Home a Week

I've always felt annoyance when the adoption blogs I am reading stop when they get home: well now I understand. Life happens and suddenly you are caught up in this new little person . . . we are, however, MOST THANKFUL for your prayer& support so will do our best to keep you updated. :) We still need those prayers: one journey ended as another journey began. SongLian is doing amazingly well. Music! Have I mentioned that she is ALWAYS singing? And that she can pick up a tune quickly (caught her humming a song from the Christmas recital after I was listening to it). We've been singing Away in a Manger with her (dance) and she can sing the tune perfectly (the words not so much). She joined in with her age dance class with help last week and was all smiles. It was pretty sweet as the rest of the class held hands too (to be like SongLian). Words! In the last 2 days she has begun to mimic our words and use a few while at home. Josiah has been diligently teaching her to count in English and has got her up to 20 now. :) We also hear a lot Chinese commentary. Independence! She is becoming more comfortable here and we are seeing that independence come out again. Sometimes I tear up as I watch her go to the bathroom on her own (she tells me when she wants to do it by herself pretty clearly!)--it is quite the task. Determined. She's taken to asking us for help a lot more--again I see it is a part of the process (we will take care of you). This morning she happily played (on her own) in the play kitchen for quite sometime. She also like to dress and undress her doll and has spent time the last few days doing so on her own. Siblings! SongLian LOVES her brothers and sister. She can say their names and loves to call for them and demand them to do something. :) It has been fun to watch each of them figure out their relationships with each other. They were playing Play-mobiles the other day and SongLian filled her house with rows of children. They are all happily playing legos together now. The first night we were home SongLian snuggled into bed with her big sister with a giant smile on her face--SO happy with that sister of hers. Dog! While we are seeing progress, the dog (and cats) have been a frightening part of SongLian's new world. She is terrified of them but learning that they are ok. :) And sometimes she will scream, smile, and scream when she sees the dog--um, yeah smart cookie: she knows how to get attention. :) Really, again I commend this little gal for her bravery. She was well prepared for the incoming of her family and we are so thankful. We have our tough moments and she has a big time of grieving about once a day. The other 3 are working through the adjustments as well. However, all in all I marvel in a God who fits families together.

Heading Home!

Is it wrong to have an Ozzie Osbourne song running through your mind? Cuz Momma! I'm coming home! The bellhops are scheduled to arrive at 5am(!) and we are supposed to board the bus at 5:30 to begin our journey home. If I figures it out correctly, that is 2:30pm Tues afternoon CA time. We should arrive in Reno around 5:30pm Wed, if we don't get held up in customs in Seattle and miss our connecting flight. Please pray that all that goes smoothly since we only have about 2 hrs between flights. Looking forward to being home, but not so much to the trip to get there. I plan on starting my stopwatch when we leave the hotel to see how long of a day Wednesday, October 17th ends up lasting. It is sure to be the longest day of my (our) lives :) See you soon! ~Kyle

2-Day Blogg

Last night we ended the day with a night boat & dinner along the river so I never made it here. :) Yesterday we went shopping. There were LOTS (that is an understatement) of shops: all kinds of whole sale goods. The 2 big buildings were again a picture of the shops that start with a small non-nondescript door that opens into a giant land that you would never guess was there. Kind-of like the wardrobe. :) There were bead shops, jewelry shops, clothing, shoes, you name it . . . I took SongLian to the bathroom twice and was amazed as I was led down a maze of tiny shops to the deep depths of the "mall." It was never ending and a bit overwhelming. We did find some lovely Chinese-wear (in the pictures: all the families from Lifeline dressed up for a group photo last night) and nice embroidered stuff. The kids were good eggs as it wasn't really fun shopping and it was hot & humid. :) Back at the hotel (afternoon) the girls went to the pool and the boys plus Nonna played some table tennis. This was SongLian's first pool experience with us: she LOVED it. It was great fun to be able to play and play and play and play with her in the water. Yippee! A bonding experience other than squatty potties! I had to keep her left arm out of the water as much as possible because of her TB test so it was a bit tricky to maneuver her. Every time I'd set her on the step for a rest (yes, my arms are sore today) she signed "help". After our group picture we set off for the boat cruise. Maybe we were all are tired, maybe we all just "kidnapped" these bewildered little people, maybe because we are in a foreign country and beginning to feel the affects, but the boat things was not our favorite activity. :) It started off with standing for a long time in a hot stuffy room with thousands of Chinese people (ok, maybe a hundred) while SongLian got louder and louder and crazier and crazier. Yikes! This girl has some spunk. Then we all made our way to the boat "Chinese style"--smashed together; desperately hanging on to each other. Fun. Then we ate a buffet style dinner. Wish I could say we were feeling adventurous and ate everything (I do believe I saw chicken feet); it was just a bit too scary. :) Nonna did eat sea weed! Wild Nonna! After floating up and down the river (enjoying the lights on the buildings) we were happy to come back to our hotel room and hit the sack. This morning we went to the US Consulate to say our oath and turn in the paperwork for SongLian's visa. The kids had on their red, white, and blue (maybe picture-man will post a picture for you). Pretty exciting as not only was this the last step in our adoption process here, but it also means SongLian will become a US citizen when she steps on US ground (will be in Seattle). While we waited at the consulate, SongLian literally ran about. So much for not chasing down 4 children. :) I think she was excited to become a US citizen (or to play tag with her siblings). After lunch, we went to the zoo. We whizzed through the zoo on buses and then had an hour to explore on our own. We loved seeing the animals and wished we had more time. SongLian was over tired and didn't really enjoy the zoo. Afterwards, we went swimming. We have fish children who love, love, love to play & swim in the water. So fun to watch them all play together in the pool. :) We had pizza for dinner with the family who was with us in Hangzhou; we are sure going to miss them! And there you have it! We are all looking forward to home. SO many things we forget to be thankful for on a daily basis that we are now longing for. Tomorrow we are off to Shaimin Island. Should be one last China-adventure!

