grammar

Ok, in my defense, the grammar issues I blame on the fact that I had taken a Lunesta (prescription sleeping pill) about 20 minutes prior to writing my post. It makes me loopy so I'm sure that's the ONLY reason I would make such mistakes.

Brenden, Nick & Lucy....we'll see via Skype in just a little bit!!

squatty potty oddity

Woot woot!

We are in Hong Kong and Blogger isn't blocked!!

And guess what' I'm gonna do??

I'm going to cut and paste as many of YOUR blog entries

to Word so I can read them on the plane!!

Great idea, I know.

Ok, I have a question....

how many of you have successfully

used a squatty potty on a TRAIN.

A.MOVING.TRAIN?

Well, I have not.

We took a train to HK, which was so fun!

But when I went to the potty....

I was shocked as I walked in to find the

dreaded Chinese way of peeing.

I gathered my thoughts and told myself that

I could do it.

But about mid-stand, while swaying with the train,

I was eye to eye with a sign that said,

Hold on.

That was it.

My attempt was aborted.

As I walked back to my seat (bladder still full),

looking at all the almond-eyed women sitting comfortably

in their seats as I strolled,

I realized that I may never share this common

bond with them.

I simply can't get used to this

oddity.

We leave at 12:45 PM Wednesday (11:45 PM Tuesday)

on our 14 hour, 31 minute flight.

FOURTEEN HOURS, THIRTY ONE MINUTES.

I better go to bed now.

almost finished here!

Today we had our ceremony at the consulate.

Poor Shu Li,

even though our guide told her what was going

on, I don't think she fully understood what

the heck it was all about.

Everything was in English and I'm sure

she had trouble following it all.

 

Anyway, that marks our final step

and I couldn't be more grateful!!

 

We will pick up her visa tomorrow then catch

our train to Hong Kong

(we won't arrive there until 8ish PM).

 

The pic is of our new friend Michelle.

She is a wonderful Christian gal whom I just adore!!

She took it upon herself

to have a chat with Shu Li

(in Chinese, of course) and explained to her how

important it is for her to read her Bible every day.

It really touched my heart greatly!!

She just had her first (and perhaps only) child.

Since she and her husband are only allowed

one pregnancy, she said she might want to adopt!

But get this, she wants to adopt an American

baby!  So sweet! Who knows, maybe that could work out!

 

Anyway,

I'm just frazzled.

We leave for home on Wednesday around noon

(around 11 PM, central time, Tuesday night).

 

I will TRY to do at least one more post

before we leave (with more pics, hopefully!).

 

 

 

Oh I forgot to tell you!!!

Remember the little girl who was needing

a blood transfusion and the parents

were praying that she wouldn't

also have to get the six shots that the

doctors here insisted she needed????

 

She got a waiver!!!!

 

NO SHOTS!!

 

Thank you, Jesus!!

bagel keeper

Mercy be.

This is what it's come to...

we are going so stir-crazy, visiting the same

shops over and over,

that K-man is getting delusional and making

me take pics of him.

This is a Chinese bagel keeper, or so he thinks.

It's actually a jewelry box but please don't

burst his bubble, OK?

 

 

Next is me taking pics of Shu Li at an amazingly

delicious Italian restaurant on the island.

She is mortified that I would do

such a thing.

Get used to it, sister...Mama's got

a blog to maintain.

 

My hair continues to look pretty darn good.

However, I have a zit the size of a honey dew.

 

Oh and today K gave Shu Li a big hug

and she hugged him back (and giggled, of course)!

Yay!

 

Tomorrow our guide goes to the consulate to take

care of the visa stuff.

Then Tuesday is our ceremony at the consulate...

then we are off to Hong Kong.

Wednesday we head home!!!!

TB Test

TB test was

NEGATIVE!!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!

 

**And since we didn't have to pay for a chest

 x-ray, that means more Monopoly money

for Mama!

our friend Jordon and tea with Dong

First of all, Brenden left the following comment as

a follow-up to his plea for Hondo: 

Coward??? How dare ye! I think its actually very brave to expose myself on such a site!

