The Joyful Journey

FINALLY...an update!

2008-08-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
So sorry I've been so lax on getting this blog updated...I've had a difficult time making the transition from one kiddo to two...but I'm hoping we're on the upswing now! As you can see from the pictures, Graham is doing GREAT! The pic below is of him enjoying one of his favorite breakfasts of cinnamon sugar toast!...doesn't it look like he needs a shave! ha.
Grahamm and Amelia are getting along a lot better now. This is a picture of the two of them digging for rollie-pollie bugs in the backyard this week...they stay busy playing now that Amelia has figured out (most days) that he's here to stay.
And here's his famous grin. He's such a happy baby! This was when we were celebrating my Mother's birthday last month...he loves being out and about.
He has settled in and is doing so well! After we'd been home about 6 weeks I started to see him really respond to English. The biggest clue he was really catching on came one morning when I couldn't find him - and was looking all over the house for him. I found him in the Living Room over in the corner. When he turned and started walking towards me his mouth looked full! "What's in your mouth?" I asked...and he opened his mouth and out fell Amelia's "My little pony" tiny, tiny horse shoes...several of them! ha. As of today I would say his current English comprehension is about 90%...of course, he is only 15 months old!

Tomorrow (Wednesday the 20th) he is having surgery at Children's Hospital in Oakland. We have had several appointments since we got home in May, and because of his age, they put him on the list for surgery in a speedy fashion. I'll post from the hospital if it's possible and fill you all in. In the meantime...we would appreciate your prayers. All the medical staff assure us that the children recover much more quickly than the parents! haha.

So that's it for now - just wanted to catch you up and let you know of our big day tomorrow. Thank you for all your love and support!
Christy

caption for Wuhan photos

2008-05-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

I just got the update from Wuhan which I posted some time ago with captions for the photos. I had just posted the photos! You might have to scroll down to an earlier date to see the captions and photos. I am not too sure about that:) Hopefully I DID post it! If not I shall try again:)
Got an email from Christy just now and they were going to the US Embassy to sign paperwork and will leave there Sat AM our time!! - They should arrive in Redding about 11:30 AM Sat!
Audy

Another Day in Guangzhou

2008-05-15T05:12:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday evening here and as I post this, my turndown service was just given (I love this life - when will I get my own nightly turndown service at home?...cleaned bathroom, fresh towels and lightly plumped and smoothed sheets--aah...) Anyway, I know you're wondering - what do they DO all day over there? Well, here's a quick run-down of our day today. Graham is sleeping now, and Amelia and Baba are down in the Mattel play room, so I have time to post. Enjoy!

Good morning! This is the way Graham wakes up in the morning, and especially when we head down to the amazing breakfast at the White Swan Buffet! It's about a $40 USD per person breakfast buffet, but it's included with our room. Very, very yummy. Graham loves the scrambled eggs and bao's (bbq pork in soft bun) and Amelia loves the fruit! What a happy way to start the day! And now for the surprise! It's a Chinese birthday celebration! Graham smiled as we sang "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinese. His birthday is May 14th, one day after his Aunt Diane's... and Amelia is great at singing (Junie shung lu qui la...)! We then shared this beautiful cake with the other families around us. Many were hesitant to try it, but once they did, they all loved it too! Look at how much Graham loved it! :) It's a light angel food type layered cake stuffed with whipped cream and fresh fruit. By the way, our guide here in GZ, Nikki, gifted us with the cake...how sweet of her, and we all really enjoyed it! Is this cute or what?! He didn't know what to think about the icing...

I think he decided he liked it a lot! I let him stick his hand in and feed himself! Messy Mom!

And Amelia got in on the action. Notice the t-shirt she's wearing. It says "Big Sister" in Chinese. She loves wearing it!...right after this picture, Graham reached out and gave her a big gob of icing in her hair...she was a good sport about it.

And this is the view from the breakfast room. It's of the Pearl River, and I love this picture of the old and new. The guy you see standing in the boat at the forefront of the picture is actually grabbing the moss out of the river with his net, and putting the moss into a bucket on the boat. The haze is constant here in the river delta.

After breakfast, Tom went to the consulate to pay for Graham's visa, and Amelia, Graham and I headed to a nearby park. This island, Shamian Island, was a haven for the British during the 1800's, and many of the buildings from that time are still standing. It's extremely picturesque, with lots of beautiful flowers, shrubs and peaceful pathways in the medians. As we were walking to the park, we came upon the local grammar school children out in the parkway doing their morning exercises. The school is a very competitive school, so apparently the kids are high achievers. I love this picture with the young and older...students and soldiers. We watched it all. While we were watching, this guy (late teens) came up to me on his bike and asked if he could practice his English with me. He asked me about my hobbies, where I lived etc. I asked him about his hobbies and basketball was his favorite. He knew all the US team information, and actually named himself after LeBron James. No, not LeBron, but James! :)

Probably 200 kids or more all along the yard.

And then, after the exercises, we went on to the park. Lots of old people working out there too. Amelia had fun and found some new friends! :)

Notice the OLD people exercising on the equipment! And of course Graham was a good sport during it all. He was content, then I gave him his bottle. He just loves to hold it. (Although I did hold him and feed him as Amelia was playing.) He's just such an easy little guy. He loves to watch what's going on around him!

As I mentioned, this island is a refuge from the ugly city. Many, many brides and grooms come here in their rented finery to have pictures taken. I love this shot with the 3 couples being readied for their photos. This is NOT the day of the wedding, but sometime before. They have all these pictures taken in preparation for the wedding. It's fun to see them all over the island.

While I went shopping this afternoon, Tom took the kids swimming. Graham's not quite sure of it, but has a smile anyway! His favorite position is OUT of the pool and holding on to the side strainer! Doesn't he look relieved to be out! ha.

And of course our mermaid is always lovely. She really enjoyed this pretty pool.

And finally dinner. Notice all the noodles all over Graham and Tom. I fed him while Tom held him. I had brought dinner back to the room from another local restaurant. While I was feeding Graham noodles, somehow he found the meat and bone from the soup, and I had to fish the crunched up bone (from the restaurant not him) and gristle out of his mouth--I guess he was sucking the meat from it...it was gross.

So that's the end of the day. We're enjoying ourselves, but ready to get on home! Tomorrow, Friday, we will have a free morning (packing and last minute shopping, swimming) and then we'll check out at 2:30, leave for the consulate, and have our consulate appointment at 3:30. This is the "swearing in" of Graham. Amelia will be with us too. Then, we head to the train station, where we'll take the train to Hong Kong. Friday night will be at the Sheraton again, and then Saturday we fly out to San Francisco and on to Redding, arriving at 11:30am Saturday.

