Home for 5 days and Strawberry Picking

Already we have been home for 5 days, it feels like much less and much longer:) We already can't imagine our lives without Lil Miss Addison! Yet our routine has changed a bit! I forgot what its like to have to schedule in naps, 12 noon lunch (on the dot!!!), diaper changes, and laying down to have a little one fall asleep at nap time and bedtime! I am trying to cherish everyone of these moments, as I have missed so many of her other moments. Everday she seems to be relaxing more and more and letting us into her little heart, it certainly will take time, like years probably, but I see improvements everyday. The first couple days (especially day one) it was hard to see her regress and put up her walls, but it almost seems sweeter to see them slowly come back down again! She is sleeping through the night and I have just incorporated her regular daytime nap again. Addison is a go, go, go kinda girl! And I have really had to try to pace her and keep things quiet around here so she does get a chance to adapt to her new home, and family.
Riley is loving being a big sister, its really neat to see her take on this new role! She is really loving the "responsibility." If she had it her way, she would be the Mom and I would be the assistant!!! I am just so glad to see her be so giving and flexible. Howard and I have made special times to spend with just Riley so she doesn't feel left out or jealous.....I am sure those feelings will come later down the road, once the "honeymoon" stage has worn off:)
Josh apparently hung the moon, in Addison's eyes! Its really the cutest thing ever! He dotes on her, and she loves every minute of it! Its funny, because when we got Addison's referral; Josh said " I am going to really get along with her." And I just thought, ok sure, whatever you say honey. But he really is quite smitten with her, he comes up to play with her several times a day!
Nathan has interacted with Addison a bit, and likes her, but Im not sure what he's feeling? He will come to her and play when its convenient for him, but if she seeks him out its a no go. Nathan and I are quite close....so I wonder if he is feeling some envy of my time spent with Addison? Howard and I have talked and I think I am going to take him out on a date, so he can have some special one on one.
Howard and Addison's relationship has changed alot in the last couple days, he was the first person she asked for this morning! And when I brought her to him on the couch, she broke out in the biggest smile ever:) Its so nice to see! Although I'll miss being number one;) Howard will go into work for some meeting on the 3rd and 4th of August and will not return to work until the 24th of August! So that is a nice bit of time off for him, and we are all ecstatic!
I am doing well, still fighting this nasty cold, but we have definitely overcome the jet lag alot more quickly than expected! I am trying to keep up to the housework and laundry, plus do something fun for everyone, everday. It is challenging, but extra nice to have Howard home to help with it all:) Yesterday we went strawberry picking and had a great time! We packed a picnic, played at the campground and had ice cream! A perfect day! We even got our first pictures of all 4 of the kids together! Yay!

Its always so hard to get them all looking at the camera!

Addison and her favourite boy!

Oh yeah! Day 2 and we already have Addie doing chores!!!! Just Kidding! Although she loves to help clean up after dinner! Excuse the messy kitchen, we were in the process of cleaning it up!

Happy little muffin, waiting for her boiled egg white's and watermelon for breakfast. Oh how I love that little smile!

Were Home!

Ah, home sweet home! It is was so good to finally fall into bed, after 25 hours of travel;) Addison slept through the night last night, however we didn't arrive home until midnight, and she slept very little on our flights. Other than not much sleep she did very well! We arrived in Vancouver at lunch time, and had a 7 hr lay over; So we decided to hope a skytrain have lunch and walk along False Creek. It was a beautiful day and felt so great to stretch our legs!

We arrived home to the best welcoming committee ever! Our kids and our dear friends Trina, Vince and their kids. They had all made welcome home signs for Addison and brought her helium balloons and flowers! I have to say when we finally landed in GP I welled up a bit, it was so good to be home, and I really missed our kids! Addison of course was a little overwhelmed by everyone; But I had anticipated that, so I had put her in the Scoot a Baby carrier ( I highly recommend it! It felt like I was carrying a 5lb baby, not a 20lb toddler!) We got home and had a snack and a little tour of the main floor of our house, and then everyone happily went to bed!

