Sleep

Sleeping has been a very difficult part of coming home. Grace does NOT like to sleep in her crib. We tried the first night with her in the crib and Jayden in the same room. She screamed and screamed. Jayden got very little sleep. The next night we put Jayden in Joshua's room so he could get some sleep. Miss Grace continued to scream in her crib. Just to get some sleep I moved her into my bed, she slept great, I didn't, but she did. The next night we just put her in our bed again. We put Jayden back in his bed which he did not want to do. He wanted to keep sleeping in Joshua's room. We may have to rethink the Jayden/Grace sharing a room situation. Anyway, I decided that I just cannot sleep with a child in my bed, so we put the Pack N Play in our room at the foot of the bed. Grace screamed at first, but as long as I lay near her she did okay. After falling asleep she slept through the night and she's been in the Pack N Play every night since. Not the ideal sleeping situation, but it works for now, so we'll stick with it until she's more comfortable here.

She's getting better with daddy and seeks him out to play with her. She does get very jealous when mommy is playing with Jayden and will scream an ear piercing scream if Jayden is on my lap and she wants to be. A little bit of sibling rivalry developing here. As she rode in the cart at Wal-Mart the other day she would scream at the top of her lungs every time that Jayden touched the cart or she'd kick at him with her feet. They are both a little jealous of each other.

10 - 26

We have been home for a few days now. Jet lag has been very difficult, especially on Grace. She only sleeps about 2 hours at night and then wakes up screaming. She's just not comfortable in her crib. She does fine if she is in bed with me (something I've NEVER allowed my other children to do). She likes to rub my ear when she sleeps, which means I don't get much sleep because I can't sleep with my ear being rubbed. I know this is just a phase that will pass when she's more comfortable at home.

Joshua and Jayden are back to school and Jon is back to work. Life is returning to it's new normal with 3 kids. Getting 3 kids out the door is a lot more difficult than getting 2 out the door. Joshua was 15 minutes late to soccer practice on Monday because I just couldn't get everyone ready. At least he hasn't been late for school.

Grace is doing great, besides sleeping at night. She is meeting lots of new people who have been anxious to meet her. I took a trip to the Asian market and found some foods that she enjoyed eating in China. The market reminded me of being in China except most of the employees were speaking Spanish, only in Southern California :)
She loves to dance, something we found out in China. Whenever she hears music her arms start going up and down. I'll try to upload a little video of our dancing girl.

Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're home!!!!!!!!!

The 11 1/2 hour flight home went well, except for the fact that Grace only wanted her mama to hold her. She screamed every time I gave her to Jon. Joshua and Jayden did great! They slept most of the way and watched the DVD player the rest.

We arrived right on time even though our flight left 1 hour 20 minutes late. After landing we went through immigration. Then we had to wait with the other adoptive families (5 families) at the new immigrant window for the paperwork to be checked. Then Grace became an official US citizen. Next we were off to customs. Took about 1 1/2 hours from landing to being greeted by mom. We were home 45 minutes later. We stayed up until about 11 o'clock. Grace slept in her crib, but had to cry herself to sleep. She was awake by 3:30 am and Jayden was up by 4:30. Joshua slept through the night until about 7:45. We are exhausted, but happy to be home.

A special thanks to my brother Mark who posted our blog updates while we were in China and unable to do it ourselves.

We're Outta Here

After breakfast we finished up the last of our shopping, went to the swimming pool, ate Subway and took a nap.

The suitcases are packed and we're headed for HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a last picture from China of Grace in her swimming suit.

Red Couch Picture 10 - 12

This morning we had our "Red Couch" picture. Taking a picture on the red couch is a tradition at the White Swan when you adopt a child. We attempted to take our Gracie Girl's picture alone on the couch, she was not very cooperative. The best picture was taken by Jayden with our spare camera. Next, our Holt group gathered together for pictures, all 26 families. We had to break our group in 2 because there were so many children. Then we took a group photo.

