BEIJING DAY 1: A TRIP BACK TO TIANANMEN SQUARE

 Ni Hao from Roger and Holly!
  We just got back to the room from our first day of touring here in Beijing. We are staying in a different area, and since we are more adventurous on our second trip here we went out for dinner with another member of our adoption group.
  But first, after a big breakfast that included Dragon Fruit (Google it, I cannot explain it) we hopped on a bus for a relatively short ride to Tiananmen Square. It was a warm day--around 90 degrees, overcast and there was a good breeze blowing most of the tour.
  Our guide, George, started us at the north end and we walked through the sea of people trying to hawk everything from Confucius Books to little Chinese flags.

 

Then we went under the street to the Forbidden City to see where the emperors used to live.

 

After the Square, we took a traditional rickshaw tour to a Hutong, or old the part of Beijing. The streets were very narrow but cars tried to squeeze past anyway.

 

One of the families made us lunch. Meatballs, chicken legs, green beans and pea nuts coated with a red pepper (it was a little spicy). The meal was fantastic!

 

We then had a chance to go back to the room and get organized. In the evening we went back out to a restaurant in the area recommended to us by George, and he even helped us order. We had orange pork, black pepper beef and corn mixed with egg yolks and sprinkles (yep, like on a cupcake).

When dinner was over we went with another people in our group on a walk through a retail shopping area a block west of the hotel that reminded Roger a lot of Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

 

And nearby that was an open food market. It's had the feel of fair food, but I am pretty sure Beer and Jessup doesn't have this stuff--everything from squid to shrimp to snake to scorpions...all on a stick. Must have been 50 little stands side-by-side with this stuff.

 

On the way back to the hotel, we saw this mass line dancing thing going on. Dozens of people doing a very choreographed dance and people sitting around watching.

It was a really good day of touring, but very tiring. Tomorrow, we head to The Great Wall!

We made it!!!

We have finally made it! The flight was good...only a little turbulence, but otherwise fairly smooth ride.  We met our tour guide and he is very kind.  We are in the hotel now and are ready to crash. We head to Forbidden City and Tian'anmen square tomorrow.

Detroit airport

Our plane filling up!

Crazy picture for our girl!

Our first meal...

our 3rd meal...thought of Hannah here, because she calls these butterflies

Waiting....

So we have completed the first flight of seven. It was very uneventful, which is just perfectly fine with me. We are now sitting at the airport in Detroit waiting for our next flight to Beijing at 12:58 p.m. I have forgotten how interesting it is to sit at an airport and watch people. Oh how there are many kinds... :) God is preparing us for the constant Chinese language as we are sitting close by some families that are obviously headed to the same place we are.  I have to say that it is music to my ears.  We are both still in awe that God is sending us to China again to get our little boy. We weren't sure this would ever be possible and here we are. God is so good and we are so thankful for the opportunity to be blessed again through adoption!! We are so excited that all of you have chosen to join this crazy ride with us.  We are thrilled to get the ride started and we hope that we provide you with enough pictures that will give you a taste of the Chinese culture.

P.S. Groundhogs, if you are reading this, I hope you are having a great day!!! Miss you all!!!

Journeying to China Again!

 

