Our last night before heading HOME!

I wanted to just send a quick note and some pictures before bed. We are packed up, for the most part, and ready to leave the hotel tomorrow after breakfast.

Emotional for all of us, to say the very least; but especially for Min who really doesn't understand the 'bigness' of it all. (for lack of better words from this sleepy Mama).

This part has been hard; the next part (trip home) will be harder, arriving home and settling in will be the absolute hardest. Please continue to check in on us in the coming weeks.

I am going to try and post a few pictures. Here are some of the hotel lobby. That is carved in gold behind the desk. That is also the other family that was with our agency. They had a 9 year old and were adopting a 5 year old boy also.



Here is just a beautiful staircase in the corner of the lobby. Pictures don't do this hotel justice.





Orchids and water fountains under the escalators


Another view :)





All four boys in the back of the van. Of course, the two older boys playing on Moms phones.


Part of the garden and Koi pond outside of the hotel restaurant.


Feeding the fish.



Thanks for following.
Thanks for praying!
There are so many other families here at this time; please keep them all in your prayers also. Many of the children are very much special needs (cleft lips/palates, missing legs, missing fingers/hands, turned feet/legs, and other needs that we don't see on the outside) and will have many surgeries in the near future. Pray for all of them to get safely home also.

Pray for those already home and having a hard time adjusting.

Lane and I have some tight connections, so we also need prayers for on-time flights and quick Immigration lines when we arrive in Atlanta. (that still seems ages away!).

Night night for the last time from Chin@.

"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes." (Isaiah 54:2, NIV)


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The rest of our day...Tuesday

I just realized that it was Tuesday today, a little late, I know!

We arrived at the Consulate, got through security (no phones, no cameras, nothing battery operated allowed) and joined about 12 other families who were there for their appointments also.

All of the parents had to take an oath that all of the information we have provided on our paperwork is truthful to the best of our knowledge.

We were about the 6th family called. We didn't have our original Article 23 piece of paperwork, but the girl at the desk seemed unfazed when we told her that our Province forgot to give it to us, we realized Saturday, it was supposed to have arrived by DHL yesterday, but didn't and that we would get it to them today. We also had to officially put Peyton Min Zachary Bowers down for Min's name as when we started the process we had not 100% decided on his name. Our paperwork was approved (pending original article 23) and we were free to go. On the way out of the office, our guide told us that our driver was on his way back to our hotel as our DHL/Article 23 paper had finally arrived. He got it to us, we got it to the girl at the desk and off we went. The Visa is supposed to be delivered to us tomorrow by4:00 in the afternoon ; our guide will bring it to us.

Afterwards, we went over to Shamien Island (where the adoption medicals used to take place and most adoptive families stayed) for lunch at Lucy's (where adoption families always eat - you can order American or Chinese food) and then shopping in a few stores. Zane was absolutely not excited about the shopping until he found some Chinese Pokemon cards. S-c-o-r-e. Min found a little bouncy ball that lights up when you bounce it; actually both boys got one. We had our guide tell Min his American name during lunch. He smiled and said he liked it.

Then back to the hotel for some quiet time; hard to have quiet time with two rowdy, tired, one not feeling so hot, boys. We decided to take some bread and go feed the fish in the pond. There are beautiful gardens here at the hotel and little pathways you can walk through.

We decided to let the boys swim (no, Min does not swim but he does try) for a bit, so back for bathing suits and then to the pool for a bit. Then sun was behind the buildings and Min was shivering. After 25 minutes, we had to get dressed for dinner, so time to get out. But oh What A Pout by Min when I made him get out of the pool 1 minute before Zane. Oh my.

This evening we joined two other families, one from Seattle and one from Tallahassee, with their guide for dinner. She took us to a wonderful Cantonese restaurant right behind the hotel. We sat with the family from Seattle; ordered about 8 or 9 dishes to share and they were all wonderful. Except I'm not sure about the pumpkin soup because I didn't try it!

Min was exhausted tonight and we got him home and he was out in about 15 minutes. Tomorrow our guide will go over with him again what all will be taking place in the coming days. Packing up and heading for America. This has not been easy and i know the hardest is yet to come. Nothing much has phased him yet - except being told no, thunder, and basements (not sure whats up with that) - So we are not sure what to expect from him on the L-o-o-o-n-g plane ride home and thereafter.