Addison and I slept in until 11:30 this morning! And her first day was a pretty good one, I think.
She was definitely not the wild woman we have come to know and love in China, as she was being a little cautious with all the change. She love, love, loves Josh! And really likes Riley. Nathan has shown very little interest, but he has been helpful. Food is a bit of an issue, and we kinda thought it would be when we were in China.....let just say she likes most fruit (peeled), noodles, noodles, noodles, boiled egg whites and garlic toast! She cried when I tried to feed her the most delicious lasagna Trina made for us tonight! I can't find any milk she will take, including soy. And meat is a no go! I did see her eat green beans and peas though! So we will stock up on those! I am sure it will come eventually, I guess just as long as we are getting all her vitamins she needs, we won't worry. We took her to our local playground, she was happy just to watch, and sit on a swing with me. There were a few other kids there, so I think she was just a little unsure. She did love to watch Riley play on the slide though!

I am hoping to do a recap of our trip as I didn't get to post everyday like I had planned on. There were so many thoughts and memories I don't want to forget! Everyone else is in bed, and I am exhausted! So that's it for tonight:-)

You Know You Have Been In China Too Long When....

This may have been the case of one too many Tsingtao Beers....or just two tweebs being themselves. I vote for the latter! Good times, Good times:0)

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So Long China!

A really quick post! I have a 2 year old eating on my lap:) The cream has almost completely cleared up Addison's infection! AMAZING! Addison is doing so well! We have seen such a change in her little personality! She's kinda like a bull in a china shop:0) We love her to bits and pieces! Can't wait to get home now and see the rest of our kids, we miss them so very much! Addie has finally started to take to Howard as you can see in one of the pictures posted! Yay! She even says " Buba loves his girl"  Its so darn cute, I will have to catch her saying it on our video camera and post it! I want to do a post on how thankful we are, and how much we loved being here....but that will have to wait until we get home and settled. Tomorrow we hope a big jet plane and fly 11hrs to Vancouver, please keep us in your prayers! Our first flight we had a very scared little girl. We are hoping she will sleep, as it will be over her night time:) I guess our next post will be from Canada!!! With one of Canada's newest Citizens!

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Great Wall and Impetigo?

A quick post as I am now paying for internet! We did the Great Wall, Jade Factory & Cloisonne Factory today! It was a marathon!!! Howard and I didn't get very many pictures as we had a very upset little miss...We have figured out Addie doesn't have chicken pox, we think she has impetigo! I have some Bacetriban Cream from anther family and we are praying it will keep it under control until we get home. Now the trick is keeping ourselves and the others from our group from being infected! Please pray for Miss Addison the sore on her body look awful and they are so very itchy and painful (I think!) Please pray for the rest of our group that they don't contract it as well! I have googled the treatment and Bacetriban should do, but hers are quite severe so she may need oral antibiotics when we get home. I really want to enjoy the rest of our trip but we are quite concerned about our girl:( We will be out to get something to cover her sores that are visible (other than her face ) tomorrow. I am hoping if we don't share or have physical contact with the others that they should all  be ok!
Oh yeah! We made it safe to Beijing and are so glad to be here! We are enjoying our stay in this amazing city! And loving the food! Have had fabulous lunches and dinners since we arrived:) Hopefully we can catch the Summer Palace tomorrow...we'll see!
Finally HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!! We miss you so much and wish we could be there to celebrate your 9th Birthday! Have fun with Grandma & Grandpa!

