August 9, 2007 –
Ready to Head Home!
Our last full day in
We’ll order Papa John’s tonight and have
our last serving of instant noodles on standby for Mandy. I’m sure that will be followed by a sleepless
night as we anticipate our trip home.
We want to thank everyone for your
prayers, for your supportive emails and phone calls, and for your guestbook
entries. You helped make this trip an
enjoyable one! We are blessed to have
friends like all of you, and we hope you’ve enjoyed tagging along with us.
While our trip is coming to an end, our
journey with Mandy is just beginning. We
look forward to watching her grow, get to know her brothers, get a new ear
(which she is terribly excited about, by the way), learn to eat pizza and
Mexican food (I hope), and most of all learn of the love Jesus Christ has for
her. For those of you who will continue
to take part in this journey with us, we thank God for you!
I hope to have an updated entry on the blog page once the jet lag subsides. Good evening from
August 8, 2007 – Visa
Day
The big milestone of the day was picking up
Mandy’s Chinese passport with her U.S. Visa.
She now has the green light to enter the
Other than the Consulate visit, today was
uneventful. I had to wake Mandy up for
breakfast, and she was NOT ready to get up.
That set the tone for most of the day.
During our wait for travel approval, I prayed for our seven-year-old
princess and wouldn’t you know it, we got a seven-year-old princess! J There was plenty of
whining about breakfast, whining about the heat as we walked about, whining
about taking pictures (hence the dearth of Mandy pictures in today’s album and
the abundance of Mia pics), whining about lunch,
whining about dinner, and whining about just about anything else you can think
of to whine about! I’m not sure what the
deal was, perhaps some odd form of grieving since her world has been turned
upside-down, or perhaps she’s just being a seven-year-old. Fortunately, the whining did subside a bit as the day wore on, and we enjoyed some
playful times together.
I am in awe that we have now spent nine days
with our new daughter, faced differences in tastes in food, huge language
barriers, and basically ripped her away from everything “stable” she’s ever
known, and the biggest “problem” we’ve faced is a bit of princess whining. J We are truly
blessed! Oh, I know we’ll hit some bumps
in the road when we get home, just as we did with Mia, but it is amazing how
well God prepared this little girl for her family and her family for her!
In spite of the “Guangzhou Blues” (the almost
depressed state families seem to enter during the last few days of this trip
when things slow down and there is little to do but wander around Shamian Island and look at shop after shop of cheap
trinkets), this trip has been amazing!
We are SO glad we got to see a part of
August 7, 2007 –
Another update
Well, after my journal entry, below, we went
swimming and returned to order from Danny’s Bagel (a local delivery restaurant
well-known to adoptive Western families).
We are now waiting for our food, and there are a few other random
thoughts to share.
My favorite color is yellow. It is rare to find someone else who likes
yellow. In fact, I can’t think of ever
meeting anyone else whose favorite color was yellow. Guess what Mandy’s favorite color is! That’s right!
Yellow!
We’ve heard some funny things in
While I was wearing my Texas Aggies cap with the A&M logo (ATM), one young Chinese woman said, “You must work at a bank!” J
While checking into the White Swan, a
guide from another group was asking about our girls (who were sitting with Mom
across the room). She asked if we were
adopting “the little one”. I said, “No,
we adopted our almost-three-year-old last year.
We’re adopting the older one this time.
“Her?” she asked, “You’re kidding me!
She looks American!” J
Now some thoughts for those who are
awaiting their time to travel to
We’ve had laundry done at several places on
Many folks, in response to my request for
suggestions, mentioned the cards the White Swan concierge has for families to
communicate with taxi cab drivers. I’m
not sure if they didn’t have those last time, or if we
were just clueless. J
Last time, we just had someone write down where we wanted to go – handed
it to the driver, and showed them our hotel card key to get back. This time, the concierge card came in quite
handy. It lists many of the popular
attractions in English and Chinese. You
just check off where you want to go and hand it to the driver. It has the White Swan logo for the return
trip.
We got a suite at the White Swan this
time. I would recommend this for any
adoptive family who can afford the extra fee.
