Foshan Nanhai SWI Visit & Goodbye China!

We woke up this morning around 6:00am and started packing all of our belongings to get ready for our flight back HOME later this evening. After we finished packing, we went downstairs, ate breakfast, and said our goodbyes to the other families in our GW group. We then went back to our room and had our luggage taken to the lobby by the bellboy because our new guide was suppose to meet us at there at 10:00am to take us to Foshan Nanhai SWI (Miata’s Orphanage) and to Miatas finding spot. Foshan City is located about 45 minutes southwest of Guangzhou. There is lots of construction going on all over China with the 2008 Olympics and our driver had a very hard time trying to locate the orphanage. After stopping several times and asking several people for directions, we finally arrived about 1½ hours after we left the hotel.

As we entered the orphanage, I quickly was surrounded by staff members who remembered us from our visit last year. They were all saying Zi Er, which was Miata’s Chinese name. Our guide was carrying Jadeyn and they thought it was Miata. When they saw it wasn’t Miata and our guide explained to them that Miata was not able to come with us, it was very obvious that they were upset. They had all been looking forward to Miata coming to visit as Ms. Tang, the director, had sent out a mass email telling everyone that Miata would be visiting sometime in August. Once inside we were met by Ms. Tang. She too was looking forward to seeing Miata and was very upset that she wasn’t with us. We spent about one hour with Ms. Tang at the orphanage showing her pictures of Miata and the other children who had been adopted from Foshan (several parents contributed money for the camera that we purchased and sent pictures of their child to be given to Ms. Tang.) Ms. Tang also gave us a tour of the orphanage and took us to see several older children who performed a song and dance for us that they had put together on their own. They were very excited to get to perform for us. Ms. Tang also brought out one of the babies I had asked her if I could take pictures of for a family that is waiting to come get her. After much time spent at the orphanage, Ms. Tang then invited us to have lunch with her and took us to a real Cantonese restaurant.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, our guide asked us what type of food we wanted to eat. We kindly told them that we did not eat strange things and were more into American type Chinese food. If you remember the photos from our trip here last year, the Cantonese people keep everything in aquariums (Cantonese food is known for it “freshness”) and you pick out what you want to eat and they cook it and bring it to your table. We were told by both of our guides in Guangzhou this week that there is an old saying that Cantonese people will eat anything but the plane in the sky and a desk. After seeing what is kept in these aquariums, I would say that the saying is true! The last thing we wanted was to get on a plane for 13 hours and be sick so they were kind enough to order somewhat normal food (the only thing weird was the plate of chicken that still had the head on the plate.) After about two hours at the restaurant we returned to the orphanage for Ms. Tang so that she could get us the exact address of Miata’s finding spot (where she was abandoned.) We then left the orphanage and drove about 45 minutes to that location so we could take pictures to have for Miata as part of her life book.

When we left Miata’s finding spot it was around 4:00 so we headed to the airport. When we arrived at the airport our guide went in with us to help us check in and to tell us goodbye. We then proceeded to the gate to wait for our flight to leave at 9:00pm. Our flight to LA left on time and went really smooth. Once in LA we had to go through customs which took us about an hour. This was really frustrating as we were already so tired! After we finally got through customs and security we headed for the Raleigh gate, set our bags down, and I went to get us some “American” food! Yeah!!! It tasted so good! Our flight to Raleigh also left as scheduled and was a smooth one. We arrived back home at 9:15am and just in time for Tropical Storm Ernesto! What a welcome home.

We want to thank everyone for all your prayers!! They were very much appreciated!! Please continue to pray for our family as we all are still adjusting.

We hope you enjoyed following our blog/Jadeyn’s Journey. We will again update Jadeyn’s Journey on Monday to share how she is adjusting to her new life and new family. We will also add more pictures to our photo bucket at this time.

And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your gloom will become like midday. Isaiah 58:10

Goodbye China!

