We're in Guangzhou

Today is Saturday, Nov. 24th. We checked out of the hotel in Shenyang yesterday morning. After picking up our paperwork for ElleAnna, we went to the Palace for a tour. After that we went to the Emperor's tomb. Both were very interesting, yet with the freezing temperatures, they were not nearly as "fun" as the tours in Beijing. :-)

We went to a picture shop where they make art work from bird feathers. THEY WERE AWESOME!!! That shop is the only place in China where they make or sell them. We made it to airport at 3:45 PM, received our tickets and Elle's passport and waited until it was our turn. Luckily, ElleAnna was trying to stay awake (she had been up since 5 AM) ........ just as we were taking off, she went to sleep and slept three of the four hours.......... Thank you, Lord for small favors.

We arrived in Guangzhou at 9:455 PM. We were taken to the hotel, got things moved to the room and crashed at midnight. Its 7:20am now and we are heading out for breakfast. We will go do her physical today (the exam is NOT thorough) and take a photo for her visa application. We'll also do paperwork for Monday's appointment. Tomorrow we'll do some tours.

Take care and we'll post photos later!


Ken (aka new Daddy)

Winding Up Thanksgiving Day

Its been a good day. Only one melt down and that was over the bath.... She hasn't taken a nap, so as long as we keep her entertained, when she crashes, she will sleep all night. I probably won't post tomorrow morning. We are supposed to check out by 11am and head out with John. We'll go get her passport and other documents. Hopefully, they are all done perfectly with NO problems! If we have time, we'll go tour a palace and a tomb. Later in the afternoon, we'll go to the airport (driving by the stadium where they will have the 2008 Summer Olympic Soccer Games). Our flight leaves at 5:20pm for Guangzhou. Its about four hours long, and, as far as we know, Elle's first plane ride. We'll get to the hotel at about 10pm and then, call it a night. The other five families ought to be there already. It will be neat to see them all again with their new children. I will post again when I have time - hopefully from Guangzhou, the last leg in our Chinese journey! Its almost time to bring ElleAnna home!

Thanksgiving 2007

All the clothes she was wearing when we picked her up Monday - LOTS of layers; Coloring with Momma today; Tired girl yesterday afternoon.

Today, we are sitting in the hotel room, watching Ugly Betty re-runs (only about three channels are in English). We had a good breakfast again, walked through the stores here in the hotel (about three floors worth), and played catch with Elle in the hallway. For our Thanksgiving Dinner, we are going to the Pizza Hut and then, topping it off with HaagenDaaz (sp) ice cream instead of pumpkin pie. There are stores under the street much like a subway, probably to protect shoppers more from the cold weather. We saw a lady with a hot pink "Barbie" bag go by this morning, so I think we're going to venture down there and see if we can find the store. We'll go on down to the Wal-Mart also as its about five stores away from the Pizza Hut.

Its a good Thanksgiving here in Shenyang, China. We hope that its a good day for all of you too - wherever you may be! Enjoy your families - we are enjoying ours!

Evening of Wednesday, November 21

We had an uneventful day, which was good after yesterday's wildness. We had lots of giggles today and she obviously knows who each of us are. She has enjoyed colored pencils, drawing, and stickers. When we go through her photo album, she recognizes people. She has discovered her pictures on Bryant's iPod too. We stuck around in the room until about 2pm when we went to eat a late lunch/early supper at MCDONALD'S. She likes fries, chicken nuggets, and milk. Maybe tomorrow we'll do the Pizza Hut. :-)

Tonight has not been quite so smooth given that she didn't fall asleep for a nap until 5:15pm and then, Ken tried to wake her at 6:45pm. It was not pleasant. She also was instantly terrified as soon as we turned on the bathwater, so we just settled for a warm washrag and didn't even go near the tub. She is a sweet little girl who has a lot of things to grieve. We speak no language that she understands and are the first Caucasians she has ever seen. Her whole world has been turned upside now and all she has ever known is gone. She needs time to have these moments and we understand that. We shed tears along with her as we cannot provide any comfort in her times of overwhelming sadness, we can just hold her when it subsides.

