Day 14 - Last Day

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Today is our last full day in Guangzhou.

This is always the longest day on the trip for me.  Waiting around until 4:00 to get the Visa for Michael and the "brown envelope" that we dare do not open!  In all seriousness, it's for his immigration when we go through customs once we land in the US.  

Today has brought a down pour (more than once) of rain and wind.  

We happen to have to go out in it when we walked to Lucy's for lunch one last time.  We got to see and have lunch with our new friend and her children.

We just made it back to our hotel with minutes to spare before our facilitator was here bringing our stuff for Michael.

The photos are random from over the week while we were here in GZ, ending with the famous red couch photos.

I have found out that the White Swan will be closed for renovations starting in September.  I also found out that they are moving the Medical Clinic off the island and to downtown GZ and the Consulate will move right next to it, to keep it all together.  Not sure when that will happen though.

Well it is always bittersweet the last day in China.  Sad on one hand, as once again I have to say good-bye to China, I really do love it here!  But happy to be going home to my hubby, Mister and Jacob and for Michael to start his new life with his forever family!

God has brought us every step of the way and has shown us what faith is all about!  We are thanking God for our wonderful son that has become a part of our family!

We are so BLESSED!

Zaijian from China!

Day 13 - CA

We had an early morning today. An 8:30 appointment at the Consulate.

It's done a little different now.  Your facilitator no longer goes up with you to turn in the paperwork, it's done ahead of time and then the families go up alone, take the oath and wait for their names to be called and give everything through the window.  They check over the paperwork to be sure it's all there and done correctly and then you are finished!

Still not allowed to take in cameras, so no pictures to share.  But I have to say it was so neat to hear Michael say to the lady at the consulate, "hi, good morning, how are you?" in perfect English.  :D

We then came back to the hotel and got snacks at Jennifer's place for later in the day.  Boy I'll tell you it's dangerous being right next door to Jennifer's place.  :D

So just a short update and then one more day while we wait for Michael's Visa and the big brown packet.  :D

Until tomorrow.

Be sure to scroll down and see the post from when the kids went swimming.

Day 12 - Free Day

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Today was a free day and Miss Magoo was asking over and over to go swimming.  

We got there just as they were about to close for a couple of hours, but the guy was nice enough to let us swim for a short while.

We then went over to Lucy's for lunch and to the White Swan to meet our new friend and her kids to come back to our hotel to swim some more.

By the way, to have guests swim at the WS it's 100 Yuan per person.  Ouch!  It's free at The Victory.

The kids swam the afternoon away until a thunderstorm started and we made them get out.  

We were going to go to dinner with our friends but after being out in the heat all afternoon, it did me in and called it a night since we had to get up early for our Consulate appointment the next morning.

Well enjoy the pics and video.  

Blessings and Hugs!

Day 11 - Walking Street

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Today was a the reading for Michael's TB test and it came back negative.

Afterwards, we walked over the bridge to the Walking Street for some shopping.

They had the same stuff as the last time when we were here and I'm so excited to say that I was able to buy some more of the cute little dresses (all of $4.50 a piece) like I did last time for Miss Magoo.

We decided to take a taxi back since it was so hot!

We went to lunch with our facilitator at the local Thai place before she went on to help the other family that is here.  We had a great conversation and have found she is such a nice person and it has been a pleasure to have her as our guide.

We came back to our room after lunch and just hung out and relaxed.

I have to say what a great traveler Miss Magoo is!  She has been such a trooper during this entire trip!  Mind you, she has been pouty at times, you know, not getting her way, but no melt downs or anything like that. She mentioned to me that she is missing Church and Papa and Mister and Jacob.  She has been such a blessing to me during our time in China.

The kids are getting on so well!  Once again, God has blessed us with another child that is adjusting so well and is excited about coming home to start his new life in America!  He told our guide this and she let me know what he had said.  :D

Thanking God for our blessings and for the wonderful time we have had in China!

Day 10 - Safari Park

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Today we went to the Safari Park and we all enjoyed it! It was very impressive to say the least!

We took what they call a Safari on Wheels and saw all sorts of animals and the sky opened up and we had a down pour during the tram ride, good thing we were covered.  :D

Afterwards, we walked around and got to see some amazing Tigers and of course the Panda's!!  You'll see in the pictures just how hot it was.  Check out poor MM hair.  :D

They have 12 Panda's in all.  Four to begin with and they acquired 6 more when the Panda Center in the Sichuan province was damaged in the earthquake and they bought two more last year for the Asia games.

Michael's favorite were the Tigers, Miss Magoo's were the Elephants and White Tigers and Momma's were the Panda's and the Tigers.