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Yellow Crane Tower

We had a very nice morning touring the Yellow Crane Tower. There is such rich history here sometimes it overwhelms a person, almost like its hard to wrap your mind around how old some of the things you are looking at are! Maybe its because we live in such a young country? The grounds were lovely, and it didn't rain at all today!!! We made it to the 6th floor of the tower (there are 9) but with the wicked humidity, a 18mos old, a 2yr old, a 5 yr old & a bunch of Canadian adults who were dripping sweat even before we started to climb the tower; we felt that level 6 was a very respectable showing:) It was an amazing view, we could see the Yangtze and the orphanage Addison spent her first 3 months of life at. Howard bought Addie and Riley each their very own Wuhan pearl bracelets, they are very cute; and Addison was very proud of her new jewlery and kept telling our guide how pretty it was:) We were back at the hotel by lunch time and ordered room service and had naps. The rest of the afternoon we spent waiting for Addison to wake from her nap and then we went for a walk. Kind of a boring day but we got to spend it with Addie so that made it spectacular! We love her so much! It makes me sad to think that tomorrow we will be taking her away from the city she called home for all her life. Her language skills are so advanced and we will slowly watch her lose that, I hope we will be able to help her keep her Mandarin/Wuhan dialect. I have picked up a few words like...blanket, lets go, pee, hungry, water, watermelon. But the more I use her language I think the more I confuse her, and she expects me to understand everything she is saying! I'm not sure what is right, only speak in English, or infuse our English with Mandarin? She has warmed up to Howard a bit...she fell asleep while I was holding her, and then I really needed to use the biffy, so I passed her off. When she woke in Howard's arms on the bus she was fine for a good 30 minutes!!! However, the rest of the day other than play and letting him buy her snacks He was a no go! Baby steps I guess. She is very, very busy! And today when we in the market at the Yellow Crane Tower Addison got quite concerned for the little boy who was just adopted by our travel mates...she kept telling him to go to his Mama, his Mama is just over there;and she would point to his Mom! Then she told/yelled at him to call is Mama!!!! How does she know that Carline is Nathan's Mama? It amazed all of us, even our guide. Of course we had a good chuckle as well as she was bossing him around:) We are finishing up in Wuhan tomorrow and will be flying back to Beijing at 6PM tomorrow night. Please pray for us! This will be a good indication on how things will go on our big flight home. I hope Addison is a good traveller! She does well on the bus, so hopefully that translates into a good flyer! I added a bunch of pictures to the shutterfly site this afternoon. I think our next post will be from Beijing if we have adequate internet there!

