We Are Home

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. The last night in Guangzhou was very busy with packing and last minute items (including making a special trip to The White Swan for a "red couch" picture). Then Friday we were traveling for 24+ hours. Today we've been busy dealing with items at home that resulted from hurricane Ike (including lots of grocery shopping to replenish our entirely empty refrigerator -- thank goodness my family already had emptied it out for us). So, this is really the first moment I've had a chance to blog.

The trip home was amazingly smooth. No flight delays and both girls travelled well (Katrina was a perfect little traveler and Grace only had two minor incidents of fussiness and one potty accident, which could have been much worse). Even so, we were so glad to make it home!

The last night in Guangzhou we went to The White Swan to take pictures. In case you don't know, it is a tradition in Chinese adoption to take a picture of your child on the famous "red couch" on the second floor of the White Swan Hotel. We did this with Katrina too. Since we weren't staying at The White Swan, we didn't get to take a group photo (with the other families from our travel group). I didn't want Grace to miss out on this tradition, so we jumped in a cab and had our own little photo session. Here are the results:


After Grace saw the first round of pictures on the couch, she climbed up again and wanted to take more pictures (now that she can see herself in the pictures she loves to take them). You can see from this picture that Grace "owned" that red couch.


Here is a picture of Katrina and Grace at the airport:


Grace was pretty amazed by her new house and her new room. She was very curious, but cautious. She didn't want to leave her new bedroom. She loved all the toys, the bright colors and the soft fabrics. She was very afraid of the dogs. So the dogs are having to live in the laundry room (they are not too happy), until Grace is more comfortable with them. I'm sure she'll warm up to them over time. They are sweet dogs, but they are a little too eager to kiss on Grace for her taste.

We managed to get four hours sleep Friday night (Grace woke us all up), but the girls took a four hour nap (Joe and I had to wake them up). Hopefully they will sleep at least 8 hours tonight and that will go a long way to getting them back on a sleeping schedule more in line with our time zone.

Joe leaves tomorrow for a week of business travel. He is sad to be leaving so soon and we are sad to see him go. I hope Grace can understand that he is not leaving her and that he will be back. She has lost so many people in her short life thus far and I don't want her to be scared that Daddy is not coming back. Pray for us that she will be able to understand and accept very soon that Daddy and Mommy are NEVER going to leave her.

More Swimming . . . not much else

Here are a few pictures of Grace from this morning. In the second picture, you'll see her carrying three drinks. She is so funny because she wants all her drinks at the same time (milk, water and juice) and won't put any of them down. We have to distract her to get some of them out her hands so we can leave the room without having to drag around three drinks.





Today was our first day with no planned activities. We enjoyed the total freedom of the schedule-free day. Looking back over our day we all realize we don't know what we did to pass the whole day. In our defense, we did have to stay in our room for a period of time to make sure the U.S. Consulate had no questions on our visa application for Grace (our CHI coordinator, Elsie, served as our courier and delivered our application to the consulate today). Luckily, we received no phone calls, so I guess our application is okay. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens between today and tomorrow afternoon when we do the swearing in (that will ensure Grace receives full citizenship when we land in New York on Friday).

The only other thing we did today was to go back to the swimming pool. Grace was just as excited as the other day. In fact when we got to the pool she started ripping off her clothes to get in the pool. It took a little while to convince her that she needed to keep her suit on to get into the pool. I think she was confusing it with a giant bathtub. She gradually became more and more brave as we spent time in the pool. Much too brave for Mommy and Daddy's taste. She started jumping in from the side, and then started trying to climb into the big pool all by herself. We need to add a gate around our pool at home for sure.

We had a photo session in the hotel room tonight with Katrina and Grace. The pictures came out so cute. They were wearing their Mei Mei (little sister) and Jie Jie (big sister) t-shirts. Clarissa and Tori, we wish you were in the picture with them wearing Jie Jie t-shirts. Enjoy the pictures:

Medical Exam

We would like to begin today's post with a big thank you to everyone who has posted comments on our blog. It is a real treat to read your comments everyday. We really look forward to it.

We took Grace to have her medical exam today. It was clearly her least favorite part of the trip. We have to have a medical exam to show fitness to travel before the U.S. Consulate will issue her a travel visa. She was miserable throughout the exam mostly because they kept taking her from us. We discovered that she still has a small hole in her palate right behind her front teeth. It's unclear whether it was never fully closed during the surgery or whether it has just reopened post surgery (mostly likely the later). This explains why she still has some food coming out of her little nose. It happens mostly when she sucks on her food because she pushes it against her front teeth where the opening is located. Other than that they said she appeared healthy. In fact she weighs 29.9 pounds (only 10 pounds less than Katrina).

