Merry Christmas and our 3-month-old

We've had a wonderful Christmas (that started last weekend with Jon's family, continued this weekend with my (Shelly's) family and will end next week after we're back home with our immediate family Christmas.  It's been fun for Jian to experience all of this family time - it's been a little rough at time, learning how to be a part of a family, but, he's been adjusting so well and enjoying gifts, games, food and fun. 

We have many reasons to celebrate today, three months ago today we added a new son to our family.   We talked about it with Jian and how he was nervous and he was surprised to hear that we were nervous too! We also celebrate the birth of another son, Jesus, who was born so that he could die to save us and allow us all to be adopted into His family.  What a special and memorable day.

Merry Christmas!  

A Delightful December

Well, my goal was to get these pictures on before Christmas, and it looks like I will succeed in doing that!  We’ve had a good and busy December.  Here are some fun pictures of Jian’s first December in America.

Jian has continued to do amazingly well.  Some days though, are rough.  He is not used to boundaries or rules, of course, 14 years in an orphanage, why would we think he would?  He wants to learn and wants to please.  He’s a true joy.  Some days, it’s really frustrating and feels like it’s all about reminders, corrections, apologies and re-teaching. Thankfully, he’s not purposefully mean or deceitful most of the time, it’s just lack of knowledge!  We’re also so happy with how honest he can be about what he’s feeling and why he’s upset.  What a true blessing that is, and helps to try to resolve some problems.  He still requires a lot of supervision as he’s learning what he can and can’t do, and how to behave appropriately. Most days, I’m so tired at the end of the day, but, it’s a good feeling going to bed knowing our two sons are right where they’re supposed to be.  Most days, it’s hard to remember that he hasn’t always been a part of our family.  The great thing about that is that,he always has, it was always in God’s plan, he just didn’t join our family until this year!

We are all looking forward to some time in Michigan this Christmas and are excited to experience Jian’s first Christmas in America.  It’s been a real joy showing him the real reason we celebrate Christmas and having evening Advent readings together and seeing him learn more and more every day, what an honor to be chosen to teach him these things. 

Still working on writing about Jian’s adoption…..someday it will be finished!  So, here are our December pictures!

Tanner’s tree preference,        Here’s the tree we chose                Our 2010 Christmas tree 

 

Both boys enjoyed participating in the annual Christmas program for the Brazos Valley Regional Day School for the Deaf

 

       Our annual skating with Santa!  Jian LOVED his first time ice skating, and was quite a natural!

We wish you a blessed and wonderful Christmas!

Thankful and Thanksgiving

I’m a little behind, but, still thankful!  Unfortunately I took no pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner!  We had a great traditional Thanksgiving with our friends, the Boysen family.  Jian thought the food was ok – the rest of us loved it.  We then left Thursday evening to go camping with Jon’s family and to celebrate one of Jon’s cousins marriage. 

Here are some pictures of Jian’s first camping trip.  We were thankful for electricity and heaters since it was around 30 degrees a couple of nights!

 

 

Jian and his Great-Grandpa Olson

We’re so thankful to have a new son to teach about Thanksgiving.  We’re thankful he’s adjusting so well and a joy to have around.  We’re thankful that Jian is asking a lot of questions about His Savior and often tells Jesus thank you for his new parents that brought him to America!  We’re thankful for 2 sons who have a lot of fun no matter what they’re doing and that they love each other. 

We also cut down and set up our Christmas tree….I’ll try to get to that post before Christmas actually happens!

Precious!!

Today I was explaining adoption to a teenager (who made the comment that I was not Jian's "real mom" :)). I explained how I am his real mom, regardless of whether or not I gave birth to him. Then, Jian asked me what we were saying (he was behind me and saw half of my conversation).  So, I did, and his response was this: "In China I didn't have a mom or dad, now I have a mom and dad, God helped me to get a mom and dad.  Thank you God for giving me a mom and dad!"

WOW - can you get any more precious than that?  I had a bit of a hard time finding my way to the car through my tears!

A Party and a Plan

Wow, time sure does slip away quickly!  I can't believe it's the middle of November already.  We'll have been home for 4 weeks already tomorrow, and we've been a family of 4 for 7 weeks!  In many ways it seems as though we've always been a family and seems strange to have done many things without Jian! 

