Finally...pictures!

Back in the USA

Praise the Lord! We are back on US soil! When we landed in Detroit on Wed. afternoon, I was sure that someone out of our group (Steve and I and the Miller family) would kiss the ground! We probably would have if we weren't being rushed through customs! We arrived back in Atlanta at 6 pm on Wed, and after stopping off for some Chinese take-out (yes, you heard right), we finally made it to the comfort of our own home and our 2 little ones! Steve and I cried after seeing Steffi and Liz - it felt so good to hold them in our arms! Liz has grown - she is a little girl now! They both welcomed Danielle willingly, and all of them were playing together within minutes - what a sight to see! Oh, I wanted to let you all know how well Danielle did on the flight. We were totally dreading the return trip home, but she was great! She took some good naps and ate well - things couldn't have gone better! We were surely blessed. Danielle is already making her mark in the family - her grieving has all but disappeared and she is laughing, goofing off and running all over the house as if she has lived here forever. Liz is a little selfish with me, which I expected, but they are working things out - Danielle can sure hold her own! Danielle has also done well with the time change - she has only woken up twice each night and goes back to bed after a bottle and a little looking around. She is awake and playing during the day - we are starting to get on schedule...except that she has been sleeping in until 10 am! Can you believe it - that is NOT typical Tanski child behavior - but we love it!! Actually, Liz has been sleeping in until 9 am - grandparents must have worn her out! In fact, my dad and niece left this morning - a whole day early. They said that they wanted to give us space, but I think that they were too tired to keep up! My mom will be staying here until Thurs - and I am grateful for that! We ventured out to Target today - boy, 3 kids sure is interesting! We got everything done, but I can tell you that I will be running errands on days when 1 and 2 are in school!! I am sorry that I haven't posted anything for a while - the last few days in China were very busy, 2 travel days and yesterday I was just exhausted! I also had to be available to 3 little ones who were trying to get use to things! I do want to thank you all for your love, prayer and support - we are all doing well, and hopefully we will be able to introduce our newest member to you all soon!!

I am happy to report that Danielle is doing great! She still cries for her mom and grandmother at bed time and at naps, but she no longer is grieving all the time. We have given her pictures of her foster mom, and when she first saw it, she dropped her head back and screamed in pain. It was so hard to watch. Now when she is grieving, she goes and gets the pictures to show us. We all shed some tears together, and she moves on. I must say that watching a 15 month old grieve is the absolute hardest thing I have ever had to go through - and many of you know some of the hard things that I have had to go through. This is the worst. I am just grateful to God that he is healing her heart - please keep up the prayers. We had a great dinner last night at the White Swan Hotel (another big adoption hotel that is absolutely beautiful). One of the guys who plays softball with Steve has a brother (Richard) who just moved here to Guangzhou with his wife (Tisha) and 2 daughters. Tisha is working at the US Consulate - although not in the adoption department at this time. Anyway, we were able to meet up with them for a wonderful dinner. Their daughters are beautiful - ages 4 & 15 months, so Tao Tao wasn't the only one making a mess at the table. Oh!! She finally drank something! At dinner she drank a liquid yogurt that is very popular here. She also began to show us that she can eat! She loves fruit (especially mandarin oranges and dragon fruit)...in fact, she ate 4 oranges at lunch and 4 at dinner. She wanted more, but we couldn't in good conscience do it - we didn't want her tummy to get upset! She really is doing well. We are glad that she is eating, but now she is boycotting the bottle - go figure. I actually think that the bottle reminds her of her mother, but at least she is getting food now. She is a cutie - very busy and always exploring. For those of you who know our other 2 girls, you know that she will fit right in! Right now, Steve and Tao Tao are out on a tour of a flower pagoda, and I am alone in the hotel room. I went on a shopping expedition with a local - Ann (from redthreadchina.com). She was fabulous! I bought all of the souveniers that I needed/wanted and then some, for a fraction of the price that I can find around our hotel. It's almost embarrassing what I spent on some things! In fact, she just came back to my room with her friend who is a finger painting artist - wait until you see what this young man (age 22) can paint with his fingertips and nails! It is breathtaking! I bought a number of pictures from him for such a steal! But at least he gets all of the money instead of only 40% of the jacked up prices here on Shamian Island (where our hotel is). It is also cool that I was able to meet and talk to him - so now I can honestly say that I met the man who painted our pictures!! I am a little disappointed that I missed out on our tour, but I am so glad that I went shopping! Like I said, I bought all that I could possibly need and we will still be bringing money home. It was worth paying Ann $10 per hour for her help and bargaining skills - I couldn't have done it without her! I just wanted to let you all know that things are really going well now - and now that shopping is done, I am ready to go home. Only 2 more days before we fly home and I am more than ready! I am so grateful for all of your comments, prayers and support. Keep them up - we need them. I know that you all want pictures, and I am sorry that I haven't posted more. Computers here are ridiculously slow and I really haven't had the time to fiddle with it! I promise to post a ton when I get home. I was going to try to post some now, but Steve has the camera. Hold on - only a few more days and you will have pictures - I promise!! Love to you all!