I hope I'll be able to post tomorrow night, but if I don't I'll give an update once we're home. It has been an amazing trip. As I look back over the photos, more stories come to mind, so I may post on some of the tantalizing aspects of China in the coming months...but in the meantime, thank you so much for following along with us. We appreciate all the prayers and thoughts you've had for us over the past 2 weeks, and will look forward to introducing Graham to you in person as soon as possible.

Many blessings, and love ya!

Christy :)

Bye-bye!!!

note from Audy

2008-05-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday at 11:40PM Redding, CA time.
I have posted my last draft from Christy. I imagine they are very busy. It is good news that they are in Guangzhou. The American Embassy is there and that is where they have to sign all the papers for Graham. We can scarcely wait until Saturday! Audy

Hello from Guangzhou!

2008-05-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

We made it and we're oh, so happy!!

Today is Tom's turn to write the posting...so enjoy! You'll see the difference in the 2 of us just by the post I'm sure...

First dip in the pool, and not so sure he likes it!
Airport in Wuhan - it's fabulous, and boy were we ready to leave Wuhan! We took a Emb124? commuter jet to Guangzhou. They served lunch and Amelia and Graham slept. It was the grace of God we got through security since Tom HAD to bring his eyedrops with him because when they were checked on the way to Wuhan, they leaked out of the bottle, and at $100 a bottle (that lasts a month), he was not interested in repeating that situation. We "snuck" it through in his backpack, and there were no problems! Oh, plus our carry ons were way overloaded, but I think they took pity on us since we had our arms full of the children!
Hotel Lobby in Wuhan. Saying goodbye!

My first medical exam. Amelia is more apprehensive than Graham
Pearl River Laser Show ... More impressive in person. It lasts about 45 minutes with music we can hear in our room on the 12th floor of the White Swan.

8.5 kilos = 19 lbs! He's tiny!
Head circumference (not DBH for you foresters).

Two happy people at the health clinic.

Happy and Healthy. Health benefits department at work should be happy too.

Empress Amelia at Rest. Just the visit to the Medical Center wore her out. She was convinced they were going to grab her and start examining her. I don't think she believed they weren't going to until we left the facility!

Well, we made it!

Today is Graham's first birthday, the Big Zero One, Wednesday, May 14. This is Tom. Everyone is taking their 2 pm naps. It is warm, say 90 degrees, a bit humid (enough to get you perspiring), with a slight breeze.

Wuhan traffic was pretty snarly, so it took us a while to get from the hotel to the airport. Christy is the suitcase packing queen ... we were able to cram all the stuff she bought on her numerous forays to the shopping areas into the 3 suitcases that were to be checked at the airport. Over here your checked bags cannot exceed 20 kilos which is about 44 lbs. For 3 bags that is 60 kilos (your grand total can't go over 60). Well, we made it at 59 kilos! The flight from Hong Kong to the USA is back to the 50 lb limit so we should be good to go. This assumes Christy is not going to shop ... which is a bad assumption.

We are staying at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island in the heart of Guangzhou along the Pearl River. Our initial room was on the 9th floor with a city view -- just like our last visit here. But when we walked in the last tenant was a cigar smoker. Christy didn't even go into the room. So we asked for a non-smoking room and are on the 12th floor with a view of the Pearl River. What a beautiful setting. There is lots of river traffic. Barges, tugs, sightseeing, and other small boats go by all the time. Just like the auto traffic, I can't see any boat navigation logic, like passing on one side or the other. Just a lot of sounding the ships' horns.

Amelia and I went down to the Swan Room. This is a special play area that Mattel has provisioned down on the first floor of the hotel. There are play toys, stuffed animals, balls, a TV, and other fun things to do. I remember Christmas Eve three years ago when we picked up Amelia, we camped out in the Swan Room for a short time while we were checking in because The White Swan Hotel was mobbed by people wanting to see the Christmas decorations and this room was the only quiet spot for our traveling families back then. Well it looks much the same today -- but fewer people.

We also went to the swimming pool and played in the water. There is a huge waterfall and Amelia and I would swim under the falls and come up on the back side. She really liked that. Graham got into the pool for a short time too. The water was coolish, so he took a quick dip in Christy's arms.

There are quite a few families here with adopted children. I would have to estimate more than 75% of the families already have an Asian child and are here for little brothers or sisters. The breakfast buffet is still quite a scrumptious spread, and this is the place to see all the families. That being said, the number of adoptions is way down and some of the families now stay over at the Marriott (which is closer to the Consulate office) or the Victory Hotel down the street. As a result, many of the shops we remember are now closed. The noodle shop (with its menu that had many humorously incorrect English words) is now a clothes shop. The park with the small carousel and roller coaster is just a plaza.

The White Swan still is a nice hotel. The mattresses are semi-hard which is okay with me, but the pillows are hard as a rock. I might as well use my jacket folded up as a pillow, but I didn't bring one. The river view rooms allow us to see a fantastic laser light show both sides of the river. Even the huge city bridge across the way is outfitted with the lights. We were thinking of taking a cruise tonight, but Christy just said that the view from our room is good enough for her.

We had a medical exam for Graham this morning and he passed. As you can see from the pictures, he was happy and smiling the whole time! Those of you who remember, Amelia screamed the whole time. (She still hates to go to the Dr. - sorry Dr. Hu!) Graham couldn't have been sweeter. He was laughing and smiling the whole time. He's just so easy! Of course the Dr's all adored him too. What's not to love about a happy, smiling baby! We also took a photo for his US Visa that will get him into the country on Saturday. We will pickup the visa on Friday afternoon before we head by train to Hong Kong.

Oops, Christy just woke up. But, instead of taking over the typing, she is heading out .... shopping.

Later this afternoon...Tom finished this post, and I just added a few descriptive details. We'll write again later when we have some more fun pictures!

Love ya,

Just a cute one

2008-05-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

This is so cute I coudn't stand it! I had to get him changed while sleeping, and once I did he woke up...and this was the result. Gotta love this little guy! We're off to the airport!

love ya,

All Well Here in Wuhan

2008-05-12T16:45:00.001-07:00

Hello! It's good Tuesday morning here in Wuhan, and all is well. Traffic is flowing, music is playing, and I can see the neighborhood residents over at the Gymnasium practicing their tai chi. In other words, we're fine.

As I noted yesterday while posting our blog, we felt the earthquake for quite a while with our building swaying, but that was it. The bathroom has a few more cracks in the ceiling, but other than that, all seems the same.