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Wuhan

I have to start out by saying that I am trying really hard to love this city that Addie is from....maybe its the endless rain, maybe its the lack of a guide, maybe its the busy beyond imagination streets, but I am finding it really hard! There really isn't much to see in Wuhan city itself, people travel here to take the Yangtze River cruise, Yellow Crane Tower and the Hubei Museum. We asked our guide yesterday if she would take us to both the Yellow Crane Tower and Museum and she said no only one! Really? She has showed us one place to eat....its about  20 minute walk (in pouring rain) and it was more expensive than our hotel, which is expensive by Chinese standards. Once we arrived at this restuarant there was no English or pictures in the menu, and the waitress spoke very little English. I think someone should make a comedic movie of North American adoptive families in China trying to order food or take a taxi etc. Really its quite funny! We ended up with a lovely meal and enough to feed an army! We just had to laugh with the family who is traveling to Hubei with us:)
We decided since we survived that adventure last night, we would take a taxi to the museum on our own and tour it today, as today was another free day. The hotel staff is so abesolutely wonderful! They have bent over backwards to help us, I wish one of these staff members was our guide! It was a very quick taxi ride to the museum, we toured around only the first floor before the kids got restless & tired. We made a quick stop on the way out at the gift store and we bought a special set of bells for our house, its really quite beautiful and will sit on the ledge in our dinning room at home. These bells have significance in Hubei as they were found in the Emporeror Yi's tomb and are the largest musical bell's ever recovered, they also date back to something like 476 B.C. Howard and wanted to find something special to bring back from Addison's province, so we are both very happy with our find! And our first purchase(besides food) in China! We will also have to go and make a quick trip to Carrefour a HUGE supermarket down the road as we are running low on diapers! I am bummed we haven't been able to take many pictures of the area in Wuhan. It is so humid that as soon as you take out the camera the lense fogs up! I will attach one of the only pictures taken outside so you can see how foggy it is! Quite hillarious,really. We are seeing signs of flooding, the Yangtze has is running very high we saw treetops on the edge when we came in, these trees would usually line the banks not be submerged in water! Also many of the sidewalks on the way to the Civil Affairs Office were flooded. We saw one poor lady get soaked head to toe when a bus went by through a huge puddle. I wish I could write more about Wuhan, espically for those of you who are following and will be coming soon, but we really haven't seen much. Maybe I will have a better perspective tomorrow after our one and only tour! Do I sound sarcastic when I right that!?! Maybe we were just spoiled with the worlds best guides in Beijing and were expecting the same here. Ok enough complaining!
On to our sweet little Addison. She had a rough night last night. Was up 4 times in the night and just wanted to be snuggled. This morning she was out of sorts as well, I think she keeps hoping we will bring her back! I must say I am starting to notice the difference between her grieving and her I am throwing a tantrum cries;) She seems to have  two very different personalities one is very outgoing, busy, bossy, cheeky and fun. The other is very timid and clingy....which is probably because she is scared out of her tree! Both Howard and I are interested to see how her true personality blossoms as the days and months go by. She is still my cling on, it seems to be getting worse. I am the comforter and she wants me to do everything for her. We make sure Howard is the one to give her food even though she would really rather I did it, also he is the fun play guy ( whats new right?) And she really does love to play with him! She laughs her little head off:) but will not let him carry her or snuggle or even hold her hand now. She is so proud of the clothes I put on her each morning and loves her PJ's (juts like mom!) She is eating alot but not as much as I was expecting. She loves fruit and noodles! And really likes meat. I love that she has her special soothing blanket, its a huge help. We do not leave the room without it! She seems to feel really safe in the carrier, and really with how crazy the traffic is here I wouldn't want her walking! Once we are in Beijing we will let her out to walk a bit more. One thing we find hard/feel guilty about is, she is speaking very well! And of course we understand very little. She keeps chattering at us and expects us to answer! She is said "thank you" and "pretty" today in English so we will keep talking in English to her about everything and anything. Howard hopes to find someone at home that can help her with her Mandarin as we would really hate for her to lose her language!We are both head over heels in love with her and are looking forward to our return to Beijing and adventually home! Oh and thanks for all the lovely comments and emails! I am receiving them to my email and will be able to publish them when I get home:) Also I just posted a quick video of Addison and Howard playing on our shutterfly site hopefully it worked! www.khmervyn.shutterfly.com

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Forever Family Day!