Well, we made it to Guangzhou - the last leg of our journey, before returning home. We also have great news....yesterday (Friday) and today, Fu Tao woke up without crying! This was a first! She still cries for her mom before she goes to sleep, but she is definitely adjusting! On Friday was the best day we have had so far. She still prefers Daddy, but she is smiling and interacting more and more. Our flight left Nanning at 6:50 pm last night and it was full of adoptive families; however, our little one was the one that cried the most. She actually did really well considering that her naps had been messed up, and she was probably hungry from hunger strikes this week. Amy gave her a lollipop, and let me tell you, our little country girl knew how to work it! She tore it up - but she was a sticky mess (and so was Daddy). We arrived at the Victory Hotel late last night and had a bit of difficulty getting her to sleep, but once she was down, she stayed down. Finally, this morning our little girl ate a great breakfast! She still won't eat congee, but this was the first day that our Asian Princess ate rice - go figure! After breakfast, we went for her physical exam - that was not fun! The place was packed and it was her naptime! We actually went through the exams quite quickly and then it was back to the hotel for naps. While Daddy and Tao Tao napped, I worked on our paperwork for the US consulate...we are finally done with paperwork and fees! WHEW! We went to Lucy's for lunch (where Steve and I had cheeseburgers and Tao Tao tore up some noodles and ate 4 mandarin oranges!). Then we tracked down a stroller and bought her squeaky shoes! Right now she is squeaking all over our suite! Very cute! So all in all, things are getting better and better every day - thank you God! Oh, the clerk at one of the shops here told us that she was "spicy" - very accurate description. Although we are enjoying our time here, we are ready to come home. After I complete my shopping list, then I will be good to go! Our love to you all! Oh, and Stephanie and Liz are doing fantastic - all that worrying for nothing! Again - thank you God!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We sure miss the turkey and all of the fixin's...but to be honest, it doesn't even feel like Thanksgiving Day! Instead of the big family feast, we went to visit a buddist temple and a beautiful park. We climbed the 9 stories to the top of a pagoda to see a beautiful view. Daddy carried Fu Tao all the way up and all the way down, even though she is very good at steps! This little girl sure can move! She runs faster than any 15 month I have ever met, and she even alternates feet going up stairs (this info is important to the therapist in me). Oh, and she can even peel her own bananas! Okay, the bananas get a little mutilated, but she can open them quite easily. She hasn't eaten a whole lot for us - I guess that she is sort of on a hunger strike, but when she does eat it is usually fruit, noodles, cookies and crackers. She did eat some french fries at breakfast and some McDonald chicken nuggets for lunch. She is doing a little better today, but she still cries for her mom and grandma. It is heartbreaking. When we are in the hotel room, she grabs our finger and leads us to the door as if to tell us, "Take me home". Poor little one doesn't understand that she is home. She did wave to her big sisters today via Skype, and I know that they will help her to feel more at home. And no worries, little Tao Tao will definitely be able to hold her own! She is a little feisty one! We were able to develop some pictures that her foster family took for us, and there was one picture of her playing with chickens - no lie! She definitely lived in rugged conditions, but I bet she would give anything to go back. Please keep praying for her to love her new home and family. We know that she will, we just hope that it's sooner than later. We had to say good-bye to Meg yesterday...that was very hard. Even though I had never even met her before, I really connected with her. I was very sad to see her go - yet again, more tears shed! She will be coming to the States over Christmas, so hopefully we will see each other - hopefully with a more adapted Fu Tao! All in all, we are hanging in there. We desperately miss our girls, family and friends and can't wait to come home, but we are enjoying China. Thank you to everyone who posts messages to us....we long for more (oh, Camille - I could not find a single can of Pringles in Laibin!). We love you all and hope that you eat some turkey for us! I will try and post more pictures - I know you all want them, but honestly, our focus has been on Fu Tao - we are doing everything we can to help her during her grieving process - we welcome any suggestions!!