Walking girl

Just wanted to add that SongLian walked the length of the pool today in pursuit of her beloved siblings. Ha! So fun to see that. Later on our second trip to the play ground she began to chase CoraGrace about. Granted, she has quite a gate and that left foot turns in. But walking! :) She was as pleased as punch with herself too. And . . . I got more loving today. My mommy heart is singing (I will take it when I get it!).

Americans!

Today was our first full day in Guangzhou and it started off with a new breakfast buffet (I will miss my fried rice and dumplings from Haungzhou) and many Americans with their new adopted Chinese children. We met the other 7 families from Lifeline, and a few families from other agencies. It's nice not to be the only big white guy around :) This hotel is amazing! If you want to check it out, here is their website. All 7 of us are staying in the same room/suite. The room is very big, even with 2 roll away beds added. The only difficulty comes with the whole bathroom issue. But we're all family, right? Our view is still of apartments and a few shops. Again, the skyline is "misty" and we can't see that far in the distance. After breakfast we took a walk outside in the garden, alongside numerous koi ponds and 2, four story tall waterfalls. The kids were so happy to be outside. Eliza, SongLian, and I went with the other families to the clinic for medical exams for visas. Very, very thankful that Nonna was with us so the other 3 could stay at the hotel and swim. SL did great with her exams. I could tell she was heavy carrying her around, but the exam confirmed that she is 42 lbs. Now I don't feel so bad about my arms and back getting tired carrying her and Josiah around for a week. A pretty routine visit, but at the end SL had to get a TB shot. No tears or crying, but the effected arm was held out for all the world to see for at least an hour and not used for anything except to clutch the candy the nurse gave her after the shot. SL & I will go back Monday morning to read the results. We spent the rest of the day exploring the neighborhood, locating the nearest store and checking out the hotel. We met with the Farleys and went to Mexican food for dinner. I guess that's Chinese/Mexican food. I will confess, it was as good, if not better than anything I've had stateside, but maybe I just needed a break from rice & noodles. We weren't sure how SL would do, but this girl loves her some ketchup and happily devoured chicken strips and french fries and the entire bowl of ketchup they gave her. Several other families from Lifeline arrived just as we did and said they had eaten there several times last week. Tomorrow we go to Liwan Plaza for shopping in the morning and take a dinner boat cruise in the evening.

