I will address the title in a minute. First, today was our first day in Nanning and I have to say it is probably one of the prettier Chinese cities I have been in. Maybe it is just the area, as our hotel sits on the edge of Nanhu Park. However, on our extended adventures through the city later in the day (Thank you, Bobby Hamm), most of the downtown area is very nice. In addition, the traffic here is incredibly civil! The most US like traffic we have seen in China to date!

Since we didn’t get in bed until after 1AM, we slept in this morning, almost sleeping through breakfast. The buffet ended at 10:30 and no one really even stirred until 9:30. We ran around trying to get everyone ready and out the door and walked into the restaurant at around 10:15 .. just in time.

After that we went for a walk along the lake that is a part of Nanhu Park. It was a beautiful Sunday morning here and many people were out enjoying the weather.

As is typical with Chinese parks, there were areas for people to exercise along the way.

We stopped for a minute to take pictures of all my girls. However, Riley has now decided again that she does not like her picture taken so you can see her tucked behind on the left side!

We went into an open area that looked like they were preparing for some sort of festival. A lot of areas were roped off as crews were planting and watering all of the landscaping.

I had the girls take a picture of Kelly and I since this is as close as the two of us have been lately. Because of all the people we have with us, the cheapest option is to have two separate rooms. That means she sleeps in one and I sleep in the other. Not the most optimal of living arraignments.

There were many areas where musicians and singers were performing Chinese opera. We stopped and listened to this group for awhile. I am no great connoisseur of Chinese music, but it seemed pretty good!

We walked down to the Nanhu Bridge, which was a pretty structure that went across the lake.

I was able to coax Jessie into taking a picture with Brittany.

We crossed the bridge and went to the other side.

Riley felt that the sun was just TOO hot today!

We made our way back up the other side of the lake, enjoying the weather and stopping at one point to buy some water from a local vendor.

As we crossed back over the lake, I took a picture of our hotel from the bridge.

Jessie decided that she was going to copy Riley, which happens fairly frequently!

So, as to the title. Bobby told me how easy it is to get a taxi and go to Wal Mart! Cheap and easy! So, Brittany, Riley and I went down to the front desk and asked for a taxi. It took FOREVER! Seriously. We waited for probably 20 minutes for a taxi to show up. Once it did arrive, we were quickly whisked over to the Wally World for our shopping extravaganza for a very reasonable $2.

Once we exited the Wal Mart with all of our arms full of stores, the adventure began. First, we had to find a taxi that would take us back. That SOUNDS easy, but it was not! Taxi after taxi told us that the trip was too cheap and they couldn’t afford to take us. We should take a bus. Right. Two non-chinese speaking white people with a china girl that speaks no English. We would probably have ended up in Shanghai!

So, we decided that we would start walking back to the hotel, which started out pretty well. There was one tricky spot, but we started seeing signs for the Nanhu Bridge, and since that was close to home we headed in that direction. Things seemed to be going so well when we hit the lake … or what we thought was the lake. It was actually a river. Ooops. I kept thinking that as long as the lake was to our left, we would eventually hit the hotel. So, we started walking farther and farther from our hotel.

We are staying in a hotel with a huge green ball on the roof! How hard could it be to see that! But, when I still didn’t see it after many minutes, we went into a hotel and asked directions. Riley was a lot of fun and helped with trying to communicate things the people we came in contact with. The hotel was more than happy to provide me a map and directions … for $5CN. Great. Half the price of the cab that wouldn’t take us.

The problem with the directions that they gave us was that they were wrong! We started moving farther away from the city! And it was getting dark!! We started walking into an area that was the main downtown area and it was rather dark and unpopulated. We came across a restaurant and asked again for directions. They told us to take the bus. Whatever. A nice old man tried to help us out and for a minute Brittany and I thought he was going to drive us in his own car! And, the sad thing is, we would have willingly gone! In the end, he pointed us to a busier street to hail a taxi.

