Touring around

We visited a park today.  People were practicing their calligraphy on the tiles.  One man wrote a greeting to us: "Welcome to China!"

Chinese checkers anyone?  Our guide said it was Chinese chess.  The pieces looked too heavy to move.

We enjoyed the sunshine and the solace from the bustle of traffic.

Mike was comfortable without a jacket.  The locals thought he was a bit nuts to be in short sleeves in winter.  We were stopped by well meaning people concerned that Marisa was not dressed warmly enough.

Our group at the entrance of the park.  The stone formation behind us was created from rocks pulled out of a lake.

Marisa sporting her cute new outfit from her auntie.  She is such a happy girl who likes to wear bows in her hair.  :)

Oh happy day!

Today has been a great day.  Everybody is feeling good- Hallelujah!  Thank you for your prayers for Mike; he's back to normal.  Please check his blog (Dysfunctional Dozen) as he's also posting now and then.  Sometimes we are using his posts for this blog also when we're thwarted by technology.  It's been hard to log in and sometimes impossible.  What is working best is to email my sister and have her post things for us.  Today I got a good enough connection to log in on my own but I'll leave the picture posting to her.

It's been a leisurely day as there were no appointments to attend.  We visited a local tourist attraction- a pavilion that was built in 637...we think.  We watched a short production with traditional Chinese drama and music.  Marisa liked the music and bee-bopped in my lap.  As usual, our group drew a lot of attention and people wanted to get their photo taken with us.  I've had several people comment on the color of my eyes.  While the general population finds us interesting, we're completely taken with our daughter.  She's busily babbling to her daddy as I post this.  We've been having such a good time together today.  She even initiated the game of peek-a-boo and would cover her head with a blanket and then pull it off while grinning and giggling at us.  It's amazing and wonderful to see her connecting with us.

Time to head for dinner.  Pictures should be posted soon.

Here are the promised pictures:

 

Beyond Measure

One moment we didn't have a daughter, the next moment we did.  There aren't words to describe this experience.  We have been blessed beyond measure!

Marisa and Mike are both sleeping right now.  It's been hard to find time to post to the blog, and when there is a chance...I'm too tired!  Mike got sick from something he ate yesterday.  Please pray for him; he's been miserable today.  Marisa is doing well considering all that she has been through in the past 24 hours.  There have been many tearful moments, like tonight when we gave her a bath.  She's also getting some new teeth so that has added to her distress.  However, she is smiling and laughing already- which is much sooner than what we experienced with Kieran.  She babbles and interacts with us; of course we are smitten with her!  I read a board book to her that has texture on the animals, like faux fur.  She was fascinated and rubbed the fuzzy spots on the pages.  We are having so much fun watching her discover new things like that.  Another new experience for her was dinner.  Our group was desperate for an American meal this evening, so we had McDonald's.  Marisa loved the fries and the burger.  She's officially an American now.  :)

Time to get some rest.  We're still waking up crazy early, like 3 am.  We are looking forward to getting home and back to a normal schedule.

Gotcha!!

Well everyone, after five years of waiting, the day is finally here!  We finally met our daughter, and she's even more perfect and beautiful than we could imagine from our referral pictures!  Every family in our group was blessed to meet their perfect, beautiful little miracles today - and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Our little girl has a lot of thick hair that even curls a bit at the nape of her neck.  She's tall for her age, and has very long, delicate fingers.  She has a hilarious habit of puckering her lips at you when she doesn't want to eat what your'e offering, and just like her big brother, she strokes her cheek with her 'soothie' (a soft blanket for brother, a soft shirt for her) to comfort herself.  Also like her brother, she was a bit stubborn in her first few hours with us - lots of tears and struggling against feeding, changing, etc., but by dinner time she was settled down enough to eat well and even smile and babble at us a little.  What a day!  Thank you to all our friends and family who've been praying for us and supporting us in myriad ways through this long process.  Thanks for sticking it out with us - we can't wait for you all to meet her!

Did I mention how perfect and beautiful she is? Sorry the picture is so small, we'll have more coming soon! :)

It'll make a man out of you!

Apparently, whoever was in charge of promoting tourism around the Great Wall of China decided that climbing the wall is the ultimate test of manhood.  At the visitor center, there were all manner of signs claiming that only "real men" can ascend the wall; or that because you set foot on it, you're now a "hero of the Great Wall."  To underscore that, they immediately want to take your picture before you climb, placing the photo in a modestly priced album complete with certificate of authenticity validating your newfound heroic manhood. A more transparent hook for gullible tourists, you'll never find. Being completely comfortable with and assured of my own manhood, I would never need to purchase such a blatant ego booster.  Knowing I climbed the wall is enough.

But the album was nice. 

Good thing I had exact change.

Here's a couple of shots that I snapped (in a very heroic and manly fashion) with my Ipod & some Amy got with the good camera. 

