Have a Blessed Christmas

Sorry I have not posted in forever. Life as you all know is busy and I have been really trying to focus on the top priorities in my life and the computer and posting on down on the list. But I could not miss this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!

Things are going very well. Sophia is adjusting well. SHe still has periods of grieving but the last question she asked about China was if she could go back and forth to live in China and then with us. It was hard to explain that that was not an option but I said to Russ that at least she wanted to be with us too!

We have had many medical appointments. The urologist put her on meds to reduce the pressures in her bladder and now we are working on a schedule to Cath her. It was horrible the first time I had to do it but we both are pros at it now. We are trying to figure things out to get her to be dry during the day but it is not going as quickly as I would like. I need to do some more research but with Christmas coming, it has not been a good time for reading. We also had an MRI to check out her back and get a baseline. But unfortunately, the doctor sees a thinning of the spinal cord and thinks there is a build up of fluid that is putting pressure in the spine. So right now we don't know what we have in store for Sophia except for more tests and appointments.

Sophia has been doing wonderful in school and wants to start the ELL program that would allow her to go all day. However with the start of cathing and the new unknowns about her back, we are going to hold off for a little while to see what happens.

We have had a wonderful morning and there is much more for the day so I nust be going. Here are some recent pictures and my gift to you from God's Word:

Come, let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 95: 6-7a

A Little Boy Wants a Family

Isn't he adorable? No we are not adopting him. But I am hoping that there is someone out there who will.

I am advocating for this little who so wants to have a family. He has been in a group home in Beijing. He is 5 years old and was born with meningocele in his lower lumbar. He can run and walk but has incontinence with bowel and bladder so he wears a diaper. That is about the same description we had on Sophia one year ago and now she is home with us and we are so very blessed. His file is with Holt. You can check it out at

http://www.holtinternational.org/cgi/photolisting/display.cgi?ID=B10_28&Index_re=0

I have been in contact with a volunteer at the home, Lisa. He is the last of the children left from when she first arrived 4 years ago and he so wants a family. Can you imagine seeing other kids for the last 4 years finding their families and no family has come for you? His needs are so managable.

If you want to find out more infonformation about him you can contact Holt or my friend Lisa at ajrassi@gmail.com. They have more pictures and are wanting to help in finding his forever family. Please pass on this information to anyone who may be considering adoption and pray that his family finds him soon.

Sophia's First BIrthday with Us!

What a great day we had. Our Sophia is now 6 years old( it took us a little while to convince her that she was turning 6 because in China they are 1 once they are born so in China she would have been 7. But she trusted us that in America she was turning 6 and seemed fine with it). It was so nice to know that even though we missed the first 5 birthdays plus her birth, we will miss no more. Sophia has been counting down to her birthday and has been very excited. She had an idea of what was coming because both Russ and I have celebrated our birthday's since she has been home but they were simple compared to what she was going to have. We had a party on the weekend with my parents, brother and his family. There was cake, ballons, and presents and she did great. The only thing that was too hard for her was the sing 'Happy Birthday". Once we all started singing, she tried to hold a stiff upper lip but started to cry. I think it just reminded her too much of her foster family. So needless to say, no more happy birthday singing.

Thursday was her actual birthday and along with more presents and dinner at a Chinese restaurant, she got her ears pierced. Oh she was soo excited about this. She has been asking me since we were in China and I kept holding her off until her birthday to see if this is really what she wanted. Since she does not have much continence towards pain, I was concerned that once she felt any pain, she would break down cry and pull away, causing more pain. So all day we talked about it and I was up front that it would hurt but only for a little bit. I kept asking her and she still wanted to do it. So later that evening, we all went to the mall and she got her Hello Kitty earing. Aren't they so cute. They fit her to a tee. She did fairly well but the anticipation was what really got her. She had tears rolling down her face and I kept asking her if she wanted to go but NO she wanted those earings. So I held her in my lap and we had two people do it at once( they were great). Once it was over, I think she was surprised that it went so quickly and that the pain was gone.

