Elizabeth and Kathryn are on their way home. They will arrive in Minneapolis from Chicago on Friday April 6 on United Airlines at approximately 4:15pm.
Elizabeth will update the blog over the weekend. So that we will get the rest of the story!!!
Welcome home!!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Sunday and Monday
Today is Wednesday Evening. I know that I am a few days behind on the blog and am going to try to catch you all up on what has been happening. There have been a lot of highs and lows these last few days. All is good now, and soon I will be on my way home. But for now, I will give you a snap shot of what has been happening this week so far.
Sunday
Sunday was a free day for us. We didn’t have any paperwork to do for the adoptions so we did a little sightseeing as a group. Our days don’t start very early so we don’t really accomplish a lot during the day. Normally we get going by 10:00 or so, after everybody has enjoyed an awesome breakfast buffet. Kathryn loves breakfast and eats a ton. She really likes yogurt, I can’t seem to get it in her mouth fast enough. She also enjoys conge, eggs, and bananas. Once she has had her fill I can typically get a little for myself before it is time to go.
Our outing for today was to go to the Chen’s Ancestral Hall. This building was amazing. The craftsmanship that went into building this is inspiring. All of the architectural decorations in the building are of varied topics; they are wood carvings, brick carvings stone carvings, pottery sculptures. I took a lot of pictures and some of them are on the blog. There was also a great courtyard in the back that I took a quick video of all for you. It was very peaceful in the courtyard. (I am sorry I am not able to get the video to load right now. Having technical difficulties. I will continue trying.)
After Chen’s Ancestral Hall some of the group needed to go grocery shopping. I didn’t need anything so I just stayed in the bus while they quickly shopped. Kathryn was able to get fed and even took a short nap. All of this has taken us several hours to accomplish and it was very hot out. So the group ended up back in the hotel. The hotel we were staying in was right next to a McDonalds of all places. I went with another family and had a quick bite to eat. After going back to the hotel Kathryn proceeded to take a 3 hour nap and so I was able to get some work done that I needed to finish up.
After Chen’s Ancestral Hall some of the group needed to go grocery shopping. I didn’t need anything so I just stayed in the bus while they quickly shopped. Kathryn was able to get fed and even took a short nap. All of this has taken us several hours to accomplish and it was very hot out. So the group ended up back in the hotel. The hotel we were staying in was right next to a McDonalds of all places. I went with another family and had a quick bite to eat. After going back to the hotel Kathryn proceeded to take a 3 hour nap and so I was able to get some work done that I needed to finish up.
When Kathryn woke up from her nap we took a little walk around the hotel and chatted with some people. My friend Kimberly was coming in late that night to join me for the last week and to help me bring Kathryn home on the plane. I was looking forward to some company and also to have some help. The other families I have been traveling with have been extremely helpful to me and I have been very appreciative. I just knew it would be nice though to have a familiar face with me.
Kathryn and I stayed in for supper and the night went by quietly. Kimberly made it to the hotel about 10:30 and all went well with her travels. I knew that tomorrow was a big day. We had our consulate appointment at 8:30 in the morning so I was a little keyed up. We needed to get up early so we can leave the hotel by 7:45. Our plan was to go to the appointment and then come back for breakfast. So much for the best laid plans…….
Monday
Monday started out with all of us being a little tired. I needed to get up and get ready earlier than I have at any time since I have been here. I was also on a mission not to be the last family downstairs. What I didn’t know is that the clock in my room was about 7 minutes fast. So when I was frantically trying to get all of the last minute things together I really had time. We made it downstairs to the lobby and nobody was there. That is when I found out my clock was wrong. Oh well, better early than late.
Three of the four families had their appointments on Monday. The other family had their appointment on Tuesday morning. So the three families loaded on the bus and away we went for our big day. We all had our packets of necessary paperwork so we could obtain our visa’s for our children to enter the US and become US Citizens. This is a big day.
The process at the consulate is that all of the families with the 8:30 appointments will line up and then be checked in by a guard before being let in to go upstairs. We were somewhere in the middle of the pack of what appeared to be about 30 families. I was the last family of the 3 in our group. So, as you get up to the guard, he checks your passport against his list and lets you in. When it was Trish and Jay’s turn to get checked in there seemed to be a problem. Their name was not on the guards list. The guard asked them to step aside and turned to me. Guess what? My name was not on the list either. This is NOT good. We were told by our adoption agency that we had appointments at 8:30 but the consulate is telling us that we don’t have appointments. So we wait…..