A New Day

This morning I reached over to SongLian as she began to stir and I got the usual, "ahh" and throw (my hand away). It was dark still so I began to rub her little hand with deep pressure rubbing and then moved to her arms. She let me. It was a lovely 1/2 hour or so (until the boys came in from the other room). :) We set off to the orphanage after breakfast. All I can say is that it was the best thing (aside from GETTING SongLian) we have done yet. We were quickly ushered into her class room as her classmates had prepared a goodbye dance. Along the way kids piled out of the classrooms calling, SongYuhui, SongYuHui. For those of you who saw the picture of SongLian dancing before, it was the same set up and costumes (only in her classroom): three dancers in hula skirts and two drummers). Her teacher ushered her into the center and handed her a walker and they began to dance. SongLian stood there looking confused so they pulled her back so she could watch. Then she began to "dance" with her classmates a little. The classroom was amazing. Such a wonderful place to learn and grow. Lots of love. Within the building was a special art room, a library, a small store so the kids can learn simple math & money and piano music and singing floated from a nearby classroom. When it came time to say goodbye, SongLian's teacher took her to each friend to help her say goodbye. Her little friend (the girl) was SO amazingly beautiful. She kept calling to SongLian and grinning from ear to ear and even looked right at me and asked, Mama? Sweet, beautiful one: I am so thankful she has a family and hope we can stay in touch. SongLian quietly went down the line. As she was saying goodbye to the last classmate (there were 6 counting SongLian in the class)--a handsome boy who was also close to SongLian began to weep. I think all our hearts just melted (even our guide was in tears). SongLian's teacher had the hair bows and necklace on that we had given her. :) As I said goodbye and tried to express our deep, deep gratitude she embraced me and we wept together. I will forever be grateful for this lady and the care and love she has given my daughter the last two years. We can tell that SongLian was well prepared for this day. She knows she has a family now. She was taught some English words (so far we've heard, Mom & Dad (together like that most), good morning, Grandma! (yes it is said with an exclamation mark), and thank you. Amazing. It was heart breaking to watch SongLian's teacher cry and watch us go (we were crying too). We then went out to the playground (I needed to find a little boy to take pictures of for a family who will travel to adopt him next month). Again, SongLian is flocked by her friends calling to her. All these kids were "special needs" kids as they don't attend school off the orphanage grounds. They were obviously well cared for and happy. It was amazing. SongLian then showed us her bed: 17 little beds in her room. The orphanage is quite the facility: track, gym, dinning hall, giant playground, beautiful gardens. SongLian was given a special bag (it is a Victoria Secret bag:) )with some gifts from her classmates: a few small toys and candy. We were given several gifts from the orphanage as well: book about Hangzhou, fairy tales (in Chinese), a CD of pictures, and a photo book of SongLian's time at the orphanage (we will get more like this for Chinese New Year). As we went through the book it was clear how loved she was (is) and what a gem we got. Top student, top winner at the (athletic) special Olympics (um this girl is holding out because there are pictures of her running/walking). As we left the orphanage something changed. All along she has known she is a part of our family and just "fit" in. After we left I could be mom (not overly doting, but mom). She happily skipped out between her sister & brother and climbed into my lap for the ride home. Lovely. For those of you who will meet our sweet girl soon: she doesn't like being singled out. She just wants to be one of us. She is admirably independent. She wants to be just like Noah, CoraGrace, and Josiah. It is amazing what she can do. She is happy, silly, and loves to laugh. You will love to get to know her. For now, she just wants to be a Hardee--and not necessarily singled out. Anyhow--we went back to the hotel had lunch (those granola bars and fruit leather are getting old), "worked out" in the gym (while SongLian laughed at us), took a quick walk to the lake and then headed out (with the other family) to the airport. One 2 hour flight and chicken and noodle meal (complete with peanuts, a bun and pickled something) and we arrived in Guangzhou. SongLian LOVED the flight. Crazy girl. We arrived up at our hotel room and first laughed at the door: it looks like a door in Alice in Wonderland (it looked huge!). Then we came into our room (a suit for all 7 of us) and began to laugh as we see the 2 tiny beds. More laughing when we realize that the bath tub, encased by glass, sits next to the bedroom. We are all laughing hard by now, including SongLian. :)Things worked out, we got some extra beds delivered and there is an electric curtain for the bath. All in all God is good. I am praising Him for this good day (if I had blogged last night it would have been a very dark posting). :) We are all longing forward to home, but happy for the change. Josiah was a nut-head today. As he took his bath I could hear him singing, "I wanna go home, I wanna go home . . ." The kids will stay with Nonna and swim tomorrow, while Kyle and I take SongLian to the medical exam necessary for her visa. The hotel is LARGE and beautiful. This city is much more sophisticated than the last. We shall see what tomorrow brings . . .

Random thoughts...