On that street the Taxi’s just ignored us, but we saw an “international” hotel. They should speak English there, right? Nope. But we found a very nice doorman there that worked for quite awhile to finally find us a taxi that was willing to take us home. I happily paid the doorman $20CN and the cabbie $20CN, for a total of four times what the cab ride should have taken me.

A few hours after we left we finally came home. But, two things came out of the night. One, Brittany and I had a really fun time with Riley. Kelly and I have wondered how we did this with Ali without a translating child with us. But tonight I realized that it isn’t that hard. You talk to them in English, they talk to you in Mandarin, and the two of you work things out! The second thing was that we roll pretty well with international travel now days! I remembered being in China the first time in a city that had no white people in it and no people who spoke English and feeling very isolated and alone. We are in that same position now, but it feels relatively comfortable. We can make it work. We have done this enough that we are actually becoming somewhat good at it!

So, I am thankful to Bobby Hamm that I got the time to spend with Riley tonight and to enjoy what a fun little girl she really is. Each of these girls is special and unique and it helps to spend a little one-on-one time to realize what their personality really is.

Cameron

Well, it is 1:30 AM and we are finally bedded down in our hotel room in Nanning. The trip was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that when we arrived in Nanning the airport felt that they good crap a full plane full of people into one small bus. Was not the greatest bus ride of our lives.

Today in Hefei we really just walked around and bought a few things. Here are a few of the images. McDonalds are popping up all over the place! Two years ago you had to walk a couple of miles to get to one and this time there seems to be at least three within walking distance.

Would you buy sweet potatoes from this person???

No matter where you go, homeless people kind of look the same …

Brittany bought a scarf at one of the clothing stores in the maim mail and the girls helped her through the checkout line.

Here is a picture from the square of our hotel. At the top on the 29th floor is a revolving restaurant. It moves very slowly, but is still kind of weird. When it was first built, we were told it was the tallest building in Hefei.

Here are some of the other dwellings in our area. I wouldn’t say that this area is poor by any stretch of the imagination. There are many high end stores all through this area. But these apartments seems pretty typical.

We went to an amusement park across the street from the hotel. If you remember when we got Ali, she and I went on a crazy ride there that took her from smiles to tears in about 30-seconds. However, she had a lot of fun on the bumper cars, so we thought we would take the girls over and see if they wanted to ride. They were content to watch Brittany and Ali, but were not brave enough to try on their own!

For how very mischievous Riley is, I do love to hear and see her laugh!

I took a picture of this carousel because I have never seen one before with two levels. I thought it was pretty cool.

As we were leaving, a guy asked Brittany if he could have a picture with her. Later, when he asked for one with me, I was not as accommodating…

A few fun pictures. First is the open air “butcher”. Beef … it’s whats for dinner!

And this one was completely new to us! We have seen all kinds of street vendors. They sell stuff, they will fix your bike, and they will even cut your hair. However, there were two or three ladies that were cleaning ears!!! I am not making this stuff up!!!

As we prepared to leave the hotel for the airport tonight, our second guide, Ann, came to meet us. She had a present for Ali! Yesterday, when Ali was riding on the motorcycle, she lost one of her earnings and we didn’t really find a pair today to replace them. Ann had brought her a small pair of earnings. That was very sweet and beyond what was expected of her.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is a free day for us. We will sleep in first and then go out and try and find someplace to eat! This hotel, at first glance, doesn’t appear to be as convenient as the one in Hefei, but we will see how things look in the morning! We will get Leah on Monday, so just one more day to get through and they will all be in the fold!!

Cameron

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will start with a picture of where this afternoon ended:

I was a long and emotional day and it took a lot out of everyone. These two sleeping on the way back from the orphanage visit pretty much says it all. So, lets look at where the day began. Or better yet, let’s look back at last night before bedtime. We went out onto the shopping square to walk around and have a little dinner.

We ate “special” last night at the old Pizza Hut, a little reminder of home!

Even with an interpreter daughter, it is easier to point at pictures to order.

Unfortunately the smell in the square was very overwhelming and was not conducive to a leisure stroll, so we went back to the hotel via a local park.

Kelly went through the girls suitcases getting them new pajamas out for the night.