Officially ours!

Well, it is official...Lai Fu Tao is officially our daughter! We went to the civil affairs office this morning to pay our fees and put our thumbprints where they needed to go, and that was that! That was the highlight of our day. We found out that we will not be able to tour the orphanage or meet the foster family. That was a disappointment, but we do understand and do not want to cause trouble. Although we feel that it would mean so much to Danielle for us to meet them, we are going to be able to contact the family through the orphanage, and I am glad for that. If we return to China when Danielle gets older, then we can meet the foster family...and we will. We have every intention of bringing her back one day so that she can visit her birthplace. Now for the hardest news...Danielle is grieving very hard. She is so sad and misses her Mama and Nana (grandmother). She cries for them at sleep time, and sometimes during the day, but bed time is the worst. She just fell asleep after crying for 45 minutes. Her little heart is breaking. It is so hard to watch. We try to remind ourselves that this is actually a good thing - she needs to grieve. It also means that she was so loved by her family and she loves them...hopefully she will be able to love us soon too. She hates being inside - especially in our room. She cries almost non-stop when she is in here, so we try and get out as much as possible. She is attaching more to Steve at this point, but does want me to carry her sometimes, and will go outside with me alone. If we are in the room she prefers Steve, but will go back and forth, as if she doesn't know who to turn to. She is so missing her family. It is hard to watch other families with children who are not having as hard of a time. I know the facts and the reasons, but it is still heartbreaking. I keep telling myself that it will get better, but it still doesn't help sometimes. We did get some photos of her first year of life, and Meg just took 2 disposable cameras full of pictures to get developed, so hopefully we will see what is on them soon. Meg has been a God-send. She is such a big help! She ran out and got baby shoes for us last night, as Fu Tao came to us barefoot! The one thing that I didn't pack! Steve and I are both sad that Meg will be leaving on Wed - we will definitely miss her. I have so enjoyed getting to know her - we actually are a lot a like, and I can honestly say that I love her dearly! Okay, I will end on a positive note - Danielle finally ate real food! She has been surviving on bottles and Cheerios, but at lunch today, she ate noodles...from a chopstick! How cute! She really ate a good amount for such a little one! She is tiny - wearing 9 month clothes perfectly. May be getting ready for 12 months soon. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a brief update. Please pray for all of us...Steve and I are so sad for her - it is the absolute hardest thing that we have had to go through. Please pray that God heals her heart - He is the only one that can!

WE HAVE HER!

Well, after a Monday morning of going to Walmart to buy diapers and snacks, it was finally time to go and get our little Ah Tao (foster family nickname). We boarded a bus with the Pinson family, Michael our guide and Meg to take about a 10 minute ride to the Lottery Hotel where we would at last get our little one. When we got there, they took us up to the 4th floor where there were a number of "waiting rooms" with couches and toys. We could hear children crying and we all wondered if they were ours! Michael told us that we would probably have to wait for about 10-15 minutes before our girls would come in, but after I snapped 3 pictures, I heard Michael announce SuSu's name! Tears came to my eyes as I saw the Pinson family finally united! And then, "Lai Fu Tao"! I cannot tell you the emotions that I felt! She was crying, but did come to me. Cheerios definitely helped. You could tell how scared and sad she was. We then went outside for a bit in order to get away from all of the commotion of more families being united - what an amazing experience! We went back to the hotel and did some paperwork - Fu Tao fell asleep leaning against me. When she woke up, we took her outside to get some air and food. She loves being outside! Whenever we are inside...she tries to lead us out again. She is definitely going to fit right in with her big sisters! She really was a different girl outside...she was pointing and babbling - we even got some smiles and giggles. I had been kissing her cheek, and one time she spontaneously leaned over and kissed my cheek! All of her reports say that she loves music, noisy toys, to be outside and to laugh - she is very social! We haven't seen a lot of that yet, but I have no doubt that we will. She actually began to prefer Daddy last night! She comes to both of us, but Daddy took her out for a walk, so now she wants him. In fact, last night she fell sleep on his chest and he was freaking out a little! He loved that she wanted him, but really couldn't stand the thought of not being able to move freely! We scooted her over, and all was well. At this moment, BaBa (daddy) and his little one are sleeping soundly. I just wanted to take a moment to let you all know that we have our little one and that we are working on bonding. Please keep us in your prayers - we know that you are, we definitely feel them! Thank you and our love to you all!