So, it's my turn to write something today. After sitting in a hotel room with a sicky all day, there is not much to report. The rest of the crew went on a boat trip on West Lake and did some shopping/sight seeing. Noah slept and I listened to the street sweepers play "It's a Small World", accompanied by the garbage trucks traditional Chinese tune. How come with America's "advanced" technology we don't have musical sanitation trucks? Stop lights in China (at least this town) have a countdown to the end of the green light before it turns yellow. Same with the red light. That way drivers know how long they have until the light changes. Again, How come with America's "advanced" technology we don't have these? Ever try to order food when there is absolutely no common language? I gave 2 workers at a steam bun store quite the laugh trying to order vegetarian and red bean buns. Best I could tell, they were trying to tell me that they were all out of both, but had plenty of mutton buns left. Go figure :-) With the massive population in China you'd think there would be tons of people without jobs and trash everywhere in big cities. Yet, you see people all over the place in orange coveralls diligently sweeping the sidewalks, checking trash cans for recyclable goods, and scrubbing elevated crosswalks. Imagine if we tried something like that in America? You want a welfare check? Sweep this sidewalk for 2 hrs everyday and it's yours. People working and clean streets. Sounds like a win/win to me! (I think that will be my campaign platform) Lastly, why did God lead us to adopt a little girl who speaks a different language, has moderately severe disabilities (she very rarely takes a step without holding onto someone/something, while the 2 yr old another family adopted toddles around after them with ease), whose laugh and grin can melt your heart, but at the same time break it by rejecting one parent for the other? I'm sure things will work out eventually, but in the meantime I think we are all ready to escape Hangzhou and this hotel room for a new location. But first, we have to survive a visit to her orphanage tomorrow. Please pray that that experience will help SongLian with the transition to her new family. ~Kyle

Pictures

It was mentioned that pictures guy might post some pics, so here you are;

Wednesday

Starting with last night . . . Kyle laid SongLian down next to CoraGrace and she fell asleep. She is not asleep yet but laying down tonight. Today we began our day with breakfast (looked more like dinner). Something interesting; the buffet charges by height not age. Anyhow; this method is all good if you have small, petite Chinese children. Not us: both Noah and CoraGrace are in the Adult height and both SongLian and Josiah over the free little kid height--darn. After breakfast we met with our guide and the other Lifeline family to head out for some touring. First stop the 6-something (sorry, maybe Kyle remembers) pagoda. It was 7 floors high: lots of narrow steep steps. Our guide told Kyle that the steps are made for Chinese people not "big foot American like you." :) The view was beautiful as we looked out across a river and back at the city. SongLian walked and walked between Noah and CoraGrace as we looked around the pagoda. She has them trained well-- getting them to lift her off steps as she giggles away. Our next stop was a green tea farm. We learned all about the growing, harvesting and processing and then had a tea ceremony. Apparently all we get in the United States is grade C green tea; today we all tried fresh grade A green tea. We even chewed on the tea leaves to aid in our digestion. :) There were several shops to visit at the tea farm. If we had any sort of interest in an item and walked away, how quickly the prices would drop: special for you. :) We came home, dug through the snack drawer and rested for a bit before both the other Lifeline family and us decided to head out by foot. SongLian's finding place is just a few blocks behind the hotel and I wanted to find something to put away for her from that area, so we headed off that way. Interesting how the shops changed in that direction. Along the street where our hotel is are nicer, fancier stores and new high rise apartment buildings. Reminds me of downtown San Fransisco. Everything is expensive (Hangzhou is a very rich town says our guide). Things change behind our hotel. Apartment buildings look older and smaller. The shops were small and had cheaper prices: more like China Town. It was fun to do some shopping there. We all headed towards Pizza Hut because our guide said they had lots of cheep Chinese food (and the menu has good pictures). So after all 10 of us parade through the restaurant and are seated we look through the menu and see NO CHINESE FOOD other than rice. What to do? Rice and pizza? We were not sure how the newly adopted girls would take to pizza so we used them as our escape and paraded out. Crazy Americans. We ended up ordering some food from the restaurant next door. Tried to find something on the menu other than rice and noodles (which both have pictures) and could only find pot sticker, or dumplings as they are called here (they were the best dumplings I've had here). Back in our hotel room we had some dinner and pretty much called it a night. SongLian had a great day with her brothers and sister. Kyle, Nonna and I all got the snub today. No more evil eye; just a giggle, smirk and a shriek. She was as happy as could be walking around with the kids help: enjoying being one of them. She walked down a whole hill of steps today at the pagoda between Noah and CoraGrace (quite impressive: I wish you could see this gal's determination). So today would be the day she enjoyed most being a sister. Yet, when it comes down to us she is quite comfortable with us all. She still prefers Kyle but is ok with me when he is not around. I got some lovely snuggles as I fed her an orange while Kyle waited for dinner. :) Tonight we put on tomorrows shirt to avoid the sparkle shirt issue (mean old parents). We also made her ride in the back pack carrier up and down the pagoda which made her not too happy. She fussed a bit and then stopped. Mean old Mom took away the candy a waitress dressed in Halloween clothing gave us as we made our escape. She forgave me when I gave her the orange. :) Well . . . the song of Hangzhou continues out our open window (just a bit quieter as our lullaby) --honking, banging, talking (people talk loud here--Natasha, Nola can't help it), both the garbage truck and the street cleaners play music. This is a very noisy city. But amazingly clean. Oh! And I figured something out today: those of you familiar with the "sparky crawl" in AWANA will know what I've talking about: that is what the traffic is like at each intersection, Only imagine that there are buses, cars, vans, motor bikes, bikes, and people walking. Some people pay attention to the signal lights, but not most. :) Picture man may post more pictures . . . :) Loving hearing from you! Eliza

just who is SongLian?

