Next Stop

Today, we packed our things up and headed out on the Bullet Train...not an easy move with luggage and 5 of us!

Making the move towards the city of Guangzhou in the southeast at speeds up to 206 kilometers per hour on the train.  This is where the US Consulate is that will give the children final approval to travel to the US.

We watched as small villages buzzed by....farms, rice patties, locals working in the fields, water buffaloes, mountains giving way to open valleys.  The landscape is quite different than the big bustling cities that we have spent our time in so far.

This is the last leg of our journey.  Tomorrow the children will have their medical appointments.  We will have the weekend to explore the area before our Consulate appointment on Monday.  Then it will be another paper chase until we obtain  Sara and Jacob's visa's.  Once that is done, we are free to travel home.

Jacob has asked about going home since we left Beijing.  He longs for it.  He has drilled each guide how much longer before we leave.  He seems to have settled in for the wait.

Sara is more on the quiet side.  She dotes on Jacob and has rescued us a few times on food orders and stepped in when I struggled with communication.  She has very few English words but is very attentive and has helped because she knew the situation.  She is a sweet heart.

Brandon and Michaela have been great blessings on this trip.  I am grateful for their presence.

Thankful for the story that has unfolded so far....excitedly waiting for the next chapter.

Laughing Our Way Through

Yesterday was a huge relief after all we have been through in the past week plus....and it is officially Sara's Birthday!

But...we have laughed a lot...probably more than we should because when mom is tired...She laughs more!  And with jet lag...well, all of us have laughed a lot.

Let me show you....

We got these awesome pictures on the wall because....

Michaela did this!

This boy had never been on an escalator or a subway and he is now a pro and likes to show off but his look coming through the turn style is priceless!

We have been stopped by many people....I mentioned this before.  But yesterday, we walked along the river and had stopped for a rest.  A group of tourists were walking by with a guide and his little microphone hanging off his belt waving a flag so they would all stay together...a common scene here.  I bent over to Michaela and told her...watch, they will all ditch him and we will become the spectacle.  Now, mind you, we were just sitting on the bench.

So, the group started chattering among themselves and looking at us and out came the phones taking pictures of us.  Next this woman plopped her little self between Michaela and I and had her friends taking pictures.  This scene happened over and over until they were done.  One man even pulled Brandon in.  We were good sports and are probably all over social media somewhere for the retired but we sure made them happy.  A few of them questioned our new kiddos what we were all doing...more odd looks.  One gentleman questioned Sara so long, I pulled out one of our prayer cards that has a picture of all of with Sara and Jacob on it too...he kept counting the kids over and over.  I have no idea what else was exchanged but he smiled, gave me a thumbs up and went in his merry way!

Some fun at the park...

This happens behind my seat when I am trying to be serious listening to the history of the People in this region.

And this boy just keeps it rolling....

This one too...

And then there is this one...

Laughter is the best medicine...seriously!

Officially Adopted

Sara

Guess who we have....the crazy thing is that there hasn't been an adoption yet...communication errors....it will happen in the am but wanted to share a glimpse of her!

Please pray for her heart....know she shed some tears when we left the civil affairs this afternoon!

Nanning

Hi from Nanning...it is 85 degrees and humid and back home they are bracing for a Nor'easter...up to 16 inches of snow.

It is 85 here but folks are dressing like it is winter.  We are all walking around sweating in short sleeves and long pants while they wear sweaters, coats and such.

On Saturday, we had a down day...we caught up on napping, laundry and cruised around this huge hotel to check it out.  We are on the 14th story...and can you imagine we have a window that opens and has no screen on it!

Yesterday, our translator took us to Quingxiu Mountain.  It really isn't that big of a mountain...more like a hill.  It is about 40 hectors....I will let you do the math on that one.

But....it sure was pretty!  Beautiful landscaping, waterfalls, and flowers ...lots of flowers.  Their specialty are orchids but we found many exotic and familiar flowers in between.

But the funny thing...we were a big hit!....people took picture of us constantly...some not so discreetly!  One woman asked to snap a picture of the two of us together...her husband took the picture.  She was so excited!

Another woman came up and asked for the same thing.  She told her Guide she is 70 years old and has never seen a foreigner...and then she kissed me on the cheek...her daughter laughed!  I should of grabbed a picture of the two of us but none the less...it was fun.

So today, we are waiting to see Sara.  We ventured to the mall today to pick up some better fitting clothes for Jacob.  We had lunch at KFC today. Yesterday we ate at Pizza Hut.  Jacob had a delicious meal at Pizza Hut...spicy noodles with squid, octopus and shrimp.  Tentacles were everywhere and he slurped up every bite!  Yum...we had Hawaiian pizza.

