Day 8 with Miss Livi

This morning was our appointment at the U.S. Consulate. This is our last step we have to do before we leave. It is the part that gets us Olivia's Visa to enter America. We get the visa on Thurs. and then we leave Friday so we are almost on our way. YAY! We had to meet Lucy at 7:30 am for our 8:30 appointment so we got up at 5:45 to be sure we had time for getting ready and going down to breakfast. We got to the Consulate building about 8:00 to give us time to get through security and such. When we arrived, we noticed a very long line....at least 100 people.....going down the front steps. We asked Lucy what that was and she said it was the Chinese people trying to get an immigration visa. Mark thought she maybe meant a visitors visa, but she said no...they are wanting to emigrate to the United States. She said the line is a block long every day and most are turned down. Some try many times and they have requirements that they must meet to even apply....things like having a certain amount of money in a savings account. I suppose so they know you're not coming to America penniless. I watched the people as we walked by them with no line to wait in. I watched them watch us. I could see it in their faces. It wasn't envy....but it was like a longing. A longing to be in our shoes and come to our country. I have always tried to appreciate the blessing of living in the United States and not take it for granted, but it really hits home when you travel to a place like this. We are fortunate beyond belief.

Once inside the consulate and through security, we were brought into a waiting room with 11 other couples where we were greeted by an American woman who went through some of the formality and explanation of what we were doing there and why. She gave us one very interesting statistic.......Last year, China issued just under 10,000 adoption visas to children just like ours and over 3,500 of those were for American families. That means in the whole world, we adopt 1/3 of the orphans from China. Say what you will about greed or over abundance in the U.S.....we are a very generous and giving Nation. That made me proud.

After her talk, we all stood up, raised our right hand and took an oath on our promise to care for this child. It was a very cool moment.....I wish I had a picture, but they wouldn't allow any electronics....so we just have the memory.

After leaving there at about 9:45, we headed to Grand Buy again to do some shopping. Mark and Barb hadn't been there yet and they really wanted to check it out. The guys waited patiently while Barb and I were checking out the children's clothing store.

We took some streets this time that Jay and I hadn't yet. It was much more rustic China this time. Alleys with one little shop after another. Each the size of a walk in closet. It was almost like going to a flea market with rows and rows of things.

At one point there was a woman who wanted me to sit down to try some string thing on my face. She had a large spool of thread and she started using it on my forehead to show me. I figured it was some sort of hair removal. I let her try it for a minute, but then declined when she wanted me to sit down. I kinda wish I would have just let her do it....it would have been an experience for sure.

When we got back at about 2pm, we spent some time just playing in the room. And we took her down to the Swan room to play. That's always fun and each time, she gets more brave and ventures away from us a little more.

We were supposed to go on a dinner boat cruise but had to cancel because of the weather. It got real cold and super windy while we were out shopping. The boat would have been even colder so we decided not to go. I really wish we would have gone Tues. night after the zoo because it was a beautiful day, but that's okay. There's no time tonight because we have to meet Lucy for one more visa thing between 5 and 6pm.

Instead, we went down to the lounge area and the guys ordered some beer while the girls played with some toys on the couch. That was actually nice to just chill and visit for a while.

One full week with Miss Olivia

Today marks one week since we first laid eyes on our little girl. It's like her birth....to us anyway. We are getting to know her ins and outs, her moods, her likes and dislikes, her faces, and her laugh just the same as any child born to us. The transformation in just one week has been beyond anything I could have imagined. For the last couple days, she can't hug Jay and I enough. She tag teams between the two of us, back and forth...lap to lap, hugging us both with both arms and head laid on our shoulder. It's almost like she's saying "I'm so glad you're finally here to get me".

To celebrate this anniversary, we took her (along with the other couple) to the Safari Zoo.

It was awesome! It was unlike any zoo we've ever been too and ranked right up there with Disney's Animal Kingdom. Our guide helped us hire our driver to bring us the 45 minute drive there and wait while we spent 5 hours in the park. It cost only 200 Yuan per couple (that's 3 couples including Mark's parents) which is only about $30. Not bad. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one, but I do have to mention two things. First, Olivia had her first taste of ice cream and she loved it. We were shocked because she doesn't like things that aren't warmed up. She kept making a sour face at it with each bite, but she liked it so she suffered through the cold. It was super cute.

The other thing was something Jason did. There was a monkey behind some glass and Jay caught its eye and started to kinda lean back and forth with his arms out like an ape would do. The monkey imitated him. It was the funniest thing ever and the best part was seeing all the Chinese people start to laugh and clamor around to take pictures of this big American guy playing with the ape. They stopped for a minute and then as soon as the ape looked at Jay and he started to do it again, the ape did it too. There was one part I was able to catch on tape where Jay opened his mouth real big and the ape did the same thing. Oh man, did the people laugh. It was priceless and I have a great video of it.