We are loving getting to know our girl. She is an amazing little gal. I know that there will be some harder days ahead; but today was essentially seamless for her (two of our other kids however are tired tired tired and had a harder day). SO very thankful for this gift God has given. SIZE (for you Natasha): I packed all size 4 clothes (based on the up date we got a few weeks ago) so I am basing size off of that. She came in a size 5 shirt that was too big but worked. Her skirt was SO small. Today she wore size 4 leggins--they fit now just right (but I am guessing she will be size 5 pants soon: she has some LONG legs). Size 4 on top is fine. She came in shoes that were much bigger than her feet so today we put her in the converse we have--size 9 and they are a much better fit (her feet are actually smaller than we thought). Kyle weighed himself with and without her and according to the scale in our hotel room (I know right; who wants to weigh themselves at a hotel?) SongLian weighs 40 pounds. This morning the big "break down" was because I changed her out of her PJ shirt that had a big sparkly heart. She refused to take off her sweatshirt despite the warm temperatures because of the sparkles on it. This girls loves her BLING. She is amazingly determined. I watched her this morning get herself to the bathroom (she "cruises" for the most part much like a baby does, using things around for support). We were told that she likes to do things on her own (why I watched to see what she would do) but needed help with the bathroom (up to this point I've always helped). She amazed me as she stuck with it, completing the task, complete with washing her hands with soap. She loves her shoes and will find them and work and work to put them on. She loves to do things on her own and has an amazing dose of determination. Again, we are learning AMAZING things about this little gal who is a trooper despite her special needs. While this girl's legs may not work like my legs there is NOTHING wrong with her brain. Again: she is a walking lesson of looking beyond a special need. She's picked up some simple signs: please, more and always tells us when she has to go to the bathroom (if you have not helped a small child use a squaty potty you've never lived). Today while walking she blurted out, "Mommy and Daddy!" And later when playing Barbie with CoraGrace she said, "Good morning!" We think she may be calling Nonna Grandma and Noah Noah. ??? Ok: update she most definitely just called me Mom. :) These are signs that she was well prepared for our coming (and brilliant). Her fine-motor skills (on both hands) are fantastic. She can dress herself, manipulating her legs (sometimes with her hands) to get them through the clothing. All in all, she communicates with us amazingly well considering. We are hearing more (Chinese) words today. Like the Red Thread Charities people said, she is observant and always learning. She will throw her trash away in the bathroom trash on her own. She was sitting on the bed watching TV and noticed all our jackets hanging on a clothing stand. Pretty quick that jacket came off and she hung up her jacket too. She is neat (tidy). At dinner she cleaned all the rice off the table last night and then off her lap. This morning at the civil affairs office she cleaned off the bubbles she had blown all over the table. After eating she often goes to the bathroom and washes her hands. Today at the market we bought her some cup 'o noodles and she wouldn't let go of them for anything. For dinner I made her noodles and after eating a few she made her way to the "snack drawer" and picked out peanuts. She's been munching on them content (are there bad effects for eating too many peanuts?). This girl can eat: she is a true Hardee; packing it away. At breakfast she shoved half a boiled egg in her mouth right alongside her sister and brothers who were stuffing their faces too. She and Josiah were neck in neck eating yogurts until Josiah pulled ahead at 5 yogurts. I think we might roll our children home. :-) SongLian still loves her Daddy but is getting more comfortable with us all. Last, this girl has an amazing sense of humor. She loves to laugh and is one of those kids you can look in the eye and laugh with over a funny situation. She was eating the last of some snacks packed in her backpack (she came with) and wanted to get at the crumbs. We teased her as she ripped the package to sticker face in and she laughed and laughed with us. She still loves her wild-toad stroller rides: the bumpier the better. We spent the afternoon exploring the West Lake. It really is beautiful and while only a few blocks away it was nice to be "out of the city." The lake was glistening with little boats dotting it and there are beautiful trees and flowers around here and there. There are little lawns; my kids were hopeful of a place to run until we noticed the police who's number one priority seams to be keeping people off the grass. There are several small shops around the lake we browsed through. We enjoyed listening to several musical performers and watching dancers. So neat how everyone is out sharing their art. We had lunch at a Japanese fast food place with great pictures on their menu. :) Back at the hotel settling for our evening routine: we've gone to eating our dinner for breakfast because there is such yummy (Chinese) food out at the breakfast buffet and oatmeal for dinner. We are falling asleep as our heads hit the pillow and waking early.