We've tried some other places and are really good at getting lost but God has always sent someone who said..."may I help you?" or I've asked and question they've known English enough to bail us out.

We learned to ride the subway too which helps us get around pretty quickly here.  We have a paper written with our stops and hope we don't mess up.

So far....so good.  Hope to update soon on Sara!

Saying Goodbye

Today we were up early, packed and ready to go.  Our little guy struggled in the morning. 

We were off on a kind of adventure before we flew to Nanning in the afternoon (the city where Sara lives).

We ride out of the main part of the city towards the famed Great Wall.  On the way we learned that the city of Beijing fits 22 Hong Kong's inside of it...pretty amazing, huh?  Beijing is a busy city with 22 million people...it is very rarely quiet.  

We left all of that behind and headed for the country side....fruit trees, small villages in the valley, sheep and cattle, weathered farmers working in the fields.  We could see terraced stone walls on the hills reminding me of our New England country side.  Many people worked along side the road sweeping with hand made brooms...I was fascinated.  

We noticed lots of bird nests in the trees made of sticks.  There are no leaves so they were quite noticeable in the trees.  Our guide told us they were magpies.  

The mountains started to dot the landscape and became more visible as we traveled.  They were steep and surrounded the valley we were in and then we got our first glimpse of the Great Wall along with lots of history to go along with it.

We arrived, hopped out of the car and started the walk up towards a ski lift that took you onto The Wall.  It was beautiful....

We climbed off and walked up a small path to the wall.  It is being restored but they have such a long way to go.  At our vantage point, we could see it far into the distance.  We listened to more history.  There were many foreigners around us.

On the towers, they would collect wolf dung and use it to light the signal fires because it burned black smoke.  Today they still use the phrase 'smoking wolf' to signal danger.

And then came the fun part ....we rode down the mountain on an alpine slide.  Jacob squeeled with delight...have to say I did too!

The staff on the slide were amazing too...they were so excited for Jacob.  They told him he is lucky to go home with us.  How sweet is that?  It was a bright spot in our day.

It was a good day out for us....away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

We then made the trip to the airport.  After more paperwork issues with getting Jacob in the plane ...we managed to get it done just in time to go through expedited security and walk onto the plane just minutes before it left.  

On the plane, we introduced Jacob to our favorite family game...Uno!  He caught on quickly and won the first game!  We are discovering his English vocabulary is much bigger than we first discovered and are grateful he is so quick at picking up new words....Bejing is now behind us,  we are getting settled in Nanning now.  Today is a day of rest which is something we so desperately needed.

We are grateful for the things we have experienced...many firsts for Jacob, lots of insight into the history of China and its people.  We loved it here and will miss the people and places we experienced.

Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City

We've been busy and tired from jetlag...which makes for blogging falling behind.  I will attempt to catch up...

Our little guy is blossoming despite being emotional...he has had so many changes this week.  He told our guide that he is having a hard time saying good bye but is "very happy!"  So are we....he has a sparkle despite what he has been through and I believe he will really shine once we get him settled.  The glimpses we see are amazing and exciting!

On Wednesday, we went to Tianamen Square.  We didn't actually go on it.  This week is China's National Congress.  They have 400 members meeting and the Square was blocked off.

We got to see many glimpses of it.  Everything was very peaceful.  The crowds were limited to certain areas but our guide was able to get us through quickly.

We then continued walking to the Forbidden City.  It was quite spectacular.  It is where the royal family once lived but is open to the public now.  The buildings were large and ornate with many detailed paintings.  

We were able to go to the Crown Princes residence inside to see that it was built using post and beam.  The ceilings and floors were done in many patterns.  It was beautiful!

We walked but took many rests as Jacob tires easily.  He did awesome despite all the walking.  I loved sitting because it let me see the people of China.  I loved seeing them interacting with one another.  

Our guide knows her history, and we loved her telling stories of people in the area...we loved the story of the Dragon Lady.  It is kind of a rags to riches story but it shows the smarts of what you are able to accomplish when you set your mind to it.

Grace, our guide then took us to lunch...our favorite place so far.  We then walked to a grocery store to get a few supplies and found a small Chinese Chess game which Jacob said he knows how to play.

Pizza Hut for dinner and then it was off to bed for us!

The next day was a paperwork day.  We filled out forms, had things notarized and worked on Jacobs passport.  It won't be finished until next Tuesday but our guide will follow up for us on that front as we will travel to Nanning tomorrow.