The extra space makes the “Guangzhou Blues” much more bearable!
Finally, when your older child will eat
nothing else, the instant noodles in the big cardboard bowls and a can of
Pringles (both available at Beatrice’s on the island) are a welcome FEAST!
(Ever wonder why we don’t have anything like
those cute little green Watson’s Water bottles in the states?) J
OK, I’ll shut up for now…
August 7, 2007 – Just
a few more days
We slept in a little later than normal this
morning. Our guide was taking our
paperwork to the U.S. Consulate this morning.
So, we needed to hang out for the phone call to tell us all was
well. We woke up and were laying in bed
watching the news when Mandy climbed into our bed, laid her head on my
shoulder, and smiled and said, “Gooda morning!” What a priceless moment! J
After today’s breakfast buffet, we walked to
the exercise park. We met James,
there. He is a young Chinese man who
wanted to practice his English. He is
also a sports fan. We talked about the
Michael Vick situation and how sad it is.
We talked a little about the NBA until James figured out I know very little
about it. J All James knew about
baseball was, “Boston Red Sox!”
We returned to the room, and the phone
call came at about noon. Everything was
fine with our paperwork, and we’ll get Mandy’s U.S. Visa tomorrow
afternoon! Finally, we’re on the downhill
side of the trip and can get home to our boys soon!
Mandy and I went to the electronics
market after lunch while Mom caught up on her journal and Mia napped. It was a multi-level mall full of
stores. It was very crowded and loud. We saw everything from home entertainment
systems to games to office machines and laptops. Of course, everyone was very eager to sell us
something. I was disappointed that the
prices weren’t quite as discounted as I had heard. Some things were even more expensive than in
the
I didn’t make it to the guitar shop
today, but hope to go at least once before we head home. I think it would be fun, even if I don’t buy
anything.
Mandy’s English is coming along slowly
but surely. At meals, she now says, “All
done” when she’s finished with something rather than yelling, “No No No!” She’s communicating much better, and we’ve
figured out each other’s hand signals.
That has eliminated some of her frustration.
We had the chance to talk to the boys
again today and enjoyed that. We are SO
ready to be home with them. Mandy asks
about them every day, and Mom, Mia and Dad miss them terribly. We’ll be home, soon, boys!
August 6, 2007 – Our
13th Anniversary
Today is our second full day in
It is also our 13th wedding
anniversary! It’s hard to believe, but
it’s true! I asked Kim this morning if
she remembered the time when we thought anyone who’d been married for 13 years
was “old”. J
I guess that says something about us.
J
Oh well, we’re still in love and enjoy each other’s company. So we must be doing something right!
Mandy’s medical exam was today. It was kind of humorous. One of the nurses wanted to be sure we were
aware she had a mis-shaped left ear. (Ha Ha. I started to act surprised, as if we hadn’t
noticed it until then, but thought better of it.) She’s a whopping 43 pounds and 3 feet 10
inches tall – about like her 5 year old brother!
After the medical exam, we went to the
This was the only scheduled tour for us
during our visit in
We completed our paperwork this afternoon
for submission to the U.S. Consulate.
Our guide will take it to them tomorrow.
If everything is in order, we’ll do our “swearing” to take care of Mandy
on Wednesday, and we’ll have her U.S. Visa then. Unfortunately, no flights were available on
Thursday. So, we’re here until Friday.
Mandy and Mia have had a little sibling
rivalry going on this afternoon. I guess
the “new” is wearing off. J
They’ve fought over coloring books, places to sit, Daddy, drink cups,
Pringles, and just about anything else you can think of. I guess the “new” is wearing off of Ma Ma and Ba Ba,
too, because Mandy has been a little bit upset with us for not letting her do
whatever she wants to. Instead of
accepting it when we say, “No,” or “Later,” she has started whining a little
bit. She has the head-tilted,
eyelash-batting, “Baaaa Baaaaa”
down pat! J I think she learned that
from Mia. I wouldn’t expect any less
from my princesses. J
One thing I forgot to mention, and I don’t
know if Kim wrote about it… Mandy and
Mia were watching the Barbie Nutcracker Suite video. Mandy called Ba Ba and Ma Ma into the room and
said, as she pointed to each of us, “Barbie you
Ma Ma. Eric you Ba Ba.” So, Kim is now
Barbie, and I’m Prince Eric. (Ha Ha) Later, we were
eating on the patio at Lucy’s, and a wedding photographer here on the island
was taking pictures of a couple dressed in their wedding attire. The wedding dress was beautiful, and I pointed
it out to Mandy. She watched them with
excitement for a long time. Her eyes
were as big as saucers. Finally, she
turned around and pointed at Kim and me and acted out a wedding (in Chinese, of
course, but we got the idea). Then, she
acted out us kissing. Then she
exclaimed, “And THREE BRUDDERS!!!” She
has it all figured out. J
I think I’ll close for now. The pool is calling my name!
