August 17th, 2010
These sisters are blessed with two wonderful Grandmothers! Nana, thanks for the beautiful matching dresses for Ami & Miah! And Grandma, thanks for taking two hours of your day to help us out at Doctor appointments! We really appreciate you both!
Ride ‘em Cowgirls!
Admiring new dolls from Auntie Tisha, from her Alaska cruise.
It’s HOT out, but they want to be outside to play. Dirt… gravel… water…
they don’t fight over these like they do the toys inside…
Being silly is a lot more fun when you have a sister to share it with.
This ↑ was a hard photo to get… the rest of them ↓ were a blur… (Ami is teaching Miah to be more spontaneous – even if it is flinging yourself back-and-forth in a rocking chair.)
And Miah is teaching Ami to be a good helper. If these girls keep it up, my life may actually get easier someday – I’ll turn all the cooking and cleaning over to them!
August 12th, 2010
We’ve now been home a week, and the jet-lag is subsiding (but not totally resolved). I think we were all asleep by 11:00 last night, with no sleep-interruptions until 4-ish, then up at 6:00. It’s been crazy with all four of us adjusting to our time-zone at different rates.
We were happy to have Nana and Papa visit us over the weekend, and took the opportunity to get some fresh peaches from Nancy and Alex.
I think Ami is going to like visiting their farm/orchard as much as Miah does!
The girls were also happy to receive gifts (belated birthday). Thank you so much Nana & Papa, and Wes & Joanie. They’ve been having a lot of fun with them. (Thank you for the fabric and wishes also!)
Ami is just thrilled with so many toys to play with. My concerns about sensory overload for this little dynamo were moot. She’s very bright, and learns quickly by watching (so much like her big sister!) – more on that in another post…
Can you tell that life around here has just gotten louder?
August 9th, 2010
Though I’d rather just forget about our long journey home, I’d probably better document it. Especially since I’m up in the middle of the night for the 4th night in a row with a toddler still on China-time.
Once we got Ami’s visa from the Consulate, we took a van to Hong Kong Wed. evening. This was significantly less expensive than flying home from Guangzhou.
We drove for about three hours, and all we saw was city and “suburbs” consisting of high-rise apartment buildings. We anticipated we might see some of the countryside, but three hours of highway driving, and solid population…
With a couple rivers to cross,
and the cargo on passing trucks.
Unlike our trip for Miah, we don’t have photos of Ami’s first plane ride, or the welcoming committee at our final destination. But THANK-YOU Ruben, Ashley, Katie, and Nancy for meeting us at the airport, and for bringing our car. It’s definitely a lot harder traveling with two youngsters. And 25 plus hours in airplanes and airports isn’t easy for anyone! Thankfully the longest of our three flights went fairly smoothly. Unfortunately, they both totally lost it at security in Seattle, then Miah got another big nose-bleed to add to the fun. But God provides grace when we need it, and everyone around us was accommodating. In all my travels, I don’t think it’s ever felt so good to be home. And Ami seems quite happy to be here, too. When we asked Miah what her one favorite part of our China trip was, her response was, “Ami!”
August 5th, 2010
What a long trip but we are home… Now to get everyone fed and to bed….
August 3rd, 2010
Today we went to the US Consulate for the Oath taking Ceremony. They verified our faces matched our passports, and we swore that all the paperwork we’ve completed and signed is accurate. So we’re done! Tomorrow afternoon, as soon as Ami’s visa is picked up, we’ll be out of here (bus to Hong Kong, overnight there, and flight home Thursday morning).
Other families were one or two days later than us in their consulate appointments, so we all depart at different times. We gathered as many families as we could for photos today on the hotel lobby stairs. This is 5 of the 6 families we spent two weeks with – all adopting in Guangdong province. New friendships that will last a lifetime.
Over 20 newly adopted children, with a few of the moms and dads. We had really wanted to travel two weeks earlier, but there were no CAs left. In hindsight we see that if we had, we wouldn’t have met any of these families, rather an entirely different group. Among our new friends are two families from WA state, one from OR, (so nice to meet other NW families) and another family who are close friends with the Walls, who we traveled with when adopting Miah.
Our AWAA guides helped take our group photos. Their daughter is a budding photographer herself! Amy and Lineker also helped us through Miah’s adoption. They are amazing, keeping all of us, and our paperwork in order.
You may notice the mischievous twinkle in Ami’s eyes. I’ll just say we have a strong-willed child.
Our trip heading home starts tomorrow afternoon .. Leave for Hong Kong by Mini buss then spend the night there and head home the next am.. We leave at 9:40 am on the 5th and get in to wenatchee at 5:10 Pm Thru Aug 5… That is after flying almost 15 hr.. Pray for us…
