HANGING AROUND - WAITING TO COME HOME!

March 14, 2007
We haven’t been doing much except hanging around the hotel for the past couple of days. We are waiting on Mylia’s visa and our consulate appointment. Then we will be heading to Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon and then on Friday we will be heading home!! I can’t wait to get home and get settled into a normal routine. Yesterday we did go to a museum here in Guangzhou, but, I hate to say it, it was kind of boring. There were tons of steps and Mylia was asleep on my shoulder so it was a bit difficult to navigate the steps. We saw tons of ceramic pillows. And then we saw more ceramic pillows. Once you see as many as we did, they all start to look alike.

Anyway, I wanted to post a few more pictures. I probably won’t post anymore as we will be busy packing and getting ready to head home. Thank you for following us on this journey of a lifetime to our daughter. Your prayers and support have encouraged us along the way. Continue to pray as we start the last leg of this journey to home and then as we begin our life with Mylia at home. I guess that is when the real journey begins. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

MEDICAL EXAM

March 12, 2007
Today we had Mylia’s visa medical exam. They checked about 17 babies in about one hour. They had several stations we had to go through. They checked her weight which came to be 8.0 kg. which translates to about 17 pounds. She had all her clothes and her shoes on for this. I am not too sure how accurate their scales are because she is wearing the size two diapers which go to 16 pounds and they fit her with a couple pounds to spare. Of course, one of the father of one of the mom’s here said that she is carrying about two pounds in her cheeks alone.

The first pictures posted today are of Mylia playing on Daddy’s lap. Too Cute!!! Enjoy!!

CHEN FAMILY TEMPLE

March 11, 2007
We had breakfast here in the hotel. Western food – YES! I had French toast and hash browns that were outstanding. I think I will eat much better here in Guangzhou. After breakfast we visited the Chen Family Temple here in Guangzhou. We enjoyed this tour very much as it was a very beautiful place. There were blooming azaleas and statues in the gardens. There were different rooms with artifacts and paintings. One room was full of the most beautiful embroidery I have ever seen – the picture doesn’t do it justice.

After the tour, we came back to the hotel and went out for lunch at the famous place called Lucy’s. Again…western food!!! We hear about Lucy’s on the websites of those who adopt all the time. Now, I know why – very good. We had cheeseburgers that were very good. Then we went shopping – that was fun…too much fun! Mylia got bored with all the shopping and fell asleep.

I just can’t get over how much we love this little girl. She is so precious. She doesn’t cry, although I would like her to sometimes. She doesn’t cry when she is wet or hungry. I think that she learned early on in her life that it just didn’t do any good to cry. I want her to be able to develop trust in Clayton and I so that she will know that we will take care of her needs and it is ok to cry to communicate those needs to us. We have had her with us for one week as of today and have only heard her cry a couple of times. I know I have said this before but, God has blessed us so much with her and we thank Him for His timing in all of this.

JUST HANGIN' ROUND

March 9 and March 10, 2007
Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. We mostly sat around the hotel until time to go and pick up Mylia’s passport. Today was Mylia’s first airplane ride as we flew from Nanchang to Guangzhou. All families who adopt from China will eventually stay here in Guangzhou as this is where the American Consulate is located. This hotel is filled with Westerners who have just adopted. The hotel we are staying in is called the White Swan. It is a very nice 5 star hotel. It is so beautiful inside. It has beautiful views of the Pearl River and lots of different restaurants, Clayton and I ate in a “living room” type of a lounge and had pizza tonight for dinner. It has a lot of places within walking distance to shop and sightsee. Clayton is, as I type, walking to a 7-11 to buy drinks. Yes, there is a 7-11 here. Mylia and I would have gone with him, but she wanted to have a bottle. (she kinda rules the roost right now) I think tomorrow we are going sightseeing with the group on a boat tour. Enjoy the pictures of Mylia playing on the bed and a picture of her first flight.

March 7 - Pavilion; March 8 - Village

Yesterday we went to a Pavilion. From what I could understand, it was a Pavilion that represented the four different dynasties here in China. With each dynasty they would change the Pavilion and it would be different from the dynasty before it. While we were there, we saw a Chinese dance and music show. It was pretty neat. Mylia could have cared less…just wanted her bottle. By the way, she likes it with rice cereal and hot.

Today was mostly just hanging in the hotel until 2:00 when we went to a village outside Nanchang city. We stopped on the way to buy little gifts of candy and pencils, stuff like that, to give to the children of the village. It was so sad. It was worse than any slum in the states. They were thrilled to receive a pencil or candy from us. It made me so glad to be living where we do. I got to thinking about if God had not chosen Mylia for our family, what kind of conditions would she be living in. Maybe not even as good as what we saw today. We in the United States need to grateful everyday for what we have.

Tomorrow, all we are doing is staying around the hotel and doing more paperwork. I think it is paperwork in preparation for the Consulate appointment when we get to
Guanzhou. That is where we have her medical appointment for her visa. I just can’t wait to get home and settle in to a daily routine.

SIGHTSEEING IN NANCHANG

March 7, 2007
Yesterday, we went sightseeing here in Nanchang. We went to a park and a temple. In the park there were a lot of people dancing and exercising. I guess here in China, instead of going to the gym, they go to the park. It was kind of cute to see all these people (in several different parts of the park) in groups dancing or exercising. The park also had a
lot of amusement type rides also. After the park we went to the temple. You would go in one level and then there was a courtyard type of an area, then go through another building with “gods” in it and out the other side to another courtyard type of an area. This went on for four levels. People were burning incense and bowing all over the temple. They were bowing to statues. It was so different from anything I have ever seen.

Mylia is really coming into her own. She just jibber jabbers all the time. She smiles and laughs a lot when we play with her. She seems to be very content and happy to be with us. God’s timing is perfect. I feel like we are the most blessed people in the world.

WE ARE FOREVER A FAMILY

FOREVER A FAMILY – What a great day!!

It’s official…we are Mylia’s parents! We had two appointments this morning. One was at the adoption center where they asked us a few questions like; “what do you do for a living?” “Why did you want to adopt a baby from China?” “Do you promise never to abandon this baby?” After that, they gave us the adoption certificate. De kept saying that this is the official legal document that makes us this baby’s parents. We then went to a Notary appointment where she basically asked the same questions. Then we came back to the hotel to spend the rest of the day as a family. I fixed Mylia a bottle and she is now napping. When she wakes up we are going around the corner to KFC for a late lunch, early dinner type of meal. Then we are going to walk a couple of blocks to check out the local…get ready for it…Wal Mart. Yes, that is what I said…Wal Mart. They’re everywhere evidentially. That should be fun.