Lane once again, is in charge of photos. Blame him for the lack of. :)

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.
Lam 3:25

Night

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Consulate appointment

We have our Consulate appointment this morning at 8:30.
All of these early morning appointments are really, ugh, just tired of having to rush and get up and get to the appointed place at the appointed time!

Zane and I fighting colds and sore throats.

Min still does not like the word 'no'.

Weather good yesterday; lots of rain last night.

Dinner at Starbucks (of all things) because the noodle restaurant I really wanted to find and go to, once we think we found it, I didn't want to try it!

We are running out of the door.....


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Expecting Unearned And Undeserved Favor

Well, Cindy asked me to jump in and help with her blog since we are still disoriented, overwhelmed, and basically out of sorts.



Although we have arrived in our first ever 6 Star Hotel, the cost per night is about like an above average hotel in the US. It seems very odd to be in such a great environment that does not feel in any way like a vacation, but more like an incredibly critical mission with huge consequences.

Peyton Min is an incredibly intelligent and unbelievably intense little boy who is what I like to call the Ultimate zeigarnik effect in action! If you have ever heard of this concept it is when a person who has begun a task (opened a loop), he must complete the task (close the loop).

Interrupting a loop that is in the process of being closed results in less than adequate response from our little guy :-)

This has aggravated Cindy quite a bit. With the challenge of not being able to communicate well (I exaggerate... at all in Chinese, that is), combined with limited patience has been our greatest challenge. Peyton has also not been introduced to the word, "no" before...

Sometimes it seems like all we are saying is "no" and for a guy like me who likes to communicate, this is the lowest common denominator of the worst kind of communication. It has made me so incredibly grateful for the amazing patience God has with me. How difficult and even painful it must be for God to not directly intervene and force me to do what he knows is best for me... All the while I complain and argue with HIM about how I KNOW what is best for me... Just like little Peyton Min.




It seems like everything I lack as a parent seems to be the very area where His unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor is flowing towards me if I will just receive it by faith with a thankful heart and wait for His perfect timing and provision!

Oh the joy of knowing that you are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved...and then passing on this great inheritance to a little one who has never known this amazing love!

I will labor to enter the rest of knowing my inheritance that "all things are working together for my good!"


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Location:Garden Hotel Guangzhou GZ

Jinan fountains

The last two days in Jinan we took the boys to the fountain show in the Jinan city Square. Zane absolutely loved it.





It took Min a while to get used to it.
Not sure why this picture is posting upside down, but I suppose you all have to take what you can get!


Thursday we went to the Big Lake with a few other families that were In the same hotel. It was nice to get out. But I really just wanted to find space for all of the kids to play; our guide really just wanted to take us on a tour of all of the historical interests. Yes, it's interesting, but come on, the kids could care less and are bored and tired.






Friday we finally found Min some new shoes. Most clothes I brought are too big, he is pretty much a 2-3 toddler size. 3 for the length. he likes to talk and write. He writes many Chinese characters. He writes a few English numbers.
Zane likes patting him on the head.
Have met some really wonderful families here.
Friday was a long day, we had to be out of our hotel room by 3:00. We waited for our guide in the lobby for 1 1/2 hours. Not fun.
We got to the airport with about 10 minutes before we had to board our flight.
(not happy with our guide in Jinan, definitely letting our agency know).
The flight didn't phase Min at all. Zane fell asleep almost immediately, we finally settled Min down to sleep with about an hour left of the flight.
Our guide was right there waiting for us in GZ, and wouldn't you know it, a McDonalds right on the way out of the baggage claim!
We got to our hotel (the Garden hotel) and in our room about 10:00. It is a 'junior' sweet. Bedroom has two beds (the beds are oversized twin beds) and they had a crib in there for 'the baby'. Min is perfect size for the crib, so we kept it and he is sleeping there! Zane and I share a bed, and Lane gets the other. To get another bed in the room would cost about $50+ a night. The crib is free.
We did Min's medical exam this morning, then went to Trustmart (like Walmart) for some more supplies. We also bought some lunches there; stir fried rice and noodles, which was wonderful.
We hope to write more tomorrow and post some pictures of the hotel.
Goodnight from Guangzhou (gwan-Joe).


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Wednesday August something or other

Let's just say things have been different. Our VPN's (connection to get on a safe network in China) have been on and off, so some days it's hit or miss to post. I've just been too tired also.

It's been hard getting the pictures to post, I am not the worlds most technical person. I will try to make sure Lane has uploaded them and see if I can get some up later.