We then went to a Chinese buffet for dinner. This was she could pick out what she wanted. Once she finds someone who speaks Mandarin she takes the opportunity to catch up on all the talking she can. She talked about how she really likes her new family(yea) but that she worries about her foster family and how they are doing. She tries so much to take care of everyone that I am sure at times she feels guilty( like when we were singing Happy Birthday) about enjoying her new family. I have told her many times that it is ok to miss them and be sad and I know there will always be those feelings, it is just helping her get through them.

We had to tip the waitress a nice tip because Sophia was talking her ear off. They poor girl was being so nice to listen and talk back even though she was trying to keep working the other tables - like I said, our little girl likes to talk, watch out when her english improves. So here are a few pictures to leave you with.

Princesses, Buzz, Secret Agents and Clone Troopers, Oh My!

Trick or Treat was a great time for the kids. It did not take long for Sophia to catch on. The funniest thing is that we explained that once we were dressed we would go get candy. So once she was dressed, she went over to our bowl and started taking the candy out of it! She loved going door to door and ran around with the older boys as Micah and I lagged behind; Micah like the candy but is really more interested in talking to people - such an extrovert. Here is a picture of 4 of the kids. Olivia went with her friends as a princess! Finally after how mayn years, she dressed up as a princess.

Sophia had a great first week at school. She is always a little hesitant going to school in the morning but oh so excited when I pick her up. I am ever amazed at how she just continues to pick things up. Today she started a sentence with Can I.... Usually it is Sophia..... We have been working on learning site words from school and some of them are me, my, I... How do you explain to her that they are the same but different? But she is picking it up. What was really great is that on Friday her class had a field trip to a pumpkin patch. Micah and I also got to go and we had a great time.
And then there was the Jack o Lantern carving... I think the picture explains it all. I love living new experience with the kids!
And then today, we lost another tooth! So we are officially wanted our two front teeth for Christmas, but as you can see, one is on it's way.

We have some tough moments at times but I would not consider them anything different than what we would go through with your biological kids. Things have finally calmed down a little from sports and we are getting to spend more family time together. We watched Up the other day and it was just fun watching Sophia and how she would react to things.

We are getting ready for her birthday in 10 days! Wow it was almost one year ago when we first saw her picture and now she is with us and fitting in so well. We have been so blessed by God and are so thankful for every little thing.

First Day of School

Tuesday was the first day of school for our Sophia. She did wonderful! She was excited to go and nervous at the same time. Whe she got to school she has to place her name in one of two places, Yes I Like School, No I do Not Like School. She said she liked it a little bit. Once she got going in the class, I stepped out and the teacher said she did wonderful! There is a little girl in 1st grade that speeaks Mandarin and the Principal will be introducing them to each other. That will be wonderful for her. They also live in the neighborhood so hopefully play dates will be in her near future.

When I went to pcik her up, I asked her if she liked school a little bit or a lot. She said a lot!

I am so happy for her!

Micah's Gothca Day 2 YEARS!

Well, I am late as usual but I did not want to forget about celebrating Micah's 2 year Gotcha Day. It was September 29th and thanks to Kyle and Greg, I remembered to get our picture together:
2 Years Home

Gotcha Day
Oh how big my little boy is. I have to say, I am glad that he is still my youngest, my baby, even though he has to tell me that he is a big boy now. He has been adjusting do wonderfully to having a new big sister and in ways it has helped him be more responsible. There are some things that I have not let him do, like go outside without an adult, that I left Sophia do( with her siblings). But I have started to give him trial runs now and he is doing so much better, especially sine he knows that if her does not obey the rules, he looses that priviledge. He has come such a long way and we are so proud of him. We love you Micah, I can't believe it has only been two years, what would we do without you!

We are Still Here

Ambidextrous?



No Tooth!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Below I have posted about the travel home and the first week. Writing is not my favorite thing to do so between the burnout from writing so much while in China and being soo busy, keeping up to date on the blog has gone to the bottom of my to do list.

It is now 5 weeks home and things are amazingly great! Sophia is adjusting so well. I could tell form the first week home that living in foster care for most of her life makes such a big difference compared to Micah living in the orphanage for the first 2.5 years of his life. She understands how a family works. She does what I ask her to do and doesn't have any fits if she doesn't get what she wants. When we go to stores she doesn't run around and even though she is very interested in looking at everything, she does not want me to buy everything.