My parents came from Michigan to meet Jian - and we all had a great time together.  I can't believe I never got a picture of them all together, but, maybe that's because Jian rarely stands still.  We enjoyed several days together, and I appreciated them spending time with Jian giving me a little break to clean, do laundry, and rest, as well as them taking us out to eat for several meals.

Grandpa and Jian playing footall

Grandpa and Tanner enjoying watching football

 Grandma and the boys baking cookies.

Last week some generous and wonderful friends had a special welcome home party for Jian.  It made him feel so special and loved.  We feel tremendously blessed and overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and kindness.  Such wonderful memories!  Check out this picture, thanks Kathy Johnson for these great shirts - the boys LOVED them!

Below is a slideshow of pictures from that fun day.

So, things are really still going amazingly well.  We praise God for his amazing provisions for us.  Our communication is continuing to improve and Jian is settling in so well.  He's doing great at school in the mornings and really motivated to learn both at home and at school.  We're doing a lot of teaching, re-directing, correcting, modeling, etc. to show him appropriate behavior, proper ways to respond, etc.  He responds so well to these things and we're very thankful for that.  He hasn't said much about missing anyone until yesterday.  He mentioned several times that he missed his chinese parents (the people who would take him home from the orphanage on weekends).  He wrote them a letter and brought up several times about missing them, it's sad for him to miss them, yet good that he had bonded with them and so good that he is missing them. 

Overall we're doing well, some days are more exhausting than others, and some days are much easier.  One day this week I was thinking how much easier an infant would be.  Later, I reminded myself that at least I don't have to get up in the middle of the night with Jian :) and, that it may seem easier to me at the moment, but, that has not been God's plan for our life (and easier is definitely a relative term.) 

I love seeing him really begin to understand and comprehend things, it's so exciting.  Today Jian asked me what he would do for work when he grows up.  After explaining that he could do whatever he wanted to do, he replied that he couldn't get a job in China because he was deaf or that he would clean streets.  He's correct.  He could hardly believe that he could do any job.  What a blessing that we can live in this country where we truly can do almost anything we want, and that God brought him to us.  It's so exciting to think about the possibilities that God has planned for his future. 

OK, well, I still want to get to writing Jian's story before the adoption, and we've even recently learned more about others praying for him before we ever knew about him - how phenomenal is that?!  What a generous, gracious heavenly Father who loves this boy so much more than we ever could. 

" "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

A Fun Fall

So, we've been enjoying the nice cool weather and showing Jian the fun fall activities we do here.  He's enjoyed everything so far, his first rodeo, carving pumpkins, attending the Grace Bible Church Country Fair, dressing up for Halloween, going on our neighborhood Halloween hay ride, and more.  Here are a few pictures from these fun events.

 

What else has been happening?  Things are still going well.  Not much time for the computer, or much else for that matter :) but, really, things are still better than we could have expected.  Jian is incredibly adaptable and really loves everything about being here (so far :)).  Last week he was able to see on skype one of his friends from the orphanage that was adopted last year, we loved seeing his excitement at connecting with his friend.

Last Wednesday he was able to meet Grandpa and Grandma Bergeron for the first time and was so excited waiting for them to come!  Here they are with Scooter.

On Friday, I brought Jian to school for the morning.  We went to give him the experience and to be familiar with what school will be like.  He surprised us with how well he did.  So, this week, we're trying out school every morning.  I went with him yesterday again and will meet him there half way through today.  It helps him for me to be able to be an in-between interpreter either with signing or using an application to translate words into Chinese for him to read, or, for him to write and translate into English.    We come home and work on English/reading in the afternoon.  So, we're trying that out for now and will see how that goes.  We're really thankful for the flexibility we have and if it doesn't work out, we have plenty of options!  We're so thankful that he is enjoying school so far.  In the mornings he's attending math, science and social studies in the middle school deaf education classroom.

This morning as we were waiting for the bus, I went to see what the boys were up to, here's what they were doing, drawing together - so cute!

We are all excited that Grandpa and Grandma Lenger are coming in from Michigan tomorrow to meet Jian, the boys have been counting down the days.  I'm looking forward to perhaps getting a little extra rest while they're here too :).  I'm surprised how tiring having 2 children and one teenager can be (go ahead and laugh  at this, I'm not quite sure what I expected :)).

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family.  We appreciate them and know they are making a difference in our lives!  I'm hoping in the next week or so to finally write down how we came to know about Jian and our journey prior to going to China!