 View of the parking lot from the highest point I reached before my knees and lungs went on strike (but I'm still a man!)

One of the other dads in our group eyeballing the route down

We made it to the tower just right of center. Quite a manly feat! That doesn't explain the multitudes of Chinese octogenarians and stiletto-heeled young women who were coming down from higher than we went, but never mind that. 

More of the wall from the visitor's center

Guard house/latte shop.  My manly knees need an espresso with double foam, please...

Seeing the sights of Beijing

Christmas in Beijing

Yesterday was a free day for us to chill out and rest.  We're so glad we had that extra day to catch up on sleep before all of the scheduled activities with the group began.  Mike & I ventured out to the store (similar to Wal-mart) and purchased warm gear to wear for our tour.  It was fun to figure out the money conversions and the sizing of the clothes we wanted to buy.  I'm sure we looked quite confused and helpless at times!  No one there spoke English and we were the only caucasians in the building, so people seemed to be fascinated by us.

Today our travel group met up for breakfast and then we toured Beijing all day.  In spite of the freezing temperature- 12 degrees F- we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the pearl factory, silk factory, and a tea house.  We also enjoyed a traditional Chinese lunch and dinner.  I think it's safe to say that everybody is exhausted!  Our travel group is great.  We're enjoying getting to know everyone, and it's nice to have some fellow American travelers to join us on our journey.

It really didn't feel like Christmas for any of us.  However, it is a most memorable Christmas for all of us for sure!  At most of our stops, the clerks in the stores wished our group a "Merry Chirsmurse".  While we were on the Marco Polo bridge, an American guy walked by and happily shouted out, "Merry Christmas!", to us.  That brought a smile to our faces!  It's amazing how quickly we've begun to miss home and what's familiar.  It's good to be stretched though and experience new and different things.

I'm having difficulty uploading pictures from our camera...perhaps a slow internet connection?  So, I'll post a couple that Mike took with his ipod.  We'll try to post photos from our camera tomorrow.

Garden pagoda inside the Forbidden City.

Leaving the Forbidden City.

We're here!

We made it to Beijing.  I'm too tired to give all the details now, but we had a great flight.  We were upgraded for free to business class, and the best part is we didn't even ask for it; they just called us to the desk and gave us new boarding passes.  They treated us like royalty!  We had a five course lunch served to us complete with our own tablecloths and all.  I had shrimp and linguine and Mike had lamb chops.  We spent half the flight just cracking up at this unexpected blessing.

"Did they just call my name over the loudspeaker?"

"We've just been given a free upgrade to business class, cool!"

Welcome to business class on Hainan Air!

For lunch today: lamb chops with sauteed vegetables.

Time to get some sleep now.  Just wanted to let everyone know we are here, safe and sound.

It's time!

We are leaving tomorrow morning...  It doesn't seem real yet that our long journey to Marisa is almost over.  We still have packing to do, but for the most part we're ready.  Kieran is having a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.  We are already missing him and counting the days till we see our sweet boy again.  There are so many thoughts and emotions we're trying to process right now,  joy and sorrow all mixed together...  I really haven't been able to get much done here as I try to get my brain to wrap around what is taking place in our family.  God is sending us a miracle.  We are humbled and so grateful.  


Thank you to all our friends and family for your prayers and support.  When we were in Rwanda, we felt the prayers carrying us through the process to adopt Kieran.  Now, we're about to go "to the ends of the earth" again.  For the past week God has been sending me messages of encouragement that He'll go with us to China.  Sunday's sermon was about how Jesus is called Emmanuel, God with us.  Just today, our adoption agency sent us an uplifting email entitled Psalm 91:11,  which says, "He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."  People have also been calling us and emailing to telling us that they are excited for us and praying for our journey.  If there's ever been a time that I've felt such a need for prayer support, it's now!  Thank you, thank you!!


It's getting late and I still have packing to do so I'll close with a few verses I read recently from Psalm 139 (New Living Translation).  I was filled with hope when I read them; may you be encouraged also.


¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
      and know everything about me.
 ² You know when I sit down or stand up.
      You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
 ³ You see me when I travel
      and when I rest at home.
      You know everything I do.
 ⁴ You know what I am going to say
      even before I say it, Lord.
 ⁵ You go before me and follow me.
      You place your hand of blessing on my head.
 ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
      too great for me to understand!

What a comfort to know God is both before us and behind us as we travel to meet our daughter.  Wherever you are, please know that God is near to you also.  

Some photos...

Kieran loves his new big boy bed!  The crib is all set up in Marisa's room now!
(A big thank you to Aunt Berta for the wonderful quilt for K's bed.)

Daddy & Kieran made pumpkin bread for the neighbors.

I got a new camera to take to China.  Kieran was my
test subject today as I experimented with the settings.

" I should be getting paid for
looking this cute!  Are we done now??"