I saved the pics and videos of the Panda's until the end of the slide show.  It'll be worth watching to the end I promise!  :D

We made it back to our hotel around 3:00 and went to dinner at Lucy's.  We ended up meeting a gal traveling on her own with her 2 kids, ages 10 and 7, and they adopted a 14 mos old.  We hung out afterwards at the park.  The kids played so hard with each other and had a great time! I had a great time talking with another adult and making a new friend. 

Michael continues to make strides and an effort with his English.  He understands quite a bit and doesn't when (I don't think) he wants to.  You know selective understanding.  Lol.  :D  I think he even talked back to me once, in Chinese of course, after I told him no to what he was doing.  :D

But all in all we are having a great time!  And he and Miss Magoo are thick as thieves.

I couldn't be happier with the way our trip is going!

Day 9 - Medical Appt.

Today was Michael's medical appointment.

The doctor's checked him out and he is well!

He has perfect vision, not mentally delayed (which might have been a possibility because of his CP) in any way and even his feet and legs work without problems.  They were a bit confused about why Michael walks the way he does since his legs and feet bend like they are supposed to.

So once we are home we will have that all checked out and see if we can't find an answer or at the very least start him on physical therapy and see if it will help him.

Otherwise, he checked out great!  He only needed two immunizations and a TB test and we were done.

We came back to the hotel to rest and to be sure that he didn't run a fever from the shots, which he didn't.

We then went to dinner and walked around the island a little bit and called it a night.

Day 7

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Today was a very good day!

After breakfast we went to the Natural Museum and while it was small, it was well done.  

We then went to the Ancient Culture Street for some shopping and got a few small things to take home for all of us.  MM was excited to buy a few wind up toys for the bath.  She couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to get into the bath to try them out.

But the highlight for the kids (okay for me too) was going to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D!!  What a great movie!  They did an excellent job with adoption part of it.  

We don 't go to the movie's at home, but Papa was a little envious that we were going to see it and he wasn't.  When we get home we'll have to take him for a belated Father's Day.

Now for the highlight of my day...

Michael called me Momma for the first time!  Talk about music to my ears!  It was in passing without any fore-thought, he just said it.  :D

Next, I let him know that we were leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow and will be there for 7 days and then we'll be on another plane for home.  

He got the biggest smile on his face!  I asked him if he was excited about going home and he said, "yes" and gave me a high five!  It doesn't get much better than that!  :D

While I've enjoyed our time in Tianjin, I'm looking forward to Guangzhou.  Interesting, I don 't usually look forward to GZ, at least not the last two times.  Maybe because this time I'm missing Papa, Mister and Jacob and can't wait to see my boys.

Enjoy the pics and the video.

See you in Guangzhou!

Day 6

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Today was a free day, and we didn't do much.

We walked to the Carrefour and found some DVD's, Toy Story 3 and Beauty and the Beast.  It should be fun, they're in Chinese.  We also got some snacks for later.

It was HOT today, 90!  Too hot for my liking, but at least there was a breeze, which really helped.

Did you know there is a universal telephone number to Pizza Hut and McD's?  You can call the number and order anywhere in the world and they will deliver to your hotel room.  Cool!

We had lunch and then MM and I took a nap.  We're slowly getting on time here.

I've uploaded some photos that the kids took with their cameras as well as one of a ladybug that was on the inside of our window, all the way up on the 10th floor.  Not sure how it got in our room.  But neat none-the-less.

The video is of the firecrackers being set off for a wedding that was being held here at the hotel.  It was so loud!

Tonight, MM received the cutest panda from our guide.  He said he saw it and thought of her and got it for her.  How sweet is that!  :D  She loves it!

So we will be going out tomorrow and will try to take some pictures.

Hope you enjoy these!

Hugs!

Day 5

No new pics today.

We have had a busy day getting all the paperwork done for the adoption to make it final!

And I'm happy to say, it's done! Michael is officially ours!

We are back at the hotel room and just played a few games of war.

There are two other families here adopting, one a 3 year old boy and the other an 18 mos old girl. Cute beyond belief!

The mom of the 3 yr old boy and I were talking this morning at breakfast and when she asked what our sons name was, she says, "oh, I know who you are. I've been to your blog, your name is Cathy. What a small world." It really is!

Today, we have learned that he like soccer and his favorite colors are blue and green.

Oh and before I forget, Michael has been saying in English, "oh my g*d." MM tells him, we don't say "oh my g*d, we say oh my gosh!" So I explained to MM he doesn't know that.

So we sat down at the translator and explained about not saying that and how we go to church and learn about Jesus and pray and how nice everyone is at church.

He said, "okay." Oh I can't wait to see what God has planned for our son!

We have a free day tomorrow, and hoping to get together with an American volunteer at Michael's orphanage and then Thursday will be a fun day for the kids! You'll have to wait and see what is planned. Miss Magoo is excited!

I'm one happy momma!!

Until the next post!

God bless!

Day 4 - We have a new son!