Coming Home Video

OK, I've finally been able to download and do a little editing of the video from when we arrived home.  You may want to scroll down and pause the music at the bottom since there's music with the video.  We're all doing well, will update more later.  We hope you enjoy the video.

Settling In

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch.  I really love fall and being able to decorate.  I'm happy we still have some time for the fall decorations, especially when the weather is so nice and cool!  Jian was really excited and said he's never carved a pumpkin before.  He loved picking out his own pumpkin and looking at everything there.  He kept asking if they were real. :) 

Things are going well here.  We're working on settling into a routine.  Tanner is now back at school full time and adjusting better than I expected.  I thought he would be upset to leave his brother, but, he's happy to be going to school, and we're so thankful.  This morning Tanner seemed a little down and while we were in his room, I told him his brother was awake, a big grin came across his face and he turned around and gave Jian a big high-five. 

Jian was pretty nervous about starting to learn english, but, now that he's started, he's doing really well and gets excited to learn something new!  This should help things a lot, he definitely has motivation.  We're working on finding things for him to do.  Right now, he's like a giant toddler.  We are following him around everywhere and helping him learn what things are as well as what things he can and cannot touch (it becomes a bit tiring :)).  Yesterday we went to a craft store and found him a couple of things to do for a few days.  We're doing school and then some activities (plus, giving mom a little break).  As we left the store, he was able to experience what happens with a fender bender :).  Two of us were backing out at the same time and rubbed bumpers.  Jian was extremely nervous and couldn't believe we didn't get out and scream at each other.  Once we were in the car he kept signing - that girl was so nice, she was so nice!  I'm thankful it was nothing big and was a good opportunity for him.

Jian loves his dad.  He can't wait to see him when Jon arrives home and is often looking at his watch to see how much longer until dad is finished with work.  He likes to play with him, chat with him, and just be close to him.  Clearly he's not had much male influence in his life and he has a fabulous dad to learn from. 

He and Tanner enjoy riding their bikes in the backyard every afternoon.  Yesterday, while they were outside, I enjoyed watching them have a conversation about their bikes.  What a blessing it is to see the two of them communicating so well and to be doing something fun together.   Jian is incredibly excited to go to a high school football game tonight, there's a possibility of rain, so we'll see what happens (though we can definitely use the rain here). 

I'm having some trouble getting video onto here, so, I'm working on converting the file right now, I hope it works, so that you can see Jian coming home.  I also am excited to post about how we found out about Jian in the first place and meeting (online) some new people  that had a part in us learning about him.  We love seeing God's handiwork throughout this story.  We also would love to post more about our time and people we met while in China.  I'm checking on the logistics of some of that and will keep you updated.

How it's going

Well, it's been a few days since I've posted.  Things are a lot more busy here and there's a lot more to do. In fact, a few times, believe it or not, I've preferred to be back in China!  There, we were all together, with nothing to do except figure out what to do together :).  Here, Jon is back at work, there's laundry to do, a few things left to unpack, school work, paperwork, blah, blah, blah. 

Anyways - yesterday, I woke up really thankful and feeling better and a little more rested.  I had a great post for the blog written in my head (obviously it never got here :)).  Today, was not such a great day.  I woke up crabby and tired, sat for several hours with both boys at the doctors office, cried some, was irritated, and then decided I should remember what I was thankful for yesterday!  So, to end the day on a better note, I thought I would list the things I would've mentioned yesterday.

I am thankful for:
Being able to drink water from the faucet whenever I want.
Being able to wear flip flops again
Two sons who are quick to forgive and love to laugh
An amazing husband who is so helpful with both boys
Friends and family who love us in countless ways, including helping teach Jian, spending time with the boys, giving them welcome home gifts and planning parties!
A soft bed
Beautiful, fall weather
Wonderful healthcare
Being able to freely worship and talk about our Heavenly Father without ever even questioning or being concerned for my safety
A gracious God

I'll add more later about how things are going (really well actually, just don't ask me today :)) tomorrow hopefully!

More of being home

Since my body is still on China time, I figured I'd try to post an update.  Hopefully it will actually be somewhat coherent, I guess we'll find out in the morning.