Our day today began with us down in the first-floor lobby after breakfast waiting for the van that would take us to Hefei so that we could go finish all the filing for the girls passports and visit the orphanage.

Jessie has been warming up to Kelly and was open to a picture of her and Ali with Kelly.

We then took a two hour van-ride out to Huianan. We arrived a little early, so we had to wait for the orphanage director. The girls had to use the restroom, so we took a little walk across the street where I was able to catch some of the “local flavor” of food vendors who were out plying their wares for those heading to work.

After waiting in the Que at the passport office, it was our turn to get the girls paperwork signed and their fingerprints taken for their Chinese passports.

As we left, Riley showed that she still is not totally happy with my frequency of picture taking!

It was then off to the orphanage.

The orphanage. Lots of things to say at this point. This visit last time was a very emotional one, but was emotional after the fact as you had time to sit down and look at the faces of ALL those kids that were there. It was the point in time that Riley first captured our hearts.

Today’s visit would be emotional also, but in a MUCH different way. By the time we left an hour later, everyone but Brittany and I would have shed more than a few tears. As with every part of adoption, it was a privilege to be a part of it and yet sad to be reminded about how very difficult this transition is on these kids and how they give up all the security that they know on the promise that some stranger will love and take care of them. It is an endeavor that no parent should take part in lightly and those adoptive parents much understand that, to these kids, we are not “saving” them from anything … only taking them away from all that they have known.

On the face of things, the orphanage didn’t look much different.

Riley was VERY excited about coming back to the orphanage to visit, even though she had just left it yesterday! She was the first one out of the van by a mile!

Then Ali came out and it started to feel like a movie star had stepped out on the red carpet. Everyone was so excited to see her back.

We brought back pictures of previous girls who had come to the USA and Riley gave those pictures to some of the China Moms (I am going to abbreviate this as CM moving forward, as I feel I will use that term a lot in this post!).

It then came time for handing out the candy!

While the orphanage didn’t LOOK different, it had changed. There were not near as many kids there this time as last. Many have been adopted and some were at different schools. In addition, there appeared to be a LOT of boys! Much more than last time. However, Kelly pointed out later that some may have been girls with their hair cut short.

This little guy took quite a liking to Brittany!

Ali pointed out to use the “toilets” in the courtyard …

We went up and saw the girls rooms. First we went into Riley’s room, which brought back all the memories of meeting her just two short years ago!

Then we went to Jessie’s room and saw the bed that she had just slept on the night before.

Kelly pointed out the nice piece of mirror that had been taped up on the wall to allow them a place to check their appearance before heading out for the day.

It was lunch time, so the little children were preparing to eat. Here was what was on the menu for them today.

Ali spent time pointing out to Kelly some of the areas of the orphanage like the kitchen and showers.

While Riley and Leah talked with one of the CMs.

The area around the orphanage is being demolished and there is just rubble and abandoned buildings everywhere!

We went back downstairs where Riley wanted a picture taken with her CM:

As Ali talked with several of the CMs …

… I had a chance to take some pictures of a few of the more “challenged” boys at the orphanage. It is heartbreaking enough to see healthy children who have been abandoned, but is even more disturbing to see these young lives that people felt fit to just throw away through no fault of their own.

Riley spent some time off with her CM just talking together.

But I could tell Jessie was starting to struggle a little bit.

The issue came down to China Moms. When we got their, Ali realized that her CM was not at the orphanage! We had been told by the orphanage director that she would be working today, but she was not and that upset Ali greatly. We were able to call her and she agreed to come down and meet us. So, Ali patiently waited…

But for Jessie the situation was different. Her CM had specifically not come in today because she knew Jessie and she knew how difficult leaving would be on her if her CM was at the orphanage. Over the years I have heard complaints about this orphanage. Complaints around how they educate the girls or how they do or do not prepare them for the adoption process. What I can say, first hand, is that most of these CMs have a very difficult job and they do it was grace and persistence. They truly do care deeply for these kids and know that, as much as they love them, it is better for them to be adopted by a loving family than try and survive in this city with all the stigmas that are placed against them. That is easy to say, but very hard for a little 13 hear old girl to handle when everyone else is saying good by to their CM and her’s is not here.