Anonymous is the only thing i can post as with out signing up/in to anything! (Now doesnt that make sense?)

Mom! you are going down! i have your entire blog army behind Hondo and I! plus YOU won't buy him! I'll buy him! No prob there! All you will be doing is authorizing giving Hondo a loving home.

Thank you all very much for supporting Hondo and I! I know that with all of your help that we can break my mom's strong will and iron fist and melt her heart with the loving face of adorable Hondo/Hannah!

http://www.playfulpups.com/Pictures/german_shepherd_puppies_s.JPG

We'll talk when we get home (and no, that doesn't mean that I'm softening).

But I must correct your grammar a bit.

It should read,

".....blog army behind Hondo and ME."

"Thank you all very much for supporting Hondo and ME."

 

Don't make me pull out the Shurley Grammar

and my dry-erase board!

Sorry,

I just had to do that.

 

************

Yesterday was a really good day.

Shu Li and K bonded a tiny bit more.

Thank you for praying!

 

Shu Li is SUPER shy at times.

Sometimes I don't know if she's grieving or just

not wanting to talk...plus she isn't very

confident in her English, which is

really very good!!

 

But we've learned to easily connect.

Either with our translator, body language,

or our slow-talkin' English.

She is great to have around when we can't

understand the locals here who don't

speak English very well.

She will jump in and talk to whomever

we are having trouble communicating with and

 will tell us what they are trying to say.

Then tell them what we are trying to say.

She's so great!!

 

*About the pics*

For those of you who have been here,

you surely know Jordon (yes, I spelled his name correctly),

he is a store owner and a wonderful Christian man.

AND he is a hoot to talk to!!!

We love him so much!

 

While K-man took a nap in the room,

Shu and I did some shopping around the island.

On that note,

we have greatly boosted the economy here.

Ehem.

K had to explain to me that Chinese money

is not Monopoly money.

Huh.

 

Anyway, we had tea with Dong.

He is a very friendly guy who loves to visit

over tea.

I shared with him about Jesus...

he quickly changed the subject.

Oh well.

I was just watering a seed planted

long ago, I'm sure.

For those of you traveling behind me,

keep the irrigation going, ok?

:)

 

**Brenden and Nick:

Dad picked something very special up for you

today at a little street vendor.

Hint:

Spiderman + underwear

 

Homesick

Scratch the idea I had of living here.

I'm soooo sick of it!!

(Lynsay, I have a whole new respect for you)

I miss my country and

MY KIDS!!!

 

*Pictures*

Last night we ordered Papa John's pizza.

And guess who loved it and

ate an entire piece?!!

How do you like our make-shift plate (aka, pizza box lid cut in two)

 

K-man had to stop and watch two guys trying

to put a new light on a pole.

(Mike is this what you and K look like when you are working?)

It was pretty entertaining.

 

K-man and Shu Li haven't exactly hit it off.

She is a little intimidated, I'm afraid.

But he is taking baby steps with her and she's

starting to respond.

Even though she isn't as shy as we expected,

she's still VERY SHY.

Does that make sense??

 

We went to the shopping district and

once again had quite a bit of interesting

sights along the way.

I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian.

At least while in Ch*na.

 

While shopping

I had my patience tested like never before...

I simply can't stand being shoulder to shoulder

with people. 

Let me know if you want me to pick  

up a brassiere for you.

However, if you are over a B cup,

I can't help you.

 

Brenden, Dad found a puppy for you.

Cross your fingers that we

get through customs.

Brenden

Hi.

 

We are getting ready for the day and I

don't really have anything new to

report to you but I want you to go read

Brenden's comment from my last post.

(In regard to me saying NO to the dog request)

 

It's an "Anonymous" comment (coward) though

he does sign his name at the end.

 

You will laugh, I promise.

a slice of heaven

Ahhh...Shamian Island.

If they would discreetly put in a Taco Bell

and Applebee's, I would send for my belongings

and kids and move here.