We met with Kenix and Susan from Chrisitan Action today. They are the not-for-profit, christian agency that co-manages the Xining Children's Welfare Institute (Grace's orphanage). They travelled all the way from Hong Kong just to meet with us and say goodbye to Grace. They brought along pictures of all the different children at the orphanage, as well as an album showing pictures of every child, with their adoptive families, adopted to U.S. families from Grace's orphanage. It was so nice to see how much effort they put into keeping in touch with the children adopted from Xining. Once again we were reminded of how lucky we are that our daughter was placed in a orphange that worked so hard to provide the best care possible for the children. Thank you Susan and Kenix for your visit and all your hard work (Susan is the one on the far right and Kenix is on the far left).

We ended the day with dinner at the hotel. We had a great time because the food was good and Grace really loved the music. The band came to our table to play and Grace was mesmerized. We requested Hotel California and Margaritaville and it was a fun taste of home. We all sang along and wished we were drinking margaritas and eating Mexican food. I think we've all decided that we want Mexican food as our first meal when we get home.

Grace's taste in food runs to the exotic. She was drinking orange juice and milk at the same time (two straws in her mouth drinking from both at the same time). Donna was pretty grossed out, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and suggested that it probably tasted like a dreamsicle. I made Joe taste it (he's pretty easy to persuade) to see if it did taste like a dreamsicle. He said it wasn't that good, but it wasn't disgusting either. From the look on her face (see picture to right), it looks like she certainly thinks it tastes pretty good. I guess that's all that matters in the end. Regardless, I'm pretty sure she won't be a picky eater . . . she'll try anything and likes most everything she trys. Hopefully she'll stay that way.

Shopping Day

We went to the Pearl and Jade market today and spent pretty much all our cash (wink, wink). We bought jade belly Buddhas for the girls and one for me. Joe got a jade piece traditionally worn by Chinese men. The Chinese believe that wearing jade around your neck protects you for your whole life. The fascinating thing is that grade A jade, the highest quality, starts out colorless (a luminous white) with only a tiny pin prick of color. This dot of color shows you what color the piece will become over many years. The Chinese believe it is the spirit of the wearer that makes the color come out over time. As the piece ages, it becomes completely saturated with the color of the pin prick.

We chose the belly Buddha (the Buddha we traditionally think of in the West, although the majority of Buddha images are very thin and feminine looking) because he is believed to bring happiness. I figure happiness is really all you need in life. Essentially nothing else matters if you are happy. Conversely it is equally true as well that nothing else matters if you are unhappy. Plus, I call Grace my belly Buddha because just looking at her brings much happiness and joy. She is full of laughter and has the biggest, warmest and most engaging smile. She IS happiness.

Also, we bought very nice pearls to give to both of the girls on their 16th birthdays. We got the "best quality" and I believe we received a fair price. Katrina wanted to wear hers right then and there. She really didn't like the idea of having to wait until she is sixteen.

After nap time, we took the girls to the swimming pool. It was hysterical. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Grace's face when we first got into the pool. She warmed up to the idea almost immediately. When we went to the side of the pool for Katrina to jump into the pool, I put Grace on the side and asked her to jump to Ma Ma. She made the absolutely cutest face. I can't begin to describe it, but I'll try. She arched her eyebrows about 1/2 an inch, had a wild look in her eyes, held her mouth sideways in the funniest crooked, wide-open smile and looked excited, anxious, eager and tentative all at the same time. Too bad we didn't have our camera in the pool for those first looks of amazement, wonder and joy. Let's just say she's a total water baby. Here's our first water baby about to take a dive into the pool. See the look of the joy on her face.

I'll probably have more to say tomorrow, but I'm pretty tired right now. I think I'll get to bed early tonight. Hopefully I'll stay asleep all night. Good night.

Happy Autumn Festival

We've had a great day here in China! Today is the Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. The Autumn Festival is considered the second most important festival in China, behind Chinese New Year. The day is meant to be spent with family, so we are so excited to be here together as a new family (Tori and Kyle, we wish you were here with us). There are beautiful red lanterns everywhere and the streets are filled with children carrying paper lanterns. Of course it's a full moon as the Moon Festival is always celebrated when the moon is full. Katrina was so happy to be here for the Moon Festival. She had been looking forward to it for many months. We had some moon cakes, but only Grace really liked them. The rest of us liked them okay, but she really liked them.