The food situation is getting better. She tries more and more things and after a few days realized that while I can give her things that are similar to China, they won't be quite the same. We have made some trips to the asian market and she does enjoys that but we usually end up coming out with more snacks then anything else. She is trying and starting to like more and more things. Potatoes are are on the do not like list except when they are in the form of French fries. We are finally getting her to drink more water, it can not be cold but she will drink it. She prefers pop and juice but we don't have much of either in the house so I am trying to wean her off them and more on water. A healthy diet is definitly something we are going to need to work on.

She will be starting school this week. We have held off to see how she has been doing and after talking to our social worker for our six week post placement, she agrees that 1/2 day kindergarten would be good for everyone. THere are certain days when I am really busy that she just seems to get bored. We will go through all the list of things she likes to do but she passes and just like to lay around. WHich I think in turn she starts thinking of China and seems to get sad. So off to school. THis week she has actually asked about her going to school so that is encouraging. She can sing her ABCs, writes her numbers to 100 and can count to 13. She can also write her english name. I think that is pretty good for being home for a month.

SHe has lost her front tooth so that was pretty exciting. We have missed so many things with her so a milestone like this was so great to be apart of.

When we hit the three week mark at home, she just really started using more english. Before she would copy us a lot(even when I was punishing one of the other kids - that did not go over very well) but never really respond to us in english. She has started saying "THank you" "Are you ok" and many other phrases. She picks up things so quickly, I know that she will do great in school.

We have had a few tests at the doctors but nothing conclusive yet. We have another test is early December with the urologist that will hopefully give us some direction on treatments.

Things have been so amazing with her adjustment. She has moments of sadness that you can tell she is thinking about China. I ask if she is sad, and we give each others hugs. She is such a brave little girl. She never ceases to amaze me at how strong she is. She is definitely attaching to me and also to Russ. We both had to leave to do a service project for our church. She had stayed with Grammy and Grandfather at our house before and this time she was with Micah too. But she just did not want us to leave so she was upset but she did do ok. But I really try not to do anything in which she doesn't have at least Russ or myself - so attachment is growing.

She will be celebrating her birthday in a couple weeks and she is very excited, she has alresy started the count down. We are looking forward to her first one with her forever family!

First Week Home

The first week has gone so well. Sophia is adjusting to things very well. SHe is getting along with everyone but Micah is not doing really well with sharing with her. I have allowed her to keep the toys we brought home, too herself for now but have asked Micah to share his. This is a VERY HARD thing for a 4 year old to do. But he is doing fairly well. I will give her a little more time to adjust and then ask her to share more, but one step at a time.

Food is really the biggest obstacle. We are trying to give her all the things that her foster mom listed for us but some of the things she does not want. So the list of what we know she likes is small. She is eating but she is eating a lot of the same things so I am sure she is getting board with it. I am also giving her foods that we eat and asking her to just try 1 bite. She complies but most of the things she does not like. SHe does have a sweet tooth and also told the doctors at hour first International Adoption Clinic that she " doesn't really like eating meals but likes snacks"! OK we have our work cut out for us.

Another major adjustment is the car sickness. We had had a motion sickness patch while in China. We took it off when we got home and forgot to put another one on her. So come Sunday morning we drove to church, which is about 15 minutes, and by the time we got out of the car... Yep.. all over the parking lot. Thankfully we were not in the car. So off to get some dramamine. So we will have to see if things improve.

Cloths and her hair are a little struggle. She really does not want to wear anything that she has not picked out form the store but that consists of about 4 outfits. Once we got home, I did insist that she wear a different outfit everyday so until I can get to the store, she is stuck in wearing things that she is not happy with. As for the hair, it is still ponytails and the same little bear ponytail holders. She will let Olivia "Do" her hair but since Olivia is at school by the time Sophia gets up, it is ponytails again.

I was worried how things would go on Monday when Russ, and the kids(except Micah) would be gone. It went pretty well. Micah and Sophia played but not with each other, THey just played with toys sitting on different sides of the room. I was actually a little nervous when Micah went to school on Tuesday because it would just be the two of us. But it went very well. We were able to go to Once upon a child and I made her pick out several outfits. She only picked out jeans for pants and the plainer the top the better. It amazes me how such a girly girl who lovers jewelry and makeup and painted fingernails, is happy with jeans and a Tshirt!