 

And when I get to heaven,

my request is that my cottage-like mansion

be quietly located in a plsce much like this quaint island,

in all its green tropical beauty, while

surrounded by snow-capped mountains.

Minus any humidity, of course.

 

Only God will be able to pull that off.

And oh, and He will.

:)

 

We started our day with a phone call

from Shu Li's friend, Lina!!

It was so great to let them chat away!

While Shu was on the phone,

I slipped out to get Starbucks because well,

a girl needs her Starbucks.

And the one on Shamian Island is the greatest ever.

Then we skyped with our boys back home.

Sniff, sniff.

We miss them so much!!

We talked for about an hour and they made

Shu Li giggle the entire time.

They are a HOOT!!

Oh and the answer to the dog question was

NO.

 

Then we skyped with my friend Patty and her

daughter Ellie, Shu Li's other friend in America.

We had a great time!

 

Then we set out to do some shopping.

K-man didn't want to take a taxi so we

walked to the big shopping district.

It was an experience getting there.

And yes, the pic of K talking to two locals

is him getting directions.

Sometimes a guy just has to swallow his pride

and find out where in the world he is.

 

We only bought two pairs of jeans

and some books.

It was so crazy-busy (as always) and about 97 degrees.

I'm not kidding.

 

But for some unknown reason,

my hair has stayed within the zip code.

Thank you for praying.

 

 

 

From Home

I really need to go jump in the shower

so I can scamper down to that fabulous breakfast buffet,

(thousand year old eggs await me)

but I had to tell you that my kids

at home are missing me so terribly!

 

This was the email I got from Brenden when I

woke up this morning:

 

Can i get a german shepherd and train it to be a guard dog?

and i am dead serious!

 

You can see how devastated he is that we aren't home

and how he is yearning for our return.

 

We have a free day today so I'll try to post pics later!!

Which will likely be Friday morning for you.

Checking in...

Hi ya'll!!

 

I'm having a more and more difficult

time getting onto the computer.

My Ms. Teen is on...

a lot!

She is chatting with her friends from

school, the orphanage

and a couples others who have already

been adopted.

You go, girl!!

 

So, I just thought I would check in

with you.

We arrived in GZ safe and sound.

Ugh.

The humidity.

You are right in commenting that my hair

looked good in pics up until now...

if I do say so myself.

But here is when it will take a drastic

turn for the frizzy worse.

Get ready.

 

We had a HORRIBLE experience at our medical

exam today.

Suffice it to say that I came very close

to making international news for

knocking the block off a certain Ch*nese doctor.

(I could have easily taken him too)

You know the one (if you've been here)...

doctor's jacket with shorts underneath

so it appears that he has no pants on.

Anyway, to save my sweet girl's

privacy I will only say that humiliation

was abundant with no compassion

from said pant-less doctor.

I was STEAMING mad.

 

Then the STUPID TB test and immunization

requirement that our

government has implemented had me fuming some more.

There is a little girl in our group who is set to have

 a blood transfusion tomorrow

and they wanted to give her SIX shots today.

The parents said, no way.

Please pray that they can find a way

out of it...if not, they will have to get them

before they can come home.

 

No pics today, sorry!!!!

 

Oh and I need to say...

I forgot that I am using a different web browser

than usual (one that will spell-check as I go),

and I have forgotten to pay more careful

attention to my spelling.

Petty, I know.

But poor spelling really bugs me.

Yes, I'm guilty of poor spelling from time to time.

Anyway,

Just wanted to make sure you know

I'm not quite as ditzy as my writing may appear.

Ok, yes I am.

 

Oh and we were eating in Lucy's today

and a lady at another table yelled,

"Lori and K-man!!"

She is a fellow-adoptive mom and blogger.

Ha!!

Small world.

 

Ok,

I really gotta run...I have a Guangzhou Subway

sandwich waiting for me.

Wish me luck.

 

Guangzhou bound

We are heading to Guangzhou early

this morning...

I probably won't be able to blog until

later tonight.

 

Ahhhh...the great shopping will soon

begin!

Oh and STARBUCKS!

And I will get our laundry done!