I’m back.
The pool was great! After
swimming, I took Kim and the girls for a spaghetti dinner at the Station Restaurant
here on the island. It’s a little bit
nicer place with a menu that’s half Chinese and half Western (or sort of
Western). It was a nice way to cap off
our anniversary.
We returned to the room in time for Kim
and the girls to put together a Hello Kitty jigsaw puzzle and get ready for
bed.
August 5, 2007 – Lazy
Day on
We had an uneventful first full day on 
We stopped by Michael’s
Place, a shop on the island we frequently visited on our last trip. We learned Michael has opened a bigger shop
up the street. So, we gave him a little
bit of business by buying matching butterfly necklaces that Mandy picked out
before returning to the hotel. Mommy and
Mia napped while Mandy and Daddy went for a swim. Mandy is gaining confidence as a swimmer, and
I’m sure she’ll be swimming like a fish in no time. For now, she’s content to use her swim ring
and show me how she can hold her breath and stick her face under water. Mom and Dad needed pizza tonight. So, I made a quick trip to the store for some
instant noodles. After Mandy’s last
incident with pizza, we knew not to push it.
J
Things are still going pretty well. We haven’t had any major meltdowns, yet. Still no huge breakthroughs in the
Mandy/Mommy relationship, but it will come with time. In the meantime, Kim is enjoying watching
Daddy with his princesses, and Daddy is getting a kick out of watching them
compete for my attention. J
Of course, now that I’ve typed that,
Mommy and Mandy are in the other room working on something together. So, that’s progress… I just heard Mandy say, “Mia, No! Mama Jie Jie do it!” That
means, “Mama and big sister are doing it.”
So, maybe a little competition for Mommy time will be a good thing. J
August 4, 2007 –
Still Daddy’s Girl
Not much exciting news to share today, but
there were a few firsts. Mandy took her
first plane ride and loved it. Mandy
reached up and asked Ba Ba
to hold her for no reason for the first time.
(Up until this point, she’d asked to be lifted to reach something or to
be able to see over something, but never to just be held.) And I, for the first time, ate some sort of
Chinese food that looked like a discolored slice of hard-boiled egg and tasted
a lot like bologna. J
I have no idea what it was but was proud of myself for trying it.
We moved from
Mandy continued to be a bit of a daddy’s
girl today. She was a little upset with
me on the plane when I won the test of wills over the seat belt, but other than
that, we’ve had a good day together. She’s
opening up a little more to Kim, but progress is slow there. Perhaps in the long run, that will make for a
healthier relationship between them. In
the meantime, I’m proud to have a beautiful young daughter who thinks I’m
pretty cool. And it’s kind of fun to
watch the two girls fight for Daddy’s attention! ;)
August 3, 2007 – Back
in
Today has been basically an R&R
day. We slept in a little later than
normal. Kim would have slept later, but
Mia woke her up to say she was hungry. I
would have slept later, but Mandy woke me up to tell me it was morning. She loves to pull the curtains back all the
way and say, “Good Morning, Ba Ba!”
We needed the extra sleep after the train
ride back to
Back to today… We ventured to the restaurant for the usual
breakfast buffet. We were joined by
another adoptive family from 
and Ba Ba made a quick Wal-Mart run
then returned for swimming with Ma Ma and Mia. It was strange. Even while swimming, the sun was beating down
on us so intensely it was exhausting. I
guess this Native Texan is turning into a wimp.