Check out our "In China" Slide Show!!

Yesterday (Sunday in China) was our last day in Laibin. After breakfast, we strolled the streets for a while before our driver came to pick us up. While walking around, we came across a middle school and an elementary school. They are definitely different than the schools I am used to seeing! They were at least gated, but they were located right in the center of the block with shops all around. We did not go into the complex, because we didn't feel that would be appropriate, but we did take pictures!! We left Laibin a little sad, but completely grateful to have had the experience. I can tell you that visiting Laibin was the best thing that we could have done. We are looking forward to sharing our adventures with Danielle - it is going to be so incredible to tell her how much we loved her birthplace - I hope that she will enjoy hearing about it. Anyway, our driver picked us up as scheduled and drove us all the way to the Majestic Hotel. We were suppose to stay at the Wharton, but we found out right before we left Guangzhou, that the government needed the hotel for something and we got bumped - everyone got bumped! But all is well, the Majestic is absolutely beautiful. When we arrived at the hotel we found out Aisha Cooper, who works with us at Hope For Children in Atlanta, was already checked in. So we stormed Aisha's room, having Meg yell stuff in Chinese. I think Aisha was too scared to open the door! We met up with Michael, our guide while we are in Nanning, and the Pinson family to head out for dinner. Once again, we were fed like kings! I have been loving the food...although I will be ready for a nice juicy steak when I get home! After dinner, Steve, Aisha and I went for a massage! Oh yeah!!! It was a fantastic hour long massage for $12!! They found knots on me that I didn't even know I had, but boy do I feel good now! We will be meeting Danielle today at 3:30 pm (2:30 am your time) today! I just can't even believe it! We are going to run out to get some clothes laundered and to get diapers and snacks, but other than that, our main focus will be on our little princess. Please pray all goes well & pray God wraps His arms around her in order to make her feel safe in such a scary situation. We have no doubt in our mind that God has orchestrated the entire process and that He destined Danielle to be our daughter since the beginning of time, but we still want Danielle to feel as safe and secure as possible. Please continue to pray that we can go back to Laibin to tour the orphanage and especially to meet the foster mother. God can do anything - we just pray He wants us to meet the foster family as much as we do!! Thank you all for your posted reply comments (they're very encouraging), love, support and especially your prayers - we couldn't have done this without them!!
P.S. We are having some difficulty downloading pictures, basically because it is taking a ridiculous amount of time. We are having to jump through a lot of hoops to even access our blog! I have sent some pictures of Laibin to a friend, and hopefully he will be able to post them sometime on Mon (your time). When we get back to the States, I will post even more!