Miata's finding spot in Foshan

Visit with Mrs. Tang at Foshan SWI - Miata's Orphanage

Last Minute Shopping and US Consulate

We woke up this morning still feeling sick but knew we only needed to deal with it for one more day because we will be going home tomorrow night. After we ate breakfast, we headed out to do some last minute shopping at some of the small shops on Shamian Island. It was very hot and humid today so after we finished shopping we took Jadeyn over to the deli and got her an ice cream (she loved it and we can only assume that it was her first.) After that we put her down for her nap. When she woke up, we headed down to the lobby to meet the other GW families so that we could take some group photos before we headed out to the US Consulate to get the children’s visas. It was a chore trying to get all five children to sit still on the red couch as we tried to take their picture. After we finished taking pictures in the lobby, we boarded a bus and headed over to the US Consulate.

When we arrived at the US Consulate we had to go thru very tight security. We then waited in the lobby with about 50 other families and then at around 4:45pm, everyone stood up and took an oath then received their children’s passport and visa. We then gathered are stuff and retrieved our cameras from security and headed back downstairs to get back on the bus to return to the hotel.

All of the GW families in our group are looking forward to going back home to the US, with one family going directly to the airport from the US Consulate to leave tonight. There are two other families and us leaving tomorrow and poor Jim and Christy are stuck here until Friday. They had hoped to get an earlier flight out but there were no seats available.

After we returned to the hotel, we ordered a pizza and some Chicken Noodle soup for Criss from Danny’s Bagel. Jadeyn loved the soup and ate every bit of it.

We will be checking out of the hotel in the morning and spending the day in Foshan, therefore we will not be able to update our blog again until we return home. Please keep us in your prayers as we are traveling. We are so looking forward to getting back home to Kasity and Miata and sharing our many stories with you.

Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless. For their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you. Proverbs 23:10-11

Our GW group! 

Our group's adoptive children 

Five Rooms in 2 ½ Days!!

After we woke up this morning and found that we were both feeling bad and having a difficult time breathing we decided to see if they would move us to another room. We did not post our prior problems earlier but it has now become kind of humorous. We were looking so forward to leaving Nanchang and coming to Guangzhou because we had such a great time here last year. But…..

When we arrived Friday night, we checked into the Victory Hotel at about 8:00pm. After we checked in, they took us to our room on the 4th floor and when we stepped off of the elevator all you could smell was cigarette smoke mixed with a mold/mildew smell. When we went into our room, it was better but still very, very, very strong so Tim went down to the front desk to ask about a no smoking room and they said that they were all full for the weekend but that they would move us on Sunday. So we decided to try and deal with it and Tim walked over to McDonalds to get us something to eat. When he came back, we ate and tried watching some TV but the smell seemed to get worse. So Criss went back down to the front desk to talk to them and they said that we could move to the 7th floor if we wanted and then move to the no smoking floor on Sunday. Criss went to check out the room on the 7th floor and when she came back she said that it still smelled like smoke and mildew but not as bad as the 4th floor. Then Criss called the White Swan to see if they had a no smoking room and they said that they didn’t but that they did have a smoking room if we wanted to check it out. So Tim walked over to the White Swan to check it out and when he came back he said that it also smelled like smoke so we decided that we would stay at the Victory Hotel for the night and move to the 7th floor. So we packed everything back up and had the bellboy come and move our luggage to our new room on the 7th floor.

When we got to our new room around 10:30pm, we put Jadeyn back to bed and as we tried to get ready for bed. We now started to notice that the room smelt moldy, musty, and damp but figured if we could just make it until morning we could then checkout and go to another hotel. As we tried to go to sleep, we found it harder and harder to breathe and decided that there was no way we were going to make it until morning. Feeling we were getting nowhere due to the language barrier, Criss (in tears) then called Helen (our guide) and explained this horrific situation. Helen said that she would contact the White Swan and after about another 45 minutes was able to get us a non smoking room on the executive suite floor. We then got dressed, gathered everything up again and moved to the White Swan. When we checked in, we were told that we would be able to stay in that room at no extra charge for the remainder of our stay. We finally got settled in and laid down to sleep at 1:00am. Well…