So, we arrived home on Friday night around 9:30-10:00.  Jian was so thrilled and loved looking around and seeing his room (still working on the video - actually, I haven't worked on it at all, haven't even downloaded it, so, that should say, will be working on the video).  He was really excited when he saw a ripstick (skateboard) in his room (thanks Becky!), as well as balloons and a few other fun things that were left (thanks Becky and Audra :)).  He looked around and kept saying everything was so big!   He then took his bag to his room and emptied it all out on the floor.  He found a place for everything that he brought with him.  He put pictures up on his desk and walls, he had some special necklaces (with his name and a jade rat (his birthday is the year of the rat) and he hung those up under the slats on his bed.  He loved having a place to put things and was disappointed at the empty drawers.  I explained once we washed the clothes we brought from China he'd have clothes to fill them again.

Saturday morning, he enjoyed exploring outside and was excited to see all the things to do.  He's adjusting well and loving being here.  He likes looking at how spread out things are and is probably surprised to not see so many people and mopeds and bikes.  He wanted his haircut, he had said in China that he wanted it cut when we went to America, so, Jon cut it for him, I'll try to remember to post a picture, it's cute, shorter and less shaggy. 

Yesterday, (Sunday) we went to church, he wasn't quite sure what to think about all of that.  Though, he was really excited to meet people.  It was very special when he was introduced in church and brought joyful tears.  He was given a Chinese/English New Testament and looked at it for a while last night, we're excited to start reading some of it with him.  He's very social and friendly and was happy to see so many new friends.  He was really excited to meet Brighton, who is deaf and was adopted from China 3 years ago, they enjoyed some basketball and made plans for the next time they could get together.  Jian loved being able to play basketball and ripstick with his new friend John after church.  On the way home, Jian was looking outside and signed "it's blue, the sky is blue!  That's so cool!  In China the sky is black and it always smells."  We agreed, there was a lot of pollution and we rarely saw the sun.  A cute observation :)

The boys all enjoyed some afternoon bike riding to the lake while I tried to catch up on the laundry.  At meals, Jian has been watching us pray.  We've also been trying to explain basic information to him in a way he can understand.  Last night at dinner, he asked to pray!  This is the interpreted version of his prayer: "Dear God, thank you that I could fly to America from China.  Thank you for new friends, Thank you for my family and that I am adopted, Amen"  WOW!  Not a copied prayer, but well thought out - so amazing!

Our adjustment to home is going really well. He's a real busybody, so, we have to keep a close eye on him and help explain what is acceptable behavior, boundaries, etc.  Thankfully, he continues to take redirection extremely well. 

Tanner is absolutely overjoyed at having a brother.  He has tried to give Jian everything he owns, toys, money, awards, whatever he has, he wants to give it to Jian.  What a tender heart!

I need to go back and start from the beginning about how we heard about Jian - we just saw the e-mail again the other day and we'd love to share with you how this all began.

So, what do we have up for the week?  Later today (Monday), we're going to do some homework, hopefully fold some laundry so that we all actually have clean clothes to wear, and possibly head to the social security office.  I think we'll take a trip to the new HEB as well, we can make it an educational experience.  Tanner is still home today, and will go to school 1/2 day Tuesday and Wednesday, then all day after that.  Hopefully that will help his adjustment back.  Tuesday Jian has a doctors appointment just for a checkup and then Wednesday Tanner has a cardiology appointment.  His geneticist had found an abnormality in some genetic testing (unrelated to the leukodystrophy) and would like us to pursue that.  So, thankfully I just realized the appointment is here and we don't have to drive to Temple - yeah!  Anyways, enough of my blabbering on - I'll try to get the pictures/videos on later today if possible.

We continue to be overwhelmed by the love and prayers from all of you - it's such a joy to be a part of the family of God and see his presence in so many ways.

AHHHHHHH........ Home

So, this is going to be another quick post :)  More to come later when I'm a little more rested and my brain works better.

We arrived home last night.  It feels sooooo good to be home.  We had fun watching Jian explore the house and videotaped him seeing his new room - to say he loved it would be an understatement!  He screamed :)  It was great!

This morning he had fun exploring the backyard and was thrilled to learn we can see deer in the back yard.  When we left the house he was shocked to see a squirrel cross the road (they're mostly seen in cages at the zoo in China!) and wanted to catch it.

We all slept until 10:30 (it felt amazing) and then stayed up all day.  We  ate breakfast, did some laundry, unpacked and went shopping for a few necessities for Jian, and replaced Tanner's glasses.  We spent some nice time with friends (and saw baby Adalee Walsh for the first time :)) and now are home and ready for bed again (actually, I've been ready for a while, but, we're trying to get back on Central time).