J
We had fun, though. We swam for a
little over an hour and then returned to the room for some rest. The DVD player we brought and the English
training videos and Chinese version of Mulan we picked up at Wal-Mart have kept
Mandy occupied while Mia has napped. Ma Ma and Ba Ba
have just been lazy and enjoyed watching our girls.
I apologize for the brevity of my journal
entry yesterday. After the busy
emotional venture to Mandy’s community and her finding place, she decided to
test the boundaries. As I started typing
my journal, we had a little incident that brought on her first Ba Ba scolding followed by her
first tears since she’s been with us.
So, we had to deal with that.
After a couple of hours, I wasn’t the ugly ogre anymore – especially
after I ordered her favorite noodles via room service!
Oddly enough, yesterday’s incident had
unexpected effects. First, Mandy has
really started working on learning English.
Second, she’s been a total Daddy’s girl, today. We’ll see how long that lasts, as I have
perfected the skill of getting myself in trouble. J
Over the past few days, we’ve learned a
few more things about Mandy. She wants
to be a model. :O (This explains why she constantly wants to
pose so we can take pictures.) She doesn’t
like spicy foods, darkness, or the smell of coffee. She loves to help people do things and to
show her abilities (sometimes too much).
I’m afraid it’s going to be another
relatively brief journal entry today, as there just isn’t a lot going on today.
Until tomorrow…
August 2, 2007
Today we had the opportunity to see the part
of
Note to the boys back home: We miss you a bunch! We hope you’re having fun. We can’t wait to bring Mandy home to meet
you. We LOVE you!!!
August 1, 2007 – Time
in Mandy’s Home Town
saw. They were on a bamboo raft powered by a Honda
outboard motor. The father was on the
back of the raft fishing with tethered birds.
Birds tied to the boat will dive into the water and retrieve fish, and
the fisherman pulls the bird to the raft and removes the fish from its
mouth. There was a small lean-to in the
center of the raft. In it were the
mother and baby, and the mother was talking on a cellular phone.
After the tour, we had about an hour ride
back to the hotel. We were pretty
tired. So, we decided to just hang out 
and rest a bit. The girls played while Kim laid down for a
while, and I worked on sorting through the hundreds of pictures we took and
updating the photo album.
Early
in the evening, Mandy asked to go swimming.
So, I took her down to the pool for a bit, and Kim brought Mia down
later. Mandy loves the water, but hasn’t
quite mastered swimming, yet. Maybe by
the end of our trip she’ll have it figured out with Ba
Ba’s help.
Overall, it was a very good day. We have looked forward to the river cruise
for a long time. Mandy was a little more
distant as she wrestles with letting her foster family go and transitioning to
our family. She was pretty blue most of
the day, but brightened up as evening wore on.
She danced and sang with a Letter Factory DVD for quite a while. Hopefully that will help with English. Later on, she and Mia sat down to watch
Cinderella. I think we all may be
destined for an early bedtime tonight! J
July 31, 2007 – The
Adoption is Finalized
Today started with us waking up far
earlier than we’d liked, but just in time to grab breakfast before heading back
to the Civil Affairs office to confirm, once again, that we wanted to adopt Wei
Dan Na, that we’d take care of her and provide for her needs, etc. Breakfast was good in the fact that both
girls found some things they liked to eat, even if not as much as we thought
they should have eaten. Mandy was in a
particularly playful mood, hence the funny face pictures I just posted.
After breakfast, we were off to the Civil
Affairs office to finalize. 
Then, after our fees were paid and our
signatures thumb printed, the government official thanked us and congratulated us
on adding Mandy to our family. Mandy was
quite curious through the whole affair, and on the bus ride back to the hotel,
she asked Cindy, our guide, what it was all about. Cindy told her that she was now officially
our daughter. She said, “Yeah! Very good!” (in English, no less) J
Talk about three words to melt your heart.
We hurried back to the hotel for some
lunch. We went to the “food street” off
of the basement level at the hotel and found food appealing to just about
everyone. I had the Spicy Chicken and
steamed rice. I got some strange looks
when I ordered it, but it was great! And
VERY spicy!