One of the first things we did was go on a "Safari on Wheels" adventure where you take a trolley train for over 30 minutes through all the animals.

That was just amazing. There was hardly any (and sometimes no) space between us and the animals. It was really a great ride.

We also went to two shows, one for Elephants and one for the lions and tigers.

There were several classes of kids from the local elementary school. All the school kids here wear uniform. I just thought they were so cute and it made me really miss the boys.

We saw so many animals that we've never seen or that you can't find in America. I'm so glad we did this, it was a memorable day.

We went out on the town for dinner at a Pizza Hut tonight......it's that whole 'no more being adventurous with our food' thing.....and it was sooooo good. It just hit the spot. The nightlife was pretty busy even for a Monday night in this square. It's the same place Jay and I went to earlier this week, only this time we were able to see it at night and it was lit up like Vegas.

Tomorrow we have a wake up call set for 5:45 am because we have to get ready and have breakfast before meeting Lucy at 7:30 for our consulate appointment to get Olivia's visa. It's already past my bedtime then considering. Thank you so much for all the kind comments and continued prayers. Only 3 more days, once we wake up, until we go home......I'm very ready and can hardly wait.

Day 6 with Olivia

Today is Sunday so we went to church. There happens to be a Catholic church just a few blocks away from our hotel. We walked in and were the only white people there.....and people were lookin'. We got some help finding a place to sit (it's a small church and it was almost full by the time we arrived) and tried to follow along. I was actually amazed at how easy that was to do. You could tell what part of the mass it was and I would quietly say the English version of what was said. You could tell when the priest was saying "Peace be with you" and you could tell when it was time to recite the Lord's Prayer. The kiss of peace was so nice. Everyone around us either shook our hand or gave a nod with their hands together in front of them. They were all smiling at us and so genuine. It was really something actually when you think about it. Here we are, half way around the world, with different cultures, different language, different look, different expectations in life and yet we were all there in that church serving the same God, the same Christ. For that hour, I didn't feel so different at all.

After mass was over, we headed outside where we were met by many Chinese people wanting to talk to us. A couple spoke English and others spoke in Chinese but you could see in their eyes and faces they were pleased. We were asked many questions about her and if she was our first child. They all gasped when we said we have 5 sons at home. Everyone does here....they can't possibly relate to such a large family. And the church women, like every other person we've met who's found out about our 5 sons, told us we are very lucky and that we would be very popular in China. Shortly after, the Priest walked outside too and he spoke English really well. He asked us about our family and told us she was a lucky girl to be getting adopted by us. He then asked if we were planning on having her Baptized. We told her it is already scheduled for April 10th. He was very happy about that and surprised that it was already arranged. We talked for a bit more with everyone and then said goodbye to the sound of many Chinese people saying "God Bless You". It was one of the best parts of our trip so far......honestly. As we walked back to the hotel, I told Jason that I'm sure they are so happy to see her being adopted into a Christian family. She had no hope of ever knowing Jesus as long as she stayed in that orphanage.

Later we met up with Barb and Mark again (they went to church with us too but hadn't stayed after as long cuz their little one was getting hungry) and had some lunch together. Today's weather is the nicest it's been since we arrived....about 76' today....so we ate out on the patio and the guys shared a pitcher of beer.

Afterwards, we went to a park right next to the restaurant and the kids played for quite a while.

Livi had so much fun. I wondered if she's had the chance to go down a slide like that before.

She sure loved it!

She started crying when we left and she doesn't do that very often at all.

We went around to a couple shops where Jason started learning how to play China's version of 'hacky sack'. It was funny and the girl from the shop was getting quite the kick outta him.

Kinda took it easy the rest of the afternoon and met up again for dinner. We walked for about 15 minutes to get to a "western" style restaurant only to find out it had gone out of business and a French one had taken over. Good Lord....French? I can't even imagine what would be on a french menu. But, we were there and we were hungry so we went in. Well, to keep it short and sweet, it was probably the worst meal I've had since we've been in China. I ordered a Mediterranean style salad. Um...no. Not even close. Even with everything they said was on it, it was terrible and I could hardly eat any of it. Jay liked his okay, but Mark decided he's done 'branching out'....which is what we said we were doing when we decided to stay at the French place. Haha....no more adventures for him. I'm kinda with him actually. One thing I will NOT miss here is the food. I think the only time I haven't been disappointed with some aspect of my meal was when we've gone to McDonalds and when we ordered Papa Johns one night. All I can say is that I am dying for some homemade spaghetti and french bread......anything just normal and flavorful. No more bland, blah food thank you very much.

Well, time for bed, it's late and tomorrow we are spending the day at the zoo. Til then......