Yay!!

 

I will leave you with a few more pics

from Luoyang.

Their smiles are heart-melting, aren't they?!!!

They need a home to call their own.

emotional day

Our day today was full, to say the least.

From us standing in a Buddahist temple

(and me telling our guide about Jesus right then and there),

to eating in the dirtest restaurant on the planet...

 

to our special time at the orphange.

 

Let's focus on the orphanage.

I don't think I've cried so hard....ever.

It was very hard on Shu Li to say

good-bye.

I cry as I'm recalling it.

But she did get to spend some sweet time

with her friends before we had to leave.

We were there for about 2 hours

and met all her precious friends.

PRECIOUS.

These Luoyang kids are AMAZING.

AMAZING.

I fell in love with each and every one.

 

A lot is on my heart about our visit

because it has changed my heart forever.

I had never been in an orphanage before today

and my eyes were opened even more having

been there.

So many children without families of their own.

 

I will post more later (I took 90 pics)

but for now I'll show you a few of the sweet

faces

The pic with the worker (not wearing a white jacket)

standing with the tall girl,

came today on her day off...and she lives very far away,

just to see Shu Li one last time.

So very sweet.

The tall girl was on WACAP's WC list the last time

I checked.

She is a darling girl.

 

 

I've got a doozy of a blog post going in

my head about our responsibility to these children

and millions others around the world.

Put your excuses away

and prepare your heart.

 

Shu Li was in a state of grief on our

long ride back to the hotel.

But after about 1 1/2 hours,

she was back to herself.

She is very excited to hear that many

of her friends have...or will have

families soon.

 

One sweet girl, Shelley (black and orange jacket),

said to Kelly and me......

"I have to go back to school now...please take good

care of my friend, Shu Li."

She hugged me hard and ran off to school.

Kelly and I both broke down into tears.

It was the sweetest thing ever.

She is a WONDERFUL girl who is full of

spunk!!  I love her!!!

Thankfully, there is a family working on adopting her!!

 

We are leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow morning...

please pray that all goes well as Shu Li leaves her home province.

 

And thank you all for your SWEET comments

and emails.

I dearly love you all!!

lost in translation

Ok, I've figured a few things out here...

First of all,

apparently my spoken English isn't near as

good as I thought.

Perhaps others have known for some time now.

Shu Li told our guide that I talk too fast

and she can't always understand me.

 

Well Shu Li, you aren't the only one.

 

But...she CAN read almost anything I write.

I will type a sentence into her electronic

translator and she will often read as I type then

answer me before I even have a chance to hit the

translate button.

She's SUPER smart, I'm tellin' ya.

 

But we have used the translator quite a bit

but things get a little fuzzy sometimes

and we end up cracking up because

the translation won't make any sense!

On both ends, I'm sure.

Thank goodness she's very patient

because it sometimes takes

us a while to figure out what each other

are saying.

 

Last night she showed me the translator with

this on it:

 

You can teach me to surf the internet!

 

Oh my.

She's an Americna teenager before her

tiny feet even hit the topsoil.

 

Sorry only one pic today!

I really try not to overwhelm her with snapping

my camera constantly.

I desperately wanted to take pics in WM

yesterday but I figured my new teenage daughter

would be thoroughly embarrassed if I did that!

 

We leave for the orphanage in two hours.

Last night Shu Li asked me if we could

go buy some gifts for her friends.

You Bet!

I'm so glad she felt comfortable enough to ask

us that!

So we went to the store and LOADED up on

candy for her to hand out.

 

We are still calling her Shu Li...I will ask

her soon if she wants us to start using Katie.

Oh and today is the first day she is

wearing an outfit that I brought....

size 10/12!!

She is a peanut!!

 

 

 

On the homefront:

The boys and Lucy are doing incredibly well!

Can someone please tell them that

the "Grandparent Gravy Train"

will be ending soon?