We take the plane to Guangzhou this morning, so we're finishing packing and getting ready to leave. But that sweet picture of Graham tells of our state here! Now I must run and wake him to take him to breakfast. He was up at 5:30am hungry for a bottle. I fed him, and he's still sleeping! (It's 8:00am). I must wake him since we have to be ready to leave our room at 9:00am. The housekeepers have to come in and count the towels before we can check out! (I'm not kidding.)...hmmm, just more variety from the spice of life in China. Will post once we're settled in Guangzhou tonight.

love ya!

All the News

2008-05-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

Here's all the news from the past few days. First the pictures.

Here we are in all our glory! Amelia having her first chance to feed Graham. They both loved it! Walmart: hungry anyone? People were everywhere...seemed like Thousands! Amelia in front of the Olympic characters. These were at Yellow Crane Tower. They are everywhere!

Climbing the stairs at Yellow Crane Tower. Looking up at Mama!

Yellow Crane Tower..."Very Famous"!

View from our window at our Hotel. The square is huge - about 4 football lengths square. Fountain lights up at night. Will do all those pictures later.

Helping out at the East Lake. Graham loves to see what's going on. The seatbelt doesn't do much good!

At East Lake. Where Graham loves to be best - being held by his Baba!

In front of the Hubei Provincial Museum. Very beautiful buildings. Reminds us inside of The Getty in Southern CA. Well done. We enjoyed it.

Amelia having a Hot Dog. It tasted sweet if you can imagine. Go Bears!

Happy Baby Graham waiting for Pizza at Pizza Hut. Notice the pink Boa on the stairwell to the back of the picture. Mardigras at Pizza Hut!

Amelia and Tom enjoying a Father-Daughter moment over 7-up at Pizza Hut!

I'm so embarrased to say...his first french fries at McDonalds! He loves them! :) (Bad Mama!)

And here's the news...We have been busy bees here in Wuhan, China. As you can see from the pictures, over the past few days we have visited East Lake (a gorgeous scenic lake in the middle of the city), tried to see Chairman Mao's Villa on East Lake (it was closed to the public - they were having an official meeting there), toured the local Museum where we saw and heard some of the largest bronze bells in China (2,000 years old from a discovered tomb), toured up the "White Crane Tower" (favored home of Chinese poets for the past 1,000 years or so) and even fit in a visit to the local Super Walmart! Whew!...

The children are doing great. Amelia is settling in, and has decided that for the most part, brother is ok. Graham is so easy going! He just loves being out in public and seeing the people. He falls asleep in the van as we travel - or on Tom's shoulder - or in his stroller - just wherever, as long as he has his bottle with warm formula in it, he's happy. He has a good routine, which fits our family just fine. He's up around 6:30am, then naps around 10:00, then again at 1:00, and lights out around 8:30 or 9:00pm. This is a good routine, and we'll try to keep it at home as well. Especially since Amelia still naps from 1:00 - 3:00 daily, I'll do my best to keep them to it.

Tom is still the most favored one! When Graham is tired or fussy (he's teething hard), it's his "Baba" he wants. I'm just fine with it this time, since I know Mama will have the bulk of the child care once we're home. He really loves Tom! And Tom is in heaven. He keeps hugging me and telling me how amazed he is at our little family! It sure is different than his 30 plus years of bachelorhood - that's for sure!

Oh, when you see the orange "tag" on Amelia's dress, it's an information card she likes to wear. It's in Chinese and it says, "Hello, My name is Amelia. I am an American child. I speak English, not Chinese. Thank you." Our local kindergarten mandarin teacher wrote it for us, and she loves wearing it. It gets her lots of attention, and everyone who reads it loves it. They always laugh and smile at her. When people read it, they usually read it outloud, which is fun to hear.

Shopping here in Wuhan is OK. If you like women's shoes, and you have a wide foot, you will love it ---ooh, we just had a little earthquake! I'm feeling it moving as I write this. We're 18 floors up, so I hope this building has good steel holding it up! ha. It feels pretty long - a minute or so at least...Tom just came in, and he felt it as he walked from the elevator to the room door.

I looked out and the street level seems normal. I guess we Californian's brought it with us. Good thing we trust in the Lord! :)...but I'm putting my pants on and grabbing the passports just in case! :)

Anyway, back to shopping. The shoes are great. I'm having to restrain myself. There are lots of shoe stores, but it's pick and choose on the rest of the stuff, although there's a department store down the street that is as nice as any Nordstrom's - with comprable pricing too. I found Graham some cute outfits there on sale. I've been shopping while the kids sleep. The worst was waiting in line to check out for 50 minutes!! at the local supermarket. Unbelievable.

We are packing today (Monday) since we now have all the legal documentation we need to leave the city. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we fly to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) where the American Embassy is, and will finish all our documents Wednesday and Thursday, then Friday we pick up Graham's Visa, take the train to Hong Kong, and then Saturday we're home.

I'm not rushing this trip, it's just been pretty difficult this time. Our guide doesn't speak English very well, so every encounter with her is difficult. The hotel is not used to Americans, and they have few English speaking staff, and for some reason it's been difficult to get good food. Breakfast is OK, there's a buffet, and usually eggs and toast and cereal and fruit (along with so many strange things I can't even write them all down - we don't eat them anyway), lunch we've been getting room service for steamed rice and a pork noodle soup. But dinner has been hit and miss.

Last night we were at the Super Walmart and they have a cooked food section. We got a roasted chicken (the size of a game hen), steamed rice (not allowed to get alone, only with 2 sides...but we don't want 2 sides, only 1, so double on the side of cucumber stew), corn on the cob, and noodles. Sounds simple, and only cost $3.00U.S., but tasted disgusting. There was so much salt on the chicken I couldn't eat it, the corn was frozen and just barely warmed up soaked in oil, and gummy noodles and salty cucumbers...but the experience! :) At least Amelia ate the chicken and rice, Tom ate it all, I just drank water. This is just one story. This is why we are guilty of eating at McDonalds and Pizza Hut...I can't believe we did that, but we were so hungry for "normal tasting" food...I will no longer judge the "ugly americans" who go to these fast food joints! This is quite different than the last trip...then we never went to any fast food and feasted on delicious Chinese food the entire time. Also, Amelia never even had McDonalds french fries for at least 1 year after we came home. Graham loves them!

