This is for Dad and Brent!

We thought you might like to see some Chinese-style construction. This is bamboo scaffolding that is tied together with plastic coated wire. We see in a lot of construction projects, so it must be sturdier than it appears.
Would you let us know if these pictures are rotated the right way, or if they are sideways? We rotated them, but when I select them for the blog, they are sideways. So I'm just wondering.

PS: Next day update: I'm starting to figure out this IMac thing, so I think I have the pictures rotated now. Would someone let me know (It is very strange not being able to see all of this for myself!!)

Shopping, Dining and a massage...

While Mike is napping, I might as well recount the events of this morning and early afternoon. First we wandered around Shamian Island, just to check things out. It was POURING rain! A nice, warm rain, too, and the temperature was very comfortable. There are so many little shops all over that obviously cater to tourists, and even more so to adoptive parents. We got a little desperate to get away from the rain, so we entered one of these little shops. What a different world! This store was acutally like a Mini-Mall with several little stores in one, but we didn't realize that until the first Sales person literally jumped in front of me when I tried to move out of her area. She showed me everything I could possibly want or need (or not), and she was so sweet about it. These people take customer Service to a whole new level, that's for sure. They asked what we were doing here, and where our baby was from, and we showed them pictures of our kids at home. Can you imagine showing your family pictures to the cashier at Wal Mart? Yeah, right.... they almost did a backflip when they saw a picture of our house. They said that in Guangzhou one square meter (a little over 9 square feet) costs 8000 RMB, that is over $1000! So we visited with all these ladies and men at all the little stores, had a good excuse for not buying anything since we have to travel some more, and had a good time. There was definitely no anonymous browsing through their selection. But again, we were treated like royalty, and they made us feel like we were their new best friends. And they did have some cute things. They had all kinds of little girls dresses, and believe it or not, they had Gymboree, Oshkosh and Gap labels in them! I asked them if they were real, and they said that they were.... except that I have an incredibly hard time believing that. Anyhow, I will have to do some girly shopping when we get back here.
After our little shopping spree and after saying goodbye to our new friends Shawn and Betty, May and Lucy, we tried to find a place to eat. We did not want to eat anything that had been alive 5 minutes earlier, so some places were out of the question right away. We found a very nice little restaurant where the menu was in english as well, even though no one spoke it. Lots of pointing, smiling and nodding. Guess it worked, and lunch was DELICIOUS. We had some kind of vegetable dumplings with lots of mushrooms, some hot and spicy pork and veggie dish with little tortilla looking flat thingies (yumm) and the best fried rice I have ever had! We managed to get through the meal with our chopsticks, and Mike even tried some Chinese beer.
I had heard that massages were out of this world here, so that was the next thing I wanted to do. We saw a place advertised at the hotel, so we headed downstairs. Mike skipped the massage and went back to the room, while I felt like I was trapped in a damp dungeon. It was a little freaky. Instead of the 2 hour massage I asked for one hour only, and wheewww, I'm glad I did. The price had obviously just jumped up the minute we walked in (gotta learn yet when to barter!), and a very nice young gal did my massage. What an experience! Man, she kneaded muscles I didn't remember I had, and it was painful at times. I guess that's what you would consider deep tissue massage *ouch*. The thing that really got my attention though was when she climbed on the massage table, and hanging from metal bars at the ceiling, started to massage my back and legs with her feet. I felt like I was getting CPR through my spine, and I was silently wondering which rib would crack first. Well, nothing bad happened, but I think I will wait to get another massage until I'm back home.
I really need to wake Mike up, otherwise he won't sleep tonight, and then we'll probably head back outside, where it has quit raining now.
Wow, this is such an interesting place to experience. We love it. Shamian Island is a good place to get acclimated to the Chinese Culture, and I'm looking forward to head to Hunan, where I'm expecting things to be more authentic yet.
So, signing off for today!

This is a picture of a bronze statue in front of the post office.

******Deutsche Uebersetzung: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com "Erster Nachmittag" ******

Tiiiiiinaaaaaaa!

Tina, I hope you read this - my first purchase in China was a pair of squeaky shoes for Miss Laney! The girl in the shop with her telepathic mind and honed sales skills new EXACTLY what size a 2 1/2 year old needs. And she gave me such a great deal, because I was such a nice friend, and if I would have bought more the deal would have been even better! Sound familiar? Anyway, I got her a pair of purple Squeakies, with the traditional silk type fabric. Very cute. Is that really all you need, or did you also want the leather mary-jane kind? Please comment or send my an email, so I can get you whatever your little princess might need! And let me know what your preference for color is, because my new best friend assured me that I could come and exchange them if you didn't like purple :-)))

The comments DO work now!

Just wanted to let you know. Please keep them coming!