Baby Shower post-poned

Lori gave me permission to post this on her blog. :)

We have decided to postpone the baby shower for Morning Star Foundation until she is home from China. She has a lot on her heart that she wants to share with everyone and just won't have the time to do that while on her trip. We will give more details in a few weeks! God is doing exciting things there and we won't want you to miss out on knowing what is happening!

If you have already donated--no worries, the needs are great and all will be put to good use.

Karin

Bliss

I know we are still very much in the

"honemoon" stage...and like

any new relationship, with time, things will change a bit and

there will be challenges...

but I gotta tell ya,

it's still going so great!! 

I'm so very, very grateful.

 

The group pic that you see,

was taken right after our adoption was

finalized.

It was all I could not not to burse into tears

during that picture!

Shu Li had to agree to being adopted and

she readily did so.

Oh my heart!

 

The woman on the far left was so very gracious to

Shu Li.  She felt bad that we have

a male guide and took it upon herself to talk to

Shu Li about personal things and

to assure her that though many changes are coming,

she would be just fine.

It was so very, very sweet and we are so

grateful.

 

We are heading to Luoyang tomorrow for Shu Li

to say good bye to her friends (hopefully we will catch

them when they aren't at school).

Please pray because I know that it will be difficult

for her sweet heart. 

An Amazing Girl

Thankfully we all got a good night's

sleep last night!

 

I could sit here and write a book about

all that's happened since yesterday when

we first met our darling daughter.

 

I choke up with tears just writing this because Shu Li

is nothing short of a miracle from the Lord.

I am so thankful and in awe

that God chose us to be her parents.

His favor is on us and I'm am so very grateful.

 

She giggles and smiles easily...

she folds her dirty clothes...

 makes her bed...

and brushes her teeth without being told.

Just to name a few things.

 

Kiddos back home....heaven help you.

 

K-man is showing her the little electronic

translator we bought, but ummm...

she can read the sentences that we put in...

in English!!

Probaby a waste of money but who knew.

 

Also,

we asked her about her name.

We suggested Macy and she had a look of confusion

and said,

"I already have an English name...Katie."

So we asked her if that's the name she wants to keep

and she very confidentally said yes.

 

SO....

Katie Shu Li it is.

 

She just now put into her translator....

"I very much glad to become your daughter."

 

I'm a bucket of tears.

She is adorable.

Have I mentioned that??

 

Thank you, Jesus....THANK YOU!!!

 

Sorry I can't tell about each pic but the one

with the backpack and bag is what she came with.

I'm dying to know what's inside but she hasn't offered

to share so I will let her do that in her own time.

 

I think that peace sign will be with us for some time!

 

Gotcha Day!!

Woo Hoo!!

Our day finally arrived!

Our sweet girl simply couldn't be more adorable!

 

It's been a tad awkward at times but really,

she's easy to make laugh and seems to

understand much of what we say.

She even speaks a lot of English and when

I have tried explaining things to her,

she'll often say,

"yes, I know."

Such a teenager.

I'm sure she thinks I'm crazy for explaining

the simplist things to her.

 

Anyway, she's not near as shy as we

expected and that's been really nice.

 

She even grabbed my arm going to dinner

and held tight to me.

Oh my heart!

 

We went for Italian food for our first

meal together...go figure.

She actually seemed to like it but

didn't eat a whole lot.

 

I gotta go...

we are soooo tired!

Blog Shower!!

Would you mind hopping over to my friend

Karin's blog (she will hopefully post the link here soon)

and check out the "blog shower"

for The Morning Star Foundation?!

This is an amazing ministry that I have now

seen with my own eyes

and feel even stronger than before

that God is at work in Mighty way in all

He is doing here!!

These babies are precious beyond words

and they need our support!!

The love of Jesus is being poured into

their lives....why not join in and help make an

eternal differnce.

**Update from Karin** For more information on the Blog Baby Shower, click here. Let's help these precious babies have some comfy beds, fun toys and yummy food!

Posting issues

Please check out my JTM journal...I'm having problems getting pics to my blog!

www.journeytome.com

"Adoption Stories"

Journey to Shu Li.

more pics

A few more pics for your viewing pleasure.

I have a ton of then!