On Friday we met with the IA clinic. We had a translator there and you could again see her personality coming out as we were there and she had the opportunity to communicate. SHe had the staff laughing all over the place. She is very straight forward and loves having the center of attention. We found out that she has chicken pox probably a year ago. She did talk about her foster family and we learned a little more information about them. THe translator says that her speech is wonderful and very developed. We have an appointment with the Myelomeningocele (Spina Bifida) clinic in two weeks that will hopefully help us learn more about her incontinence. Otherwise the visit went great. She had to get the TB test redone and there were some tears but they quickly passed. We will get blood drawn on Monday so hopefully that won't be too bad.

Travelling Home

Another Red Couch Picture with her Chinese Dress on

A very tired picture of a new American Citizen

All my kids together

WELCOME HOME!

Meeting Rocky for the first time( No Tears!)

One of My favorite Pictures

Thursday went quicker than I thought. We spent time packing and were able to go out for some last minute shopping. It was sooo hot. You could just stand there and start sweating. We grabbed our last lunch at the Deli next to the White Swan. We really liked eating there for a quick lunch but they were busy this time and I was not paying attention and they over charged us big time. Russ was really mad but we let it go because we are on our way out. We met our guide and a few other families at 4:30 to get Sophia's visa and passport. Sophia started crying once she realized were were not coming back. SHe was mainly upset over the fact that she would not see our guide again. So I put my arm around her in the van and she soon fell asleep.

Our ride to Hong Kong was suppose to be about 2.5 hours and it turned into 4! The traffic was horrible and the driver's foot was on/off/on/off the gas. I was really glad Sophia was not awake because this would have really made her sick. Unfortunately by the time we got to Hong Kong, it was dark so we could not really see the island. We were so glad to get to the hotel. We stayed at the Disneyland Hollywood hotel. It was great to have a little bit of back home. We ate at the buffet, which was outrageously priced, but we were tired and did not want to struggle with trying to figure out what Sophia wanted. Unfortunately, even though it had a lot of asian food, she really did not want most of it, except of course the dessert section. I think she probably tried one of everything, but I was not going to argue about it.

Our flight was not until noonish so we did not have to rush. When we got up we were amazed at our view. It was so beautiful, it seemed like we were in Hawaii. We would have loved to stay and see Hong Kong but we were ready to go home.

So we ate at a quick serve place for breakfast and requested two cabs to take us to the airport. Russ and Dominic were in one and Sophia and I the other. The rides were about 20 minutes and I got to see more of the island so that was great. What was not great was that the cabs did not stay together and we did not get dropped off at the same spot. Granted, we were on the same little strip but I thought Russ's cab was behind us, so I watched and watched, and sweated and watched. I was afraid to go inside because there were just more people to get lost in so I waited, and prayed that some how her would find me. Not 30 seconds after that prayer, Dominic came running out of the airport calling my name. They had already gone inside and were waiting at the United checkin. Dominic saw us through the window and my prayers were answered.

So through the airport we went, which was still sooo much easier than Russia, and we met up with some friends that were on the same flight.

THanksfully the flight went pretty smooth. Unfortunately on THursday, I started to get a cold, so as long as I was on meds, I did pretty good. Sophia, unfortunately had an accident on the plane, and even though I had wipes and pullups, I had NO PANTS, so that was difficult to deal with but we made it through. She stayed up until it was about 9pm China time and then slept for the rest of the trip. I had to laugh at the kids meals that we got on the plane, there was nothing ,kid like about them, in fact, they both liked our food better. Oh well.

We landed early, breezed through immigration and actually had the high hopes of catching an earlier flight home, but it was booked so we waited until 7pm for our final leg home( nwe landed around 1:30).

I have to tell you all of the bug laugh I got when we walked into the immigration section so give our papers to them. THere were several adoption families that were getting ready to leave the area as we came in. THere were also a few people that we not US citizens waiting for their paperwork. One was a family that sounded like they were from and Eastern European country based on their accent. THey had a son that was probably 5-6 ans were getting upset at the wait. He went up tot he immigration officer and was asking why all these "illegals" were able to go in front of him! Illegals? Hey buddy, we are all US CITIZENS!!!!