After lunch, Kim and Mia went back to the
room and packed while Mandy and I made a Wal-Mart run. Mandy was a little concerned that Ma Ma wasn’t going with us, but she did fine, anyway, and we
got back just in time to check out of the hotel and load the van to head to the
train station.
We arrived a bit late due to traffic and
had to really hustle to make the train, but we got there in plenty of time. Once on the train, I pulled out the portable
DVD player and a Chinese version of Mulan that Kim and I had picked up at the
Nanning Wal-Mart before meeting Mandy on Monday. It was a big hit with Mandy and the 8 year
old boy sitting next to her on the train.
We ended up being quite the spectacle for most of the five hour train
ride to
The train ride went well, but it was
long. By the time we got to
We got checked into the hotel and opted
for room service. Kim isn’t feeling well
and went to bed early. She apologizes,
but she will have to wait until tomorrow to journal for two days. Mia was right behind her in the sleep
department. Mandy and I stayed up and
played on the computer for a while.
Then, she drew some pictures for me and finally went to bed when I had
to put my foot down and say, “No more”.
Mandy still seems to be doing very
well. For all of you who have recently
adopted infants and young toddlers, all I can say is, “Nanny Nanny Boo Boo. My daughter slept all the way through the
night from Day One!” J
We are blessed that she is as excited about this adoption as we
are! More and more English words showed
up as today progressed, and she seems to understand quite a few more than she
can say. She’s also slowly but surely
becoming more comfortable with us in spite of the language challenges.
I’ll have to close with that, for
now. Pray for good weather
tomorrow. We’re touring the Li River and
hope to get some really good photos of the phenomenal scenery.
July 30, 2007 -
Mandy's Forever Family Day
After a long night of sleep to help end the
jet lag, I woke up refreshed and ready for an exciting day! Kim and I knew we had to keep busy today, or
we'd go crazy thinking about what was to happen at about 4PM. So, we planned breakfast, a visit to the
hotel business center to make copies of documents, and a visit to Wal-Mart for
some diapers and water and other small items.
Our plans were hampered a bit when Kim was
hit head on by a Welcome to China Migraine!
She was feeling pretty sick. So,
I got Mia bathed and dressed and ready for breakfast while Momma tried to
recover. She was able to get up and
about, and with a little food, a little time, a couple of Excedrin, and a lot
of prayers from our friends, she was on the road to recovery! So, we were able to make our copies, explore
the hotel a little more, and finally trek to Wal-Mart via a
We were amazed by this city. The cab driver zipped in and out of traffic
for what I guess was a few miles. It
took 10 minutes and 11 yuan (Chinese money equivalent
to $1.50 or so). He dropped us off at a
shopping center that was very quiet but for the few shopkeepers preparing to
open for business. We saw Pizza Hut,
McDonald's, and KFC among other well-known sites. We entered a lobby to a building with the
Wal-Mart sign outside and realized Wal-Mart was on the upper floors. Without a bazillion acres of land to spread
across, Wal-Mart must follow suit with the rest of Chinese culture and build
vertically. We were quite the
conspicuous family amongst the early morning shoppers! Many people stopped us and spoke Chinese to
Mia. At times, she reacted as if she
understood, but not the majority of the time by any means. In the grocery section, as we marveled at the
food choices, we met a boy who appeared to be about 12 years old. "Hello!" he said. "What is your name?" We carried on a brief conversation - the kind
that likely used up every English phrase he'd learned in school. Then a proud young boy named Kim, who speaks
excellent English, returned to his mother’s side to continue shopping. Kim and others we met were so much fun! They were extremely friendly, and though we
fought a language barrier, the exchange of smiles and the courtesy extended to
our daughter moved
Once back at the hotel, Mia began to show
signs of the remaining effects of jet lag.
So, naptime was declared! Mom and
Dad took the time to discuss the logistics of our afternoon meeting with our
new daughter - who would take pictures, who would ask questions of the
orphanage representative, etc. It turned
into a lot of "what ifs". With
Mandy being 7, we had no idea what to expect.