It's Official!

Family of 6

Word can not even express today well: it has been an amazing day.

We got to the Civil Affairs Office about 9:00 and began to fill out paperwork. The Farley Family, as well as one other family, sat around a large conference table, cameras and goodies in hand. We were the first to get our daughter--out of the corner of my eye I saw a pony tail bouncing up the stairs: that's my girl! In she walked, holding the hand of an orphanage worker. Her first response was fear--get me out of here! The orphanage worker pushed me into a sitting position and plopped her in my lap. She was terrified and crying. I began to pull things out of the backpack and she began to quietly watch, taking what I offered. The next few minutes of cookies and lollypops she began to relax from her "get me out of here lean towards the door." I motioned CoraGrace over and had her begin to blow bubbles: Bingo! We have interest! Together we reached for, and popped the bubbles.

By this time the other 2 babies have met their parents crying loudly. The orphanage worker told me that it was "too quiet when she entered and all these strange people here: that is why she cry." Slowly the kids come over and we play together. I had a bag of balloons which she happily picked out one at a time and thrust towards one of us to blow up for her. We had a few stickers and she peeled them off, sticking them here and there (I even got one on my forehead).

This whole time she is consuming snacks--happily munching away. If we stopped feeding her she'd grunt and point at the snacks. Smart girl. Throughout this Kyle is filling out more paperwork and putting them next to me on the floor to sign as well. The two babies are still screaming. We looked through the photo album we sent together and she pointed to the picture and then the real person for each picture. At one point I stood (um this girl is HEAVY and my legs were falling asleep). As I held her and the kids blew bubbles we saw her first smile. Our guide helped us ask some questions of the orphanage worker about SongLian's past and present. We took our picture together for the first time as a family of 6 and headed downstairs to our van.

In the van she pointed to the backpack. Our first outing as a family was to a grocery store to buy stuff for the week. We purchased a stroller and she began to giggle as the kids took turns pushing her. The worse they "drove" the more she giggled. Back at the hotel she downs a cliff bar and has her first melt down. It is SO sad to watch a little one grieve like that. During the sad time she wanted nothing to do with me and only Kyle. I occasionally would get the evil eye (I'm ok with this, I know she was close to her nanny and I'm too close to home in those sad moments). We got out the toys and discovered this girl LOVES stickers. She has completely covered 3 pages of paper with stickers. She and Kyle worked together to peel and (carefully--she always chose a spot that was empty and fit the sticker well) stick each sticker. Nonna worked on her Chinese color words as she peeled color-stickers.

We decided to go on a walk: this girl likes to go--the hotel room seems to make her sad. This time, map in hand we set off for a new grocery store (I know, I know . . . everyone travels to China to visit grocery stores). Down the street, up and over a major road (cool escalator system to cross the street!), dodging bikes, motor scooters, cars and buses. This grocery store had 4 (I think) floors. We found a dandy stroller with a much higher frame at not too bad of a price (this was an expensive store so we are not too sure why except God was taking care of details) and bought it because this girl has some long legs and it is clear we are going to need a better stroller than the one we got while here in China. By now Noah is pushing Josiah in the old stroller (he can bend his knees) and CoraGrace, SongLian and they are flying throughout the store giggling away together. The grocery part of this store is AMAZINGLY crowded.

Once back to our hotel, SongLian filled a sticker sheet and we decided we better get some dinner. Our first try (set up somewhat like a Panda Express) was a no go as the only item we recognized down the line was white rice. Our lovely excuse was that we were told to feed SongLian noodles and rice. :) Off to restaurant #2. After being seated we were given a menu in English. Trouble is, there are no pictures and while the dishes are in English we have no idea what they are. Finally (as we are about to give up again) I see on a Chinese menu a picture of both noodles and fried rice. We pointed to the pictures and really confused the staff. They kept bringing out people who spoke a (very) little English. Finally a gal marched over grabbed the menu and said, "You want one this (pointing to the rice) and one this (pointing to the noodles). Yes, yes! They were so delicious we ordered the same thing again. Yum! SongLian expertly used her chopsticks to scoop her food into her mouth. She ate and ate and ate.