An alle deutschsprachigen "Besucher"

Hallo Ihr Lieben,
da ich den Blog selber nicht sehen kann, kann ich leider die deutsche Uebersetzung nicht direkt verlinken. Ich werde aber unter jedem Beitrag, der uebersetzt ist, einen entsprechenden Hinweis hinterlassen. Dann koennt ihr den Beitrag unter folgender Adresse lesen: www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com.
Und hier ist noch ein Foto fuer euch.... :-)))))

This is for ALEX

Hi Alex, here is a picture of the plane we slept in. I promised I would take one for you. It was really dark, though, so the picture is not very good, but I wanted to send it to you anyway! Mama and Daddy love you, have fun with Andi and Hoovie!

We are in China!

I feel like I have an "out-of-body" eperience here, or like I'm actually in a "magic Tree house" book. I fell asleep shortly after take-off in LA, and when I woke up, I was magically transferred to the other side of the world. What a strange feeling!
But let me back up just a little....
Our flight was very uneventful and quiet, and we met two other adoptive families-to-be on the plane, both of them adopting beautiful baby girls. One of the couples will acutally be in the same province as us! I slept for close to 10 hours, Mike managed to sleep only about three. Wow, the service on China Southern was amazing, at least during my few awake hours *ha* - our flight attendant was super attentive, kind and quick, it made me feel like royalty! We opted for the Chinese breakfast this morning, and it was very good - I'll post a picture of it.
We arrived early in rainy Guangzhou (about 5:30 am), and now we are here at the Victory hotel, trying to get settled and letting it sink in that we are IN CHINA!
It feels very tropical here, hot and humid, with many beautifully landscaped and manicured areas around the airport (which by the way is very new), and countless crowded and delapidated high rises along the highway into town. We are totally fascinated by what little we have seen so far, and can't wait to get out and take it all in. We just watched a little bit of Chinese TV with some sort of Home shopping network airing, and it was very funny. I wish I could speak this beautiful language - maybe I'll add this taks to my "do after retirement" list (along with quilting), or at least to the "once the kids are out of the house" list (along with learning how to use a pottery wheel). Honestly though, at the rate we're going, those two might not be all that far apart.

Another Aha moment I want to share though... going back to our experience of flying over The Grand Canyon and Monument Valley en route to LA. I really feel like this was a heavenly "Bonus" for me, something the Lord just kind of threw in there along the way. Mike and I had talked about how we don't want the kids to feel like we are depriving them of fun things to do because of this adoption. Same goes for me - there are a lot of things that had to take a backseat because of this journey to our little girl. So getting a chance to see two beautiful areas of our country (even from 36000 feet in the air) that I had never seen before, was just really special!

I have been reflecting a lot on our WHY for the adoption of Nina, and to me it boils down to that: I see it as the path the Lord has simply laid in front of us, and all we do is walk on it. Yes, I'm scared, yes, I'm grieving for the family that will never be the same again, yes, it's crazy and we don't "need" any MORE kids (we get this question a lot!), but it's a thing that the Lord himself started planting in my heart about 20 years ago. This beautiful bud called adoption is just about to break into a flower that I have never seen before, but that I know is created by the master himself. I feel blessed that Mike has embraced this as well, and I can't wait to see him with his new daughter!

As far as the blogging goes, it seems to be working from here, although I cannot see the blog myself. I'm also unable to see the last few comments that were left, but I changed that so hopefully we will be able to get them from now on.

The pictures added are from our breakfast, our hotel room and the view from our hotel. Again, I do not know in which order they post, but please bear with me!

We love you all, and kiddos, we miss you bunches and bunches!

***Deutsche Version*** auf www.chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com Titel: Erster Tag

Checking in from LA

We have made it to LA, and are waiting for our China Southern flight. And - we miss our kiddos already, although it sounds like Elia and Alex had fun at Chuck-e-cheese's and playing Put-put golf with Andi and Ashley (thanks, guys!)
The flight from Denver to LA was more like a tour - the pilot kept commenting on what we were flying over, and now I can say that I have seen the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley!
We also just watched the Swiss Airline plane take off to Zuerich - we thought about changing our destination for a minute (soelled me cho?)
It is definitely sinking in that we are going to China! We're ready to get some sleep, too!
Signing off for tonight, our next post will be from Guangzhou!

Ready to go

Allright dear friends, this is it - we will be leaving for the airport shortly. Well, as soon as we can get the little boys out of bed, that is ;-))
See you in China!

"She looks great...."

I received a special little glimpse into my daughters life today. A
wonderful lady just received some pictures of Nina - they were taken last week, and according to her, she looks great!
Can't wait to go see for myself!
36 hours to take-off!

Another creative project

Nico has been busy again constructing...

this time with Gumdrops and Toothpicks. He started this in school, and he just kept going after he brought it home.

About 5 bags of Gumdrops and 6 boxes of toothpicks later, this was the result.

Good night, sleep tight...

The girl's bedroom is almost done - there is a beautiful place to sleep for both of them, and the rest has to wait :-))
I wanted to share these pictures, as it's very special for us to think that in three weeks we will have Nina home. I'm not really expecting her to sleep in her room right away, but it is ready for whenever she is!