What a crazy amazing day! We woke up at about 3:30AM in Beijing and were on the bus at about 5AM. I had butterflies going in my stomach already at that point! Yet felt such a great peace that this is exactly where we were suppose to be.
We arrived in Wuhan around 9:30AM. O.k. they don't call it China's furnace for nothing! It was a cool 22 degrees, however with the humidity and rain it was unlike anything I have ever felt!!! I would not want to be here when the mercury rises above 30 degrees! Our ride from the airport to the hotel took about an hour (we are staying at the White Rose Hotel) I was prepared for Wuhan, as I had read from several other bloggers that it is quite a dirty place....they were right! There is alot of construction going on, you can really tell they are in the middle of a boom! Hotel is magnificent! It is so fancy I almost don't know how to behave! Just kidding! Lets just say I have never stayed somewhere, that they employ someone to press the elevator button for their guests! As much as we love the hotel its really in the centre of the city, we loved walking around Beijing, however here its so busy and crazy (people driving on the wrong side of street against traffic) it will be a challenge to get out and all there is are buildings and malls to see. Not that I'm complaining! Just very different than Beijing.
We arrived at the Civil Affairs office shortly after 3PM and Addison was already there! She was just playing away, happy as a clam! The first thing we noticed was her one arm and near her nose had some major scabs, the orphanage director rushed over to us  before we even had a chance to meet her, and he explained she had gotten chicken pox about 13 days ago. And those scabs were where she had been scratching herself. Poor little thing, so much change and chicken pox on top of it! She is no longer contagious as all the scabs are just that, scabs she has picked at. Addison recognized us immediately from the book we sent her....well she recognized Howard, I don't know if you noticed, but my hair has been really curly since we arrived in China! I usually straighten it, and my picture we sent was me with straight hair. So she kinda thought I looked like the picture! I brought out the cheerios, and she thought they were just o.k. I brought out the stacking cups, with no success, finally I brought out the bubbles....Success! She thought they were great! and even started laughing:) It was long after that the orphanage director and the nannies just up and left! They said good bye to Addison, and she lost it! I went over and picked her up, and she tried to pinch, hit and bite me. Good thing I am made from such tough stock:) I just grabbed her very special favourite blanket from her fosterhome and rocked her and loved her and she cried her little heart out. It was heartbreaking for me, and I had a moment where I almost cried right along with her! However I held it together. We left right away. On the bus she settled down and fell right to sleep. We had to make a pit stop  at the grocery store for the other family travelling with us, and we needed to buy milk for Addie. So stupid!!! So overwhelming!!! I recomend if you have a choice try to get those things before you meet your child! We survived though. Made our way back to the hotel and filled out the necessary paperwork in the lobby, and then we brought our sweet little peanut up to our room. As soon as we walked in she started crying again. I think she sobbed her little heart our for about an hour. Then I tried a bath.....that was just what she needed! Our little Addison came right out of her shell! We played bowling and I tell you that was a hit! The orphanage director sent us home with some of her favourite snacks so we brought those out, and by the time 15 minutes had passed she was already saying "more" when she wanted one! Then probably 3 hours after we met  Addie we were looking in the mirror and she pointed at me and said "Mama" and smiled!!!! I almost lost it:) I am sure I had tears welling up in my eyes as I nodded, smiled and gave her a kiss. Shortly after when Howard stepped out, she kept looking around the room and in a questioning voice saying "Baba?" I am totally amazed! Obviously her foster family has been working on her with the picture book we sent. And for that I will forever be thankful. We had a light dinner and then went to bed early. Addison slept between Howard and I in the bed, and she slept straight through the night!
I have to say what a crazy, amazing, beautiful day it was! Nobody can truly capture what its like in words. We already love her to pieces, and just want whats best for her! She is difinitely my little cling on right now, however she is happy to play with Howard, and will take food from him. So we will work slowly on his and her relationship as the days progress. Right now I am watching both of them asleep in bed and my heart just melts! I am so thankful we chose to adopt from this amazing country! I feel so honored and amazed the God would choose this beautiful little girl for us! She is more special than I could have ever hoped for!

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We Have Addison :)

I will post how it all went down soon! So busy! I know all you want is the picts:)