So, more to come of our adjustment back home - along with some final China pictures.  But for now, good night from America!

A new citizen!

Well, we made it to America!! I can finally use my iphone again too.

We enjoyed seeing Hong Kong in the way to the airport :) It was a long trip to Newark. Tanner had a migraine starting about 1/2 way through the trip & he finally stopped vomiting just before we landed. But, we are so thankful he never had one while in China.

Jian is thrilled to be in America and can't wait to be home. The homeland security officer was excited to process his immigration paperwork, he's used to babies and liked explaining the process and having him sign the forms.

Thanks for your prayers for safe travel, everything so far has gone smoothly. We will update more tomorrow.

in Hong Kong

We've arrived in Hong Kong.  It was a long day, we're tired, a bit snippy with each other and ready to be home!  We received Jian's passport and visa papers with no problems today, yeah!!    More from America :)

US Consulate appointment day!

We enjoyed a nice morning today.  After breakfast we went walking with one of our new friends to see the local wet market (where they sell animals for food).  Don't worry, no graphic pictures here (though, there were definitely some graphic things to see.)  The pictures below are of Jian looking at the scorpions (we don't know if they're snacks or meals) in a bucket - we have plenty at home in Texas we can send to them here!  Jian is standing next to some pigs, chicken feet and squid (everything else except the scorpions was dead).  It was very intriguing to see all of these different things (including whole goats (skinned), jellyfish, huge squid, duck, one dog :() and seeing what local people do and eat.  I was a little concerned about what happens when the goat is not sold that day, but, I decided to not dwell on that too much! The last picture is walking back to our hotel holding my new friend Carrie.  The boys really had fun playing with her too. Since she's Chinese and spoke little English, she was used to gesturing, so they all communicated well with each other. The last picture is a man biking down the street, a common occurrence with big packages loaded onto bikes and motorcycles (including propane tanks!!!)

Then we did a little shopping for a few more gifts to bring home.  We enjoyed some lunch and saw a Chinese movie being made!  After lunch we all took a little rest before leaving for the consulate.  

We were at the consulate appointment with 10 other families who were also adopting, and had seen several of them around town and in our hotel, so, it was fun to share this together.  To be honest, it was a little anti-climactic in the end.  No one is allowed to take their cameras or phones inside the consulate, so we couldn't get any pictures.  We all waited together, then, were called up family by family to sign a document that we'd previously sent in through our agency, and waited for everyone else to do the same.  After that, we all sat together and listened to the instructions for when we receive the visa and paperwork for immigration.  I interpreted for the boys and was impressed that both paid attention so well with all that was going on.  The lady introduced herself, talked a little about the building, then announced there were 2 children's birthdays, one girl who just turned 2 and then had a few nice comments about Jian having just turned 14 and that his adoption happened just under the wire.  Everyone clapped for him and as he looked around, he seemed a little embarrassed, it was cute.  I did get teary when we had to raise our right hands and take an oath that all of our information was true and accurate, though, it was hard to raise my right hand and sign at the same time :).  As soon as that was over, everyone clapped and Tanner jumped up and down hugging Jian.  It was really adorable how excited he was and seeing the two of them hugging each other (I wish I could've had a picture!)  We spoke to the lady there at the consulate for a few minutes before leaving and she said all the people there commented how they loved Jian's passport photo (the one where he was always giggling) because most of them are very serious or the children are crying, and it was nice to see him so happy.

So, that was that!  We went back and grabbed some dinner and now the boys are swimming again.  Tomorrow we'll be packing up and getting ready to go.  We'll leave in the early afternoon to go to the US Consulate one last time to pick up Jian's passport and visa and the paperwork we will need to give to US immigration when we arrive in New Jersey.  Our plane stops in NJ, and we'll need to de-plane, and go through customs.  At this time, when he walks off the plane, he will become a US citizen.  After picking up the passport and visa, we'll head to the train station to go to Hong Kong.  That was a bit stressful this morning, apparently something is going on in Hong Kong right now as most hotels were completely booked, we both were becoming anxious and wondering what we would do, when finally we found a hotel as well as a service that will bring us to the airport Friday morning.  Phew!  We're hoping it's not too bad, but, we're just happy to have a room to sleep in!

Today we are really ready to go.  Tanner was a little sad tonight and said he missed his hamster.  He asked me later who I was missing, I told him "my bed!" and he replied "and my hamster??"  I'm finally done with all being in one room in a small, hard bed and wearing the same 5 outfits all the time!  BUT.... I would not have traded this experience for the world.  

