Worth a Thousand Words

It is going to be all about the pictures today. The Tylenol PM is kickin' in, so I will write more tomorrow. We had a good day today. She even let me carry her from the lobby to the room tonight! :) I'm not saying that she liked it, but she didn't cry or scream. Huge progress! Like I said, I will write more later. I have provided a caption for each picture. Our love to all!

Getting ready to go to sleep. The best time of the day today. Huge smiles and laughter!

Another pic before bedtime.

The main building at the Hangzhou Child Welfare Institute.

The children Maelin stayed with for a little while in the orphanage. All but three have been matched with families.

Another building at the Welfare Institute.

Maelin's first kiss. This little boy loved Maelin. He kept telling her "Welcome back" in Chinese.



The same little boy.

This is the building that Maelin stayed at during her time at the orphanage.

Concentrating on writing at dinner time.

Just hangin' out in the room.

This is where Maelin was abandoned.

Family Complete

What a wonderful day! I woke up really early because I couldn't sleep. Once Kala woke up, we got ready and went down to the breakfast buffet. We recognized a few things: watermelon, toast, and fried eggs. We both got a glass of "orange juice" which was actually warm, yes warm, tang. After eating our breakfast, we came back to our room to gather our things and go down to the lobby to meet our guide. She took us to the Civil Affairs office where we would become the parents of Meng Jie (which we have been mispronouncing all along), or Maelin. I would try to type in a pronunciation, but there really isn't a way to spell it phonetically. The ladies bringing Maelin got caught in traffic, so we had some time to start some paperwork before she got there. When they brought Maelin in the room, they handed her off to Kala. She immediately started crying and throwing her head back. She was not happy. After Kala held her for a while and while I was filling out more paperwork, she stopped crying and played with some tissues. When I say played, I actually mean that she just kept herself occupied to avoid thinking about what was going on. When I had completed my part of the paperwork, Kala had to hand Maelin off to me so she could do her part. Same thing happened-she started crying and throwing her head back once again. Kala finished quickly so she could take Maelin back from me. We thanked the officials and left to go to the store to get a few things for Maelin. Then we headed back to the hotel for the rest of the day. Maelin is trying really hard to understand what is going on. She has been reserved all day. We haven't seen a smile yet, but we expected that. She doesn't want much to do with me yet, but we expected that too. She has kept herself busy playing with some wrappers off of plastic coke and sprite bottles. She doesn't want any of the toys we brought for her, just the wrappers. Typical kiddo! One thing that did surprise us was how good she did during bath time. She cried for just a second when Kala first put her in the water, but got comfortable rather quickly. We are in our PJ's and watching TV right now waiting for bed time. Now for what you actually logged on for:









Rylan and Keelan, we can't wait for you to meet Maelin. We are going to show her your pictures and videos every day, but she still may be shy at first. We love you and miss you very much. We are glad you are feeling better. Be good for Gramzie!

Hopefully we will get some pictures of her smiling soon!

The Stork is Coming!

Our day started off early. We woke up at 4:45 so we could be ready to meet our guide in the hotel lobby at 5:45 to go to the airport. She led us to our gate for our next plane ride to Maelin's home town, Hangzhou. It was about a 1 hour and 45 minute flight. Our next guide picked us up at the airport and had a van ready to take us to our hotel. During the 40 minute ride to the hotel, we took in the beautiful city that Maelin calls home right now. Kala and I have never been to such a beautiful metropolitan city. I mean it, this place is gorgeous! The wide, curbed medians are full of well kept flowers, trees, and green grass. The homes are single-family homes that are 3, 4, and even 5 stories tall. They look like small apartment buildings. These homes that I am speaking of were actually in a suburb we drove through. In the downtown area, most people live in apartments. These apartments sell for about $250 to $300/sq. ft. Hangzhou is a very wealthy town. In fact, our guide said that this province is known for beautiful, smart, and wealthy people. After walking around today, I see what she means. Everyone here is very pretty. The children we have seen today all look like dolls! When we got to the hotel, our guide helped us check-in. Then we went up to our room, and I'll let the picture tell the rest of the story.




Yes, that's right-a crib in our room! (I think she will be a little too big for it though. We will cross that bridge tomorrow night.) We are excited and nervous. God has gotten us this far, so I know he will equip us to take care of Maelin. Please pray for a smooth transition tomorrow for Maelin. Her world is going to turn upside down.

After we dropped our stuff off in our room, our guide took us to eat dumplings. Kala and I each got 6 chicken and vegetable dumplings and a coke and it was $2! The dumplings were out of this world good. We did dinner on our own, and if we would have known how to order for ourselves, we would have gone back to the "dumpling place" for dinner. We will eat there again before we leave. I hope more than once. Dinner was at good ole' McDonald's. It was our first trip to a US chain since we have been here, so I think we are doing pretty good.