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Beijing Day 3

 
So today was our last day in China without Addison! Howard and I had so much fun today! I don't think I have laughed so hard and so much in  a very long time! We have been having a blast getting to know the other families in our group, and our friends Jon and Kristin are such a blessing to have here in China with us!
Today we went to the Drum Tower, a lake (I'm not sure of the name) and saw some of the hutongs, where people live. So far this has been my favourite experience in China, it was so beautiful walking around the lake with lotus plant's growing around the edges and some great shopping as well:) I was quite excited to find a starbucks, and of course had to stop for some coffee, however it was too warm for something hot so we enjoyed the best caramel frappucino ever!!
After our walk, we had the privledge of exchanging our USD for Chinese Yuan...well the frist bank didn't have enough cash to help all of us families! So we had to find another bank to do the exchange. The process takes quite a bit of time, we had to produce our passports and then they quadruple count our USD and check each bill to make sure it is not conterfit! I think it took each couple a minimum of 30minutes to exchange their money! And the pile...lets just say we still aren't sure how we will safely carry it through security at the airport! It is about 6 inches thick! Yikes!  I then ended the afternoon with a full body massage, it was amazing! And cheap!
We went out for another fabulous dinner, and now I am packing for Wuhan! in 12 hours we will be hopping a plane for Addison's hometown and will meet her tomorrow afternoon! EEK! Its going to be a day of high emotion, and huge uncertainty. I am so excited to finally meet our little girl, yet so very scared:) Pleas pray for us as go from being a family of 5 to a family of 6! Next post will be with Addison in our arms!!!

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Llama Temple Pictue

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Dirt Market & Llama Temple

We had a wonderful day today! The morning was spent at the Dirt Market, watching fellow travellers barter for antiques and artwork. It is

a really neat market that opens at 4 AM on Saturday's!  I didn't find anything worth bartering for, though. When it was time to leave and get a taxi, we saw the most hillarious traffic jam

ever....we saw drivers backing up in the middle of the intersection, while buses blocked the same intersection diagonally, pedistrians weaving in and out of the enraged drivers & the cyclists hopping curbs to get by! We had to stop and take some video of the situation, as

it was unlike anything we have ever seen! While we were watching this unfold our sweet guide Faye was trying to flag us a taxi...well lets

just say 45minutes later we were in a taxi and heading for the hotel! When we arrived back to the hotel at 1PM both Howard and I knew

there was no way we could hang in our room, or we would sleep the rest of the afternoon away. So a group of us walked over to the Llama Temples, they were really quite beautiful. The grounds and the architecture of the temples were amazing. We finished the day

with another fabulous dinner, and now I am trying to upload pictures to our shutterfly account and make a quick post before I fall into

bed:) Thanks for all the lovely comments and emails! Unfortunately I can only see them via email and won't be able to publish them to our

blog until we return home.

 

 

Technical Difficulties & 2 More Sleeps!

O.k. I am having a few internet issues. I can post to our blog via email, however it won't allow me to attach pictures. So that is where

our shutterfly account comes in handy! I have a link for it at the top left hand coner of our blog....I think it says pictures of china. or here

is the address  www.khmervyn.shutterfly.com  so from this point on I will post our pictures from shutterfly. Also when ever I check my

emails and want to send one from my contact list.....well apparently I no longer have a contact list!!! All of my contacts have been wiped

out! From here any ways. I will see if my Mom can access my webmail account from home and see if I have a list when accessed in

Canada. So if I said I would email you, I may not be able to....unless I can remember your email address! The final thing is, we will have to pay for internet in our hotel for the last 9 days we are here so I will be posting less (depending

on how much it costs.)

 

Okay enough business! 2 mores sleeps until Addison!!! I am now finally allowing myself to get excited! Before it was about each little step, like this paperwork, that flight, our big flight to Beijing....now we're here! and its only 2 more sleeps!!! Please pray for Addison as the

time gets closer for her to leave her foster home and join her forever family. She has been with her foster family for 2 years so the

transition may be quite difficult and extremely scary for sweet Addie. Please also pray for Howard and I for the next few days as this

time will be an emotional rollercoaster I am sure:)

 

Its still early here, like 7 AM. The streets are really quiet right now, and its already warm! I think they turn off the A/C overnight, as it got

pretty muggy in here, however I can feel the A/C starting now.I can't believe we are actually here! I think we will walk to the Llama Temple

today as its close by, as is some bell tower, and maybe try to find a market as Howard and my friend K. have not brought sunglasses.