This morning we went with the group (12 families from our same adoption agency) to Yue Xiu Park. It is a huge park. It is so large many Chinese families come and spend the entire day at the park. There are many monuments, including the ancient wall of the city of Guangzhou, lots of green spaces, rides for the children, lakes and shopping arcades. The park is lovely, but we wimped out rather early. It is bloody hot and humid here. We bought fans in the park, but it was not enough. A few people commented that we should be use to it being from Houston. I tried to explain that while it is indeed hot and humid in Houston, no self-respecting Houstonian goes outside in August or September unless they are at the pool. I'm not sure they understood, but my fellow Houstonians know what I mean (we love our air conditioning). Here we are at the park:

Here's a picture of the girls with a girl who works at one of the restaurants in our hotel. Katrina really liked her outfit.




We spent two hours doing the final pieces of paperwork today. Yippee! I am so glad that is the end of the paperwork. This final paperwork is necessary to get Grace's Visa from the U.S. Consulate. After we receive that (on Friday), we can return to the States.


Once our paperwork was complete, we decided to take a cab to Shamian Island. This is where the White Swan Hotel is located. We stayed at the White Swan when we adopted Katrina. In fact, usually all adoptive families stay at the White Swan (it's the closest 5-star hotel to the U.S. Consulate). Unfortunately, the hotel is undergoing renovations, so its occupancy is limited right now. Having said that, we really like The China Hotel. The only thing the White Swan has on The China Hotel is its famous role in international adoption. There are children's books written about the White Swan and the adopted children of China. We plan to sneak into the hotel to take a picture of Grace on the famous "red couch." This is a couch in the hotel where every group of adoptive children sit and have a photo taken. We're going in there so Grace will have her own "red couch" picture.

Here are two pictures of the girls playing at a playground on Shamian Island:


We had dinner at Lucy's, which is a restaurant near the White Swan were we had several meals last time we were here. The food was so yummy. Although they have decent western food, we decided to have Chinese food because it is so good at Lucy's. After we left the restaurant, we went for a walk to find another Lucy, the lovely Chinese girl we met last time we were here. Lucy worked at a store across from the White Swan. We loved her so much and tried to sneak her into our luggage to bring her home with us. We quickly realized the store where Lucy worked was no longer open. We were pretty sad to see this. Because it was so late, most of the stores were closed (the area is filled with shops aimed at American tourists with small children -- smart given the proximity to the White Swan). We found one store open and we decided to go in to get some traditional Chinese dresses for Katrina and Grace. A young woman came up and asked if she could help me. I turned around and said I was looking for some dresses. She asked me what size and then a light went off in my head. The familiarity of the voice tapped a deep memory and I said, "Is your name Lucy?" She looked surprised and said, "Yes." I got very excited and yelled to Joe, "I found Lucy! I found Lucy!" Joe came running over and when she saw him she put us together in her head and smiled and laughed and said, "I remember you guys!" We were so happy to find her. We bought lots of goodies and exchanged emails and promised to stay in touch. I can't begin to explain how touched we were by Lucy last time we were here. To find her again was such a blessing to us.

Here is a picture of Katrina with Lucy (I love this picture):

Good night and Happy Moon Festival!!

Goodbye Xining

Getting out of Xining was no small feat for us. Getting our luggage to the airport and our carryon baggage through security was a stressful event. Our baggage was 5 kilos overweight, so we had to pay an overage charge. We were relieved it only cost us $20. They pulled out some of our bags and searched through them. They thought Donna had something dangerous in her bag, but it turned out to be shaving cream. While Donna was behind the counter watching them go through her bag, Joe was trying very hard to understand exactly what was wrong with our baggage, whether we were overweight and, if so, what did we have to pay. Donna and Joe were both saying things to me when Katrina said, “Mommy, look at Gracie.” I looked over and she was standing in the little stand where you are suppose to place your overhead luggage to make sure it will fit in the airplane overhead bins. She had this big grin on her face and she was jumping up and down inside of it (don’t ask me how she got herself in there). She was not too happy about me making her get out and get back into her stroller. The good news is that she is small enough to fit the overhead bin (wink, wink).

After getting on the plane with all of our carryon bags, we were pretty stressed. Then Grace was not interested in sitting in her seat, so she had a little melt down. I got her calmed down and she fell asleep in my arms. I think she was just a little cranky because it was nap time. She slept the whole flight (at least we thought it was the whole flight).

We were told it was a four hour flight to Guangzhou. When the captain announced our descent after one and a half hours, we were shocked but happy. I was a little suspicious so I asked Joe to ask the stewardess if we were indeed on the plane going to Guangzhou. When he did she said no we are going to Xi’an. We were about to freak out when she said the plane would be going on to Guangzhou but that we would have to deplane in Xi’an for one hour and then re-board. We were awfully glad we asked because otherwise we would have gotten off the plane like idiots and went wandering around the airport looking for someone holding a sign from CHI (Children’s Hope International – it’s our adoption agency). How goofy would we have felt?