After the pictures Jon went to our exit meeting where we found out about our leaving tomorrow. We are to have our suitcases outside our hotel room door by 4:30 pm and meet our guide in the tour lobby at 5:15. We will then be taken to the airport where our guide will help check us in. We've been very well taken care of while we've been here. There has always been someone to greet us at the airport when we arrive in a city and there has always been someone to take us to the airport and help check us in.

We received Grace's visa to enter the US today. Once she goes through immigration tomorrow she will be a US citizen.

We ate dinner at Lucy's, a local diner. Jon and I each had steak. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24 hours until we leave for home. I'm not looking forward to the long plane flight, but I am looking forward to going HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 10 - 20

Today was a free day. We slept in a little and went down to breakfast. In the elevator we met a man who asked us questions about our adoption. He said he thought it was a great thing we were doing and then asked to take our picture. We've had plenty of people taking pictures of Jayden, so what's one more. He then told us he was a former professional baseball player from 1973 - 1980 and he played for the St. Louis Cardinals. He said he works with professional athletes and wanted to show them what's going on here in China. We were seated for breakfast before we got a chance to get his name.

After breakfast we Skyped with my mom and then we did a little shopping. We got Grace some traditional Chinese outfits to wear for her "red couch" picture tomorrow and one to hopefully wear for her baby dedication whenever that is. I found a few more things I want to buy, but we were out of cash. We cashed some more travelers cheques, so I'll do some more shopping tomorrow.

For dinner we once again had Subway. Hey, it's inexpensive. The hotel food is so pricey and there are not many other choices.

After we ate we went back to the White Swan playroom. We ran into Laura's friend Patti. I tried to take a picture of her daughter Lexi and Grace, but Grace wasn't cooperating. I'll post a few of the pictures from the playroom and from today.

48 hours until we head for home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

US Consulate

This morning we had to stay in our room from 9 - 11. Holt was taking care of our Visa appointment and we needed to be in our room to answer the phone if any questions came up. There was no call so we headed to the pool. The boys enjoyed it and Jayden played with his little friend. We met another family from a different adoption agency who's first daughter was adopted from Guizhou, the same province as Grace.

There was no time for a nap today. At 2:00 our Holt group took a 40 minute bus ride to the US Consulate where we took the oath. The oath was pretty much saying that the information we submitted to the US Consulate was true and correct. We then had to wait for our child's name to be called and go to the window to sign a paper on the visa application. Surprisingly enough we were the first family called from our agency. We then took the bus back to the hotel and had about an hour before we boarded the bus to take a dinner river cruise. On the menu this evening, Papa John's Pizza. The river cruise would have been much more enjoyable if we didn't have a cranky baby who had only napped 20 minutes on the bus and a cranky 4 year old who could have used a nap and overly tired parents.

Grace is letting Jon hold her more and more which is a real relief to my back. Unfortunately on the river cruise she wanted nothing to do with him and only wanted her mama.

Jayden is having a tough time in the role of big brother. He's jealous of all the attention she needs. Please pray for my little guy. He's become very clingy to daddy and doesn't even want to sit next to his mommy who needs to direct her attention to a clinging baby.

We can't wait to come home on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll add a few pictures from the past few days.

Monday 10 - 18

This morning we went back to the medical clinic where Grace received 2 more shots. She did not like this at all, who does, but she calmed down very quickly. We took the long way back to hotel and explored the island a little. Grace actually slept in her crib at nap time. After nap we went to the White Swan playroom. The boys made friends with a 9 year old boy from Oregon. We picked up dinner at Subway and went to bed early. Looking forward to going home on friday, it can't come soon enough.

Jade and Pearls Markets

Sunday 10 – 17

Today was a free day. After breakfast we took the optional trip to the jade and pearl markets. The boys each got a jade turtle. Jon bargained with the seller and we got a great deal. At least we think we did. We also got 2 jade pendants, one for me and one for Grace when she gets older. Once again we bargained and got it for half what they originally asked. Next we went across the street to the pearl market. Didn’t get anything here, it was just too expensive.