I hope to take lots of pictures, and will post them tonight, if I don't zonk out first:) I feel so blessed to have people we know, and that

attend the same church travelling with us....that just doesn't ever happen! So thank you God! Also that we could travel at a time that was

convenient for my Mom & Aunt Donna to look after Nathan, Josh & Riley for almost the whole time. His time is always perfect, and it

does feel that way:)

 

 

 

We Made It!

We arrived in Beijing at 3:30PM local time. In a down pour! Our flights were perfect! Air China was just as comparable as any other airline we have flown

with. And I thought the flight attendants were quite friendly. It took an hour to get from the airport to our hotel (Oriental Culture in Beijing)

Then we had about 20 minutes to get cleaned up and money exchanged before we went out for dinner and groceries. The only ones up

for dinner and groceries were our dear friends J&K and ourselves, however one of our guides took us for a delicious dinner and it only

cost the 4 of us $17 Canadian total!!! How awesome is that!?! And the food was amazing! We also had some "enterntainment" The was

a table full of children next to us and they kept peeking through the divider wall and giggling:) They then proceeded to sing and demonstrate a game! It was really cute! The grocery store was and experience! Live turtles, snails and other delicacies:)

 

My first impression of China so far is....I love it! We feel a little overwhelmed by the hustle & bustle, but its beautiful here, I was amazed

at all the trees and garden areas!

 

Well Howard is sleeping, and I need to shower and fall into bed. Excuse any of my spelling/grammar mistakes. I am typing on very

little sleep:)

 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Our next post will be from China! We are so excited! Can't wait to get there:) Everything is packed, and Howard and I were joking that it will be so odd to be just the two of us, for the next couple days! Kid's are tucked in hugged & kissed.


Nathan, Josh & Riley we sure will miss you! Love you lots and we will see you on Skype. Have fun and be good:)

One More Day Until China!!!

Well tomorrow is our last day home and then we are off to China! It still feels so surreal! I have moments where it sinks in during the day, and then they pass. Sleeping has become a bit of an issue, now. I hope we will get some good sleep on our flight over:) I think we are all packed except for our toiletries. My Aunt arrived today and my Mom arrives tomorrow. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive wonderful family, 15 days with 3 kids is no walk in the park:) However I know everyone is going to have a blast and will be healthy and safe. I sure am going to miss the kids though!
In 5 days we will meet Addison for our first time! I am a jumble of emotions heading into this meeting. I love her already and have yet to meet her! How is that even possible!?! We have been praying that the Lord would prepare her little heart for us, ever since we saw her file. We have also been praying that He would give us the wisdom to meet her where she is at in her shock and grief. For those of you who believe in the power of prayer, please pray of our little girl and for us! Please pray for safe flights, for good health, no lost luggage, and just an all round wonderful trip:)

I had to add this picture of Riley.....she is beyond excited to meet her little sister, a little nervous for Mom and Dad to go, however has decided its worth getting a new sister:)

Joshua's Early 9th Birthday

Ok the first thing I have to say is... You might be a redneck if....Your 9 year old son insists on a birthday cake with a deer on it! Not just because they are cute....enough said! My husband's hobbies are now being adopted by our children! How will I survive:0)
So we will be in China on Joshua's birthday, unfortunately for him. So we had an early celebration here at our house. He was actually quite excited to get his presents early, and is hoping Grandma will have a celebration for him while we are away.

As I said in an earlier post this boy can not be in front of a camera without being silly:) That being said, I sure love the young man my Joshy J. Washer's is turning into. He has a heart of gold, he is respectful, fun loving, always willing to serve, full of energy and that boy can tell you animal facts that you could never possibly know about:)

Howard and I feel so blessed to be Joshua's parents! And we look forward to see what God will do in his life! Happy Early 9th Birthday Joshy!