While Jessie was dealing with all of this, Ali’s CM showed up and, quite frankly, I wasn’t able to keep up with her while she ran up to the entrance to greet her!

Once I was able to get up there, it was touching to see the reunion between the two of them; a reunion that was a little more emotional for Ali’s CM than she probably would have expected.

I felt that I should give them a few minutes together, plus I was a little worried about how Jessie was doing, so I left them to talk together.

Jessie had spent time on the phone asking her CM to come see her, of which she was refusing to come.

Jessie was almost inconsolable as other CM’s and Kelly tried to comfort her.

Her friend’s from the orphanage also tried to encourage her.

On of the workers put Jessi’s CM’s phone number in her iPod.’

Even saddened, Jessie wanted to share some of her candy with her friends, and, albeit pitifully, took pictures with her friends.

It was at this point Kelly went up to meet Ali’s CM.

The emotions of the reunion between Ali and her CM and meeting Kelly was just a little too much for everyone and the tears began to flow.

We asked her if she would like to have lunch with us and she quickly agreed.

As much of this drama was unfolding, another small drama was presenting itself in the form of a little boy that had latched on to Kelly!

I am sincerely hoping that his picture does not makes its way onto her iPhone!

During this time, Jessie’s CM had relented and agreed to come see her and say goodby. It was a harried reunion as her CM was at first a little upset that Jessie was crying so much. They went into one of the classrooms and talked for awhile and she tried to explain to Jessie that this was the best thing for her.

In the end, although painful to watch, Jessie agreed and hugged her CM, who in turn hugged Kelly.

We had at this point overstayed our welcome and the orphanage director was encouraging us to leave. Since we didn’t have room for everyone in our van, Ali’s CM suggested that she take Ali on her motorcycle to lunch. It was with great bravery that Kelly agreed!

We first went over to the school so that we could see where the girls had attended.

The girls allowed me to take a picture of them in front of the building.

And then Kelly wanted one of her, Ali, and Ali’s CM.

We left there and went to a restaurant that Ali’s CM suggested. Our guide told us that it was a 3-start restaraunt; good food but at a prcie much more reasonable than a five start! I like the sounds of that!

We got settled in and ordered. The food was excellent and came very quickly. And, it was VERY resonable.

As we prepared to leave, Ali’s CM talked to her for a minute….

… and then talked to Kelly for ahile through the interpretur. She thanked Kelly for what a good job she was doing. She said that Ali left the orphanage as a shy little girl and now, two years later, she was a confident young woman. She said that Ali had changed so very much to the better the two years she had been away and was so pleased with the job that we had been doing raising her.

Our time together ended with one last hug between moms:

It was a rewarding end to a long day. As we got back in the van, Riley was a little overwelmed with everything and alos began to cry a little. I think everyone was just a little spent has we traveled back to the hotel. This left us where we started:

Tomorrow we head to Nanning. We will sleep in a little and then spend a little time at the park before our flight leaves out later today. It has really been a great visit her in Hefei, even with the challenges that have been presented. And, we still have another girl to go meet! The adventure continues!!!

Cameron

PS A few pictures for those that have asked for them!

OK, first things first: These two girls are amazingly cute! Seriously! Pictures just do not do them justice! But, I digress.

This post, like tomorrows post, is going to have a lot of pictures. There is a lot going on and I have great band width at the Holiday Inn in Hefei, so I am taking full advantage of it. I don’t know if it is because we have been to Hefei and this hotel before, but I am enjoying this trip to China much more than the other trips we have made. Everything feels comfortable and there is little stress. The girls and I slept very well last night, but Kelly was up at 3:00 and was not able to get back to sleep.

We arose this morning to the breakfast buffet in the rotating restaurant at the top of the hotel. It is an enjoyable start to the day!

Then it was off in the van to China Welfare Center to do our paperwork. Ali has been VERY excited all morning!