Tomorrow we will meet our guide at 8:40 in the hotel lobby to take a 20 minute van ride to the Civil Affairs office where we will get Maelin. We should become her parents sometime between 9:00-10:00am here or 8:00-9:00pm Sunday back in Denver City. I am sure we have a pretty emotional day ahead of us tomorrow. So, I'll give you a couple of guesses where Kala is right now. She is at the spa getting a 70 minute massage for 52 yuan or about $8!

Just a couple of interesting things we have noticed here in China. 1. Just as you walk in the door of your hotel room, you have to put your key in a slot to turn on the electricity for the room. This would be a nice feature to add to homes. I think it would be much more energy efficient. We keep hearing about unplugging your unused appliances to save electricity, but this takes all of the hassle out of it for you. 2. We noticed that the hand washing sinks for restrooms were actually outside of the restrooms in some restaurants. You walk in, do your business, walk back out to wash your hands and leave. Much more sanitary. After you wash your hands you don't have to touch anything in the bathroom-no door to open.

Below are a couple pictures of part of the Hangzhou skyline as seen from our hotel window.

Exhausted!

We started off this morining at 9:00. First we went to Tian An Men Square. After that we continued to The Forbidden City. Both were very beautiful. Next was lunch, and again, I din't eat. Then we climbed a little of the great wall. Our next stop was at the sight of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am falling asleep writing this, so I am going to bed. I have attached some pictures below. We leave out of the hotel at 5:45 tomorrow morning to get on our plane to go get Maelin!!! I'll write againg tomorrow.

Rylan and Keelan, we miss you guys so much. We can't wait to get home to see you. Be good and we hope y'all get to feeling better.

Morning Sickness

Kala was all excited that our third child would not cause any morning sickness. (or so she thought) Kala got sick during the landing and used the famouse puke bag located in the seat-back pocket. In her defense, the "landing" was more like a semi-controlled fall; but God has a sense of humor. The flight to that point was great. We got a little stiff, but it was better than I anticipated.

Upon arrival, we went through customs and met our guide outside of baggage claim. She had a van ready that took us and two other couples to our hotel. After we checked-in, she led us to McDonald's and Wu-Mart.

We bought some bottled water and snacks at Wu-Mart then back to the hotel. We ate dinner at a restaurant in the hotel-well, Kala ate. I took one bite and that was enough! The China diet begins. My part, try new stuff, and don't complain if I don't like it. We are here to have a wonderful time, and I am going to try and not be negative about anything-including food. :)

Now we are back in our room about to call it a night. After all, we have been awake for over 21 hours straight.

Rylan and Keelan, we love you and miss you very much. We are soooooo sorry that y'all are sick with the flu. Gramzie, we are sorry to leave you with sick kids.

The picture below is the view out of our hotel window.

And We're Off

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers! They are needed and felt. We are very fortunate to have the support of our friends and family.

The day started off early in Denver City and we ended up in San Francisco with stops along the way in Lubbock, Albuquerque, and Phoenix. After we got settled into our hotel, we looked for a restaurant on yelp. We found a seafood restaurant that we wanted to try in San Mateo. We took the 7 mile taxi ride to the restaurant, Kingfish. Their motto: "Eat like a king, Drink like a fish." Well, we did the first, and not the last. It was a great dinner. We followed the meal with a movie, "Taken" at the theatre behind the restaurant. The movie was pretty good too-a great way to celebrate Kala's birthday! Now we are back at the hotel to settle in for a good nights rest. (Yeah, right)

Please continue to pray for us and Maelin. We are just beside ourselves--this is really happening!!! :) When we get to Beijing, we will update ASAP. Until then, God bless.

Our Itinerary Is Set

Our life for the next two weeks:

March 11--Drive to Lubbock and get on a plane to San Francisco (a few connections along the way) Stay the night in San Francisco

March 12--Leave San Francisco on a 12 hour flight to Beijing

March 13--Arrive in Beijing, check-in to our hotel, do a little sight seeing

March 14--Tour The Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tian An Men Square

March 15--Leave Beijing on a 2 hour flight to Hangzhou, check-in to our hotel, check out Maelin's hometown

March 16--Gotcha' Day!!! We get Maelin at about 10am, do some paperwork, and get to know her

March 17--Morning-shopping for Maelin Afternoon-Visit the Hangzhou Child Welfare Institute(orphanage)

March 18--Sightseeing tour to Xihu

March 19--Sightseeing tour to a local museum

March 20--Do INS form and get Maelin's passport

March 21--Fly to Guangzhou and check-in to our hotel

March 22--Sightseeing tour to Chen Family's Temple

March 23--Go take Maelin to get her official photo and get a medical exam

March 24--Give our documents to the American Consulate

March 25--Go to American Consulate for interview and get Maelin's visa later in the afternoon. Fly to Beijing in the evening. Stay the night in Beijing

March 26--Leave Beijing for San Francisco, arrive in San Francisco and change carriers to fly to Lubbock. Arrive in Lubbock at 9:40pm. Drive home from Lubbock!

March 27--Sleep in!!! Yeah right! Introduce Maelin to her new brother and sister!

Please keep up with us on our journey by visiting this blog daily. I will update with stories and pictures. We look forward to reading your comments. Please also remember us in your prayers!