We were so happy to land in Guangzhou. As embarrassing as it may sound, we were desperate to get some Starbucks. I had previously researched our hotel in Guangzhou and knew that it had a Starbucks store in its lobby. We were so happy when we finally arrived at the hotel and saw the Starbucks sign (we really wanted coffee after a week of only tea for caffeine). Even Katrina was all excited to see the Starbucks sign. She was yelling, “I’m so excited there’s a Starbucks.” Okay, in case you’re worried I just want to let you know that we do not give coffee to our four-year-old daughter. She likes the pastries and the experience of us all going and sitting on the couch together.

After we checked in, we got a Starbucks and then headed to the hotel’s Western (aka American style) restaurant. When we walked in they gave both the girls these amazing play dough sculptures on sticks. We were blown away by the detail. Just look at the pictures below. The guy was a real artist. We got a hamburger, a taco salad and a club sandwich. Everything was really good. The restaurant also had a highchair for Grace and it was very much appreciated. She’s so curious she has a hard time staying in her seat ordinarily. The highchair made it a lot easier to keep her at the table. I think she enjoyed it too because I think she felt more safe and secure in it (the previous hotel had no highchairs in any of its restaurants). There was a three-member, roaming band playing music (mostly American songs in English . . . it was cute) and Grace loved it. She was swaying to the music and smiling the whole time.

After dinner we retired to the room for the evening. It was a long day and we are full and caffeinated. Now it’s time for bed.

Last Day in Xining

Today is our last day in Xining. We leave tomorrow for Guangzhou. We will miss the great weather and the friendly locals, but we are looking forward to getting some Starbucks in Guangzhou.



We met with the head director (see pictures) of the Xining City Children's Welfare Institute (the woman in the white lab coat from yesterday was her assistant). She was at a meeting Thursday when we visited the Institute, so she took the time to come to our hotel to meet with us. We went together to the tea house in our hotel. We ordered a pot of jasmine tea and had a very nice conversation about Grace, the Institute, and the city of Xining. She has been working in children's welfare for 21 years and has been with the Xining Children's Welfare Institute since its establishment in 1998. She is clearly a very loving and devoted caregiver.

She told us that we were the 103rd adoptive family from the Institute. We also learned there were 52 families from America who had adopted from the Institute. She said she had been to the U.S. one time before and went to Ohio, Seattle, D.C. and New York. While she was in the States she visited 20 families who had adopted from Xining Children's Welfare Institute. We invited her to visit us in Texas and she said she would love to come and stay with us. We suggested she come in the Winter and she laughed (it is VERY cold in Xining in the winter).





The rest of the day was not very exciting. We went on two walkabouts and we talked to a group of school kids and a group of college boys who were all anxious to practice their English. Other than that, we laughed and played in the room (we bought more toys at the store today).

It was pretty uneventful until bedtime. Grace was wired. We were trying to read a bedtime story and she was jumping all over Joe and the bed. Before we knew it, both girls were jumping all over the bed. Grace is a maniac!! She has absolutely no fear. She will run, jump, dive and fall face first without a moments notice. She taught Katrina how to do a tumble! She has amazing gross motor skills and the strength of 20 babies. I'm totally blown away and totally freaked out because I'm such a worry wart and she's afraid of nothing. How will I ever keep her injury free?


Talk to you tomorrow from Guangzhou . . . after we've had a Starbucks or two.

P.S. Uncle Donald, you are going to love playing with Grace and she is going to love playing with you!!

Visit to Orphanage

We visited Grace's orphanage today. As soon as we entered the orphanage, Grace began to tense up. It was clear she was uncomfortable being there. When we were walking down the hall, one of the social workers saw her and was very excited to see her. She was speaking to her in Chinese and she held out her arms and asked her to come to her. Grace shook her head no and grabbed a hold of me with all of her strength. I felt bad for the social worker, but was very happy that she clearly wanted to stay with me. I felt bad for Grace too because it was clear she was afraid we were going to leave her at the orphanage. I told her Mommy and Daddy will never leave her. I hope one day soon she will be able to believe deep in her heart that it is true and that she will completely trust us and know we will always be there for her. This is our journey of adoption and we are at the very beginning. There are many steps along the way to bonding and attachment and we will do everything we can to ensure Tiffany Grace is securely attached to us and has no lingering fears of abandonment.


As we toured the facility, Grace continued to cling to Joe and me. When we went into the office to meet with the director and three of the social workers (the picture to the right shows the director in the white coat and the three females are the social workers), they kept trying to get her to come to them and she wouldn't. They asked her over and over who was Ma Ma and who was Daddy. Each time they were amazed when she pointed to Joe and I.