However, Kelly and I are entering into the morning with a little apprehension knowing what a HUGE change is happening in the lives of these little girls lives…

We arrive at the office and head down the bland hallway knowing that two little lives are sitting there waiting on us!

Ali was very happy to be reunited with her friends!

It was that awkward time where you just want to scoop them up and love on them but you know that you have to respect their personal space. You have had a lot of time to fall in love with them, but they have little idea of who you are!

We had letters and pictures that were send to us from friends who are already in the United States.

Then the paperwork started! Jane, our guide for this part of the trip, is very organized and had to manage through duplicates of everything since we are adopting two girls here.

The assistant orphanage director was there to make sure we received what we needed from them. Since we will be flying to Nanning before the girls have their passports, the orphanage has to produce a special document for them to be allowed to fly.

Kelly and I had a ton of paperwork to sign off on, again, all in duplicate.

The girls spent their time going through albums that Jessie and Riley had brought and learning how to use ipods. That learning curve was pretty short!

Kelly showed the girls the advertisement that was put into the paper as required by law.

The girls also found time to pose for some pictures and learn how to use one of the cameras that we brought.

Mia had made some bracelets for the girls, so Brittany gave them to Riley and Jessie.

Then Kelly and Ali taught the girls how to play Left, Center, Right.

For the official documents, we had to take pictures of Kelly and I with each of the girls.

And, sign more paperwork…

As Ali showed Riley the finer points of loading up a PEZ dispenser …

… Jessie became very overwhelmed with everything and broke down. It was heart breaking having her crying and knowing that there really wasn’t a lot you could do to help her. It is just part of the process.

We were done with as much as we could do at that point, so we headed back to the hotel. In the world of little girls (and maybe big girls for all I know) it seems the universal healer may well be getting your nails done.

It was throughout this time in the hotel room that Jessie started to come around and seemed to become a little more comfortable with the situation. Ali went through some more picture albums with the girls…

… while the maintenance men decided that “fixing our A/C” meant unsealing the window so that we could open it. I will never get used to the fact that people in China do NOT like to be cool!

It was now time for lunch in the hotels noodle cafe, which is so very good and so very reasonable, two things that play well in my world. I have thought that I would be able to loose some additional weight on this trip, but the two meals I have eaten so far today seem to be in conflict with that!

The girls thought it was funny that Kelly was not more adept at chop sticks that she is…

But Britt seemed to man them like a pro!

After lunch we ran across the street to get some water bottles and gum! Nothing happens in our world without gum!

This trip seems different in many ways. One of them is the engagement of others. While at the store, a lady who worked their came up and started talking to Ali about our family. As they talked, another lady who worked there and a man who I think was just a customer came up and were all listening to Ali talk about our family and why were there and they seemed sincerely happy for the girls. I am not sure what we did without someone like Ali the last time we were here and what we would do without Ali this time. Her ability to communicate things to the girls and help us with communicating has been, while not perfect, invaluable.

On the way back to the hotel, things improved dramatically for Kelly as both girls, very willingly, held hands with her while walking down the street.

We had to head back to the offices for the girls to sign off that they agreed to be adopted. I was glad we had this time together as a family as I am not completely sure that Jessie would have signed this morning!! But enough time had passed that she was totally willing to agree to be adopted and it wasn’t an issue.

Amazingly, Kelly and I had MORE documents to sign! I have never signed so many things in one day in all of my life!

The girls posed with Kelly for Brittany to take a picture of them together.

Kelly and I were then “interviewed” by the officials there to insure that we were acceptable parents.

The saddest part of that interview was the time when the lady asked us if we felt that Riley and Jessie were “acceptable” to us. Really?? Like we were trying out a new car? Sometimes the process feels a little devoid of the realization that these are human beings!

Finally, the paperwork was finished and we took a couple more pictures before heading back to the hotel.

Things this afternoon have gone well. Jessie called Kelly “Maw” at one point and has been very engaged with all of us. Riley has been a dream, watching over Jessie and making sure that she is taken care of. We talked to them this afternoon about their names and while Riley was perfectly fine with whatever we wanted to call her, Jessie would still like to stay with her Chinese name for now! No problem. She will come around. They are both beautiful and sweet girls and we will be blessed as a family to have them a part of us.