Getting ready to go!

We've been making our lists and checking them twice!  There are so many things to take care of before we leave for China.  I'll fill you in on a few of them.  This week, Kieran got a new twin sized bed!  Tomorrow we'll set up the crib, formerly Kieran's, in Marisa's room.  There are now two car seats in the back seat of our car.  Our son got a big kick out of having his sister's seat travel around town with us.  I've packed most of Marisa's suitcase.  Plus, I've done a lot of wrapping of Christmas gifts.  Also, we've both spent hours on the computer and phone getting tickets and items purchased for our trip.  Yesterday we had an hour long conference call with our adoption agency about our itinerary.  It's all very exciting and arriving very soon.  We will be meeting Marisa on December 27th!

Sorry no photos this time... We'll try to update the blog again before we travel.

Treasures in a paper bag

Many times we miss the gift God has for us because we don't like the wrapping it comes in.  This is a paraphrase of what I heard today at church.  The pastor said, "If somebody handed you a used lunch bag as a gift, would you want it?  What if there was a diamond inside, would you forgive the packaging?"  His comment made made me think about adoption.  (I guess I think about adoption all the time, especially as we are about to complete one that was started so many years ago!)  My link to the comment was that there are people who pass up the idea of adoption because of misconceptions... they don't like the "wrapping".  I understand this as adoption has so many unknowns.  I wondered if our son would bond with us, or if he would like us.  Now that we are about to meet Marisa, I'm wondering those things again.  I guess that's normal for us to have those questions.  If God is calling you to adopt a child, then He will work those things out.

Part of the reason I keep this blog going is to help people see the miracle that adoption can be.  One of the misconceptions is the fear that they couldn't love an adopted child the same as they would a child born to them.  However, we willingly marry people who definitely aren't related to us.  Our spouse becomes our family and we form a lifelong bond.  Adoption is similar.  We aren't genetically related, but we become a family for the rest of our lives.  We love our son as fiercely as parents do their biologically related children.  Somehow, God knit our hearts together.  It's part of the miracle of adoption.

Perhaps this Christmas season, God is nudging your heart to accept the gift He wants to give you.  It may be the gift of a child through adoption, or something else you've been longing for.  Maybe it's right there in front of you, but because of the "wrapping", you haven't received it yet.  Also, think of this... You may be the gift somebody else is longing for.  There are millions of children worldwide who are wishing for a family to call their own.  I've added a link below to a Steven Curtis Chapman video.  The song is called All I Really Want.  (Grab some tissues just in case.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjMz0MmYejQ&feature=player_embedded

My first moments with our son, May '09

November 2010.  Our family, eighteen months after Kieran was adopted.

Traveling soon!

Words can't express our jubilation!  We are going to be in China this Christmas!!  I think we'll be meeting Marisa on December 27th--- how amazing.  We began the journey to our daughter in October 2005.  Every Christmas since 2005,  I've hoped that the next Christmas we would celebrate with Marisa.  After 1,518 days of waiting (crazy isn't it?) we will finally be with her just two days after Christmas this year.  Thank you, God.

Snow for Thanksgiving

Well, we are still waiting to get travel approval to go to China.  Until we have that, we won't know when we are going to get Marisa.  We're doing our best to get ready to go at a moment's notice.

While we wait, we're keeping busy.  Thanksgiving was so wonderful this year.  We had twelve people at our house to join in the celebration, most of them stayed for several days.  Everyone pitched in to make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner; there was plenty to eat.  We're still eating turkey and ham!  Also, we got our first snow of the year, enough to go sledding.  Kieran loved it!  We managed to squeeze in some shopping too, and now Marisa's got a bunch of cute and cozy clothes for winter.  We have been very blessed this year.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to lately...

First snow of the year!  We took turns pulling Kieran around the back yard.
He tried pulling us too; what a sweet kid!

The next morning, we had a ton of new snow and sunshine!  Doesn't Kieran look cool?

Mommy & Kieran went sledding on a big hill while Daddy shoveled the driveway.
Just as we were getting cold, Dad arrived with a thermos of hot chocolate!  What a guy!

Later that day, family arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Above: Grandpa with Haley Joy (Kieran's cousin).

Thanksgiving morning, Auntie Kendra took Kieran sledding again!
Kieran loved having a house full of company.

The whole gang was here to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I love my family!
Our aunt, cousin, and second cousin were also here but missed the photo shoot.

Grandma & Grandpa with their grand babies.
Next Thanksgiving they'll have Marisa to hold too!

Our tree is up and we finished decorating it tonight.
Seems like we were just celebrating Kieran's first Christmas.  Time is flying by!

Thanks for dropping by.  When we get information about our travel dates for China, I'll share the news here on Far Green Country.  Meanwhile, I'll be posting something Christmas related every day December 1 through 12th on my Mom Thoughts blog so go check it out.