THe final flight home went well. Sophia slept some more. Once we landed I explained to her that when we got off the plane, she would meet Olivia, Luc and Micah. She had a very unsure look on her face so I was not sure how this would go.

It was so great to get off the plane and be home! As we walked toward security I was all smiles as I could see my three wonderful children that I have missed so much. We all hugged but Sophia just stayed very close to us. I introduced her to everyone but she was still very unsure and not too happy. It did not take too long as Olivia started to play with her for her to open up and feel comfortable.

We did not land until about 9 so it was after 10 when we finally got home. My parents stayed and the kids played until about 12:30am! SHe was a little weary of the dog but not scared like Micah was. She checked out everything and played with the kids for awhile. Olivia even was able to get Sophia to let her do her hair! Olivia has been waiting to do her little sister's hair forever!

We finally all made it to bed. I went to sleep with her for a little while but then finally got to get into my own bed!!!! Oh how I have been wanting to sleep in my own bed.

We all got a great nights sleep. Sophia did not even cry when we went to bed, I think she was just soooo tired.

Our trip to bring our little girl home is now over and we are finally a family of 7! Wow 7! I have to tell you all that as we were waiting at baggage claim and all the kids were so excited, I thought to myself, " Wow, this is a lot if kids!" Of how we are blessed.

Red Couch and Oath

PICTURES: The girls that were adopted through Madison, the families that adopted through Madison, Our picture outside the American Consulate and Yanzi with her friend Natalie, the matching was not planned.

It is funny how by the end of the day, things are such a blur to me. If I did not write these things down before I went to bed, I am sure I would forget by the morning.
Today was a very busy day. We first went to a Jade and Pearl Store and spent some more money. Our guide then took us to a Pizza Hut for lunch. We all enjoyed our pizza and Yanzi even had chicken wings again! We the rushed back to the hotel, took the infamous red couch photos( however only one of the girls got to wear the traditional chinese dress) and then it was off to the American Consulate for our oath. We will try to get Yanzi to wear her dress for a little bit so we can get the picture tomorrow.
We took a large bus with many many families to the consulate. THere were two busses that left from the WHite Swan hotel. It took over 30 minutes to get there but it was enjoyable to see the town. We went up to the 5th floor, went through security and sat in a room with about 40 other families. We waited until our daughter's chinese name was called. Then showed our passport, signed a form and sat down until all the families were done. Then an officer came out and and gave us the oath to say and we were done. It will be so great when we land in Chicago on Friday and go through immigration, our daughter will then be a US Citizen. I know that does not mean much to her now but we know how important it is and are so thrilled for her.
We then did some walking around the island tonight with a little more shopping. Now I don't want you to think that we are actually buying things on all these shopping excursions but just the act of going around, looking at the shops and talking to the people is fun. We then ate at a restaurant called the Orient Express. I had never heard of it until a couple earlier in the week mentioned it. It is French and had a train car on the outside. THere were not very many people there because it is out of the way from the main hubbub but it was an excellent restaurant. THe food was great and it was great to look at inside. For those who may be coming to the island soon, walk out the back of the White Swan and down the street that is perpendicular to the hotel. When you get to the next street, make a right. THere will be a Starbucks on the left once you turn. Walk on this street until it dead ends, the restaurant will be on your left. One you are on the island for several days you start repeating the restaurants that you go to so a new one is always nice.

I don't know if I will get to post tomorrow. We will do packing and last minute picture taking and then leave for Hong Kong at 4:30. We won't get there until about 7pm and since we are staying at the Disney Hollywood hotel. I am sure we will spend the little time we have walking around and visiting the gift shop( more shopping) - I better get all my outings out of the way now because once I get home, I don't know how much I will get out of the house. Then Friday is off to the airport and the long ride home. We will get to Chicago at about 2pm Chicago TIme and after a 5 HOUR LAYOVER and up back HOME at a little after 9pm. Oh home, my kids my own bed, no suitcase!!!

