caption for Wuhan photos

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!