Oh, I have to tell a funny China story. Yesterday we were at the Yellow Crane Tower. There are about 10,000 steps at this place. Up and down, up and down...it was a workout! Well, last night when we were at Walmart, I really had to use the restroom. So I found out where it was (just past the checkout counters - all 66 of them), just like at home. The similarity ended there. As I walked down the hallway towards the bathrooms I noticed a nasty smell getting stronger. Oh no, I thought...PLEASE let there be normal toilets in here...at least one! But when I arrived, I waited in line, and as I looked in the stalls, all were the famous "squatty potties". Well, there was one normal one, but that stall was being used as a storage stall with mops, and papers etc., all piled up inside it. So, thankful I had brought my tissue with me (all stalls are stocked with only a trash can for paper waste - no toilet paper in sight), I proceeded to squat and go. Well, one thing I had forgotten is that I don't normally do 10,000 stairs a day in my exercise routine! And when I began to "unsquat", the brain was willing, but the legs were weak. I thought, stand up, and my thighs began to quiver - like "you've got to be kidding"...and the thought raced through my brain, please don't fall because this floor is the most stinky, disgusting thing you've ever walked on...and just in the nick of time, the legs responded and I stood, thankful for years of running that gave me at least a vestige of strength when I really needed it! The moral of this story is that the next time you're in Target or Safeway or the local gas station, and need to avail yourself of the facilities, no matter how gross and dirty they may be, just be thankful you can actually cover the seat and sit, and don't have to squat!

I'll write more later, but I think this is long enough as it is. Please know we are thinking of you all, and thankful for our friends and family. We can't wait to get home.

Love ya!

excerpts from an email from Tom

2008-05-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an excerpt from Tom giving me instructions on how to post their drafts.

"Graham is a good little boy. He allows me to comfort him and falls asleep in my arms in an upright position fairly easily. The food is a bit different here. Not much rice, not many noodles, and lots of spice. We even had donkey meat the other night. I hate to say this but CCL talked me into McDonalds tonight."

I thought their menu would make for interesting reading on the blog:)

Audy

note from Christy's Mother!

2008-05-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

I am still learning and the draft with pictures I just posted went in showing May 6 - the day that Christy composed it, so scroll down and you can see the pictures without any words from anybody! Well, a picture is worth a thousand words as the saying goes:)
Enjoy.
Audy

Hometown Visit

2008-05-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Picture of the DAY!!!

How on earth do I begin describing one of the most extraordinary days of our lives? I guess in a dramatic manner like that! Ha. Yesterday, Thursday, was the day we visited Graham's hometown, ChongYang. When we asked the guide what size was the city - she replied, "Oh, it's a small town...less than a million people". We laughed. Oh yeah, he's a small town boy!

After an early breakfast, we met our guide, Vivian, in the lobby at 8:15. It was really cool (65 degrees) outside and raining. I ran back up to the room and grabbed our jackets. We finally left around 8:20 and entered the fray of Wuhan city and Chinese traffic. As I have mentioned before, the traffic here in China deserves its own post along with pictures...so maybe over the weekend I'll take time to describe. In the meantime, suffice it to say I've never seen anything like it in the world. Imagine exhaust spewing cars and trucks (honking madly at every opportunity), bikes, 3-wheeled scooters, mopeds, people walking and the occasional animal all using the same roadway. There are no stoplights or crosswalks to speak of, and as Tom described it...it seems the only objective is to never stop...it's the survival of the fittest...for 3 hours as we drove south to the very southernmost tip of Hubei Province. Oh, did I mention no car seats or seatbelts either?! Amelia laid down and slept, and I held Graham sleeping in my arms almost the whole way there.
The pictues of the countryside are on the way to ChongYang. About an hour south of the center of Wuhan it turns into rural countryside with waterbuffalo and farmers working their rice paddies. Forests of bamboo and miscellaneous trees interspersed with hundreds and hundreds of rice paddies up and down the hills. All available land seems to be used for agriculture. Almost all are tended by hand with very little evidence of anything mechanized to help.

We arrived in Chongyang around 11:15am, and were met at the outskirts of the city by people from the orphanage. They guided us to the building. We got there, and the officials were waiting with umbrellas out - and escorting us into the building. The area around the building is very rural and green. It was raining fairly hard, and we all got wet, but as you can see from the pictures, everyone was game for the experience.

When we got there, we were given a tour of the children's building. There are no kids living there since the Chongyang facility has only 30 children, and they all live at homes with the workers...which, as well as I can understand, the workers must be "workers" because they take care of the children at their homes. The children are brought into the facility about 4 times a year to get medical checkups, and vaccinations etc., to make sure all is well with them. We learned Graham was in a home with 2 parents in their early 40's, as well as a big sister, about 4 years old! Amazing. We did not meet the family.

After the tour, they took us upstairs and into a conference room with a table laden with fruit, water, and the giving of presents. They had prepared a speech for us, which our interpreter read to us. It was very moving...(I think it's the same speech for any family who comes to the facility, I'll tell you why later). Anyway, after that, we took pictures. We went outside and got the picture in front of the orphanage. The picture shows the place Graham was found - at the front gate in front of the sign that says "Senior Care Facility" in Chinese. (This facility is both an orphanage and retirement home for seniors.) Their official photographer was there photographing everything. They got quite a chuckle from Amelia too.

After the pictures, we all headed to a fancy restaurant. It was quite a large contingent together for lunch - and we both felt like we were characters in a Peter Hessler book. (He is one of our favorite authors - he wrote River Town, a story of when he lived for 2 years as a teacher in Fuling, the city where Amelia was born.) The officials included were the Senior Director in charge of all the children's facilities in the county, the Director of the Orphanage, the 2 vice-directors, 2 care-givers, and another man we couldn't figure out what he did, plus our driver, "Mr. Wong" and Vivian our interpreter.

We all sat down around the round table in the private room at the restaurant, and they immediately asked if we wanted "wine" with our lunch. We said sure (silly us). As they began pouring the "wine" I noticed it was in a bottle much like our liquors, and it was pouring out suspiciously slowly for wine. I motioned for a small amount only, but the Senior Director indicated "fillerup"...., then did the same for Tom's glass, and then the rest of them. As I lifted the glass to my mouth for the first toast, the fumes made my eyes water and I knew this wasn't wine - it had to be the strongest tasting liquor I had ever experienced in my life! At my tearful response to the toast, everyone laughed and they poured me some Sprite. Toasting continued intermittently (every 2 minutes or so) for the first 20 minutes of the lunch. The officials were enjoying this lunch immensely! And we were too. It was just overwhelming experiencing this event in Graham's hometown, with people who had really loved him.

What was Graham doing during lunch? He was whisked away by the restaurant workers who took him out and played with him while we ate...they fed him and played with him, and he was game for it all. About 1:00pm, we finished up, and Vivian whipped out a paper she had to go over with us. It listed all the things that were supposed to happen when a family came to visit. 1-5 we had covered all on the list...
1. Meet at gate and show the facility
2. Read letter from staff, and allow us to ask questions
3. Take pictures
4. Show family finding spot
5. Take to lunch
And then there was a place for me to write down our comments on our experience. I filled that little box up with accolades for the officials and their facility. I don't care if they were just "doing their duty", it was a red-letter day for our family. And our Graham is a happy, well-adjusted, loving little boy who has been given an amazing first year of life. How could we ever say thank you enough to them and to China for giving us this child in such stellar condition!