Saturday in Laibin

What an absolutely INCREDIBLE day we had exploring Laibin! Having Meg as our "tour guide" gave us the best experience ever - to interact with the Laibin people and to experience the "real" Laibin. We started out our day with a delicious authentic Chinese breakfast in the Laibin International Hotel (remember, no Western influence here at all!) and then we were able to talk to Steffi and Liz via webcam. It was so good to see them! They keep asking where Danielle is - it will be fun to be actually able to have them all meet! Our first stop of the day was to finding Danielle's finding spot. When Danielle was abandoned, she was left on a bridge head - and it turns out that the bridge was only about 3 blocks away from our hotel. When we found it, we were so grateful to see that it was heavily travelled. There was a city park on one corner, stores on 2 corners, and a corner with well-maintained "rest area" with a lot of ricksaw taxis parked nearby and lots of people! We don't yet know the exact spot, but maybe when we come back to Laibin later in the week, we will be able to get that information. It was a very emotional moment, where all of us shed some tears. I can't help but think about Danielle's mother...all of the emotions that she had to be feeling then and even now, wondering whatever happened to her daughter. Every time that we have crossed that bridge, I wonder about that day and I wonder if she does too? Does she work in one of those shops? Does she have to cross that bridge & pass that spot every day going to/coming from work? We will never know. I also can't help but wonder if Danielle was abandoned mainly because of the cyst on her neck. She was about 1 month old when she was found, and maybe her family knew they would not be able to pay for her medical expenses and wanted to give her a chance. There is not health insurance here...if you have a permit to live in the city, the city will pay a fraction of the cost (about 10%?), but getting treated for a simple thing like a common cold could easily cost $100 (which is a lot of money in China). If you have moved into the city illegally from the country you cannot even go for medical help because 1) you probably couldn't afford it, and 2) you run the risk of being shipped out of the city. We have been learning a lot about the socioeconomics of the Chinese people, and we can't help to wonder if this played a huge part in Danielle's abandonment. We then strolled through the city park and were followed by 3 little girls...who giggled all the way. We were able to take a lot of pictures of people in the park (with their permission) and we were the object of photo taking ourselves. We were kind of like celebrities to them! The school-age kids would say hello, and laughed at us when we would say "ni hao" (mandarin for "hello"). Many were curious to see the "foreigners" and they were even more amazed when Meg started talking to them in "excellent chinese". We think an older man, the curator of the park, may have called the police out of concern for the "foreigners" taking video, photos & causing such a stir with the people. When Meg noticed the police showed up, she told us it was time to keep moving. Steve really enjoys talking (with Meg's help) to anyone showing interest, and it was unfortunate we had to go. We caught a cab to the train station in order to plan a way back to Nanning. We went through a very poor area of the city. The train station itself was full of poor and homeless people. We even saw a man openly shooting up with heroin right in front of the bus station. Well, the train didn't pan out - only hard seats available, and Meg told us that is something we did not want to experience. Our next idea was to hire a driver, so outside we went to the rows of taxis. Once outside, people started walking toward us - very curious about us, I guess. But when Meg said, "Let's get out of here" - we did. We hopped in the first cab and we were gone! The driver drove us to the orphanage, where we were able to take a few pictures of the outside of it and the store fronts around it. It was a very non-descript building - it just looked like a regular store front. We couldn't help but wonder if our daughter was actually inside. Our driver then suggested taking us to a brand new "scenic area / tourist attraction" about 30 minutes outside of the city, and we jumped at the chance! We drove past beautiful condos in a gated community - all for government officials only - and through a few small farming villages. Quite a comparison! The countryside was beautiful (except for the haze of pollution) and very poor. It was like we were watching a PBS special - water buffalo pulling carts, people washing their clothes in the river, run-down houses, people cooking outside...was Danielle from this part of China? We will never know. We got to the park, which turned out to be a kind of outdoor musuem dedicated to Pangu. The ancestors of the people here are credited with the origin of this mythology regarding the creation of humanity. They believe in a mythical story about 2 twins (a boy and girl), who were sent down from heaven with the purpose to procreate and therefore, started the human race - like a Chinese Adam and Eve. Meg had a little bit of difficulty understanding the story, so we are going to check it out some more later. It turns out, we were the very first foreigners to visit, which was a big deal, evidenced by the following we had. The tour guide was ecstatic to be able to share with us this rich history. We took a boat ride and toured the grounds. One girl, Qin Yu Wang (a junior in high school) followed us around and liked to practice her English with us. Everyone was so nice and wonderful - we had an amazing time. On our way back into the city, we decided to stop at the city square. It was quite pretty and bustling with people. Again, 3 little girls followed us around - they asked us where we were from and after we told them "America", they said, "Oh, we are from China." How cute is that?! We grabbed another cab back to our hotel, and went to a tea house right in between our hotel and "Danielle's bridge". We spent a couple of hours tasting different teas and talking with the shop owner & his employees. It was a great experience! Steve and I bought a tea set and some tea - very yummy tea, I might add! After a little down time, we then went out for dinner at the Laibin Grand Hotel - and it was, again, very tasty! I am actually enjoying the food more than I thought I would - at least most of it! We then ventured through a night market right across from our hotel. We bought some dried fruits, candy and jewelry...we even got to see (get this Bumpa) a kung fu presentation by a group of Shaolin priests (just like Grasshopper)! At one point (while we were talking to the monks), I realized that we were totally surrounded by at least 50 curious Chinese people (mostly men). This was a little unnerving, especially since I was wearing our money belt (no safe in our hotel room). But they were all very friendly and just wanted to get a glimpse of the foreigners. Many people (most) have never actually seen or met any Americans...Laibin is just not the main place tourists visit. The city only has a population of about 40,000, but we loved it! As you can see, we had a very busy but gratifying day. I am so glad that we decided to come and explore Laibin. We are so thankful that we have had the experience that we did - to experience the real Laibin. Meg and the talents God has given her are a gift from Him. We are so grateful to God for how He put this trip together for us. It was great to experience Danielle's birthplace the ways we did. Steve would prefer to stay here the whole time. If we had a guide from the city, we would not have seen and felt all that we did!! Thank you God for giving this to us and to Danielle - it will be so amazing to be able to share this day with her when she gets older. (We promise to post pictures soon - experiencing technical difficulties)