Jon took the boys swimming in the pool while Grace napped. She’s getting better about nap time and doesn’t throw a fit if I lay her down on the bed after she falls asleep. It’s nice not to have to hold her for 2 hours while she sleeps.

At 3:00 we went to high tea in the dining room. I really enjoyed this. All the Holt families sat together. We sat with a family from Pennsylvania with their two girls. They are here for their second adoption trip. The food was good. Grace once again loved the noodles and some dim sum (or something like that). We even had a special treat – ice cream.

After tea we just hung out in our room. It was nice to have a lazy day.

It wasn’t too fun sleeping with Jayden in the bed last night. He rolled all over the place and was sideways at one point. I had to keep turning him around.

I’m adjusting a little better to the new hotel. I like the surrounding area. It’s a fairly quiet little island. There is definitely not the honking and crazy driving of Beijing and Guizhou.

Grace is starting to say Ba Ba (daddy). She even let Jon carry her for a little while at the pearl market. Of course she was screaming most of the time. She’s also not getting as upset when I leave the room or go the buffet for more food. Jon appreciated this because he didn’t have to deliver my food at high tea.

Friday and Saturday

Friday 10 - 15

Today we got ready to leave Guizhou and head to Guangzhou. We spent the morning packing up. We had KFC for lunch and then visited the little park next door to the hotel. It was a small park with a Koi pond. There were a lot of older people sitting in the park singing. They had a karaoke machine and took turns singing. Grace loved the music. We then walked down by the river. They had lots different exercise machines for people to use. They boys enjoyed playing with these. One older lady got a kick out of watching them. We then headed back to our hotel where we checked out and headed to the airport. We arrived at the airport about 3 hours before our flight. Nothing like sitting around an airport for 3 hours. Our flight took off about 30 minutes late and we took the 1 ½ hour flight to Guangzhou. We were greeted by a man holding a Holt sign who took us to our bus. We then headed to another part of the airport where we picked up even more families. Our shuttle bus was very full. Jayden and Grace both fell asleep on the bus. By the time we got checked in and to our room it was midnight. When we got to our room we were disappointed to find out we had been given a room with just 2 twin beds and no crib. Jon went back downstairs to try and fix the mistake, but we were told that the hotel was completely booked. They finally brought us a crib. Jayden and Jon shared a twin bed and Joshua slept in a roll away. Not comfortable at all. This is supposed to be a 5 star hotel and this doesn’t seem any better than a Motel 6. The beds are so hard it’s like sleeping on a piece of plywood. Today we were switched to a king size room. Same size as the previous room, but with a king size bed. Now we will have Jayden sleep with us in the big bed.

Saturday 10 - 16

After breakfast this morning we met with some of the Holt Families (there is a very large group so they have split us into 3 groups). We walked across the street to have Grace’s visa photo taken. We then went for her medical appointment. They weighed her, took her temperature, listened to her heart, looked at her eyes and ears and gave her 5 shots. Poor baby. She has to go back on Monday for 2 more. 7 in all. We were not happy about that. We did get me meet my sister’s friend Patti at the medical clinic. I have never met her before but I knew it was her when I heard her call her older daughter Ella and her husband had a Swiss accent.

Grace is doing great. She loves to be silly and lots of smiles and giggles. She still won't let Jon hold her unless he's lifting her into the air and being silly. She also calls me Mama.