Around 1:30 we piled back in our little van and headed home. The children fell asleep - Amelia loved stretching out fully on the backseat, and Tom and I re-lived every minute of the extraordinary adventure as we raced our way back through the countryside to Wuhan.

We have Graham!

2008-05-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Christy's second email! I shall attempt to post photos. I see them so hope the rest of you do too!! Rest easy! That is just a scab on his sweet little nose from a fall on the carpet the day they got him!!
For those of you who are unaware, I went to China with Christy and Tom to get Amelia and she would not allow Christy nor me to hold her for several days - which seemed like an eternity! Subsequently, needless to say, she has made up for lost time:)
Audy

We have GRAHAM!!

He's the sweetest, most easy-going, sweet tempered, fun, happy baby ever! I'm tearing up as I write this because it's been the most wonderful day!! He came to us with no tears, just curiosity, and within the hour was laughing. Amelia has been wonderful...she makes him laugh and you can tell he is really loving having her here. And she has really had fun playing with him...even to the point of dropping him on his head (I'm not kidding) as she tried to carry him from bed to bed...and thankfully Tom got it all on tape - she cried like a nutcase, and he didn't even whimper...he's a BOY! It's fun already. Graham is a lot like Tom!!!

The most amazing news is that his cleft is very minor!!. He eats and drinks from all "normal" things. Bottle, sippy cup etc...You don't really even know he has it...I'll be curious to hear what Dr. Hu says about it. You can hardly see it when you turn him upside down and tickle him and look in his mouth with a flashlight...it's very narrow. Thanks be to God!!!!!!!!!

We met the director of his orphanage along with the 2 senior workers. They brought pictures of Graham from this past year, and we were able to ask them lots of questions. They were very nice and very loving. Apparently, he was in the orphanage in the day, and then every night, he went home with one of the workers. We are going to Chongyang, to see his orphanage on Thursday, so hopefully we'll get to meet the person who fostered him all these months. Another answer to prayers! They also brought food for him, his favorite things, and his bottle and formula...and the finding ad they ran. Also, a gift for him from them. It was wonderful to meet them!

I'm enjoying it all. I've forgotten how to do this, and all I could think is that I want my Mother here to help me! She always knows what to do!!! I miss you Mother and wish you were here more than anything to experience this with us...he's the opposite of Amelia in the way he came to us...it's night and day, and I just thank God He's giving me this experience too. I wish you were here getting this happy experience with us.

I'll work on the blog tomorrow when I have time, but I wanted to get this news and pictures out to you right away...on the blog...I can write it, and save it, but I can't publish it or see it. So, Mother or Dad, whichever of you are willing to go to the site, and I'll tell you how, you will just need to click on publish the blog, and then everyone will see it...let me know if one of you will do this for me.

Tomorrow morning we go back to the Civil Affairs office to sign all the paperwork, and then he's ours!! It's exciting!

I love you all, and can't wait for you to meet our new darling...this is like a dream come true!
Christy :)

details from Wuhan

2008-05-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

This was received from Christy via email on Monday May 5. She is unable to blog from Wuhan. I have not edited it. Hoping it posts,
Audy AKA Christy's Mother:)

This is LONG for those of you who want ALL the details. If you don't, just delete it! :)

Good morning! (It's morning-time here in China) Here's the skinny on the trip so far...I won't post this to the blog - too detailed, but thought you all would like to hear it all...

Today is the day!! We get Graham at 3:30pm this afternoon, which is 12:30 midnight your time. Apparently there is one other family who is getting their child at the same time, that's why we had to get him so late in the day.

Yesterday was a difficult day. We left Hong Kong (after a breakfast at McDonalds*) at 8:15, then caught the train to Guangzhou at 9:30ish. Funny story about Amelia...she is an American girl! As we were walking to the McDonalds, the streets were loaded with "smells", you know that foreign city, hot humid air, lots of trash, slightly washed streets, food just cooked, smell. I looked down at AAE and she was holding her nose as we were walking. I said, "what are you doing?", and she replied that "it stinks!" Even after we walked into the McDonalds, she still was holding her nose...too strange smelling! I just laughed! Oh, and why McDonalds Mother is asking!! Horrors!!! Well, our first morning (Sunday) before we headed to Disneyland, we went to the hotel cafe to have breakfast. We ordered pancakes (2 small, flat ones = a stack), 1 small omlette, oatmeal, coffee, tea and milk...guess how much?? $50.00 USD!! So after that, we decided to find another option for Monday morning. McDonalds had yummy eggs and sausage and english muffins, OJ, ...way more food, and it was $10.00USD....

Back to the train...It was an interesting ride, although I fell asleep for an hour. Amelia kept Tom busy. She had waked me up at 3:00am, so I'm actually stil feeling pretty rough today, and yesterday was hard. We then were met at the train station by our Guangzhou guide and driver and she drove us to the airport. It felt like it was about 100degrees when we got off the train. We arrived at 11:30, left the station with them about 12:15, and then it was about an hour to the airport. (Another interesting AAE story: when we got to GZ, Amelia and I both had to go to the bathroom - so we went into the bathroom and guess what...yes, a "squatty potty" (porcelain hole in the ground sprinkled generously around with other people's urine). I went and showed Amelia how to do it - and then it was Amelia's turn...NO WAY! The little thing couldn't let herself go...and so she held it for an hour until we arrived at the airport because she just couldn't go...it's no wonder she has an upset stomach!)

When we got to the airport in Guangzhou, they had changed all the baggage restrictions, so it was a bit of panic trying to get all the stuff in the appropriate bags etc., so they could get checked. We paid our China Women's Travel representative,(travel guides while in China) so that was a burden off Tom to give the money over. Then we went through security, and waited until our flight at 3:00pm. Still no nap...and finally on the plane (a regional jet seating 50ish...EMB540?) she was out in two minutes. The area near Wuhan looks like it is in a natural delta. Miles and miles of rice paddies on all sides. The city is at the junction of the Yangtze and Han Rivers, so it's this huge, wide valley you see as you fly in. The air is very "heavy" with moisture and most likely pollution. Wuhan has 3 centers of business. One the cultural (political), one the business and one the industrial. At one point, most of the cars made in China were made here...so you can imagine the air. It seems a lot like Chongqing in the air quality.