Would she run to us and jump into our open arms? Not likely.
Would she run away from us screaming?
Also, not likely. But exactly
where in between those two extremes our encounter would fall was anyone's
guess. As we rode to the Civil Affairs
office where we'd meet her, our guide told us the process. We were joined by another family using the
same adoption agency. The plan was to
have both families enter the building and go upstairs to talk to the Civil
Affairs representative. She would tell
us about our "harmonious period" where Mandy would be in our custody,
but not be officially our daughter. We
must promise not to harm, abuse, or abandon her. We listened intently to the instructions as
the van pulled in front of the building.
I opened the door and jumped out, then turned around to help Mia and Kim
out. I heard the automatic door to the
building slide open. I turned to look,
and there was Wei Dan Na, our Mandy, smiling as big as could be and waving to
her new Ba Ba (Chinese for
Dad). We walked in as the orphanage
representative and others in the lobby scrambled to bring order back to an
awkward situation. Too late. Mia and Mandy stood face to face, each staring
at the other with an indescribable look of joy, curiosity, excitement... We exchanged waves and hellos, then moved on
to the elevator. Mandy followed us in
spite of the people calling her back.
So, we stopped and let all of them go up. Then we followed in another elevator. We were back "in process", and a
few minutes later, we got to meet her.
No fanfare and no tears. Just a
bunch of mile-wide smiles as we began to get to know each other. She had as many – probably more – questions
than we did. She wanted to confirm that
she had three brothers, two older and one younger, and wanted to know their
names and when she would get to meet them.
She is afraid of dogs. So, she
wanted to know about our dogs and if they are safe and friendly. She asked about our schedule with travel and
the adoption process. (Later in the day,
about the third time our guide tried to explain all of the travel, Mandy
through herself down on the ground, laid on her back, sighed, smiled, giggled,
and said in Chinese, “I’ll just do what Ma Ma and Ba Ba say.”) In between questions she presented us with
gifts from her foster family. She also
retrieved items from her backpack to show to us.
With our questions answered and hers at least
partially answered, we were off for photos.
As we left the building, Mandy and Mia were hand-in-hand. Mandy was already fitting into her big sister
role, and Mia didn’t seem to mind. We
got the photos taken, and as we walked out, I extended my hand to her. We held hands for several steps, and she
smiled at me. Then, she took off to
catch up with Mia. A few moments later,
she returned to my side and voluntarily reached for my hand. That made my day!
As we rode back to the hotel, she was eager
to share the English she knows. She
counted to eleven, identified “Grandma” and “Grandpa” and “Ge
Ges” (brothers) in her photo book. She has a great sense of humor, and she and I
acted silly for most of the ride.
Once back at the hotel, we played with
bubbles, had a little play tea party, and made some sort of confectionary
delight out of multiple colors of Play Dough.
Mandy still seemed a little nervous, which is to be expected, but she
was definitely enjoying herself.
After playtime, Kim showed Mandy her new
clothes from the suitcase. She loved all
of them and was quick to thank us politely.
Then Kim showed her the new swimsuit, which she begged to put on right
then. Kim obliged, and the next thing I
new, Mandy was modeling it – dancing around the hotel room. I had to laugh. Then, I showed her the swimming pool, which
you can see from our window. She started
jumping up and down and pulling me toward the door. Then came the daunting task of trying to
figure out how to tell an excited Chinese girl she has to WAIT. Finally, I resorted to drawing a picture of a
person swimming and a clock showing the time we actually would be able to go,
and that made the point. (She watched
the clock like a hawk after that.) J
Our guide brought in the necessary paperwork,
which we completed. We received our
instructions for tomorrow’s busy day, and we were off to the pool. We didn’t swim for long, but Mia and Mandy
had fun splashing water in Dad’s face. J
Before we’d gone to the pool and while our
guide was still in the room, Mandy has whispered to the guide that she loved
the new shoes we’d bought for her, but they would work better if they were a
little bit bigger. J
I had noticed they were too small when we put them on her, but she
insisted on wearing them anyway. So, we’d
promised her we’d replace them with some that fit. It was then we realized that with our
appointment and travel schedule, we need to get some shoes ASAP. So, off to the shopping center we went! Shopping was frustrating for her. She could communicate with the store helpers,
but Mom and Dad just weren’t getting it.