The facility was very clean and very nice. The staff was clearly kind and loving. I am so grateful to them for taking such good care of my little girl. Having said that, I am so glad she never has to be in an orphanage again for the rest of her life. Most of the children at the facility are severely disabled. It broke my heart to see all these children who would most likely never be adopted. I'm glad at least that it is a very good facility with a devoted staff.


Grace's best friend, who is completely deaf, was very sad to see Grace leave. She started crying when she said goodbye to her friend. The picture to the right shows us with Grace's Aunties in the room where she lived. Her best friend is the little girl standing up near Grace.


When we went to leave, Grace's social worker began to cry too. It was so special to us to see how much she loved our daughter. They stood at the curb waiving goodbye as our car rolled down the street. None of them attempted to walk away until our taxi was out of sight. From the bottom of our heart we give thanks to the staff and volunteers at the Xining Social Welfare Institute. Xie Xie.


When we returned to the hotel we decided to take the girls to the park across the street from the hotel. Unfortunately, it is just a public gathering place and not really a park for children. So, we decided to just walk on to the supermarket for water. It was funny how much more comfortable we were this time. After all, we'd been there before and that little sense of familiarity made all the difference.


After lunch, we decided to go for another walk. We had no destination in mind, but thought we would just explore. We ended up stumbling upon a fresh market in the middle of town. It was about four city blocks long and was comprised of numerous little stalls selling raw meat, cooked meat, vegetables, fruits, baked goods, sundries and just about anything else you can think of to buy. The fruits and vegetables looked so good. The fresh ginger was amazing looking. So much better looking than what we find in the U.S. The lemongrass was green and soft and fragrant. It was so superior to what we have at home that you can't really think of them as the same thing. Plus we saw either a zucchini or cucumber (we can't be sure which it was) the size of a very large watermelon (I mean the biggest watermelon you can imagine). It was amazing and a little scary at the same time when you consider what they would have to do to produce a vegetable of that magnitude. We saw some fresh wafer cookies for sale and had to buy them. The lady just starting putting them in the bag and I said to Donna, "well I guess we'll just take whatever she gives us." Then she stands up from behind the counter, lifts up a bag almost as large as a big watermelon and says, "okay?" At least that's what we guess she said because she said it in Mandarin. We laughed and said, "okay, how much?" Then she says "4 yuan." Which is roughly 65 cents in U.S. dollars. What a bargain, right? We'd probably get sick if we tried to eat them all, but it was a good deal.


We had an early dinner and are getting Katrina and Grace to bed early tonight. Hopefully we'll all finally get a normal nights sleep. We'll see . . .

Trip to Kumbum Monastery

Today we took a tour to Kumbum (Taer Si) Monastery. It is essentially the only noteworthy sight near Xining. Having said that, I must make clear that it was breathtaking. It is set in a hillside in a small village town. It is one of the six largest Geluk (Yellow Hat) monasteries in the world. The Kumbum was established in 1560 to mark the birthplace of Tsongkapa, founder of the Geluk School of Buddhaism.

While we admired the architectural beauty, the locals admired us. We weren't counting, but if I had to guess I would say our photos was taken several hundred times. We tried to get some of the monks to take a picture with us, but they did not want to do that. They didn't mind if you took their picture, but they didn't want to be in one with us. The temple was very moving spiritually, as were the people. We were a little surprised to see monks with cell phones and large satellite dishes in front of the temples. Modern conveniences have reach even the smallest Chinese towns.

After our tour of the temple we returned to the hotel and had lunch. By this point in the trip, we are all missing familiar foods. So we decided to give the hotel western style restaurant a chance. We ordered pizza, pasta, french fries and a club sandwich for all of us. We choose vegetable pizza and a meatless pasta sauce (this seemed the safest choice) and all of it was pretty good. In fact, we kept saying how good it all was. I pointed out that these same items in the U.S. would only taste okay, but given our American food deprivation they tasted delicious.

We went upstairs and took a nap. We must have been pretty tired (we still haven't adjusted to the time change) because we took a four hour nap . . . all of us. This further threw off our sleeping schedules, so I'm not sure we are ever going to adjust. As you can see, it was a pretty uneventful day.

Adoption Day!

Today was our official adoption today. Tiffany Grace is now legally our daughter under Chinese law. Now we need to wait a few more days to get her Chinese passport so that we can travel with her to Guangzhou, China. While in Guangzhou, we will complete the paperwork with the U.S. Embassy so that the United States recognizes our adoption and as a result Tiffany Grace will be a full U.S. citizen once we land on U.S. soil (September 19). We leave Xining this Saturday and will be in Guangzhou for another 6 days. We will miss the nice cool weather in Xining. The weather forecast for Guangzhou is 95+ every day during our stay (it will feel like we are back in Houston). The picture to the right shows us holding our official Chinese adoption certificate.