Jiaxiu Pavilion

After breakfast we walked to Jiaxiu Pavilion with Michael. It was a drizzly day. The Jiaxiu Pavilion is a beautiful pavilion located on the river that goes through the city of Guiyang. It was only a short outing today. Michael then went to the notary office to finish proof reading our important papers and get our final copies of her certificate of abandonment, etc. We returned to our room for nap time and a lunch of snacks. Grace refused to sleep in her crib. I had to hold her. Every time I tried to put her down she’d scream, so I just held her. It’s all good for the bonding process. After nap time we went down to the lobby while our room was cleaned. Once again we were a tourist attraction. A large group of people were just checking into the hotel when they saw us walking around the lobby with Grace. They all (probably 15 of them) walked over to us and asked if we were Americans and if we were adopting this little girl. They were all Americans here for some sort of conference. They asked us all sorts of questions from how long did the process take to how much it cost. Later we walked over to the mall to see what was there. We were hoping to find a restaurant to eat dinner. This mall didn’t have anything we were looking for. It was more like a big department store with different kiosks. They did however have a Toys R Us. We then walked back to the hotel. My arms and back were getting tired from carrying Grace. We ended up ordering room service for dinner. Pizza for Jon and the boys, a ham sandwich for me, and we ordered Dan Dan Noodles for Grace which she loved and gobbled down. After dinner was bath time which Grace did NOT enjoy. Since I was the one bathing her she ran to Daddy for comfort and let him hold her. This made him feel great.

Tomorrow evening we fly to Guanzhou. We’re looking forward to being back with our Holt group again.

I attached a few pictures from the last few days.

Qianling Park

Qianling Park

After breakfast this morning we were able to Skype with my mom so she was able to see Grace. Right as we were dialing on Grace bit Jayden on the arm. They were trying to share a chair and I guess she didn’t want to.

At 10 o’clock we met our guide, Michael, and we drove by taxi to Qianling Park. It is a beautiful forested park. We took a cable car up to the top of the hill and then walked down. Here we saw wild white monkeys and visited a Buddhist temple. As Michael was talking about one of the buddhas, he was telling how the Buddhist people pray to the statue. Jayden proceeded to tell our guide, “You can’t pray to a statue because a statue can’t hear you. It’s not alive”. Way to go Jayden. We saw even more monkeys on the way down the hill. One monkey stole a bottle of juice from a man. The man chased after the monkey swinging his backpack at the monkey who then climbed a tree. The man continued to yell at the monkey who then threw the bottle of juice down to the ground. It was funny to watch. Another monkey was walking beside us and Joshua decided to kick his leg at the money who then showed his teeth and made a very loud noise to voice his disapproval. Joshua definitely learned his lesson. We had told the boys not to bother the monkeys and just to walk quietly. There was a lot of music in the mark. Various people singing. Sounded a little like choir practice. Grace loved the Chinese music. She would get a big smile on her face and swing her arms to the music (I had her in the baby carrier). After the park we took a taxi back to our hotel. Can’t believe our family of 5 fits into the back of a VW Jetta taxi. It helps that there is no seat belt or car seat law. I had Grace on my lap and Jon had Jayden on his lap. Joshua sat in the middle. The driving here in Guiyang is still crazy, all the lane changes and honking is enough to put your nerves on edge. After we returned to the hotel we ate a lunch of snack food. We just hung out in our room for the afternoon bonding with Grace. She’s getting more and more comfortable with us, but still cries every time I leave the room. She’s also starting to bond with Jon. She plays with him and has lots and lots of smiles and giggles. She lets him dress her, change her diaper and put on her shoes, but she does not let him hold her yet. Joshua was sitting at the desk in our room and she came over to him and put her arms up for him to pick her up. She sat on his lap for a long time doing stickers. Jayden is starting to get a little jealous as we knew he would. He likes playing with the toys we brought for Grace and doesn’t want to share them with her. Daddy took him out of the room for a little one on one time this afternoon and that helped. They just went down to the workout room and he played a little on the equipment. The boys had wanted to go swimming the pool, but when Jon and Jayden checked it out, it didn’t look like a pool for children to play in. Everyone has to wear a swimming cap, and everyone they saw in the pool was doing the butterfly. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight. We ordered a pizza which was really good. Grace did not want to try the pizza, but she ate Cheerios and a bowl of rice. She loved scooping the cheerios up from a plate with a spoon and putting them into a bowl. She then hugged the bowl with her left arm and fed herself the cheerios with the spoon. After she was full she scooped her rice into another bowl and poured her milk into it and just kept mixing it around. Guess she’s going to be a chef. She was not happy when we made her stop because we were done. I just realized that I wrote one big long paragraph. Oh, well.