Itinerary!

Hotels are booked, plane tickets purchased (OUCH!!! This is a spendy time of the year to travel!!), and here is our itinerary:
June 27th - leaving on a jetplane!
June 29th - arrival in Guangzhou, China
July 1st - leaving for Changsha
July 2nd - NINA DAY!
July 7th - fly to Guangzhou (we're staying at the Victory)
July 11th - Consulate Appt
July 12th - we get Nina's Visa to enter the US
July 13th - leaving Gungzhou
July 14th - WE'RE HOME! (We have an overnight stay in LA)

What we have to look forward to :-)

Beautiful...

I just came across this poem on another family's blog. It's beautiful, and I hope it will touch you too...

Every call has a beginning...

A quiet moment when God whispers a promise to a mother's heart

A holy place where a father bows and faithfully accepts the journey set before him.

A miraculous morning that unexpectedly dawns...

Casting its first light on a chosen threshold.

A gentle knock...a closed door opens.

A sacred invitation sent by the Father...

Leads to the other side of the world.

Where lonely hearts stare out of orphanage windows

Praying for someone to care.

And then one morning...

On an ordinary day

An orphan's life changes...

God sends them a second chance...

Through you.

(Unknown)

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!

WE HAVE IT!
But let me back up just a little...
I have been on pins and needles all week long, since the first TA's had been reported on Monday. Then rumors said that more TA's were on the way. Last night I dreamt about getting the call from our agency at 6am to tell us TA was here.
Needless to say, my cell phone did not leave my side today. I dropped the little boys off at Gymnastics, took Nico and Anya to Vacation Bible school, went back to Gymnastics and then my friend Sonja and I went to the park with the kids until it was time to pick up the older ones from VBS again. We had a water fight at the park, and Elia learned how to "pump" on the swing. Both him and Alex learned that now within days from each other.
But, the phone was silent.
I was wondering....
I knew that there was no guarantee we would get our TA this week, but I was hoping with everything I had!!! And I prayed.
No phone call.
It was about 12:30 when we left the church, 6 wound up kids in the back....
And I felt sorry for myself.
The pity party was about to start, invitations were sent out.
I thought to myself: This is the first time I'm REALLY disappointed during this adoption journey...
And I asked God: "Obviously, there is a reason for this delay - what do I need to learn yet, before we can get Nina?"
Immediately I felt this impression on my heart: "Are you willing to love her unconditionally?"
I had been thinking about that a lot lately, and I have asked God repeatedly to show me what unconditional love really was. And everytime he seemed to say the same thing: " I have already showed you - I gave my LIFE for YOU".
And today, I was given the opportunity to make that commitment again, to be willing to love her unconditionally.

About 1/2 hour later, we were home. And guess what.... there was a message from CCAI that they had good news for us, and that they wanted us to call them as soon as possible. Well, you guessed right - our travel approval was here.

Obviously, the Lord wanted to have this little chat with me before the good news came.
I'm thankful for that. We don't know what's in store for us, we don't know how Nina will change our lives.
But I know that we are in his will, and that he is faithful, because he has loved us first.
This is the best reason to celebrate!!

And yes, we are so excited about this last step. We should hear from the agency again on monday, to get our Consulate appointment confirmed, but it looks like we will be leaving in about 2 weeks.

Uebersetzung: http://chinagirlswitzerland.blogspot.com/2007/06/ta.html

My first girlfriend....

This afternoon, my friend Sonja came over with her kids. Her little girl Raianna, who is exactly one month older than Nina, brought her a special present.
We can't wait to get the girls together!

Thank you SO MUCH, Sonja and Raianna. Your kindness brought tears to my eyes.

I'm sure Nina will love Barley the pony!

China's one child policy and its consequences...

Here is an interesting article I just came across:

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281722,00.html

I'm so thankful that Nina did not become a part of these statistics. We can't wait to have her in our family!

This and That...

I know - it's been a while since my last post. Lots of little things are happening - end of school, kids starting summer activities, packing, shopping, and I sent Nina her last care package (the little blanket) yesterday. I also sent a letter that our agency translated for us... that was pretty special to see my words in chinese. I want her to know that we can't wait to see her, and I wanted her to know what her name will be. I hope it will get there before we do! Which brings me to the next thing.... Travel approvals (TA's) are starting to come in for families with our LOA date. I'm on the edge of my seat most of the day, cell phone within reach. I hope that ours is in the next batch our agency receives!!!!!
I will keep you posted!

We have our Visas!

China, here we come! I'm so ready to go... I feel like I have waited long enough now.

I did some serious retail therapy yesterday, which was WAY too much fun, and it was really hard not to go totally crazy at Gymboree and Gap - their sales were unbelievable!

All we're missing now is our Travel approval, which will most likely not come for another 2 - 3 weeks *sigh*

Nina BoBo - hang in there!