While we were waiting in the office for the completion of our adoption paperwork, Grace was laughing and playing and hamming it up. They couldn't believe how well she was doing and how clearly happy she was. When she put on her sunglasses the registrar said "she is too cool." When Joe came into the room (he came in after us because he had to go back to the hotel to pick up our gifts for the notary and registrar that we forgot to bring) Grace starting smiling and laughing. They couldn't believe it. Then when she kept calling me Ma Ma, they were even more amazed. To tell you the truth, we are equally amazed. I'm sure she will have many tough times ahead, but this part has gone unbelievably smooth. Grace is such an amazingly resilient child. She has been through so much in her short life, including many surgeries and many living

arrangement transitions. Even so, it is nothing short of a miracle how well she has warmed to us in such a short time.

It was raining all day, so we decided to stay around the Hotel. First we made a stop at the grocery store for milk for the girls (they like it, Joe and I thought it tasted weird). We also picked up some children's gifts to bring with us to the orphanage when we visit on Thursday. Grace wouldn't let us leave the snack isle until we bought her some orion pies. They are essentially moon pies, but MUCH better (softer and fresher tasting). I really liked them but they are 550 calories for a tiny little snack cake. I thought only Americans had such high calorie, low nutrition snacks. I guess we've rubbed off on the rest of the world.

While Grace took a nap, Donna and I decided to go to the Spa for a massage. Luckily, our guide went with us to make the appointment. Even with her fluent Mandarin skills, it took 30 minutes to understand what was offered and how the service would be performed. When they said we had to pay for a bath in order to get the massage I thought it was normal, but wanted to confirm that the bath was private. Through our interpreter, the spa host said it was not private. Well, Donna and I thought we had a deal breaker right there. No public baths for us. We asked if we could shower in our room and they said no. Before giving up, I asked if I could see where we would shower. After all, the spa was pretty much empty. She took us back and it was totally normal showers with privacy curtains. We then sought to confirm that they would provide us with robes, because we had to walk through a large room with many workers (male and female) to get to the treatment rooms. It took awhile, but we were relatively certain we would be provided with something to wear.

After our shower, they did indeed bring us clothing and paper underwear. I was happy to see these items. When I went to put on the underwear they didn't get very far. I starting laughing and said, "I must have stepped into them wrong." They were VERY small. I did get them on, thank god I've lost a lot of weight. If I were my old size, I wouldn't have gotten them past the knee. My niece and I were laughing so hard we were crying. She said, "You think they have a large?" I said, "I don't think many Americans come in here." I was pretty sure the panties were cutting off my circulation, but we were determined to get the massage.

We opted to have our massages done in the same room, in case anything bizarre happened. That way we'd have a witness. Did I mention that we chose the Thailand massage? While there were no laws broken during the treatment, we did feel like we had done a few karma sutra positions without being "completely" violated. Let me just say, this massage requires that you are extremely flexible and not very shy. I liked the part where they walked on my back the best. However, it occurred to me that they required that I take a shower first and then had some woman rub her feet all over me. I certainly hope they required her to shower first.

In the end, it was another adventure filled day in China with lots of laughs and much joy.

Gotcha Day!

We finally have her and we are never letting her go. Grace (a.k.a. Gracie) is completely inspiring, totally heartwarming, and absorbingly funny. We thought we hit the jackpot with Katrina and weren't in a karmic position to ask for too much the second time around, but boy did we get more than we could every have dreamed of in little Gracie. It's official, we have won the jackpot twice, so no more wasted money on lottery tickets for me (that really would be greedy to want anything ever again for I have all that I'll ever need in Katrina and Tiffany Grace).

I was so anxious this morning when we arrived at the meeting office. Our guide had us there early, so we had to wait for 20 minutes (it seemed like much longer). When I heard voices in the hall I anxiously said, "is that her?" Minutes later she came toddling into the waiting room. My heart literally expanded three times in a "good" Grinch-like fashion and it was love at first sight. She was nervous at first, but they said she loves to snack so try to feed her. I said, "well it's obvious she's my child." I pulled out the snacks and that was all it took. The next thing you know, she was sitting in my lap munching cheerios and organic fruit bars (good thing I brought snacks). After a few photos the social worker (Ida) told Gracie that she was going to leave and asked her if it was okay, she nodded yes and that was it. No tears at all. Amazing, I know.