Grace really cried this evening. I think she’s still grieving. We turned the TV on to a Chinese station and that seemed to help. I think all the unfamiliar words she hears are a little scary. She had to cry herself to sleep tonight. She only cried for about 10 minutes before finally drifting off to sleep.

Museum

Last night we ate in the hotel restaurant. Jon, Joshua, and I had spaghetti, not the best. We ordered Jayden a hot dog off the children's menu. What came was NOT a hot dog. It was some kind of sausage with cheesy stuff on it. Jayden refused to eat it, but he did eat the fries. We are starting to find out what Grace eats. She loves the Cheerios we brought with us, Ritz crackers, orange juice, chewy granola bars, rice, muffins, and liquid yogurt. She will not drink out of a sippy cup or a bottle. Last night at dinner the ladies working in the restaurant kept leading Grace away and taking her to the sweets table where they would give her little pastries or marshmallows.

This morning we visited a local museum with our guide Michael. The museum had fossils, ancient artifacts, and traditional clothing of the different minority groups of Guizhou. There was also a traveling exhibit of decorative plates from Germany. The traditional clothing was beautifully embroidered. We visited the museum store and bought the kids pendants carved on a beautiful local stone. We also got a set of animal figures.

We came back to our room and just snacked on food and put Grace down for a nap. She did go down easily today. I had to rock her to sleep and then she wouldn’t let me lay her down. She slept in my arms.

We are seeing a lot more smiles and giggles out of Grace. She especially thinks it’s funny to hit her brothers.

We’re planning a trip to Wal-Mart here in a few minutes. It’s a short walk under the street. We visited there the other day and boy, is it crowded. I will never complain about our Wal-Mart in Anaheim again. We are really hoping to get Grace a new pair of shoes. The shoes she came in have seen better days and are way too small. There is a Kentucky Fried Chicken at Wal-Mart, so we will bring that back for dinner.

The Chinese people are so picky about how you dress you children. It’s about 70 degrees outside. They want Grace bundled up. Our guide keeps telling us to dress her warmer. She does not need to be dressed warmer. I obliged and put her jacket on, but the poor thing is just sweating. Why anyone thinks that 70 degrees is cold is beyond me.

The boys just love Grace. Jayden told her that he loves her. Brought a smile to our faces.

Update: We just got back from Wal-Mart. Boy was it hot in there. My little girl all bundled up was just sweating as were the rest of us wearing short sleeves. No luck finding any shoes at Wal-Mart they just didn’t have her size. As we walked through the store she kept reaching out for different food items. We bought just about everything she seemed to recognize: animal crackers and some boxed milk. They were giving samples of the milk (looks kind of like the Horizons organic milk with a straw) she loved it so we bought that for her. We then ate at KFC. We were literally a tourist attraction. Everyone stopped at the KFC window to look at the Americans with the Chinese child, but everyone smiled at us too. After we ate we had to walk back under the street to our hotel. Here we found a pair of shoes for Grace at one of the small little stores under the street. They are the exact shoes she had on when we got her (pink with a lamb cartoon character on them), just 1 size larger. She was very excited to get them and they only cost about $3.00.

I’m going to attach a picture of one of her big smiles today.