This morning at breakfast, JIan and I we were discussing all of the children who were being adopted and how wonderful it was for them to go to a home with a mom and dad.  He told us some things in a very general way that he had seen at the orphanage (children that had died) and it caused me to cry.  He said "it's ok, don't cry" and I told him it was ok to be sad and cry.  It reminded me again that though we have an amazing new son who has a new beginning and a new life, he still has a past.  He has a history that we were not a part of and a history that will always be a part of him.  This history does not define him, it is not who he is, but it will always affect him.  Our prayer is that he will use it for the glory of God!  I was reminded of Philippians 2:14-16 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."  

Well, the boys just came back!  So, it's time to do a little packing.  We are really looking forward to being home soon.  To seeing how Jian adjusts there, to being a family back home.  He is so excited - I'm hoping his expectations aren't too high! :)  Hopefully we will be able to update tomorrow from Hong Kong - if not, it's possible our next update will be from America!!! 

Not everything can go swimmingly....

Well, it's true.  We couldn't expect everything to go so smoothly.  I called to confirm our flights today and found out we had a flight from Beijing to Houston, but, the flight they had us on from Guangzhou to Beijing had canceled our tickets.  Hmmmm, well, ok.  Lets go over this again, with all the names and information, I explained the whole deal from before.  After about 3 total hours on the phone, we are now flying out of Hong Kong on Friday.  So, we'll need to check out of our hotel here Thursday after picking up Jian's visa, take a train to Hong Kong, stay overnight there and then fly out from there to New Jersey and then on to Houston.  The good news is that our total travel time will be about 5 hours less than we originally had been scheduled for and will only have 2 flights instead of 3 flights.  We also get to Houston about 3 hours earlier than originally planned.  So,hopefully this will all go smoothly!

This morning we went to the US Consulate to get Jian's fingerprinting completed.  I was excited to see the US flag and thought it would feel a little more like home, but, nope, it didn't!  Then we went to a park and walked around there, took a little (and I do mean little) boat ride on the lake/pond.  We came back to go swimming before going to dinner and enjoying a night cruise down the Pearl River.  It was a nice evening with a beautiful breeze and we enjoyed the company of some other adoptive families as well. 

Tomorrow we're going to check out some local markets and then we go to the Consulate again in the afternoon to take an oath.  There will be many other US families there at the same time, so, that will be fun!  OK - goodnight from Guangzhou!

Chimelong Safari

We had a fabulous day yesterday at the Chimelong safari.  Apparently, if you visit Guangzhou - this is one of the best things to do.  It was a combination of safari/zoo/performance all rolled into one.

We went with another family and were all very happy to have gone.  We loved the drive-through safari (on a train) and saw a lot of lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, deer, wildebeests, zebra, camels, rhinos and much more, very close up.  Jian loved it, but, was quite concerned that they would eat people.  After the 45 minute ride, we got off and walked (well, actually ran, following our guide) through the rest of the zoo and saw tons of white tigers, many pandas, a lot of baby animals, tigers, chimp, zebra, wildebeest, and deer and then attended 2 performances, an elephant performance (it was amazing) and a tiger performance (a little more sad and not quite as amazing).  We were completely worn out by the end of the day.  We all enjoyed leisurely looking at the animals, but, apparently that's not the chinese way of doing things ;)  Our guide was always in a hurry and encouraging us to move on after about a 1-2 minute stop at each place.  It was a bit comical really!  We laughed a lot because it seemed there wasn't any time to enjoy the animals, we were always needing to move on to the next one.  We wonder if the word linger is in the Chinese vocabulary.

Both boys really loved the park.  We obtained a lot of fun video that we'll have to post when we get back home.  There was a lot of laughter and a really fun day of memories.  The boys were tired, but, of course, not too tired to swim.  A quick dinner in our room (of 50-cent noodles from the 7/11 across the street) and we're all ready to rest, read and sleep!

This morning we went to have Jian's TB test read.  Fortunately, it was clear (they didn't inject it very well and left a bit of a bruise so I was a bit concerned they might note that as a reaction, but, thankfully it was clear).  Then, we went to do a little shopping to a pedestrian mall.   On the way we saw an entire street with very small shops on both sides of all types of chinese medicinal foods like dried snake, dried (and flattened) lizards, mushrooms, seeds, deer tendons, bones of things, and many other unrecognizable things - they were in giant bags to come and buy in bulk.  We also enjoyed walking (well, one of us - the rest of them tolerated it) around a large store of many smaller shops filled with jade.  It was a bit overwhelming, but, nice to look at.  