Tomorrow we go to Huainan to finish off their passport applications, visit the orphanage, and we will get to see the girls school. There will be many, many pictures, some that may make you cry, so be prepared! This is both one of the highlights of the trip and one of the saddest parts of the trip as we get to see all those little faces!

Cameron

Well, we are sitting in the Beijing airport and hopefully most of you are asleep! It is 5PM here, but 4AM on Wednesday back home. Nick, if you are reading this, check your blood sugar!

The trip has been uneventful so far. We had our last “American” meal in Detroit with Britt and Ali enjoying good old American wings:

Then it was time to board our new home for the next 14 hours, a Boeing 777:

I felt the trip went fairly quickly, but Kelly felt like we were standing still. I guess there were enough movies that I wanted to watch on the in-flight entertainment system that it helped me pass the time a little more quickly.

We got into Beijing about a 1/2-hour late, but didn’t really matter. Customs and immigration were a breeze! However, our in-country airlines wouldn’t let us check in until two hours before our flight, which means we have been sitting in the lobby for the last hour or so. However, our time is up so after this we will go check in. Here we sit with all of our luggage!

Tomorrow we get to pick up Riley and Jesse! Seems surreal that this is actually happening. We should have a lot more pictures tomorrow.

Have a great Wednesday! Ours has been pretty good!

Cameron

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” – Matthew 6:28-29.

This has been a challenging week for us … the week before we leave. We have faced many challenges. Some of those are personal. Some of them are related to the adoption. We began the week with a phone call telling us that our VISAS for China had been rejected! Do they not know we are leaving next Tuesday? For those of you who have adopted before, I am sure you will agree that things never seem to go well the week before you leave. I believe that it is Satan trying one last time to keep those girls from leaving a Godless country. But we have prevailed throughout this week, VISA’s should be completed tomorrow, and while there have been times of feeling a little overwhelmed, overall our joy has remained intact.

And that brings me to the title of this post. “It is in the little things…” God does delight in us and at times shows us that through little touches. We have had some very big blessings in the past several weeks, some from complete strangers. But this week it was the little things. We had decided to forego the hotel breakfast in the last city because it just seemed like too much money for the number of people we will have with us. We are not huge breakfast people, but at the same time breakfast for us on these trips has always been a relaxing time and an opportunity to bond with the girls. Tonight, someone donated specifically to pay for breakfast that last week so we could enjoy it and not worry about it.

I had another friend who had asked about clothes for the girls. I told her to wait until we returned, but as Kelly and I talked tonight we realized that the girls could really use some hooded sweatshirts when we return to chilly Ohio. One text later and they are on their way.

God does care about us and wants to let us know that. All He asks is that we surrender to him and keep our joy! That isn’t always easy, but there are always rewards.

Time is compressing now as we move even closer. Continue to pray for our family, both those going to China and those staying here. We look very forward to spending Thanksgiving together as a complete family…

Cameron

Phew. Now it really seems real. Tonight we bought our plane tickets and I guess that makes things official. We will be leaving Dayton International on Tuesday morning, November 12th, VERY early in the morning, and will arrive in Hefei, China, Wednesday night, November 13th, at around 9:00. That is some LONG travel time!!!

The good news is that we are going to be home a little before 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day! Isn’t that exciting?! We will have a wonderful day celebrating Thanksgiving with our new, much larger family and my parents. THAT is going to be a great Thanksgiving!! I wonder were we will get lo-main noodles???

The one challenge that we will be facing is getting seats together on the flights, especially on the way home. There will be seven of us coming back (I am getting a headache already) and because of the holidays the carriers have cut a lot of flights, which in turn means less seats available. Our agent is going to call Delta tomorrow and see what he can get the airline to do for us. However, I think we are just happy to have tickets and get home in such good time.

That leaves us a little over a week to finish preparing… Gulp …

Cameron