More Pictures

Adoption Day

Grace slept all through the night. When we got up and dressed, we headed downstairs for breakfast. I had no idea what she would eat. She just kept reaching across the table for something. A Chinese waitress tried to speak to her to see if she could tell us what she wanted. She refused the canned pear and Cheerios I offered her, but LOVED the liquid yogurt I gave her. She drank two of them and then ate a few Cheerios. I was so happy that she at least ate something. After breakfast we got ready to go back to the Civil Affairs office. We gathered our things and were met by our driver. Michael was not there because he was at the bank retreiving our “donation” money for the orphanage. We drove only about ½ a block when we realized that in our hurry to get to the Civil Affairs office we forgot ALL our paperwork in the hotel room. We tried to talk to our non-English speaking driver to tell him we need to go back to the hotel, but he didn’t understand. We pulled out our hotel card and pointed to it hoping he would understand that we needed to go back. He got out his cell phone and called Michael. We told him we needed to go back to the hotel and he translated to the driver. I was so afraid we were going to be late. The traffic was terrible. We actually arrived at the Civil Affairs office before the other 2 American families. This time when we entered the office all the babies were quiet and not screaming like the night before. We filled out more paperwork and now she is officially adopted and officially named Grace Noelle Zi Yue Huchel!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was no ceremony for the adoption and we were not asked any questions. We were just given her official adoption decree. We were given a few gifts for Grace, a “minority doll” and a small silver pendant.

We are now back in our room. Grace is napping and our guide Michael is turning in our paperwork for Grace’s passport.

Grace is such a sweet baby and we even got a few smiles out of her today watching her silly “ge ge”, big brothers. We just LOVE her.

We don’t have internet access in our room. We could but it would cost. I will finish writing these posts and head to the business center downstairs to use the free internet there. I’ll try to add some pictures.

We don’t have any access to read comments left on our bog, but if you want to e-mail us you can at

jon.huchel@gmail.com

10 -10-10 Gotcha Day

We woke up early this morning and met our driver to take us to the airport. We were there in plenty of time and had to wait about 1 ½ hours before we could board the plane. We sat on the plane a good 45 plus before it took off. Jayden thankfully slept on the plane because he was not in a good mood. When we landed we were greeted by our guide, Michael, who took us to our hotel. Our room was already set up with a crib and a roll away. After getting settled into our room we met Michael once again at 4:40. We got into our van and were driven to the Civil Affairs office. When we arrived we were told to have a seat on the couch and Michael would go and find out about Grace. We took a seat in a room that had two other American families sitting in it. I was so thankful for that because no one else from our Holt group was with us and we were feeling kind of alone. After sitting down I looked to my left and saw a Chinese baby dressed in yellow and holding a cloth doll and a Speed Racer car sitting on a Chinese ladies lap. I immediately teared up when I realized that this wasn’t any baby, it was OUR baby Grace. I knew her right away when I saw her face and her missing hand. Tears started flowing. We didn’t even have the camera ready. We finally got the video camera to Joshua who videotaped. Sorry to say it wasn’t a very good video tape. He had it zoomed in so far you can’t see anything, but you can hear it. I think it was a good 4 or 5 minutes before he asked for help. Grace was not very happy to see us. She cried and cried. She really did not like being held by her “Ba Ba” aka Daddy. She just wanted to come back to me even thought she continued to cry she did not scream like she did with Jon. We signed our custody papers and asked questions of the orphanage director. I don’t really think this orphanage director knew anything about Grace. We asked about her sleeping habits, favorite foods, etc. She just gave us general answers. We then took our crying, screaming baby back to the hotel. She did not want to be held and just kept walking over to the door and tried to unlock it. Of course she was too little to do that. About an hour later we had a break through. Joshua started to blow bubbles with the bubble solution we brought with us. She clutched her little doll and car and put her finger out and popped the bubbles. Joshua just kept blowing and she kept popping and there was no more crying. I am so thankful I brought the boys with us. They were such help trying to distract her. I then tried to feed her. She took some Cheerios, but refused a bottle and a sippy cup. We ended up skipping dinner last night and eating snacks since we didn’t want to take her out anywhere and it was already 7:30 before she calmed down. Around 9:00 I asked her if she was tired in Mandarin. She walked right over to me and let me dress her in her pajamas. I layed her down in her bed and she did not cry, and eventually fell asleep.

Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

This morning we had our Holt orientation where we learned a little more about the adoption process and received new photos of Zhu Zi Yue. We even got a picture which appears to be with her foster mother. Grace appears to be crying in several pictures. Guess she didn't want her picture taken. We met several more families at the orientation and had a group lunch with more Chinese food served "family style". Jayden even made a little friend.

After our lunch our entire group headed out to visit The Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. Still lots of people taking pictures of Jayden or staring at him or touching his head. Our guide said it is because most of the Chinese people visiting these places are from provinces were there isn't much tourism and they have never seen a light haired blue eyed boy before. Hard to believe coming from Southern California where we see all types of different nationalities every day. We then visited a silk factory. I had no idea that was how silk was made.

We were exhausted when we got back to our hotel. Took another walk to the mall (the only place we are comfortable going to by ourselves) and picked up Pizza Hut which we ate in our room.

After we ate we bathed the boys and Jayden fell asleep instantly.

We now need to pack up as tomorrow we leave for the airport at 6 am and fly to Guizhou. We will receive Grace in the afternoon. Exciting and terrifying. I'm sad for Grace who will grieve the loss of everything she has ever known. I worry how Jayden will react as a big brother. I'm excited to add to my family.

Off to finish packing and try to get some sleep. It hasn't been easy. Jayden was wide awake at 3:00 this morning.

Great Wall of China and Houtong Lane

Today we went to see the Great Wall of China. We went on a tour with the other Holt adoptive families. The drive to the wall took us about an hour buy bus. We walked up the great wall to the first tower. The steps are very uneven. It was tiring, but we made it. Jayden wanted to be carried at first, but that is pretty much impossible because of the steepness of the stairs. He climbed up complaining at first, but then he was going faster than everyone else. Didn't seem to tire him out at all. Oh the energy of a 4 year old. He wanted to keep going up to the next tower, but we were way too worn out to do that. It wasn't a clear day, it was very hazy. The weather and temperature was perfect for climbing. It was only 22 degrees Celsius, not sure what that is in Fahrenheit, but around 72. All the people climbing the wall were quite taken by Jayden. We saw many a Chinese person stop and take a picture of him. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe it was his blue eyes, or the fact that he didn't even seem tired after climbing to the top.

After the Great Wall our tour took us to lunch were we saw people in a cloisonne factory carving pottery. The Chinese lunch was very good. The boys even tried a lot of things they never would have touched if I had served it at home. The meal was served family style with a large lazy susan in the middle. At our table we met another couple adopting a child who live in Buena Park. They live right around the corner from our church and have even attend there before. It's a small world. Downstairs from the restaurant was a large shopping area. We bought a Christmas ornament and a gift. Jayden spent some of his money (given to him by his Aunt Laura and Uncle Mico) on a stuffed panda bear. It was his money so we let him buy what he wanted.

After lunch we boarded our bus again and went to Houtong Lane where we rode a rickshaw through the alley like streets. That was a lot of fun. Our rickshaw driver took a picture us with our camera. I rode with Joshua and Jon with Jayden. Jon said that after taking the picture, his driver using his own camera took a picture of them. Must have been those blue eyes of Jayden's again. We were even welcomed into one of the homes to see how people live. We squeezed into her living room (all 25 or so of us) and were allowed to ask her questions about living in a Houtong. She has to walk outside to go from her bedroom to living room and kitchen. The people in the Houtong do not have a bathroom. They have to use a public restroom for all the people who live in a certain Houtong. Makes me feel a little bad for having 3 bathrooms at home.

We learned a lot about China today. Makes me very very grateful for living where I do.

There are several other families in our Holt group who brought their other children with them, so we aren't the only ones.

I'll try to add a few pictures.

Thank you to my brother Mark who is posting my e-mails on blogspot since I am unable to do it myself here in China.

