Adoption Day!

We are back in Guangzhou! The plane flight yesterday went great, with the exception of the last five minutes. Emma isn't a real big fan of seatbelts. ;-) Not counting that, she charged toward the plane ready to fly and grinned during the entire takeoff. She's just the bravest little girl I've ever met. Adoption day went the same way. She plopped herself on Daniel's lap in the waiting area and smiled all the way through the various office visits. She is using more and more signs all the time too. On our various trips she likes to watch out the window and sign flower, tree, and car everytime she sees one.

The only downer of the last couple days is that my digital camera is acting up. Some sand got in it from the beach the other day and it will only turn on occasionally. So, no photos for today. And I've managed to catch a huge cold. So, I'm taking a break for the day. Emma and I are hanging out at the motel watching Signing Time videos and drinking juice. She keeps checking my forehead to see if I have a fever. What a sweetie! So, maybe some pics tomorrow??? Hopefully I'll be feeling better then!

Emma Out & About

Today has obviously been a pretty good day! Someone is convinced that her dad is the greatest guy in the world, even IF he has a beard. His sign is now officially Papa Bear! Also - Daniel was a superstar at the beach, with frequent requests for photographs!

We are with Emma

Emma is with us now! I'm having difficulty blogging, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post while we're here. For some reason, it happened to let me on this time, I'm not sure what I did right!

Anyway! Yesterday we met Emma at the SWI. After we met, we all went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then a little shopping. Everything is going pretty well right now. Every now and then she packs her little backpack and looks for the people from the orphange, bless her heart. But after she determines that she can't find them, she goes back to playing with us. She is such a character! LOL - with a definite sense of humor. I think she will fit in just fine at home! She's sleeping good so far, that was something that we'd worried about, but yesterday she took a short nap and then went to bed after her bubble bath.

She's very fussy about things and likes everything to be just so. Very cute! She's also so smart! When we were coming back to the motel room, we accidentally went passed the door to our room and she shook her head and pointed out that we'd missed the right door. She'd only been to the room once!

She likes to play with her Polly Pockets and dress them and coordiate their outfits. She's definitely very opinionated about clothing and what looks good and what doesn't. She wrinkles up her nose and shakes her head to show me that certain outfits just don't work together at all. Other outfits get a big "thumbs up" and a grin. I think we will go shopping for a few more toys tommorrow.

Well - back to bed for me. I'm not on China time or USA time right now, just catching little naps here and there and I think it's time for another one!

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support, please keep the prayers coming!

Ready to go

Our bags are ready and sitting in the hall. The next time I post, it should be from China. I'm not sure how soon I'll be able to post again. Our schedule is pretty packed those first few days. Please send prayers for safe travel and for a smooth transition for Emma. Thanks to everyone who has helped us on this wonderful journey!

Packing & Reminiscing

August is always a busy month around here - Daniel and Blake both celebrate birthdays this month, plus school prep, putting up hay, and trying to contain our wandering cows.

Daniel is 12 today and Blake will celebrate his 18th birthday while we are in China. Daniel has been begging for a Casio keyboard and we went ahead and got it for him last week-end. He's been having a great time learning various songs, and we've even caught Matthew playing a little too!

Brooke came down and celebrated with us and helped Daniel get started. It wasn't so long ago that Brooke lived here on the farm and filled the house with piano music. LOL. She now confesses that sometimes she played "extra loud" when she was frustrated with us. Daniel's keyboard has a set of headphones, so he won't be able to do that!

We will celebrate Blake's birthday when we return. It's hard to believe that he will be 18. He's grown up so much in the past couple of years. In my heart he will always be about four, on a backyard adventure with Brian and sporting a big bruise on his forehead from his latest mishap. We once had to postpone family pictures for almost a year because Blake always had an injury in some stage of healing. Looking back I wish I would have taken the pictures anyway! Oh well, you live and you learn I guess.

What a blessing the kids are. I am so lucky that God blessed me with such wonderful children. And soon we will bring Emma home and He will have blessed us with another.

We have been racing frantically for the last week, trying to get a hundred things done before we leave. I think I may need to accept that there will be a project or two waiting for us when we get back from China! We were moving along so well until the cows escaped...

Our Travel Itinerary is In!

Aug. 14, 2008: Leave for China
Aug. 15, 2008: Arrive in Guangzhou
Aug. 16, 2008: Travel to Zhanjiang and pick up Emma!
Aug. 17, 2008: Sightseeing
Aug. 18, 2008: Sightseeing and then back to Guangzhou
Aug. 19, 2008: Paperwork and then shopping
Aug. 20, 2008: Pick up Adoption Certificate and sightseeing
Aug. 21, 2008: Shopping at Toy Market and Electronic Market
Aug. 22, 2008: Rest
Aug. 23, 2008: Paperwork and then sightseeing
Aug. 24, 2008: Sightseeing
Aug. 25, 2008: Sightseeing & pick up passport
Aug. 26, 2008: Consulate appointment
Aug. 27, 2008: Oath-taking
Aug. 28, 2008: Rest
Aug. 29, 2008: Head for home!

Consultate Appointment Confirmed!!!

Heritage confirmed our Consulate Appointment today! It's at 9am on August 26th! Now we can confirm some flights!