The flight was about 90 minutes. Once we were on the ground the local travel guide met us and we were off to the hotel. About an hour later -- the 4-lane road from the airport turned to city streets pretty quick, hence stop and go traffic -- we arrived at the hotel. Traffic like crazy people. Cars everywhere with people walking and mopeds tooting and racing, loaded bicycles weaving in and out all on the same street and of course white lane lines mean NOTHING! It's completely nuts. Tom saw a pickup with 3 horses standing in the back with nothing but a high gate on the back to keep in them in...and HOT!! The van had a/c, but the driver kept putting it off and on.

So, we finally got to the hotel at 7:30 pm. The lobby is really pretty - just very smoky - it kind of makes you gag when you walk into the marble and crystal space, we needed the white masks to put on to keep the smoke out of our lungs. Then we needed to get something to eat. We opted to go to the local supermarket, Carrefour, to get water and see if they had take out food. Well they did. Not only did they have food, but everything else. Most likely we'll go back there tonight to get diapers etc. The WalMart is about 20 minutes from the hotel, so I'm not sure if we're going to go there or not during this week. The problem was, the store was about to close and everyone had to check out at the same time. So after waiting about 45 minutes!!!!, (one checker, no bagger and each item was individually either scanned or punched into the computer)...with people buying food, bed sheets, raw fish, toaster ovens, coke, shoes, underwear and frying pans all in the same line with carts loaded...we made it back to the hotel, a 6-minute walk, to eat our pork fried rice, rolls, watermelon, and cookies about 9:30pm...of course we couldn't eat until almost 10 because we had to get scissors to open our plastic zip-ties off the luggage. By this point, Amelia was crawled into her own bed and begging to go to sleep! The beds are like ROCKS - I have NEVER felt such a hard bed, but surprisingly, we all slept WELL!! Thank the Lord! Amelia even slept until 5am, and then went to the bathroom, and I told her to get back in bed and go back asleep - and she did until 6:00, so we're making progress!

(Oh, in the store - ALL the people were staring at us and then at Amelia - they couldn't quite figure it out...and we had neglected to bring the explanatory chinese informational card with us. (Mr. Wu, the chinese teacher, wrote out a card for Amelia that says.."Hi, my name is Amelia. I am an American child. I speak English, I don't speak Chinese. Thank you." Funny. Later today we pinned it to her shirt (at her request), and everyone who looked at her read it and chuckled...very cute. I think we'll keep it handy from now on. Also, the store was about 90degrees and humid..so we were all standing in line stinking and sweating and them staring...very interesting.)

Here we are at 1:00pm Tuesday, (10:00pm Monday your time). Amelia's down for a nap, and our guide will be here at 2:30 to go over papers before we go get Graham for a 3:30 appointment.

Oh, this morning, when we went down to breakfast there were about 9 other adopting families in the DR. One grandmother was trying to keep her newly adopted 4-year-old girl from running away from the table. (The Mother was having difficulty because the little girl was rejecting them all - and was nowhere to be seen--and Dad had left to try and comfort Mom) The little girl was so upset - we felt so badly for them. The grandmother looked at me and Amelia and said -- "oh, she's doing so well!" It took a minute for me to realize she thought Amelia was newly adopted, and I blurted out "oh, she's mine!"...and then was at a loss...how do you describe it...yes, she was adopted, but we've been home 3 plus years...seems strange to think of her as not always mine...a strange feeling. I think I forget she's Chinese or something..."she's mine" is how I feel, and never a second thought.

Also, other families were there -- I think ALL of them were special needs adoptions. I was relieved to see the other cleft babies were all eating well. (I'm sort of anxious that I'll know how to take care of Graham)...Most of the children were very small. We saw one 18 month baby who was smaller than Amelia when we got her! Amelia just took it all in. Got very, very quiet and didn't quite know what to say. Most of the Mothers said their kids were eating and eating and eating...which is very typical of orphanage children...imagine from never having enough to a buffet of yummy food!

On a logistical note...our guide doesn't do many adoptions. She's very young...and she said there are not that many babies available anymore - so this is not as routine for her as it was for the guides when we got Amelia - so thankfully, we've met the guide for the American World Adoption group (the group who is here), and we're going to send our laundry with their special laundry person etc.,...it's always easier to plug into an established system, and the hotel laundry is rather expensive. But our guide is planning on taking us on some 1/2 day excursions of the area, so we should be able to see some of the city.

I think that's about it. Oh, we can't get into our blog here - so I'm going to send the Joyful Journey update to Dad or Carrie or Mother, and have them enter it into the blog for us. That way we can keep it updated! Which of you want to help with this? I sure appreciate it! We can get to Yahoo just fine.

We love and miss you all and wish you were with us. This is a different trip than the one to get Amelia and that's a good thing...it's not as luxurious or easy (so far), but I know it will be just as rewarding. The temperature is fairly hot, so that makes everything harder (one wearing on the clothes only thank you)...but as Aunt Eleanor always says - "we haven't melted yet"!

Love you very much,
christy for all (and with the approval of Tom reading over my shoulder as I write this).

Some Pictures From Wuhan

2008-05-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

This is the building where the provincial adoption office is located, about 10 minutes from our hotel. Christy is taking the picture and Tom, guide Vivian, and Amelia are going in to meet Graham for the first time.
Tom and Amelia boarding the first class car of the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. The car was full of travelers for the 2.5 hour trip.

Tom, Graham, and Amelia meet the Dean of the orphanage in Chongyang City -- the orphanage where Graham visited with his foster family for checkups and paperwork.

Tom and Amelia check out the room at our hotel in Wuhan. There is a baby crib for Graham -- in which, it turns out, he slept like a "baby."

Amelia and her bitty baby dress up for the big event of meeting Graham for the first time.

We've got him!!!!!

2008-05-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well the happy news is that we have a happy baby!! He is all we could have hoped for and more! We flew in to Wuhan on Monday after a LONG, LONG day traveling from Hong Kong. It was almost like my favorite movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" because we hit them all! When we arrived in Wuhan it was hot and humid and there are buildings and traffic and smog and smoke everywhere. I'll write more on all that later...I know NOW you want to know about the most important thing...Graham!

We didn't get him until 3:30 Tuesday afternoon...but when we did - he blew us away. I'm just going to put my favorite pictures up so you can see the little darling. He's about 20lbs, with 4 teeth on top, 2 on bottom, he's teething-I think on the bottom, he's got this quiet, sweet, happy disposition - just like his Dad. Oh, and he has a scraped nose because Monday night he was in a hurry to get somewhere, and fell and got himself a nice "owie"...it's already scabbed up, and most likely will be gone before we get home! :)

When they brought him in, (the people from the orphanage in Chongyang), he was quiet and just observed everything for a while. He then went to me, was enthralled with Amelia, and then went to Tom. He was just a little sport! He took everything in, and within about 20 minutes was "playing" with Amelia and almost laughing.