John did paperwork for us today and hopefully, he can get the rest finished up tomorrow. The papers from Panjin should have been mailed to Shenyang today, so that the other items can get completed by Friday for him to pick up. If all goes as planned, we will have all documents in hand (HOPEFULLY DONE CORRECTLY) and take a 5:20pm flight Friday to Guangzhou. There, we will finish things up for her citizenship and finalize everything before we return to the States on Wednesday the 28th.

Right now, all is quiet as she is on Ken's lap, watching Ratatouille with the boys.

Wednesday, November 21

Breakfast was good today again, but she's much more protective of her food. She ate more bananas, yogurt, and cheerios. She liked Bryant's blueberry muffin too. There is nothing on our agenda today, so we will hang out here in the room most of the time. There is a McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Wal-Mart just a short distance away, so maybe this afternoon, we'll go walking. Our local guide is hopefully scurrying around, successfully doing our paperwork today. He'll update us tonight when he checks in with us.

Today, she has been chattery for the first time - she meows like a kitten and says "Nihau" when she waves at us, this means "hello". She started giving the boys five yesterday. She likes to pinch the boys' fingers and yell "ow". She laughs hard when the boys bark like dogs, so we are sure she will love Dayton's little yippy dog sounds. Alex has gotten her to say "momma" and "bappa" (Chinese word for Daddy). We've had problems with her having some wicked bloody noses, but hopefully, those are just because of the dry air and won't last long. She likes wrestling with the boys and giggles all the time. Peek-A-Boo is also a big favorite. Bathtime yesterday was not so good, but we're sure that will be a project to work on. Now, we've got her drawing and doing some quiet things. She is very smart and watches everything around her. She loves rubbing on the sheets and blankets with her hands. She does not understand sippy cups and makes a horrible mess when she gulps milk down from a regular glass, so we have regressed to a bottle with a large opening in the nipple. She was probably potty trained, but we are having to learn her gestures, so we are in diapers/pull-ups again for our sanity (and her comfort). She is a sweet little girl who we already love very much.

We wish you all infectious giggles too, so have attached a video to let you share in our fun.

We Hope That Someday Soon, We Can Laugh About Today

Its about 9:45pm here, Tuesday night. What a day it has been....

It started out fine with Elle devouring bananas and cantaloupe for lunch. We also found that she likes yogurt and cheerios. She prefers warm milk to drink. We headed out at 8:30am with a whole list of places to go and payments to be made in order to process the adoption and her passport. We arrived at the same place we were yesterday to do the first documents - to find the orphanage staff sitting at the table. At first, Elle paid no attention to the ladies, but the longer we sat there, she couldn't help but try to take her book down to them. I tried not to let her go as they were busy notarizing documents, and it made Elle mad. Her tears made them sad, and Ken had to take over because she is so incredibly strong when she is angry. We did a bunch of documents then, gave them our donations, etc.

After they left, we went downstairs to do her passport photos and some other documents. When we got off the elevator, guess who was standing in the hallway.... Obviously, the photos don't have a smiley girl in them because she got wound up yet again. We signed more papers and headed back upstairs to wait for them to be completed. After they brought them to us, we went to the Notary Office (I think anyway). Guess who was standing in that room when we arrived.... It was like going through this over and over and over.... I know she loved them and they cared for her, but it was becoming almost cruel to keep bumping into them.

We headed out again after more paperwork. The boys told us that the orphanage staff was in a silver van behind us. We were all going to Panjin to the Police Station then to do more for her passport. Panjin is about 2 or 3 hours away. As we were getting onto the toll bridge, our guide realized that the first office had written my address in the line where my passport number was to be and that number in another line. This would make the documents invalid, so we had to drive back into Shenyang. The office we needed to go to was closed until 1pm, so we ate lunch at KFC while we waited.