No real changes today with Yanzi, I would have to say we are at a stand still right now. She loves to be around people and was really great today since we were with other families most of the day. However, once they were all gone, and she had time to sit and think in the room, she was getting a little tearful. She never balls but just usually gets a distant look in her eyes and tears. I am hoping that once we get home, all the newness will keep her busy and not make her sad. It is not that I don't want her to miss China but there is so much for her to miss right now that I think it would be too overwelming for her. I have to say there is a part of me that is going to miss being here. I will miss the families that we have met, I will miss looking at the way of life here and seeing how hard the people work and how appreciative they are of the small things. I will miss having my husband negotiate a better price for something, I will miss not having someone else do my laundry for cheaper than I can buy detergent back home, I will miss having a breakfast buffet that is out of this world, I will miss taking in the culture so that I can tell my daughter about it when she is older and I will miss hearing my daughter speak her native language with such pride to all the people we meet.

THank you for all your prayers as we have gone through this journey. We still have a very hard road ahead of us but we will have family and friends beside us then. Your prayers have met so much and I can not tell you how blessed we are to have had such a smooth and enjoyable time in China as well as being blessed with an amazing little girl.

Just Hanging Out

Today we finally slept in. Oh it felt so good. We have finally adjusted to the time here and now we leave in 3 days and have to adjust back.
We had our consulate appointment today but our guide goes for us and handles the paper work. We just have to stay in our room for any questions. iT wasn't even an hour and then we were off walking around. First we found the store "A Gift from China" We had been looking for it. THey have things that are made by orphans and all the proceeds go to support the orphans. The things were beautiful and I could have bought everything. By far this was my favorite store on the island, we did not even have to deal with shopkeepers following us around the store.
We then decided to venture off the island and it is an entirely different world. This is how the chinese really live and shop. Many interesting food choices to pick from, or not. WE saw dried sea horses and curled up snakes. We would have liked to look some more but it was 95 degrees with probably 200% humidity so we were all dripping wet and ready to go.
So we decided to go swimming to cool off. However it wasn't long before a storm rolled in and we headed back to our room. THe nice thing about the rain here is that at least it cools things off for a little while.
We ended the evening with dinner at our favorite Thai plce with the two families we met earlier in the week. It is so great to make new friends on an adoption trip but sad when we know we have to go our separate ways.
Our little Yanzi is such a character. She talks up a storm to all the shop keepers and we think we have figured out why she often gets upset with them. It turns out that even though she speaks mandarin, she has a strong Tianjin accent. That and with talking very fast, I think some of the chinese have trouble understanding her, that is why she gets frustrated when she has to repeat herself to them. SHe even told one shop keeper, "I am proud of my Tianjin accent." I would liken it to a New Yorkers accent in the States.
On the bonding side, Dominic and Yanzi have enjoyed watching a cartoon that is very popular here, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Dominic actually gets very excited to watch the videos even though they are all in chinese.
Oh, I forgot to mention how the outfit choice went today. SHe was not real pleased with the choices she had and now I know why. She motioned that she wanted short sleeves and everything I had were sun dresses. I had heard that the chinese woman do not wear sleeveless tops. But unfortunately that is all that we had so she choose one and was ok the rest of the day.
Since she also does not want to wear any of the hair things that I brought. I decided to use them as a bonding experience and started putting them in my hair. SHe had fun joining in and putting them all in my hair. It was a fun time.
My only real concern now is getting her food that she likes. Today she ate toast with jelly and chicken wings( not at the same meal) and liked them. Hopefully that will continue when we get home.
Only 3 more days, wow, the time has really gone fast. I can not wait to get hugs and kisses from all my kids at home and to have them all get to know Yanzi as we have in the past week.

TB Test and Swimming

Yes Yanzi's TB test was negative. We were not too worried because her arm had no swelling but it was just nice to have it officially read. All the girls in our group were fine so it was a good start to the day. We then got together with our guide and gathered all our paperwork for the US Consulate. She will take it all to the consulate tomorrow and we just have to stay in our room in case there are any questions. And that is all our plans for the day( great to have nothing planned).

We did some more shopping and all the shop keepers comment on how good Yanzi behaves and looks. They can not believe that we just got her, they think she has been with us for awhile. That is all due to the wonderful care of her foster family.