The next morning, after the children’s medical checkups we returned back to the White Swan and were told that we could not stay in the executive suite and had to move to a standard room. So, again we packed all of our belongings and moved to a new room! Guess what? This room smelled MOLDY, MUSTY, & MILDEWY plus it stayed damp in our room at all times. Well, we just decided we were going to DEAL with it! After the second morning in our new room, we both woke up feeling really bad! Everyone else in our group continued to tell us our room was awful and we needed to change it. So after breakfast we decided to swallow our pride and proceed back to the front desk to tell them we MUST have a new room. After checking four different rooms, we found one that wasn’t quite so bad and they said they would even bring in some machine that would clean the air. This took a little over two hours. We then were on the move again!! We again packed all our stuff and moved to our fifth room in 2 ½ days. This room is A LOT better and even has a river front view! Although the room is better, the damage to our bodies has already been done! We are now both very congested, have sore throats, it hurts when we breathe and feel miserable! The staff at the White Swan was great. We just think the four hours in the Victory is what started us on the road to becoming sick. You could not in your WILDEST dreams even fathom the horrific smell of that hotel. Anyone who has not traveled yet, DO NOT STAY AT THE VICTORY HOTEL!!!!!

Anyways, as we have gone from day to day, this has become more humorous to us and our group so we decided to share our nightmare with those that are following our blog! We do ask that you pray for us as we still feel bad and we will be packing everything back up again in two days to travel back home soon!

In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasures and will. Ephesians 1:4-5

Jade Market Adventure

After we changed rooms for the last time, we put Jadeyn down for her nap. Around 4:30pm Helen called us and said she was ready to take us to the Jade Market. So we loaded everyone in two taxi cabs and went to the Jade Market. We then proceeded to the Electronics Store to purchase a camera that we will give to Miata’s orphanage when we visit it on Wednesday.

If you remember on one of our earlier blogs, we shared how God’s hand was at work in many amazing ways that we had not even imagined! Here is another glimpse of a “second” miraculous way He has answered prayer. Shortly before we traveled to China I emailed Ms. Tang (Orphanage Director - Miata’s) and told her we planned to visit the orphanage again while we were in Guangzhou. I had asked her if there was anything the orphanage was in need of and she told me of a specific camera that they would love to have. Ms. Tang is phenomenal in that she actually corresponds (via email) with families waiting for their child and she will even send pictures and updated information on your child. Anyways, I assume the camera they had must have gotten broken for them to ask for another. Well, the problem was that this camera was more than we could afford so and I didn’t know what to do. I really wanted to be able to give them what they requested so after much prayer, I decided to post on the orphanage yahoo group and ask if anyone would like to donate to purchase Ms. Tang this camera. To our amazement, the Lord blessed us with not only enough to buy the camera but money left that we were able to purchase the children many school supplies, color crayons, coloring books, glue, pencils, pens, folders, stickers, etc. We are so excited and can’t wait to return to Foshan Nanahi Orphanage on Wednesday August 30th and give them these gifts! To God be the glory!!

Now back to our Jade Market trip. While we were in the Electronics Store purchasing the camera it started pouring down rain. We waited in the store for the rain to stop and then went outside of the store to try and catch a taxi back to our hotel. We then found out that in a city of 9 million people, you cannot find a taxi when it is raining. Actually you can find them all over the roads, they just aren’t available! So after standing for about 10 minutes Helen had us cross over to the other side of the road to try and flag one down. After standing on that side of the road for about 20 minutes we decided that we would just start walking back to our hotel which was about a 30 minute walk from the store. We hoped we would be able to flag down a taxi on the way back to the hotel as it was now about 7:00 and dark! So we started down the main road and then we turned and went down side streets that were dark, wet and somewhat scary. Here were 5 women, two children and Tim hiking through the back roads/allies of Guangzhou in the light rain. We knew when we started down the side streets that we were not going to find a taxi and we were going to have to walk all the way entire way back to the hotel. We finally reached Shamian Island and guess what? There sat an available taxi!!! We waved him on and told him no thanks that we would continue to walk as it was just 5 more minutes. We got back to our hotel around 7:30pm. Everyone was tired, wet and hungry. We went back to our room to order a pizza from Danny’s Bagel only to find out that they closed at 7:30 (if only we could have walked faster. LOL!) So Tim went down to Lucy’s and got us something to eat and we spent the remainder of the night in the room. 48 more hours to go!!