Now, back for some more swimming and a restful (hopefully :)) evening.  Tomorrow we'll need to get Jian's fingerprints done at the US Consulate and the following day we take our oath at the US Consulate.  Thursday we pick up his visa and Friday we head home!

Some observations

So, there are definitely some different things about China that we are not used to back home. Here are some of our observations for our memories and your entertainment.

* I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the squatty potty non-western style restroom facilities.

* There's no such thing as waiting in line, you may wait in line, and when it's time to go in, it becomes a crowd and it's a free-for-all.  You have to learn to maneuver your way around (somewhat like roller derby) and it's not considered rude!

* Customer service is a relative term :)

* There are a lot of different smells and we're not always able to discern what they are, or, really get used to them.

* Listening harder and talking louder doesn't help me get my point across any better.

* Interpreting has a different meaning here - there can be a 10 minute conversation and then a 1 sentence interpretation.

* Top sheets are not a commonly used item - all our hotel beds have only had bottom sheets and duvets!

* Being stared at and having your picture taken doesn't necessarily make you feel like a celebrity, but, it makes us laugh :)

*We don't  think we will ever get used to the idea that having the head still on your dinner somehow makes it more appetizing.

Now for some serious notes.

We are daily recognizing astonishing blessings that we've been given.  Both in our trip here and with our family.  It's amazing how often I think that 3 weeks ago we knew very little about our soon to be son and how quickly we have felt like a family.  Our communication of course is not perfect, but, it's easy to do.  The boys behave like brothers and really seem to enjoy each other's company. While he does tend to need alot of redirection and explanations about appropriate and innappropriate behaviors, he always accepts the redirection well, which we are very thankful for.  I do not feel like Jian has not ever been our son.

Tanner has not had any migraines or any more symptoms since the first week we were here.  He gets tired but never complains.  Yesterday he was feeling a little homesick and down, but, who isn't!

We have all been able to get along and not really had any arguments or frustrations with each other.  After being in such close proximity and constantly together for three weeks, it's a real blessing that I haven't been worse!  With my OCD tendencies, they've put up with a lot, and I'm so thankful that Jon is still being patient with me and we're both continuing to have patience with the boys!

These things are all thanks to your prayers!  We know that this trip is ordained and we are exactly where we're supposed to be, and it makes it so special and meaningful that you are praying for us and joining us on this trip.

Medical exam.....done (mostly)

So, our first day in Guangzhou was a successful one.  We had a nice breakfast while enjoying the Pearl River.  During breakfast Jian continued staring at a little girl who was adopted.  He couldn't pull himself away.  He asked a lot of questions about it and why she was in the orphanage.

We then met our guide and walked to get Jian's Visa pictures taken.  The lady kept talking to him in Chinese and I think telling him not to smile.   I finally asked our guide to remind the lady that he was deaf.  He continued giggling and had a hard time not smiling - it was pretty cute.

Then we walked to the medical exam office.  This is for adoptees from all over the country, as well as a medical office for anyone.  We met several other adoptive families there, it was fun seeing a lot of different age children that were being adopted.  It felt really crazy there - we were shuffled from one section to the next, one doctor listened to his heart and lungs and checked him all over, then, someone else checked his eyes (at this point the doctor came over and explained he was disappointed in Jian's posture :)), then we moved to the ENT area before blood pressure.  Then, we waited for a while before he had to get 5 shots plus the oral polio.  We had warned him ahead of time, and he did great taking the shots.  We had to wait about 30 minutes to make sure there was no reaction before we could leave.  We have to go back in 2 days to have his TB test checked.  

After that ordeal, we had a delicious Thai lunch with another American family.  We came back for a little swimming, resting and TV watching since it was a rainy day outside.  Jon and Jian went to the gym for a while and right now they're enjoying a rousing game of Memory (who would've thought he'd have so much fun playing Memory on the Ipad  :)).  This includes squeals and much laughter whether winning, losing or tying.

Tomorrow we're all excited to go to a wildlife safari!  We've heard you can pet baby tigers and hopefully will see panda bears.  It should be a fun day.

Also, one week from today we will be home in our beds!