So 4 more sleeps until China! Maybe I should rephrase that.... 4 more sleepless nights:0) I think I will be hauling out the Melatonin tonight. I am not nervous per say, just really excited! We have so many lovely friends and family members calling and emailing us, letting us know that they will be thinking and praying for our family! And I just want to say a great big huge THANK YOU! We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives that truly care for us! Tomorrow will be the house cleaning marathon, then Tuesday my Aunt fly's in to help look after our kids, Wednesday my Mom gets here, and then bright and early (5AM) Thursday we are gone!!!

Sometimes it blows my mind that God knew Howard and I would be travelling to China during this exact time; to adopt Addison into our family! I know that adoption doesn't start with a beautiful story....it starts with a loss, Addison lost her birth mother, a decision I am sure was not an easy one for Addie's Mom. A heartbreaking decision indeed. I can not even imagine what her birth mother would have been thinking as she was leaving her newborn daughter at the gates of the city, sorrow I am sure. I believe as a Christ follower we have been called to look after the orphans of this world. I believe we are all given choices. I don't think God intended for Addison to be orphaned, however a choice was made....and instead of allowing that decision to harm her, HE would use that decision for good. Howard and I also made a decision, a decision to take a step in faith and adopt a little girl from China. That choice lead us to Addison, and our heavenly Father knew we would be here at this exact time, welcoming a beautiful little girl, we will call daughter into our lives! I don't believe everyone is called to adopt. However I do believe we have been called to look after that less fortunate, and that can look different for everyone. I hope as you follow our family to China that you will be encouraged and inspired to do whatever it is you are being called to do!

Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God - you are breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration- what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared,

before I even lived one day.

Cooking School: Joshy J. Washers

Our final cooking school until I get back from China. It was Josh's turn last night, and he chose to make a BLT Pizza.....it was interesting. He made homemade dough and everything! We both really had a good time cooking together, however Howard got home in the middle of the process and Josh got a little side tracked:0)

O.k this boy really can't be in front of a camera and not be silly! And I love that about him, he is constantly making me laugh:0)


Here is Joshy J. Washer's (how did we ever come up with that nickname?) with his finished product.

Here is the BLT Pizza!

Well now it is 6 days until China! Ooh I just got butterflies! I am just tying the final loose ends together. Like I forgot to buy Addie travel medical insurance! Whoops! All done now though. I notice on the 10 day forecast we may be in for alot of rain, I am wondering if I should buy some of those compact rain coats for both Howard and I?

Tonight our sweet friends Trina and Vince are taking us out for dinner! Yum-o at my favourite Chinese place! Can you tell I am just a little excited? I might even talk Howard into a movie afterwards! We'll see. This will most likely be one of our last dates for quite some time, so I am very much looking forward to tonight!

In One Week.

At this time in one week Howard and I will be in Vancouver at the airport waiting for our flight to Beijing! Wow! I have mountains of laundry and packing to do before then. We are in the home stretch and it means 10 days until we meet Addison:0)

Howard comes home today, and then is in the office tomorrow and then he is done work for at least 5 weeks!!! That in itself is something to be excited about!

Our itinerary looks like this...

Jul 8 - Depart from G.P. @ 7AM through Vancouver

Jul9 - Arrive in Beijing @ 4:50PM local time.

Jul10&11- Touring and shopping in Beijing with our friends J&K

Jul 12 - Fly to Wuhan *FOREVER FAMILY DAY*

Jul 13 - China part of adoption finalized

Jul14&15- Touring Addison's home province and getting to know her:0)

Jul 16 - Receive Addison's passport & fly back to Beijing

Jul 17to22 - Touring Beijing, bonding, applying for entry VISA's etc.

Jul 23 - Fly home we arrive in G.P. @ 10:35 PM

We will be staying at the Oriental Culture Hotel in Beijing for our first couple days there, then in Wuhan we will be staying at the White Rose Hotel, and finally when we are back in Beijing we will stay at State Guest Presidential Plaza Hotel.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

I will bring you children from the east

and gather you from the west. ~ Isaiah 43:5~

Let your gentleness be evident to all.The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Phil 4:5-7~