You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed. Psalm 10:17-18

Guangdong Folk Arts Museum & Pearl Market

We started our day by going down to breakfast. To our amazement, they had the LARGEST spread of food on their buffet than we have ever seen. We probably made five trips each! They had such a large variety of food and all was extremely fresh. Jadeyn just loved trying all of the different types of fruits. After breakfast all the GW families met in the lobby and we headed off to the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum.

We had visited this museum last year when we were here adopting Miata. These exhibits show some amazing Chinese craftsmanship and we were glad that we came to visit it again. There were several Chinese women demonstrating how they make silk from cocoons. They also had bone, stone, wood, and brick carvings, paintings, embroidery, ceramic sculptures, and lots of other gorgeous exhibits. We also purchased a handmade musical instrument for Jadeyn and she just loved playing it the remainder of the day.

After we left the museum, we went shopping at the pearl and jewelry market and the mall to buy CD’s and DVD’s. When you walk into the pearl stores, they have large bags of pearls all over the place with Chinese girls sitting around sorting them by size and color and stringing them into 16”-20” strands. You just tell them what you want and they will take a strand and make it into a necklace, bracelet, earrings or what ever you want. After we left the Pearl Market we walked next door to the mall and purchased some children’s music CD’s and some DVD’s. They had DVD’s of some of the new movies that are currently out like Cars, The Wild, Barnyard and Monster House. All of these were less than $2.00 each so we thought we would purchase a few and then purchase an inexpensive portable DVD player so we will have something to watch on the flight back home. After we left the mall, we went back to the hotel so the children could take their naps. When we got back to the hotel, Tim checked out the DVD’s on the computer to make sure that they worked. A few of them look like they had been recorded with a camera in the back of the movie theater and are not very clear and some of them have subtitles on them that do not match the movie. Oh well! What do you expect for two bucks! It will still be nice to watch something in English on our 15 hour flight from Guangzhou to LA!

After Jadeyn woke up from her nap, we headed back to the streets outside our hotel for more shopping. It is amazing how inexpensive most of the items cost at these local shops! Jadeyn had a great time in two of the shops because the girls there grabbed her up (they thought she was so beautiful) and wanted to talk and play with her. This caused us to spend about an hour in each shop. They really knew what they were doing, for the longer they played with Jadeyn of course the longer we looked! Anyways, it was so well worth it to see Jadeyn talking so much with these girls (did I already tell you, Jadeyn talks “a lot” unfortunately we don’t have a clue what she saying but all the Chinese people do.) Jadeyn enjoyed playing with a ball and she would count one, two, three (in Chinese) and then she would throw it to the Chinese girl.

After our shopping adventure we went to “Lucy’s” to have dinner. This was our 2^nd meal at Lucy’s and again it was very good. We then proceeded back to the White Swan to settle in for the night. We just continue to praise God for how well Jadeyn is doing! We couldn’t ask for an easier adjustment/transition! Today’s Pictures are in the Photo Bucket under Jadeyn Pics and China Pics - Guangzhou 2006.

Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west. Isaiah 43:5

Pearl Factory

Bags of Cocoons used for making silk

Guangdong Folk Arts Museum/Chen Clan Academy 

Last Day in Nanchang & First Day in Guangzhou

Yesterday after breakfast we went to pickup Jadeyn’s (and the other children’s) passport and went back to the hotel to pack and prepare for our flight to Guangzhou. The flight was about 1 hour & 10 minutes. Jadeyn did terrific! She sat still the entire flight, played and looked at magazines and was perfectly content. They served us a meal of spicy shrimp & vegetables with rice and Jadeyn couldn’t get enough of it. She is such a great eater and we have now found out that she really likes spicy foods.

We are now in Guangzhou at the famous “White Swan” hotel. This is where most families stay when they come here to adopt. We met up with the other two Great Wall families in our group (They were previously in a different province receiving their children.) We started our day by taking the children to the Health Care Facility for them to receive their medical exam. They said Jadeyn looked like a very healthy little girl. After the exam we walked around Shamian Island and looked in many of the shops. Later after nap we took Jadeyn to the “Swan Room” which is a large playroom for the kids. We stayed about 1 ½ hours. Jadeyn had a great time playing with all the toys and other children there. Later we ordered a pizza from Danny’s Bagel, it was really good! We joined our friends in their large suite for dinner and after we were finished eating we just relaxed and enjoyed each others company as the girls (Jadeyn & Maddie) played.

We only have four more days to go! We are so ready to get home! Todays Pictures are in the Photo Bucket under Jadeyn Pics and China Pics - Nanchang 2006 &Guangzhou 2006.

A Father to the fatherless, a Defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families… Psalm 68:5-6a

Jadeyn at her medical exam 

Jadeyn, Maddie, & Jim on bus to airport 

Peoples Park & Porcelain Shop

We slept in today until 4:00am, WOW getting better! Today we went to a very nice and interesting park. There were lots of people exercising, practicing sword dancing, playing musical instruments, and just enjoying leisure time. There was a small amusement area which contained various rides that the girls could go on. While the girls rode, the ladies fed their babies which drew a large crowd. The Chinese stayed around us the whole time we were at the park but especially while Christy and Laurie were feeding their babies. Maddie was a little afraid because they would follow us and just stare at her. We came upon an older gentleman who was writing Chinese characters using a stick which had a sponge on the end of it and he would dip it in the water. While we were watching him he wrote, “Our American Friends.”

After we left the park we went to a porcelain shop. Jiangxi is the capitol of porcelain so Jenny told us it is very important that we buy something porcelain that we could give our children when they get older. We bought Jadeyn a porcelain tea set, which is very popular amongst the Chinese people.

Next we proceeded to KFC for lunch and then back to our hotel for the girls to take a nap. After the girls woke up we went for one last shopping adventure at Wal-Mart. Once back at our hotel, it was dinner time so we began to eat our leftover lunch. Jadeyn insisted on going to Maddie’s room to see what she was eating. She decided she no longer wanted her chicken nuggets and potatoes with gravy but instead wanted their Roma Noodles. She could not get enough of these! After our gourmet dinner, we took the girls back to the “so called” play area to release some more of their bottled up energy. After their much needed play time, we then settled in for the night.

We are looking forward to tomorrow as we will go pickup Jadeyn’s passport and off to Guangzhou we go! We can’t get there fast enough!! Todays Pictures are in the Photo Bucket under Jadeyn Pics and China Pics - Nanchang 2006.

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Psalm 82:3

Jadeyn and Criss on Merry-go-Round

Peoples Park 

Chinese man writing chinese characters
 

Our Priceless Pictures!!

Below are the pictures that Jadeyn's foster mom gave us as a gift. I really wanted somehow to share these and thankfully Tim had the great idea of taking a picture of the photos and it worked! They had to have them made by a professional because they do not have a camera nor do they even know how to use one. This was indeed the "Best" gift I could have ever received!! We were told that the grapes Jadeyn is holding represent good luck and wealth. The headdress she is wearing is the same style worn by the princess from one of the ancient Chinese dynasties.

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Our little Chinese Princess! 

Jadeyn with Foster Mother 

Jadeyn with Daughter-in-law