July 20th

Julia's Birthday was today she is 2!

Coming home last night made us all get so excited and wound up. Today, the boys slept all day since they didn't go to bed until 4:30 am on July 20th.  My parents came over to meet Julia. She let them hold her and we had a great visit.

After their visit we all took a long nap. Later that evening we went over to Tony and Lisa's for a delicious meal. It was great to visit talk about our trip and to have Julia there with us. Julia did well, we got her a decorated cake and sang Happy Birthday. It was fun to see her innocent face.

After we came home, we decided to try and put her in her crib. After feeding her and drinking her bottle we put her in the crib. The boys were playing under the crib and we sat in her room for a while, talking and laughing.  I think she really liked that. After a while, we turned on the night light/fan my friend Susan bought her, and gently walked out. We listened for any cries and noticed she was talking a lot. It sounded so cute! We kept cracking up outside her door. We waited and I checked on her 30 minutes later, she was asleep.

It was such a blessing to have her home by her birthday!

July 19th

Today at 5:30 am we left for the Guangzhou airport. As we were waiting to check our luggage in at the airport, Julia's pull up apparently wasn't on properly,  I started feeling warm liquid running down my hip and leg. It was all okay though, I rinsed out my shirt and side of pants, put 2 pull ups on her and a new set of clothes for her. We were good to go.

The 3 hour flight went great, then we had to re-check all our baggage in Beijing and go through security three different times in three different areas there. We also had to get all our luggage and go through check-in again. (This was challenging but thankfully Hainan Air had someone leading us to luggage and the check in area.) I found it strange we had to do that because both flights that day were on Hainan Air.  Two hours later, we ended up back on the same plane.

Our flight from Beijing was almost 13 hours. Overall, Julia did great. She had a few times of screaming out. I'm sure she was uncomfortable, but not too bad. We landed at Chicago O'Hare and that is where she became a US citizen.

After our flight, we rented a car and Nick drove home from Chicago. I know this was so challenging for him, we were SO tired. The first two hours of the drive the three kids and I were instantly asleep. Nick had to stop and get an energy drink. I did offer to drive but he said no. The last 2 hours were better, we all woke up and enjoyed the beautiful drive. We were back in the USA! It was a beautiful day, the thing I noticed most was the clear, clean air. The air smelled so good. It was amazing!!

When we got home we were pleasantly surprised by our home being decorated by my sister-in-law Lisa and my brother-n-law Tony welcoming Julia home. It was beautiful! They also stocked our fridge with milk, juice, cereal, pizza and some gifts for Julia. Our nephew, Sam and took care of our house. It felt so good to be home and our home was so well taken care of.

Julia slept good in our bed. In both hotels in China, we slept on a king size bed. Our bed at home is a queen, which looks more like a twin after being in a king. Two dogs and a cat wanted to sleep on our bed too. They all ended up on the floor, except for Julia.

Thank you ALL for praying for us! The trip and adoption process has been amazingly smooth.  We have felt your prayers and God's protection on this journey.

July 18th

Last night we got a call from Eva saying we had a driver for today and to pick a place to go. Another pleasant surprise! Unfortunately, Eva had hurt her back and said she couldn't take us today but her supervisor, Judy could.

For the last three nights, Julia has been real fussy for nap time and nighttime. I thought maybe she might have an ear infection. Judy got her checked out and her ears looked fine. I was relieved about that.

I will say Julia has really attached to me (which I'm thankful for) but sleeping is what many adopted children struggle with. We have seen some of that now in Julia. Today, I noticed her putting her hand on the mattress, feeling it then looking at the palm of her hand. From what I've heard and I've actually seen in the Chenzhou orphanage, and I did confirm with Judy, her mattress was a bamboo sheet with plywood under the bamboo; quite a difference from a normal mattress.

We decided to go back to Shaimen Island today. After a nice lunch at Lucy's (we were ready for American food now) we headed back to a shop called "Amy's" unfortunately, she wasn't open. It started pouring down rain and we decided just to come back to hotel.

I started packing with Julia. We are all excited to leave tomorrow.

July 17th

I think Julia is becoming really comfortable with us. Today at breakfast, she was singing and moving around in her high chair like she owned the restaurant.

Eva told us yesterday that our adoption agency paid for an additional day of transportation to do some sightseeing.  We were touched their gift. I have enjoyed working with Wasatch Adoption Agency, especially Kathy Junk, and Marilyn Cypers. They have guided us through this year. I will never forget their patience, kindness and expertise in the adoption process.  I would highly recommend Wasatch as an agency for adopting.

Today, Eva recommended us going to Yuntai Garden at Baiyun Mountain. Yuntai Garden is a beautifully kept botanical garden that has a nice view of the city of Guangzhou. Next to Yuntai Garden was Baiyun Mountain. We took a cable car to the top for another great view of the city. We really had a wonderful time.

 After lunch, we were wiped out. Between the heat here, traffic, getting to our hotel, it depletes our energy.

July 16th

Today was our long awaited US Consulate appointment. We were thankful Eva picked us up at 7:40am. When we approached the building, there were two long lines. One side for people waiting for their Visa's to travel to the US and one side for immigration to the US. I was thankful we went to a door with no line...the adoption line. It was such an early morning for us, I didn't take many pictures with my phone, which I regret.

By the time they were ready for us, there were 16 families waiting. Unfortunately, we couldn't take our cell phones or cameras inside. We took an oath that all of our paperwork was correct and truthful.

We received a lot of Julia's paperwork today. One interesting piece was her finding ad annoucement when she was born. She is such a beautiful girl. I often think about her mom and the decision she made for Julia. It is heartbreaking when I think about what she went through, how she thought someone else might have better resources to care for Julia.  I am thankful we are Julia's family. She sure does belong to a family who loves her.

July 15th

We are moving along through our last week in China. We have been blessed with how well Julia is doing. Thank you all for praying for us!

I thought I would post some additional pictures of our hotel. I think the hotel has helped make our trip more enjoyable. The grocery store was in the Taikoo Hui Mall, which connected underground to our hotel.

July 14th

It has been one week today since we got Julia! To me, it feels like she has always been a part of our family. We all love her so much and we can't wait for you all to meet her!

Today we decided to visit the Canton Tower via the subway. The concierge said it was easy to get to on subway. Three stops down on the orange line and no transfers. No transfers was music to our ears.

The Canton Tower is 1,969 ft tall and the 3rd largest tower in the world. We wanted to go to the top, but felt 80.00 US dollars for a view of the city plus the rides weren't open on top, was too much.  We decided to do the 25.00 per person level instead. We had a great time. The city is huge! Now I know why the malls are so crowded.

The boys get a lot of stares in China. Here are two girls requesting their pictures.

We ended another great day with Starbucks and McDonalds.