Her communication at this point is remarkable--she points and grunts so we were able to keep her happy. After dinner we listen to a pianist play in the hotel lobby and then up to our room. The girls took a bath together and SongLian had no problem--she seemed to enjoy the water and played content with the random items I declared bath toys. After bath, I began to brush her hair and she really snuggled in with me. As I braided her hair she nearly purred. Sweet girl. We watched some Chinese cartoons. And then made our way towards bed, which of course set off a round of sadness. At which point Kyle is the wanted one. So sweet--after about an hour she is asleep in his arms. Brave girl. I've watched her today shudder inside and then her little face pulls together. It is so clear that she was well prepped for this day and knows we are her family. She is amazingly brave; but at the same time grieving something awful inside. That is a good thing. She was well cared for and she connected. She is also very determined--likes to do things on her own. Strong girl. And just to keep it real here: we've yet to see her walk. Her legs are quite stiff. Carrying her is like carrying a sleeping child; total dead weight. We think she in her fear is keeping her from using those skills??? When I placed her on the bed she fell over as if she had no "floor" skills. Then she saw the stickers and she crawled right over to them. We shall see what tomorrow brings in this department. Again, I am so glad I can trust a sovereign God here. She is already teaching my other 3 wonderful things. She is smart, smart, smart. The kids taught her to give a high five. She clearly understands and comprehends things. In closing (I better stop if you have any chance of a picture which I know is really what you want): my favorite part of the day was after dinner when I let my kids run up and down the hall of our hotel floor (quietly--they have been SO good as there is no place to run!).

They'd take turn pushing SongLian and she is having the time of her life. Hot Dog! I got one crazy family; and I love it!

Thanks for your prayers & support. I can not say how much they mean to us . . . :) Blessings from China, Eliza

note from nonna

Most memorable part of this day was staring at SongLian's "finding spot" and imagining her there. So evident that God's hand was upon her. Feeling the pain of the parents who could not provide the care she needed, yet knowing that God's plan of placing her in the Hardee's family began there. AND TOMORROW IS THE DAY! Love to all. Thanks for your prayers - we feel them.

Hardee Hangzhou Culture 101 - Lesson 2

In continuation of the last lesson, I thought I'd add that sidewalks make excellent parking lots. They are full of parked cars, motor scooters and bikes. Again--there is a gap: use it. We learned today that bus drivers are only fined 100 yuan if they cross a line and car drivers are fined 200 yuan. Therefore the bus drivers don't really care if they cross lines. I can't tell you how many "run ins" we've had with a bus coming within inches of our van. Josiah is the popular guy here. Our guide loves to "flirt" with him, rub his hair, and tease. At breakfast the waitresses took turns walking past and fondly looking at him. Yesterday a little girl (she was amazingly beautiful) was making eyes at him in the hotel lobby. He is not too sure about all this attention. :)

A room with a view

So here's a 180 degree picture from our room window. We are on the 9th floor, at the back of the building. This picture looks to the Southeast

You can't see very far due to all the "mist" (must be Chinese for smog) This is a view to the East

Here is the view Northeast

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but almost every rail is covered with laundry out to dry. Here's the view straight down from our window. The kids like watching for 3 cats that live on the rooftop below.

Sunday- a day of rest (sorta)

So today was a very welcome day of (sorta) rest after a long day(s) of travel. I think the entire crew was up by 5:30 and HUNGRY1 Fortunately, breakfast started at 6:30. I think we were the first people to eat. There was some confusion as the hostess tried to figure out, in her limited English & our non-existent Chinese, which room we stayed in, but eventually it was worked out and off we went to an adventurous breakfast. The buffet had many pastry type items, fruit, yogurt, pot stickers, potatoes, corn on the cob, french toast, sausage & bacon, chow mein noodles, and several types of hard boiled eggs, including duck eggs. Fueled for the day, we met our guide Savor & another adopting couple from our agency, Jeremy & Sarah Farley, and went on a tour of Hangzhou. We went to West Lake and the National Silk Museum. I'm so thankful for our driver, because I was quickly lost as we weaved in & out of traffic & made numerous turns to end up at a picturesque lake.

Savor told us that the lake is only 1.8 to 2.8 meters deep, hence its brown & muddy waters, but the setting more than makes up for the dirty water. We were again the focus of many stares, and our kids were asked to take a picture with a passing family.

We'll get a chance to take a boat tour of the lake later in the week. The National Silk Museum was interesting, but mostly in Chinese, so I think a lot was missed. On the way back to the hotel, we were able to visit the hospital where SongLian was found. Not what we as Americans would probably envision as a hospital. Made me think more of a dilapidated old apartment building. Still, I’m thankful that such a place existed to take her in and care for her until she was able to be placed in an orphanage. When we got back to the hotel, we were all hungry for lunch, so we set off, with the Farleys, in search of Pizza Hut and lunch. I don't remember Pizza Hut being this nice back in the States. We had to flip through a very extensive menu before finding pizzas, and while waiting for our order, we were a little nervous as we did not see very many people ordering pizzas. Nevertheless, our pizzas appeared (as ordered even!). Our poor little waitress was very nervous, but braved the scary American invasion.