We found lots of shoes that would fit, but we couldn’t determine which
she liked the best. Finally, she was
able to get it through our thick heads that the pink tennis shoes and the
purple sandals were her favorites.
By then, it was getting late, and everyone
was tired and hungry. So, the Pizza Hut
next door sounded good to us. We ordered
a pepperoni pizza, a pitcher of soda, and Mandy wanted some sort of fruit and
yogurt smoothie thing. While we waited,
she asked me to take a picture of her with my Treo
phone. (She had discovered my Treo earlier when I attempted to show her a picture of her
brothers. She snatched it out of my hand
and started looking at all of the pictures – pausing to laugh at the ones of
her.) We tried to carry on a
conversation, but that wasn’t working well, and we ended up laughing at
ourselves most of the time. Finally, the
food arrived, and she tore into her first piece of pepperoni. If she gets her way, it will be her
last. J We saw her come the
closest to tears we had seen yet or since.
It took us a while to convince her it was ok to return it to the plate
from which it came. But she finally gave
in and resumed her meal of fruit and yogurt smoothie and Pepsi. (In retrospect, that’s probably far healthier
than the pizza, anyway.)
Kim and I had wanted to do some more shopping
for things her orphanage needed, as well as some music and other things she
could pick out that would not be available in the states, but all were just to
tired. Mia fell asleep during the pizza
dinner, and Mandy just looked wiped out.
So, we headed back to the hotel.
We sent Mandy off to shower (with Kim’s help,
which she welcomed, surprisingly), and Mia soon followed.
Once out of the
shower and dressed for bed, they surprised us by climbing into our bed with a
picture book. Our two princesses looked
at the book together for several minutes with Mandy apparently making up a
story in Chinese to hold Mia’s attention.
Finally, we put Mia in bed, much to her
dismay, and told Mandy it was time to lie down.
It took her some reassurance from Ma Ma and a
couple of kisses on the forehead and hugs from Ma Ma
and Ba Ba for her to go to
sleep. The hugs and kisses weren’t
returned, but they prompted yet another beautiful smile, and she’s sleeping
soundly now.
I feel doubly blessed, today. I had no idea how God would piece together
our union with Mandy, but today was beautiful.
It will take a lot more days like today for her to learn that our love
for her is unconditional and that we are not yet another set of temporary
parents for her, but what a huge step this first day has been. Right now, I am crying my first tears of the
day, surprisingly enough, and they are tears of joy. For I know that the immense, unconditional
love I feel for all of my wonderful kids is but a mere glimpse of the pure
unconditional love my heavenly father has for me! Please don’t forget to hug your Father back
tonight.
July 29th:
We got up this morning and had a great
breakfast and were feeling surprisingly well after a good night’s sleep. Mia has been extremely happy and well-behaved
so far – very few three-year-old meltdowns.
So, we are thankful for that. We
got to the airport for our flight to
We’ve had a blast watching Mia take it
all in. She is fascinated by the kids
here and draws a lot of curious looks as she walks around with her
strange-looking parents. J
She’s not too big on the heat outdoors, though. After only a few minutes in the park, she
said, “Daddy, I ready go home.” I said
we couldn’t go home until after we got Mandy, took the plane to
Now it’s almost midnight, and I’m
updating this journal and doing some reading – hoping I can get back to sleep
in a bit to be rested for the big day tomorrow.
I am so excited that we meet Mandy in just about 16 hours, but I’m
nervous about those first few hours together.
There’s no way to know what to expect.
I’m sure she’ll be excited, happy, scared, and sad all at the same time,
and that will be tough on a little girl.
We are just praying that God will give us just the right things to do
and say to welcome her into our family and let her know we love her and are
here for her.
July 27th
and 28th:
Not much to report, here. Two days of travel, but praise the Lord they
were quite uneventful. Due to Northwest
canceling a flight (They did give our travel agent an 18 hour notice.), we flew
American to