Most of you know that we have begun the adoption process once again...this time praying for that perfect little boy.  Our journey had started last spring with the preliminary application to our agency that helped us get Hannah, and we thought we were good to go, when suddenly the head office decided that because of Roger's past heart attack and his diabetes, they didn't think that China would accept us.  We were so confused and so broken.  We wondered "why" many times and just didn't understand what God was trying to tell us.  We had always planned to return to China for a boy all along and thought God had finally brought us to this point. A few weeks passed, and we felt maybe God was pushing us towards domestic adoption, but my biggest fear was that if we adopted domestically and this child looked more like us, how would that affect Hannah. Would she always be the "different looking" one, although they would both be adopted?  We had read many books and watched many documentaries about how Chinese girls feel as they grow up in America, not really feeling they belong here or there. I was so fearful to tears that she would always feel like the one who didn't belong, because she looked different. Yes, later I realized that God would take care of all that, but at the time, it really scared me. It still brings me to tears just thinking about it.  You never want your children to feel that way.  After I expressed my thoughts to Roger, we actually had stopped talking about adoption or even thinking about it until we got a note in the mail from someone who said they were praying for us and our adoption.  Also with that note was some money. We still don't know who sent it, but we will be forever thankful to them, because we felt it was a nudge from God saying, "Don't quit, I have a plan for you!"  In May, my sister-in-law's sister suggested that we contact an agency in Colorado who works with China. She had talked to them herself about our situation and they told her that our health issues wouldn't be a problem.  So we filled out the preliminary application and we were quickly accepted! So began the long process of ALL the paperwork that is involved in adoption...home visits,  doctor letters, employment letters, police checks, birth and marriage certificates, financial statements, fingerprints, Immigration approval, and your petition to the Chinese people asking them to allow you to adopt.  Oh and let's not forget the 12 hours of classes that we each had to take! Towards the end of the paper chase, we were reassured that this was God's plan as we had a little scare before Christmas, knowing that some of our paperwork would be expired if we didn't get it to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago before Dec. 18th. God worked it out quickly... we both took a day off of work, drove to Indy to get the rest of our papers state sealed, then express mailed them to Chicago. Our kind courier, Denise Hope, helped us along the way and walked them into the consulate on Dec. 15th.  They were passed through with no problems and returned to us on the 23rd...Merry Christmas to us! We were so thrilled to have that step completed.  Then we made multiple copies of our dossier and sent everything to Colorado to our agency where it would be checked over many times and translated . We got word on January 8th that our review was complete and there were no mistakes!!!!! Such a relief knowing you don't have to redo any of the papers again! On the 9th, our dossier was sent to China. We couldn't believe that we had finally made it to this point where the Chinese people would actually look at us and decide whether we were fit to adopt once again. In the back of our minds there was still that doubt that we would not be accepted, but God quickly pushed Satan out as we received an email on January 16th that our dossier had been logged in on January 13th, the same day it was walked into the China Center.  That never happens...it is supposed to take at least  2 weeks to get logged in...we were shocked!! Why, I do not know, because again we should NOT have been surprised by God's amazing work...He had this in His plan all along!  As you can imagine, the tears flowed and the excitement went to an all-time high, so high that I couldn't keep it in and interrupted every class at Lincoln by announcing it on the intercom!!  We are so excited and so thankful that God is allowing us to take this awesome journey of adoption once again!! We are so grateful for the many prayers and the encouraging words that we have received already!!  We are so excited to take all of you on this journey once again.  Please continue to pray...we are now waiting for our agency to send us profiles of boys that match our checklist of special needs. We hope to hear from them soon.  Pray that when we do receive a profile, that we will clearly hear God's voice telling us "this is the one"! We love all of you and couldn't imagine going through this process without you!!

 

Me getting our papers state sealed, while Roger and Hannah are
driving around Indy...we couldn't find a parking spot!
No problem...I jumped out and they kept driving!

All ready to be sent to Chicago.

Visiting with Santa!

We thought for sure she would figure it out this year, but she was again clueless!  Every year, Roger's station has a Christmas party and Santa comes to visit! For those of you that don't know, Santa is actually Baba. She was so excited this year, much more aware of who Santa is.  Of course, we should tell her that he really isn't real, but what does it hurt. We know she will figure it out eventually or someone at school next year will break it to her. Until then, we will just play along...Don't worry, we have made sure she knows the real reason for the season! :)

 

Happy 5th Birthday!

 

Our little Chinese girl is 5! A whole hand...wow!! This year it was all about Frozen. We know it has been out for a while, but it didn't seem to become big until this year. Hannah is in love with the movie and the music. I would have to say the first time we watched it, I wasn't that impressed, but after watching it a few times, it is beginning to grow on me!  Since Hannah's birthday was on a weekday this year, she celebrated a couple times before the family party.  She was so excited to open the birthday cards she received in the mail and was really excited to see the cash inside...and some stickers, but it was really all about the cash this year!  :) Would you like to know what she is going to do with the cash?  Use it to help get Oliver home!!  Honest, that is the first words that came out of her mouth. Hope she feels that way when he comes home. :) Thanks everyone for making another birthday special to this girl!

 

Celebrating with some ice cream and a candle!

Thanks KREWE!

She wasn't so thrilled about the firework candles, but I thought they
were cool!  To my surprise they were also trick candles.
She got a little frustrated!

She loves taking pictures.

Trying to instill the idea of saving money and giving to
the church...thanks Aunt Robin and Uncle Dave!

The highlight of the party...crazy real kitty! I wish I
would have gotten the face that Hannah had when it would start moving
on its own! Priceless! Thanks Kaitlin!

Two favorites...Thanks Aunt Kandi!

More Barbie clothes...those dolls have
more accessories than I do!

The magic toothbrush...Thanks G and G.

Happy Birthday baby girl!  Mama and Baba love you so much!  So thankful that God has given us five birthdays with you. We are praying for many more.