Good Morning

We did our best to stay up until 7 pm last night, but by 6 pm we were done for the day. I think we all pretty much fell asleep instantly. After 7 hours I was wide awake. That's 1 in the morning. I only dozed a little off and on after that. The boys were awake by 4:30. They are now playing happily playing. Joshua's doing Madlibs and Jayden's playing his V- Smile.

We got a little adventurous yesterday afternoon in an attempt to keep ourselves from falling asleep at 3 in the afternoon. We took a walk outside our hotel to the APM Plaza (a mall) about 1 1/2 blocks away. Walking is scarying than riding in a car. Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in China. When you cross the street you take your life in your own hands. You may have a green walk sign, but the cars turning will run you over if you don't get out of the way. The mall was very nice and very clean. We didn't walk the entire mall, but we saw everything from Starbucks to a Lego Store. We found a small food store where we bought bottled water. Our first purchase was interesting. The person behind the counter wasn't too happy with us for paying for about $2.50 worth of bottled water with the 100 Renmin (worth about about $15). I guess she wanted a smaller bill. Who knows if we even got the right amount of change. Oh well, it was a learning experience.

We ended up just eating room service in our room for dinner. We ordered a peperoni pizza and wonton soup. Neither were very good, but it was at least something to eat. We were just way too tired to go anywhere.

They gave a roll away bed for Joshua. Jayden slept on the small couch using 2 robes from the closest for covers since we weren't given any extra sheets or blankets.

We're up early. Guess we'll be down at breakfast when it opens at 6 am.

Off to the Great Wall of China at 8:30 this morning.

Beijing

Beijing

We have arrived safely in Beijing. It was a very long flight from LAX to Guangzhou. Just about every seat on the plane was taken, but all things considered the boys did great. Can't believe we are in China!

We arrived in Guangzhou and had 2 hours before our connecting flight to Beijing. We need every minute. The wait to go through immigration was long and it was very hot and humid in the airport. We then had to collect our luggage and go to the transfer desk where we had to check our bags in again, go through security again, be passed over with a security wand. We then did a very fast walk for what seemed like a mile. We arrived at our gate just as it started boarding. Our second flight was great. We had a TV at every seat with audio books, movies, touch screen games, etc. The boys didn't complain once about this flight except for the food. When we arrived in Beijing we got our luggage and where then greeted at the exit by a nice lady holding a sign with our name. She took us to a private van that drove us to our hotel. Oh what a scary experience. The driver weaved in and out of traffic honking. My palms were sweating. If Jon had been driving I would have yelled at him to drive carefully and slow down. Joshua said that he would have yelled too. We are now checked into the Novotel Peace Hotel. I is only 1:00 in the afternoon and we are exhausted. Watched a little bit of the end of the Twins vs Yankees game. Now we are attempting to stay awake until at least 7 pm. Our room is very nice with a king sized bed and a couch. They will bring us an extra roll away bed for Joshua and Jayden will sleep on the couch.

The weather is in the 70's and there is a very thick smog haze.

Great Wall of China tour tomorrow.

Today

The day has finally arrived. The bags are packed. The last check on the check list has been made and we are off to the airport.

Grace here we come!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we board a plane bound for China. We fly out of LAX at 11:50 pm and fly 15 1/2 hours to Guangzhou, China. We then change planes and fly to Beijing. It is my youngest son's (4 years old) first time on an airplane. Should be interesting to say the least. We are prepared with a DVD player with extra battery, iPod touch with movies, and a laptop with even more movies. Should be the best day of my boys life with all the TV I am prepared to let them watch. There are also the DS with new games and the V-Smile with new games too. I think I bought a few too many activity books, but I guess on a 15 hour flight you can't have too many. There will be a total of 5 different flights, so I guess we can't have too many activities. I also plan on them sleeping for at least 10 hours on the way there. Ha ha. I wish.
We are headed out on a life changing trip of a lifetime. Now if only I could finish getting those suitcases packed :)