Thankfully we were able to ask lots of questions from the people who brought him, Orphanage Director and the 2 ladies in charge of the children, and they filled us in on his habits.

Here's the amazing part. His cleft challenge is very minor...he eats and drinks totally normally! We thank the Lord for this wonderful news. He will still need surgery, but it does not look severe, and it's not affecting him at all now!

They gave us gifts for Graham and we gave them their gifts, and arranged to go visit the city and the orphanage tomorrow (Thursday). It's about a 3-hour drive one way from Wuhan, so I'm sure it will be a full day - but we are eager to go and see where he has been living.

The other interesting thing is that at that orphanage, the workers take the kids home with them at night! So he had interraction with the other children all day long, and then was with a family at night. We are hoping we will meet them tomorrow as well.

Graham slept well, I'm trying to remember how to do the whole "baby" thing, and Tom is the big hit once again. Graham wants Tom to comfort him when he's tired or hungry! I'm just laughing this time because at least he's not rejecting me like Amelia did!

He's a little joker and seems to love to play. Amelia has had ups and downs...which I think is normal - but it's irritating! :) I'm sure she'll acclimate as the days go on.

One other note -- I can't see the blog from China, so I'm writing this and then my sweet Mother is posting it for us in the US...thus the delay. So I'll read all your delightful comments when we get to Hong Kong, and in the meantime, if you want to email us directly, our yahoo is working great. christylargent@yahoo.com will get to us.

Thanks for your prayers - we can feel them! We're very happy and blessed - and as of this morning he's officially ours!

Much love,

Christy, Tom, Amelia and Graham!

Disneyland Hong Kong

2008-05-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! Amelia is now "passed out" on the bed...I just hope she sleeps all night tonight.

Here are some pictures and highlights...Pictures of the train to Disneyland...notice the windows, and the fabulous Disneyland train station. Dan Engstrom and William Gray, the train pictures are especially for you!

And then at the park...notice the shots of Amelia with Cinderella. These real life "princesses" really freaked her out! She would not pose for a picture with her (or any of them) despite everyone's best efforts. After we left her she asked me, "Mama, is that her real hair?" It was all just a bit surreal for her!

Amelia was full of vim and vigor until 1:00pm when she asked for her blanket. We quickly found an air conditioned restaurant with booth seating. I laid her down, and she was out cold. I finally woke her up at 3:00...but it was a long time getting her back into action. Poor little thing is so jet-lagged...but after some food the parade and the Lion King show, she was back to her happy self. Her favorite ride was the Winnie the Pooh ride...we rode that twice. My favorite was Space Mountain. Tom and I took turns going to ride it while Amelia was sleeping...so fun! And best of all - very short lines!

It was so hot and humid today - we are all completely worn out. But how fun. This Disneyland is much smaller than the US ones - so it's just perfect for us with a 4-year-old!

I'll post again tomorrow evening after we arrive in Wuhan. We're taking the train to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) tomorrow morning, then catching a flight up to Wuhan. Should be exciting!

Oh, and thanks so much to all of you for your sweet comments. Yes, I did go to Liberty and graduate in 1985 (ooohhh - that dates me! Good thing "older" parents are just the thing!) We love reading your encouraging comments. Dad - nice try on the list of things to do here - we basically just saw the street outside our hotel on the way to and from the metro and our Disney expedition. We'll just have to make an effort to come back for more of this amazing city!

Oh, and sorry for the formatting goofyness! I'm learning how to get this all straight...hopefully by the time the trip is over, I'll have it figured out!

Love ya!

We're Here!

2008-05-03T15:46:00.001-07:00

Well we made it to Hong Kong! Our flight over was terrific - thank goodness we were upgraded into the Premier Plus seating and the flight wasn't very full - so we had the 4 center seats together! That meant we had plenty of room to stretch out and Amelia had a few naps of several hours each. We're thankful!

Amelia's favorite way to ride!

We arrived in Hong Kong around 5:30pm and took the express train to Kowloon. We took the hotel shuttle from the train station straight to the Sheraton. The streets were packed on a busy Saturday night - very exciting with people and lights and TONS of shopping opportunities. Woo-hoo! Our hotel is right on Nathan Road and my idea was to walk up and down this very famous road (you would know it from the old Jason Bourne books/movies) and visit some night markets (shopping anyone?!), but I was vetoed by the family. So instead, we had a hot bath experience in the mega marble shower/tub/bath room (thank goodness I brought my Arbonne Detox Spa Treatment products), and went to bed.

It was a rough night. Imagine explaining to a 4-year-old at 1:00am why it's not time to get up and go to Disneyland, but it's the middle of the night, and she explains over and over she's too excited about Disneyland to sleep...and thankfully soon it was 5:30am and we could get up!

Now we're getting ready to go have breakfast and then head to Disneyland. Amelia is most excited because she can use her new Barbie camera. (Thanks Coco and Grampi.) She's busy playing with her little pony's while I write this. It's hot and humid here today. The air is so thick that as I sit at the desk looking out our windows, I can hardly see across the bay to the Hong Kong side. Although as the mist moves, we get peeks of the high mountains and tops of the skyscrapers. With or without the lights it's an impressive sight!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We're having a great time! I'll post more after our days adventures.

Love ya!

Christy

We're Off!!

2008-05-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

We're in the Redding airport and they just called our boarding...of course Tom is not back from taking our car to my Dad's - he dropped us first and we checked in, then he left to do the car drop...never a dull moment in our family!

In case you were wondering our schedule - here it is:
Redding - San Francisco 9:30am - 10:30am
San Francisco - Hong Kong 12:40pm on the 2nd - 6:00pm on the 3rd!
Saturday night in Hong Kong
Sunday Disneyland Hong Kong
Sunday night Hong Kong
Monday - train to Guangzhou China, flight to Wuhan China
Tuesday - Get GRAHAM!!

I'll tell you more later...those are just the dates leading to the most important date. Please pray for us on this trip. Pray that we will have safe and relaxing travel, and that Graham will be healthy and ready for us to meet him. He's getting ready for the biggest change in his life and he doesn't even know it!! Also please pray for Amelia, that the transition will be excellent for her too. I can't imagine what's going to go through her mind when we get off the plane in Hong Kong and we're surrounded by people who look like her! It will be interesting I'm sure.

Thank you and we'll post from Hong Kong. Oh, the time in China is 15 hours ahead of California, so you can figure it out.

Love you lots!

We've Been a Little Busy!