Made it to Laibin!

After an okay nights sleep at the Victory in Guangzhou, we ate a fantastic breakfast and met the Millers...another Hope For Children family (we will be able to spend more time with them when we return to Guangzhou on Friday). The Millers had their new little girl, Sarah Beth, with them already and she sure is a cutie! Her older brother (Noah) and sister (Abby) were all about holding her! Sarah Beth was enjoying all of the attention! At 5:15 am, my friend Donna knocked on our hotel room door to introduce us to her daughter, Shelby. Donna and her family were all packed up and ready to leave China for their return home! Shelby was a little doll - our prayers go with them for a safe trip home! After breakfast we were able to have a video conference with our little ones back home (we used Skype and it worked wonderfully - just a little advice for any of you planning a trip over here - and computer to computer is free!!). Anyway, we enjoyed talking to Stephanie and Liz - they seemed to be doing fine - Stephanie is the one who cried, and Liz just kept dancing for us! Go figure! I was more worried about Liz (2)!! We were so grateful to receive a comment from Ms. Frankie, the girls' preschool director, telling us that they did great in school. Thank you Ms. Frankie - you are the best!!
Okay....on to travel tidbits. We ate our first McDonalds at the Guangzhou airport before we left for Nanning - it was very good, the real thing! After an hour flight on a Chinese airline (included drinks and a heavy snack...NWA didn't even give us peanuts on the way from ATL to Detroit...if you wanted a snack you had to pay for it!)....we arrived in Nanning, where I had my first encounter with a squatty potty and I am very proud to say, without incident! Well, now we had to figure a way to get to Laibin..by train, bus or car? We first tried to rent a car/driver - too expensive at the airport. We then decided to go by train (since a car/driver was too expensive). So we grabbed a cab and CRAMMED all of our stuff into it...barely. All the cab drivers were making fun of us for being so packed into this little car. Steve asked the driver & he responded he had never carried a larger load of people/stuff. On the way to the train station, Meg, Steve's sister and our guide at this point, talked our driver into calling one of his friends to drive us to Laibin in their own car (2.5 hours), and thank you, God, it happened!! We got here (Laibin) at about 7 pm, checked into the Laibin International Hotel, and then ventured out to find dinner. Meg took us to a restaurant and ordered for us a huge traditional dinner. And you know what...it was excellent!! We had so much food and it was all so flavorful and delicious!! We had duck soup, whole boiled chicken (served in a bucket with the boiled, bald head staring at us), a thin, flaky type bread, cabbage, spinach, rice & a root made into a special dessert (Steve described it as carmelized Dunkin Donuts Minchkins covered in honey - Meg gave Steve a hard time for saying Dunkin Donuts - living in China she misses certain things from home & didn't appreciate being re minded of them). After dinner, we came home and crashed - I slept from 9 pm - 5 am solid...Praise God!! Let me tell you though...we are in REAL DEEP REMOTE China. No western style anything, no McDonalds...nothing!! This is all China. We got a whole lot of stares walking down the street. Laibin is not a tourist attraction. People are not used to seeing foreigners. Meg says they think we're Russians. Oh, and yes, we had to cross a street a couple times. For those of you who have been to China you know what I am talking about! There are no cross walk signs here - you cross at your own risk! We weaved in and out of bikes, scooters and dodged cars...in the dark!! A little unnerving, and if I had to go by myself, I would probably still be standing on the corner. Now, it wasn't as bad as Nanning or Guangzhou, but running out into the middle of traffic goes against everything I had been taught!! And I am sure that we will have to do it again many times, unless we only go places on the same side of the street as the hotel! Today, we are going to explore Laibin, talk with the Laibin people who are willing (through Meg) and see Danielle's finding spot. I will definitely post again about everything that we see - and by then, I should have some great photos! Thank you for all of your prayers and support - all is going well so far and in about 48 hours, we will be getting ready to go and get our little princess!! We can't wait!! Our love to you all!!