We brought her back to the hotel where we had lunch, which was an experience. One would think the menu choices (braised dog, seared frogs and turtle connective tissue -- prepared many ways -- I am not making this up) and the language barrier would be the most adventurous portion of the meal, but Gracie won that honor hands down. She loves to explore everything and wants to taste and touch it all. She loves all veggies (thanks to the Choos for exposing her to so many vegetables and fruits)! I hardly got to eat because every few seconds she was saying "Ma Ma" and pointing at some other vegetable she wanted me to feed her.

After lunch we ventured outside (no chance of a nap, but we tried). Gracie loves to be on the go. We went to a grocery store and a nice department store. The department store had a great play section for the children and Katrina and Grace had a blast playing in it. They played in the ball pit, slid down the slide, jumped on the trampoline and climbed up and down the stairs. Katrina's socks were black and I did a great impersonation of a mother without germ phobias.

After shopping we returned back to the hotel room. We were finally able to get Grace to take a nap (we all took a nap . . . I was tired from lack of sleep since we arrived). She looked precious in her crib with all the soft stuffed animals and silky blankets and pillows we brought from home.

Later we watched some of Grace's Hi Five videos (a gift from the Choos), which she absolutely adores. She was so happy watching them laughing and smiling the whole time. Then we played with all her new toys and she seemed to love all of them. She has the best belly laugh you will ever hear. I have added a video clip where she is laughing at Katrina pretending to hit Joe on the head and Joe acting very silly in response.

This is a picture of Grace and Katrina holding hands on the bus ride back to the hotel after our initial meeting. Isn't it priceless?

After play time we had dinner in the room. Grace once again ate very well and seemed to like most everything. She did keep interrupting her meal to walk around the room to gather various toys. She was so comfortable just toddling around getting whatever she wanted. She's very independent in a good way.

When we finished dinner it was bath time, which I was very nervous about given my being forewarned by the Choos and Grace's social worker that she hates baths. So, I had Katrina go in the tub with her and I pulled out the bath crayons (you can color on the tub and walls) and Katrina showed her how to do it. She jumped happily into the tub and started coloring her heart out. She splashed and laughed and didn't even mind having her hair washed (good thing I brought the special bath bucket which prevents water from going into her face). Not a single tear was shed. What a relief.

With her bath over, we got ready for bed. We applied lotion and powder, brushed her teeth and blow dried her hair. Her hair is so cute. It's curly! I love it. I think it is so special and totally unique just like her. After that it was bed time. It took her a little while to fall asleep, but she never cried she just chattered away in her crib saying all kinds of things. Just talking about her day and her new family I guess. The babble sounded happy, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

An Amazing Day!

Today, we had the privilege and honor to meet Tiffany Grace's Foster Family . . . the Choo family. Words are inadequate to describe the experience. It was as if we discovered we had a whole new family that we never knew. Better yet, it felt as if our hearts always knew they were our family it just took a little longer for the universe to bring us all together. The catalyst for the expansion of our family is now a blessing times four. When we return we are bringing with us four new members of our family . . . Tiffany Grace, Clarissa Choo, Wai How Choo, and Gwyneth Choo. One will physically make the trip home and the other three will be carried closely and warmly in our hearts forever.

On the far left is Alex, next to him is Teresa, then Gwyneth, Carol and Wai How. In front of the Carol and Alex's daughters and Katrina sitting in her new Jiejie's (Mandarin for older sister) lap.

Also, we met Teresa Woo, Alex, Carol, and their two daughters. Alex and Carol are friends of the Choos and their daughters were some of Tiffany Grace's playmates. Teresa Woo is a beautiful soul who founded and runs Ping An Medical Foster Home. This is a private organization that raises funds for surgical procedures for orphans and cares for them during their treatments. Tiffany Grace spent one year with Teresa and one year with the Choos. They gave us photo albums and photo CDs of their time with Tiffany Grace. What amazing gifts to receive. It is clear from the photos and the many stories they shared with us that they love our daughter very much and they took wonderful care of her while she waiting for us . . . her forever family. In the end, that is the true gift they gave us that we will continue to receive and know for all our lives. They gave unconditional love to our daughter and taught her how to give and receive love. For this I can never stop thanking them. I can tell you with all my heart, Katrina, Joe and I truly love Wai How, Gwyneth, Clarissa and Teresa.

We learned several things from Tiffany Grace's second family all of which confirmed for me the true power of God and the power of prayer. We found so many things that seemed to fit so perfectly between our two families. The most amazing was when Wai How asked us what we were going to call He Xinyi. We said her name was always Grace because we believed it was only by the grace of God that she came to us. Then we told them that we added Tiffany when my beloved niece Tiffany passed away this February. They were instantly surprised and overcome with emotion. They said that they too sometimes called He Xinyi "Grace" because a dear friend of theirs said Xinyi was too hard to pronounce and that she should be called Grace because she was a testimony to God's grace. As you can imagine, we all knew then and their that our red thread connections had come together as only God could have planned and accomplished.