Yesterday our guide took us to the the 1000 Budah Mountain. I think he was very disappointed that we really could have cared less. I think we should have put our feet down and said we didn't want to go there, but he said there were places for the kids to play (some old toys were there for kids to ride) and there was a sled type of slide that we could slide down to the bottom of the hill. That was about the gist of it.

We decided on KFC for a quick lunch. And we really aren't sure what type of chicken it really was.

After coming back to the room and trying without luck to enforce nap time, we headed downtown to the city square. People were flying kits, roller blading, kids doing bubbles, etc. We bought a small kie which Min proceeded to rip the tail off of, so it didn't work, then the string broke and it flew away. We then bought some bubbles for Min and some type of parachute thingy for Zane. I think we spent a few hours down there.

And then we headed back to pizza hut for our 3rd night in a row. The pizza is good, the salad ok, the bathroom perfect (because they have a western toilet option!).

Nighttimes have been ok. From what we were told (after the first night and a wet bed), the Nannies always woke Min up at 10:00 and again at 12:00 to use the bathroom. Apparently it is very normal for kids here to go to the bathroom numerous times per day. We are already working on waiting.

Zane and Min have been getting along well, though it has been mostly side by side playing. Min is totally into his crayons (ku-wah, ku-wah is what he always says, we cannot get him to to speak it into the translator (like that would help) ). He writes some characters and keeps all of his papers organized.

Min doesn't seem interested in the beach ball or playing with the trucks. He talks a lot but we have, of course, no idea what he is saying.

We walked down to see the Black Tiger Springs this morning. Not to exciting but got to walk and get out for a bit. Then we went back down to the town square and did more bubbles and parachuting. We opted to have lunch in the room today and after circling the grocery umpteen times, lane went in search on disown and found the breads, got us some wonderfully fresh pita breads.

Exciting, huh?! At 3 we are heading back down to the town square to see the fountain show. We hope to get together with some other families tonight for dinner.

Only 8 more days until we can fly home...


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Day two with Peyton Min

It's been a rough 24 hours or so and I just haven't felt like posting.
We arrived at the hotel (we are staying at the Crowne Plaza in Jinan) at about 1:00. Our guide (who is wonderful by the way) told us that Min has known about us for two months and that he was scheduled to arrive at the hotel at 3:00 instead of 4:00. Exciting, nerve wracking.

We got to our room and started unpacking. Our phone rang at 2:15, they were here in the lobby. We opted to go down and meet him in the lobby.

I knew Min would be tiny but I think I'd expected he would have grown some. He is very small. Pretty much 3 toddler. He was not afraid of us at all, greeted each of us: Baba, Mama, and Guh Guh (big brother). (min is Di Di, little brother. They (the orphanage nannies) called him Dien Dien, so for now, we call him that. He is active and curious. for him not to be afraid or crying or any emotion, to me is not a good thing, as he has not bonded well with any one person and he will pretty much go to anyone. We will have a lot of bonding work to do.

The Nannies think he is a very smart little guy. They told our guide that all of Min's 11 Nannies said he has been their favorite. Our guide told us in all his years of doing this (16 or 17 years) he has never been told anything like this. Interesting.

This morning, Monday, we met our guide at 8:00 to go to the Civil affairs office to start our paperwork. There were 9 other families there. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there. I refused to use the squatty potty. After that, it was straight to the police station for more paperwork. I caved and used my first (and hopefully last) squatty potty. At least it was a brand new building they had just moved into, so not too bad. Then it was off to the Notary office for our final paperwork for the week. Or so we thought... More later.

After that we went to the Sunflower Restuarant for some authentic Chinese. It was pretty good.

And finally back to the hotel.

Finally got Min asleep for his nap (the orphanage still had him on a nap schedule and we think for now this is good). And getting some quiet time. Then our phone rang, our guide. Somehow Lane and I mixed up our passport numbers on the paperwork and it all has to be redone. Unbelievable and discouraging.
After a few very long days, just didn't need this. :( hopefully all will be corrected and put in order. Zane went with Lane and Min and I are here at the hotel.

Please continue to pray for us: for me, I am not bonding well with Min. Zane has done wonderfully well, for that we are very thankful. Lane has done well also.
For our safety, for family bonding. For sleep.
For all of the other families and their kiddos here. And for Lanes business at home to stay on track while we are gone.


'Lord, when doubts fill my mind and my heart is in turmoil, please give me renewed hope and cheer'.


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