We also got to go swimming for the first time today. I was concerned that she would not want to go. But once we told her in Mandarin, "swimming", she was ready to go. We got her suit on, she was very concerned that it covered her scar on her back( which it did). And once she saw it was ok, she was ready to go. She was not afraid to get in but did not like us holder her in the deep part. She would do it for a little while but then would start to wimper about going to the side. Once she found the shallow part, she wanted to stay in that part the entire time. THere was a little girl there that had been adopted awhile ago but spoke some chinese still. She would translate what Yanzi was saying. She kept saying "This is fun". In fact tonight, after we got ready for bed, she motioned swimming and said something, I am guessing she said that she wished she could go swimming again but it was dark and getting late( it was only 8:30 but for us that is late)

She is only getting upset now, when we eat. It is not an upset but a sadness. I think it is that there is not much food that she likes and she is missing that. It has been really hard because we have eaten at chinese restaurants and the breakfast buffet has both western and chinese foods but she doesn't seem to want anything. Finally today, we opened up some almonds that we had. SHe tried them and really liked them so I will make sure that I have them at all meals just in case. Otherwise she likes french fries and coconut milk. Not a very balanced diet but right now we are just trying to keep her full. She will try things for us( at least one bite) but something she will eat today she will not eat tomorrow. Oh well! Tonight we ate dinner with two other families and having someone that she can talk to really helps her during meals.
She was in a great mood after dinner and she even took out her pony tails( I think to show us she wanted to swim). When Russ commented (in chinese) that she looked beautiful, she lite up. She left her hair down for the rest of the night(she normally sleeps with her pony tails in - ouch!) and would keep going back into the bathroom to look at herself. It was so cute. THis was great because I tried to braid one of her pony tails today and she was about in tears.

THe big test tomorrow will be getting dressed. She has now worn all the cloths she brought and the two outfits that she picked out from the store. They are all dirty now and she will have to pick something that we brought for her. That will be a really big step for her so we will see.

Safari Park

PICTURES: The Sea of Umbrellas, the girls in our group, Yanzi and her umbrella, Feeding the Giraffi, One of the many pandas

Today we did get to go to the Safari Park even though it was pouring rain. I really wanted to go to the Christian church down the street but it was at 11am and the service was 2 hours. Our group was leaving for the Park at 9am. I figured the kids would not make it through church so we did go to the park. As I said, it was pouring rain when we got there. We had umbrellas but at points it was raining so hard, that we were still getting wet. We ended up buying some rain ponchos for the kids, unfortunately the kids sizes were only in pink so Dominic really had to want one to wear pink. Thankfully the rain did taper off and eventually stopped. THe park was really great. THere was a walking area and a riding area. The thing that stands out at this park was just how many of each animal there were. On the riding side, we got to see tigers (white and regular), lions, bears ,deer and zebras but there were not just a few of each, there were many. Dominic saw 14 in the white tiger section! There were also 10 panda bears here. More than any other place in the world. 6 of the Pandas had been transferred from a Panda rescue that got hit hard in the earthquake last year. It was really great to see these animals. Yanzi had said that she had never been to a zoo before so she really did enjoy seeing the animals. We even got to feed the giraffi. Yanzi did not want to do it at first but after she watched several others do it, she was excited to try. The thing that cracked me up the most was when we were on the tram riding through the park, Yanzi would wave to the animals, every single one of them! And it was not just a normal wave, it was the princess parade wave. It just was so cute.

That was the big part of our day. We ate a late lunch at the Deli( which is out the back of the hotel to the left) and then a late dinner at the Western restaurant on the Island named Lucy's( to the right outside the back of the hotel). You never know quite what she will eat but she definitely is a french fries girl.

THe only break down we had today is a nap time. Even though you could mistaken the crying for sadness, she was just upset that I made her lay down. I laid with her but the crying kept getting worse. I was actually getting a little peaved because I knew that she was trying to convince me to let her up but instead, I held her some and the crying toned down until she finally fell asleep. After 1.5 hours Russ woke us up and it was hard to get her out of bed ( I knew she was tired).

We also started some shopping today. Got some really good bargins thanks to Russ' negotiating skills. Even the shop keepers laugh at how serious he takes it. More shopping on the list tomorrow, I think Russ actually is looking forward to it.
Not much tomorrow just the TB test reading and some paperwork.