Across the world we have traveled to find love, hope, friendship, family, generosity, faith, kindness and most of all Grace.

A Day in Beijing

We did our historical tour of Beijing today. We went to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China. It was a big change from last time when we were freezing. This time it was hot and humid. Another big change is all the beautiful flowers planted everywhere as part of the "clean up Beijing" Olympic mission.

I am sad to report that the Starbucks in the Forbidden City is now gone. While I think it best not to have a symbol of American excess and over consumption in the ancient Forbidden City, the lost irony is missed. Plus, hot coffee was not nearly as attractive to us as it was in 2005, given that it was 60+ degrees warmer this trip.

Here is a picture of us standing in front of the main entrance to the Forbidden City (we are actually still standing across the street in Tiananmen Square):

After Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, we went to lunch. They took us to the same restaurant that they took us to in 2005. The funny thing is that last time, I thought this restaurant was on the other side of the city (actually, I simply had no idea where it was but we had been driving around all morning). This time I realized that this restaurant is only a 15 minute walk from our Hotel. The reason we know this now is because we happened to walk past it yesterday when we were trying to walk to Chaoyang Park (which we thought was a 30 minute walk but which turned out to be more like an hour and a half -- we took a taxi). Needless to say, we are much better oriented this trip. The food was largely fried Chinese food. I think they think Americans only like fried food. After all, very little of Chinese cuisine is fried, but you would not know this from the offerings at lunch. Also, they "assumed" we all drank soda because they just brought out coke and sprite. Of course, I don't really eat fried food and I don't drink soda. Luckily, the eggplant, bell pepper, and potato side dish was delicious. Donna and I filled up on it. The spring rolls were yummy too! I skipped out on having the Peking Duck this time (I tried it last time) because I could feel my cholesterol numbers rising just looking at it on the plate.

After lunch we went to the Great Wall of China. Katrina had been looking forward to seeing the Great Wall for months. She fell asleep on the drive and we didn't think we were going to be able to wake her up. We did eventually wake her up and I'm glad she didn't miss it. Katrina wasn't up for walking too far (thank goodness), so we only walked up a small section of the wall. It is very steep and the steps are really uneven. Here is a picture of a very small portion of the Great Wall (which, if placed in a single line and including all historical portions, would wrap around the world twice!):

I told you it was steep:

Well, it is 1 a.m. in Beijing, so I think I'll call it a day. Good night.

We Have Arrived!

We arrived safely and on time to Beijing yesterday afternoon. It is now 3:10 a.m. in Beijing and Donna (my niece who is traveling with us) and I can not sleep. We stayed up for 27 hours straight to try to get on China time, but now we are wide awake. Joe and Katrina are still sleeping, so that is good for them.

We decided to venture out on our own yesterday, despite how clearly nervous it made our tour guides. Of course it was perfectly safe, we made it back without any trouble, and we had a great time. We went to Chaoyang park, which was the venue for the Olympic tennis and beach volleyball games. The park was great! It was huge and so pretty. The picture to the right shows us at the entrance to the park. As you can see, Katrina is wiped out from the trip. She never woke up again after this (and she's still asleep now). The park had a Sony exploration museum, rides, games, an exercise park, several Olympic venues, public art works, an amazing dog park, and lots of tennis courts, basketball courts and public green spaces.

The Paralympic Games are starting today, September 6th (it's September 5th for all of you). They take place a few weeks after every Olympics at the same Olympic venues. Several of the athletes were on our flight. Because of this, there is still a lot of Olympic fever here in Beijing. There are still lots of helpful information booths all around the city as well. This is handy for us, because all the workers at the information booths speak a little English. While I had big plans to learn Mandarin before this trip, the plans were not realized. I am embarrassed to say what I do know, because I know I sound silly when I say it.

While at Chaoyang Park, we came across a very large ladybug. We thought is was so cute from a distance. As we got closer we realized it was a bathroom. Because it was so cute (see the picture), and because we had been drinking lots of bottled water, we couldn't resist using the facilities. Now, in making this decision, we all concluded that this would be a great place to go because it was at an Olympic venue, so they had to have western style toilets, right? Wrong! All they had were the squatty potties. Plus, this was not a new facility built as part of the sprucing up of Beijing. As soon as we got to the entryway, we could smell the "history" of the ladybug. The smell alone was not enough to turn us away (usually it is, but we were trying to be open minded), but the absence of western toilets was too much to handle. After all, we'd been awake for 24+ hours at this point and I was afraid squatting that low on my overly tired legs was a risk I was not willing to take. The last thing I wanted on my first day in China was to have to be extracted from a very smelly hole in the ground.