WE ARE IN CHINA!

Well, after more than 24 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Guangzhou, China and the Victory Hotel! We had a great travel experience - all filights were on time, we found all of our gates (in fact the gate that we had to find in Detroit for our flight to Tokyo, was just across the hallway), NW served us good food, we met up with Joe, Amy, Josh, Ryan and Kris in Tokyo for the last leg of our trip, and we got all of our luggage. We are checked in, and getting cleaned up for hopefully a good nights sleep before we head to Laibin tomorrow afternoon. While I miss our little ones terribly, I am SO glad that we didn't bring them along.....what an exhausting day!! All of our flights had crying infants and children, and I am so grateful that they weren't ours! I am praying that God will help Danielle to handle such a grueling trip! I am also praying that I will be able to stay awake on the way home to take care of her. I was able to sleep A LOT, and Steve slept very little. Despite all the sleep, I am still exhausted! I just wanted to give you a quick update before I go to bed. Keep sending us comments - we so enjoy reading them. And Nana, please give Steffi and Liz huge hugs and kisses from us - tell them that Mommy and Daddy love them very much and that we miss them!!!

China here we come!!

Can you believe that it is finally time for us to go and get our little girl!! Steve and I leave at 9 am on Wed. morning!! We will arrive in Guangzhou, China at 10:40 pm on Thurs. I will re-post our itinerary, so that you will know where we are and when!! I promise to post as often as I can. I know that we will be busy, but we truly want to share this journey with all of you!! Please join in by posting your own comments! We would love to hear from all of you!! You do not have to have a blog to post! All you do is click "comments" and then click anonymous - you can type a comment and just sign your name. Please sign your name - we want to know who is leaving us messages! We will be able to read all comments even while we are in China. So please post away as it will be great to hear from you while we are away :) Here is our itinerary:

Nov 14 - leave for China
Nov 15 - arrive in Guangzhou, China
Nov 16 - fly to Nanning, take train to Laibin City, Guangxi Province
Nov 16-18 - spend the weekend exploring Laibin City - Danielle's birthplace
Nov 18 - take train back to Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Province
Nov 19 - go to Civil Affairs office and meet Danielle for the first time!!!!!!!
Nov 23 - fly back to Guangzhou
Nov 24 - Danielle's physical exam
Nov 26 - Consulate appointment
Nov 27 - oath ceremony
Nov 28 - return home - land at 5:32 pm!!!! Danielle will finally get to meet her 2 big sisters who are so excited to meet her!!

Check out my Slide Show!

One Week to Go!!!