2008-05-02T04:23:00.001-07:00

This week has flown! And now we're ready to go. I had planned to be completely through with work by Tuesday, and then spend the rest of the week getting everything ready to go. Well, last night (Thursday) at 10:40 I got off the phone with one of my new consultants...how fun is that?! It is fun, especially when you hear the words, "Christy, I'm so thankful God brought you into my life"...what's a pre-packed suitcase when you hear those words and know you're impacting someone's life in such a positive way! I figure I can sleep on the plane! More later, I just wanted to post this picture -- it's such a perfect example of what the past 7 days have been like!
love ya!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2008-04-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate the birthday of a great lady! Tom's Mother is generous, encouraging, loving, caring, giving and an all-round dynamo! She shows us how to live life serving others with a humble heart. Thank you Shirley for the example you are to us all. We all want to be more like you -- you are Jesus to us! We love you.

About Graham Siao

2008-04-23T21:39:00.001-07:00

Today I realized I hadn't told you much about our little Graham! His Chinese name is Chong Siao. Chong comes from the city where he is from "Ancestral Mountain" - Chongyang, Hubei Province China. The Siao portion means (roughly) one who ponders with a strong sense of self. His birthday is May 14, 2007, so we will be with him in China for his first birthday! We'll all celebrate in Guangzhou, China together.

The most recent information we received on him was from December 2007 - when he was only 7 months old. At that time he was healthy and seemed interactive and happy. He was responsive and responded with laughter when his name was called and when he was teased. Sitting up, holding things in his hands and feeding himself cookies were part of his daily activities. He has been living with a foster family since he arrived at the Social Welfare Institute the end of August 2007.

So, that's about it. He'll be a surprise to us when we see him. The only pictures we have of him show a little butterball with a round head and fat cheeks waiting for kisses.

You know we've been praying for this child for over 2 years on a daily basis. Praying God will prepare him for us and us for him...the time is almost here, and we can't wait to see the answer to our prayers. Thanks for joining the journey with us!

Love ya!

DWTS and getting closer

2008-04-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

We're sad in our house tonight. Amelia is crying because her favorite from Dancing with the Stars, Marlee Matlin is going home. Amelia LOVES Marlee! She's a huge fan of DWTS...and can quote all her favorites....oh gosh, they're singing Dust in the Wind as the closing song...boo-hoo! Come on...how about a happy song?! (If you remember "Dust in the Wind from your Jr. Hi or H.S. days you've just dated yourself!!! You're OLD!!)...and so am I! :) Just thought I'd share this in case any of you are fans...and do you remember your favorite shows from when you were a child? I think that's another blog post all together...but for now, just some food for thought.

We leave in just 9 days...it's getting close. We're getting ready. Half packed, tickets bought, paperwork ready, arrangements made...and lots of life to fit in before the 2nd. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Love ya!

Thoughts on death...and Life

2008-04-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the funeral of the Father of one of my best friends. Her Dad was an amazing man, accomplished linguist, (10 languages), an Old Testament scholar of renown, loving husband and engaged Father. He died this past week - his 82-year-old body just gave out from old age. The end. Finished. No second chances to fix things. He's experiencing eternity...now.

His son did the euleogy - a beautiful sermon. The son spoke of how his "Pop" loved him. Pop loved him with actions and words and time and focus and more time. Love in action.

Matthew 25:14-30 was mentioned at length. Do you know it? It's the parable of the talents. Let me refresh your memory. A landowner was headed out on a trip. Before he left, he called a meeting with his servants and "entrusted his property to them" (gave them varying amounts of money) "each according to to his ability". The Master left and the servants got busy (or not). When he came back from his trip, he asked them for an accounting of his property (the money-or talents) he had entrusted to them. Two of the servants had doubled their money - they had worked hard and used their talents to create even more for their Master's benefit. So far so good. "Well done, good and faithful servant!...come and share your master's happiness!" Then came an accounting from the last servant--he just gave back the original talent. No return on that talent at all. Here's his excuse..."I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground". Needless to say the Master was furious at the waste. "You wicked, lazy servant!...You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that I could have at least received it back with interest!"

My friend's brother then went on and spoke about how his Pop had used his many talents doubling and tripling them for the Lord's glory.

Hmmm...so, how are you doing? I don't know about you, but on a reflective day like today, when I hear this passage (one of the last parables Jesus ever gave) I am convicted. Am I using up and doubling, tripling the investment God has created in me? Or am I letting FEAR or even worse...LAZINESS keep me from being the woman I was created to be?

As I'm getting ready to add another precious child to my already busy life I pray I will be able to be fearless and industrious in my work, and in my love. Playing school with Amelia working on her letters, inviting the "Craft Lady" to come do crafts, or maybe a session with "Bernice the Beautician" is in order playing with her hair. And how about scheduling my work so when I am with them I'm really with them...not checking emails, or on the phone, or doing laundry, or checking emails, or reading blogs or stuck with my nose in a book or, or, or....but am really, truly with them...actions showing love, love in action. That's what they will remember.

Thank you Joel for your words today. Thank you for reminding me of what's really important in life...

The end of that parable is really interesting. The Master didn't just get mad at the lazy servant, he took the talent from him and gave it to the one who had the best return on his investment. "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance."

I want that abundance. My prayer is that I will be willing to do more, to be more, to have more, to give more...so that at the end, I can hear "Well done good and faithful servant, come and share your Master's happiness!"

Love ya!

Travel Information

2008-04-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

We got our tickets to China yesterday! We will leave on Friday May 2nd and fly to Hong Kong. Disneyland Hong Kong here we come! Amelia is looking forward to the character breakfast. We'll fly out of Redding, head to San Francisco, then on to Hong Kong. We'll arrive the night of the 3rd...talk about making time fly! Saturday night in Hong Kong, Sunday at Disneyland, Monday take the train to Guangzhou and fly up to Wuhan. Tuesday the 5th we'll get Graham! We're very excited. More information later...

Here we go again!!

2008-03-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well, our happy news is that we will be traveling to China SOON! You know we've been waiting over 2 years for a referral for "little sister"...and after 2 years of praying and waiting, we finally have....a "Little BROTHER"! Yes, Chong Siao, soon to be Graham Siao is waiting for us to pick him up in China! We're so very happy. Amelia will be traveling with us of course, and most days she's very excited. Pictures of little brother to arrive soon.

Why "Joyful Journey" as our title? Well, I believe that this journey we're on (life) should be joyful. In all things give thanks is what Paul told us, and I try to do that to the best of my ability. So, my hope and prayer is that you will enjoy this journey with us. We'll start with the trip to China to pick up little brother...but who knows, we may continue this conversation for years to come.