At 1:20pm, the form was redone and taken to another office that we had not been to before. Then, in a mad rush, we headed to Panjin again.... The police station was willing to stay open until 4:30pm because of the paperwork issue, so were were on a deadline. The traffic on their "interstate" is indescribable. Just as I was taking out my camcorder to film the last few miles of greenhouses, cows, and hay fields, something popped inside the van and smoke was pouring everywhere. It was freezing cold as we stood shivering along side the highway... But guess who came to pick us up - you guessed it, orphanage staff! At least it was a man this time instead of the girls, but he was the same guy who was with the girls both today and yesterday. Ken and I are not sure if he is their director or what his position is... Anyway, after crossing eight plus lanes of insane traffic to get in his van, he raced us through Panjin's crowded streets (Bryant does have a knot on his head from a pothole beyond description).

We arrived a the police station at about 4:50pm, and they did the paperwork as best they could. There were items that weren't going to be done after hours, however, so they will be mailed back to Shenyang. Hopefully, it will be speedy and won't alter our timelines. As a result of the van tragedy, another van was sent to Panjin from Shenyang to get us. In the meantime, we sat at a restaurant and waited the three hours for his arrival. As we left Panjin, we saw fireworks in the sky. Nobody seemed to know what they were celebrating, so we decided that maybe it was a good omen. A celebration that PanSuo was with our family now and that things would be good from here on out - and that we'd be home soon. Of course, I'm sure it just "ignited" the boys' wish to buy fireworks while we are here, but that's NOT HAPPENING.

Needless to say, now that we are back in our hotel room, we feel safer and more at ease, but we hope and pray that all the paperwork is done smoothly and without anymore glitches. We are thankful that we made it back OK, but we are not interested in doing this again - way too much excitement and adventure for us boring people! We have laughed about how we can put the van explosion in our Christmas letter, but that was only after we were on our way back to Shenyang.

Here are a few photos, but I promise to post more tomorrow morning when my eyes can focus again.

Yes, We Have a Daughter/Sister

We arrived at an office building yesterday morning and PanSuo was already there with staff from her orphanage. It was snowing in her village, so they were anxious to return before the weather got bad. We did some paperwork with them and they headed out. She is obviously attached to Mrs. Pan! PanSuo had no interest in any of us, but after a royal tantrum (SHE IS STRONG!) we got into the van and headed back to the hotel. Ken and Bryant went to Walmart (three stories of stuff) with John (our guide) and got some milk for her (Snicker bars plus Pepsi for us). Alex and I waited in the room with PanSuo. The tantrum was over.

It snowed here most of the day. We have some great photos! It did finally stop late afternoon - snowball fights and snowmen along the busy streets. There are over 7 million people in Shenyang. Some stores had five or six people shoveling snow away from their fronts. Everyone works hard, that's for sure!

We had another good lunch (at about 3pm) and then, returned to the hotel. She ended up giggling with the boys and Ken long before our day was over, but freaks out when I leave her side. She said something to Alex when he returned to the room and she says "ow" to Bryant about the alligator teeth. Our first night of sleep went well, but she thrashes around worse than anyone else I know. No wonder the nannies said that she sleeps in a big bed alone. She was not a very good sleeping buddy! I often had her feet in my face. She also likes to dangle them to touch to the floor.... What a deal!

Today (Tuesday), we will go do more paperwork and visit her orphanage in Panjin. It will be a long, long day for all five of us. Wish us well as this is where the i's must be dotted and the t's crossed just write or it will get us into a snag later in Guangzhou. We will post photos later today of our daughter and the recent adventures.


All Our Love,
Ken, Michelle, Bryant, Alex, and ElleAnna (PanSuo)

Monday, November 19 - FAMILY DAY! GOTCHA DAY!

Our day is here - we will eat some breakfast this morning and then, meet our guide in the lobby (hopefully, yesterday's oops was the one and only for our journey). We then head to pick up ElleAnna. I'm sure our day will be filled with tears (some hers, some ours) and a few anxious moments as we try to entertain and soothe her. We will post photos and maybe even a video (if we can) later today.

During my brief moments of sleep last night, I dreamt that we were here to pick up twin girls - not. Its funny because a year ago yesterday, Loraine (a family friend/relative) told me that she'd had a dream we had twin girls from China. Loraine passed away a few days later, but her daughter has told me how excited Loraine was that we were doing this. It gives my dream an extra eerie feeling, but I am sure that it was just warm wishes.

We will keep you posted as we begin this incredible day for our family!