Well...in one week will be on our way to China!! We have been busy getting ready and taking care of pre-schoolers!! I have bought everything that I need to take with us (except for snacks-which is on my "to do" list for tomorrow), and everything is already in a suitcase. All we have left to pack is our clothes! We are still debating on what clothes to take, but we do know that we will be packing light and doing laundry a few times!! Two of my good friends, Tracy and Cynthia, came over this week to help me organize our house - I am so grateful for their servants heart and their help! I couldn't have done it without them!! Steve heard from his step-sister today, and she let us know that she booked our hotel rooms in Laibin!! We will be staying at the Laibin International Hotel over the weekend of Nov 16-18 - it is one of the few hotels in Laibin designed for foreigners. We are so excited that we are going to be able to spend time exploring Danielle's birthplace - but not as excited as meeting our daughter! It is so amazing to think that next week at this time, we will be flying to Tokyo and then on to China!! Danielle will be in our arms in less than 2 weeks!!!
We received some great news today from our county's DFCS - we were approved to receive a $2000 grant for our adoption!! This will certainly help to cover some of the expenses - praise the Lord!! This specific grant is for children with special needs and it sure was a blessing to receive the phone call today. God certainly is helping with the hardest part - financial. God has really been helping, though, through this grant and donations from family - THANK YOU!!
Oh! I have to share this with you....Steve had to go out of town on business earlier this week, and he got home late Tuesday night. When Liz saw him, the first thing she said was, "You get Danielle?" We have been talking with her about Daddy and Mommy leaving to go and get Danielle, so she apparently thought that since Daddy was gone, he must have gone to get Danielle. How sweet is that!! Let's just hope that she is happy to see her sister when we really get home. We continue to pray that Steffi and Liz do well with our absence - everytime I think about leaving them for 2 weeks, I get so sad. I know that they will be in fantastic hands, but I am going to miss them like crazy!!!

Red Thread Quilt

Tonight my good friend, Celeste, took time out of her busy life to help me shop for some quilting materials to make a quilt for Danielle. Many people who adopt from China make what is called a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. I loved this idea, but decided to go a different route. I came up with the idea to make a Red Thread Quilt. Posted on the top of my blog is the explanation of a Red Thread Journey: 'Chinese folklore says there is an invisible red thread connecting those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.' I thought that it would be really neat to make a quilt that Danielle could have and cherish, that had the names of all of the people that helped to bring her home. So...what I am going to do, is have everyone who played a part in this adoption (case workers, notaries, oprhanage directors, foster family members, etc - the list is endless), sign a piece of fabric. I am then going to embroider over their signature with red thread and piece the quilt together with some silk fabric that I am planning on buying in China. Tonight I purchased the "signature" fabric and some accessories. I am very excited about this and I hope that it turns out like I am envisioning it to be. I really hope that in the future, it will really be meaningful to Danielle. I am hoping that she will be amazed at how so many people came together for a common goal - to bring Danielle home to the family that God destined her to be a part of forever!!

Safe travels and shopping

Our friends, Donna and CJ made it to Beijing today! They will be spending the weekend in Beijing, and then flying to Nanning on Sunday to get their daughter Shelby on Monday! How exciting! Shelby is from the same province as Danielle, so Donna and CJ's trip will mirror ours exactly. We will be diligently following their blog so that we can learn what we need to do/not do for our trip and so that we can watch their journey unfold.


I am grateful to have been able to cross one more thing off of my huge "to do" list today. Amy and I went shopping in order to buy "gifts" for the orphanage director, nannies, notaries, and other people that we will run into while completing adoption paperwork. It was a huge relief to complete this task - I surely didn't want to buy anything cheesy but didn't want to spend a ton of money! One thing I didn't realize was how many things are made in China!!! The biggest challenge of the day was to find items that were NOT made in China - try it next time you go shopping!!! The only "gift" that I have left to buy is one for the foster family. What do you buy for people who have taken such great care of your daughter for the first year of her life?! We are also praying that God allows us to meet them - if it will be beneficial for Danielle when she gets older.


Last night we took Stephanie and Elizabeth trick-or-treating...well actually, we took them trunk-or-treating at a church down the road. It was great - people decorate their cars and pass out candy to lots of little kids! They even had a festival in the gym with lots of games, crafts and moon walks. The girls had a great time and we all enjoyed the candy!! Although, this morning, Stephanie asked if we could go "real trick or treating"...she said that she wanted to go to people's houses instead of the church party. So much for being grateful!! We are all looking forward to next Halloween, when Danielle will be with us!!
Sleeping Beauty and Word Girl