonderful young man who is taking care of our pets and house while we are in China. The dogs were on their best behavior (thank goodness!) and even the cat was social. Whew! We didn't scare him off, even after we told him all the quirks about the pets. We have been so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. God has provided for us in SO MANY ways.

Everyone at church was wishing us a good trip today. In a way I am so sad not to be able to take all of my family and friends with me to get Hannah. Everyone has been so supportive and loving. I can't wait to bring her home to her new family, her new extended family, and all of her new friends. She will be as blessed as we are!