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We headed out to the Orphanage this morning at 8:30 and it was a short ride there.

On the way both Miss Magoo and I prayed.

I signed some paperwork and then he came in!  It couldn't have gone better!

He gave me a hug and showed me all of his things he brought with him.  A  backpack full of things!  Pictures of his friends and I believe his foster family?  He also had, everything we sent him in the care packages.  Our guide asked him what American name he would like to have and he chose Michael!  So it's official, Michael JinPeng!

After some time in the reception room, we walked around the orphanage and he said good-bye to his friends and his teacher.

She was saying something to him and you could tell that she was very fond of him.  She began to cry when he was walking away, and I lost it.  I waited till she was finished and hugged her and said thank you, thank you.  She hugged me back.  She was so sweet!

Miss Magoo and Michael are getting along famously!  You would think they have been together always.  They haven't stopped playing together.

We stopped by Wal-Mart on the way back to the hotel and it was so sweet.  Michael, would help Miss Magoo along and let her go in front of him.  They even had a good chase each other around while I was looking at clothes for him. Okay, I wouldn't usually  let them do that, but they were bonding and no one was around.

We brought a camera for him and MM has one too, so they're now taking pictures of each other taking pictures and of everything else.

He just showed me 3 disposable cameras and he let me know it has pictures of his friends and foster family.  Can't wait to get those developed when we get home.

Michael isn't timid or shy. He seems to be very comfortable with us.  Thank you God!  He just gave miss Magoo a present.  What a sweetheart!

Oh and he's asked to be called Michael, already!

We are so blessed!!!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers, I have definitely felt them.  God is so good!!

Day 3

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We were up and ready to take the bullet train from Beijing to Tianjin this morning and all I can say is boy am I glad did we have a guide.

It made sense once I looked around and could figure it out by the signs, but I just love the whole organized chaos thing.  Lol.  :D

But thankful for Ray!  He is a great guy!  Miss Magoo is quite taken with him.  When we got to Tianjin, she asked if he could have lunch with us.  "I like him" she says.  That's high praise coming from MM.  She's quite shy with people in general, but warmed right up right away to Ray.

So we took the bullet train and loved it!  I truly do love to travel by train.  And to go over 200MPH is the best!

That's right, the highest speed we reached was 202 MPH!!  We made the 2 hour trip by car in 30 minutes!  Can't wait to take it again, when we go to the acrobat show later this week.

Well we are checked into the hotel and our room is NICE!  I've posted some pictures as well.

The count down has begun!  We leave at 8:30 am tomorrow morning for Michael!!

So bear with me tomorrow if I don't get a post or get pics up right away.  After we get back to the hotel, I'll be Skyping with Papa and mister!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of the train and the ride from the station to the hotel.

Until tomorrow!

Day 2 - Sat, 6/11

Well we went for breakfast downstairs in the hotel and it was yummy!  Then we came back to the room, hung out and then ventured out for some lunch and ended up at McD's, Miss Magoo's favorite.

I explained to MM that people will stare and it's okay, they're not being rude, just curious, since she is Chinese and I'm not.  :D  Miss Magoo's comment was, "you're not Chinese?"  Boy did we laugh.  :D

The time difference has us all messed up.  Going to sleep in the afternoon and waking up at midnight. I'm sure it will change once we're here for a bit.

We leave for Tianjin in the morning on the high speed train.  Can't wait!  And then we'll have Michael on Monday the 13th!

So the next time I post, it should be with pictures of Michael and gotcha day!

Day 1 - Fri, 6/10

1st post from China!!

We made it!  Safe and sound.  Didn't get to the hotel in Beijing until 2:00 am China time.

So we're all thrown off by the time difference and stayed up for a couple of hours before going to sleep

Tomorrow is another day.. 

Oh so soon!!!

What a week this has been!

I have been crazy busy with trying to get things finalized for our travel.

Miss Magoo (our 5 yr old daughter) and I leave for China on the 9th!!!! 6 days!!! Gotcha Day is the 13th!!

God has provided all the way for us and we are blessed beyond belief!!!   Praising God today and always!!

Also, THANK YOU to a dear friend of ours (she knows who she is) who worked on our behalf to make this happen!!!!!

I also have to say THANK YOU to all of you that have encouraged, supported, prayed and donated to help us bring our son home!!



A SPECIAL thank you to our agency, Madison Adoption Associates!  Without them, I don't think any of it would have happened like it has.  God brought us to them for a reason!  And we know what that reason is, Michael!  They are truly a fantastic agency and we will be forever grateful to them for allowing us to bring our son home!

All of it has not gone unnoticed and my family is blessed, blessed, blessed because of your generosity!!

Woo hoo!!!!!  We're going to China!!!!!!!!

We hope you will follow along with us while Miss Magoo and I are in China. I WILL be blogging!