We next decided to brave a Chinese grocery/department store. Anything you might need was to be had in this store. From electronics, to household appliances, to sporting goods, to live turtles, frogs, and crabs (all in the meat department). The only things we could not find were applesauce and sliced bread. Apparently, the Chinese don't use the saying "the greatest thing since sliced bread". We even stopped at a bakery we found and didn't find it their either. Guess we're going to be eating PB&J on crackers. It's off to rest and get ready for the real reason we're here. Tomorrow, Monday at 9am (6pm Sunday PST) we get to meet and hold our sweet SongLian in person for the first time. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. ~ Kyle

Hardee Hangzhou Culture 101 - Lesson 1

It is 5:30 in the morning and after sleeping for 10 hours we are up . . . so I thought I'd share some of what we've seen thus far. If you are following just to keep up on our adoption; come back tomorrow. :) Otherwise: enjoy. The number one "rule of thumb" here is: if there is a gap take it. This applies in many situations. At the airport (Guangzhou) we waited for a tram to wiz us to our terminal clearly the first ones there; however when the tram showed up suddenly it was full of people and we were scrambling to find 6 seats. Take it quick or loose it. Driving to our hotel, it was marveling (white knuckles!)how our driver slung in and out of traffic--between & behind. Lines on the street are just suggestions. All while bumping along seat belt-less. :) Our guide walked us (Nonna, the kids and I) to the grocery store (makes Wal-Mart look small; it had everything) and left us to shop because she had some banking to do. While checking out, a lady kindly bumped me forward because we had gaps between us (someone could very well cut into our line). So we were on our own for the trek back. Again, we now understand why people suggest to find people and walk with them. If you are not tight enough to them, bikes, motor bikes, and motor scooters will wiz between you (they don't have to follow signal lights). It was somethings else to watch the people who didn't wait for the signal to turn run across the street dodging buses, cars, etc. I love the moms roaring around on bikes and motor bikes with their baby bouncing along in a seat behind them (no seat belts). ~Eliza

IN CHINA!!!!!

Whew! Thirty-some hours later, three plane flights, and a wild ride into the city of Hangzhou and we're settled into our hotel rooms.

The kids were great travelers and survived our looooong night on the flight over--they fed us dinner at 1:00am CA time and then put us to sleep. Josiah was a hoot to watch last night: laughing his head off over the "Three Stooges Movie" (a movie which we enjoyed on a continuous loop again and again and again) and enjoying opening his dinner packages (um, yeah this boy is a night owl!). After a 10 hour time of "night" we pretended to be ready for breakfast. After landing in Guangzhou we made our way through customs (many lines to stand in but all went smoothly) an onto our last flight to Hangzhou. Our guide recognized us through the glass wall as we walked toward baggage claim and soon we were on the 40 minute drive into the city to our hotel. Our driver excellently maneuvered the van through traffic and into places that weren't there before as our guide gave us some historical background on Hangzhou and we soon arrived (pulling up on the sidewalk in front) at our hotel. My favorite traffic observation was a man on a bicycle pulling a (around 10ish) girl skating on roller blades through traffic; nice. The outlying city is smog covered but has patches of beauty: gardens or small farms. Our hotel--quite in the middle of CITY-- rooms are clean, lovely and small :) (the bed are even smaller). We just ventured out; exchanged some money and walked down the street to a little store to buy water. Our guide pointed the way to West Lake (watch for traffic she warned) so we're gonna be brave a take a walk down there this afternoon: the goal is to stay up all afternoon so we can get on track with China time. Boy will it be great to sleep FLAT tonight! Tomorrow the plan is to tour Hangzhou and look for SongLian's finding-spot. Our gotcha moment will be Monday at 9:00AM. :)We are praising God for 3 smooth, safe flights and being all settled in IN THE SAME CITY AS SONGLIAN. Those blown kisses don't have nearly so far to fly tonight! :) Thanks for following--we are SO very grateful for your support & prayer. Keep them up!

1 Down...

and 2 more flights to go! So far, the kids have loved flying! Thanks to Captain E, Rainman, & CJ for a great flight from Reno to LAX. We got to go to the front of the check in line for our flight to China, since our luggage was already checked in at Reno. Now we are sitting at our gate, watching them run our plan through it's mechanic checks. Apparently, this flight goes back and forth from Guanzhou to LAX over & over. The gate attendant told us if we were returning on this airline we would get to fly on a brand new Aerobus 380. Oh well. here's some pics of the kids with our 1st flight crew after their very first plane trip. (the kids, not the flight crew)

1-1/2 hours till boarding and we'll be China bound! :-)