Grace our guide starts making many phone calls to figure out what is happening. In the meantime we decide to sit down at this little restaurant to wait out our fate. And we wait….Grace has spoken with the director at the consulate to discuss our case. The consulate has our appointments down as May 2, not April 2. I can’t tell you how many things go through my head as I hear this. Staying in China until May 2nd is not really an option for me. What am I going to do if they can’t take us today? The stress starts to build.
By now, the families that were able to go to the 8:30 appointments are coming out. Only 1 of our 3 families made it. I am very happy that they are almost done with the process. They will get their visa on Tuesday and will be able to move forward. Then the next appointment time starts to line up. I think we are at 9:30 or so. We see all of these families come and go, and still we wait. Now remember, we did not have breakfast so by now all of us are starving, except of course the babies. At least I was smart enough to bring another bottle for Kathryn.
Around 10:00 Grace receives a phone call from the consulate that they will take us at 11:00. Yahoo!! We are going to get in today. That means we still may be able to get a visa by Tuesday and stick to our original travel plans. So the group waited another hour and finally we were able to go up. Our name was now hand written on the list, the guard let us through and so we proceeded on. It was a little eerie, because this place that earlier had so many families just had us now. We found our way up to the counter, talked to the consulate people, handed in our paperwork, took our oath. Then of course there was plenty of conversation of what could possibly have gone wrong. That of course will be a conversation for another day. I was very grateful they let us proceed. The process was going to go on as planned without any more drama. At least that is what I thought…..
The rest of Monday went fine. We had lunch, the babies were blessed in a temple, the group did some quick shopping and went back to the hotel so the kids could take naps. At least for Monday the drama was over. More to come tomorrow……
Monday, April 2, 2012
March 31, 2011 Happy Birthday Dan!
Today is Saturday the last day of March. I just now as I am writing this I realize that it is my little brother's birthday. Happy Birthday Dan!! Sorry I didn't call!!
Today we went for our medical check-up to make sure our babies are all OK. We need this to be done prior to going to our consulate appointments on Monday. All of the babies that are adopted out of China need to go through this process so there are a lot of babies here. In the building that we went to the first thing they do is take a picture of the babies for their visas. Then we have 3 different rooms or stations that we need to go to. The first room is the measurement room. Kathryn was measured for height and weight, she is 70 cm tall and 6.6 kgs in weight. I think this translates to 27.5 inches tall and 14.5 lbs. The second room/station is the ENT. The doctor there checked out her eyes and her nose and when he tried to check her throat Kathryn bit on the stick and would not open her mouth. She was biting it so hard he could not get it out. It took a few moments to get through that room. Then we had the final room. This is where the babies hearts are listened to and they check the overall body out. Well of course this didn't go very smoothly. Kathryn is very heat sensitive and any where that you hold her she gets these red marks on her. Well of course she had red marks all over her body so the nurse in that room had to go get the doctor to check her out. This took a few extra moments and of course had me a little on edge. But the doctor came and talked with me about it and in the end signed the document. He thinks she may have a little allergy to her clothes. I will see if this persists when we get home. Maybe she will just have sensitive skin just like me!
After the medical doctors office most of the families went back to the hotel, they were very tired from the night before. I decided to go with Grace who was going to get her nails done. The three of us had lunch in a fast food Chinese restaurant and then went to the nail place. I decided to get a manicure and a pedicure. This was a ton of fun and I am glad I went. Kathryn took a good nap in my lap as the ladies were working on my nails. When she woke up she of course charmed them all. Grace and I call Kathryn our "little bird". She makes so many little noises that it reminds both of us of a little bird.
After getting my nails done, Kathryn and I went back to the hotel by taxi. (Grace had some other things she still wanted to do before going back.) So we made it back to the hotel and later in the evening ended up going to supper in the hotel with one of the other families. Since we had gotten a coupon for the hotel buffet we decided to take advantage of it. A nice casual supper with no stress was great. And then early to bed.
Love to all of you,
Kathryn and Elizabeth
Today we went for our medical check-up to make sure our babies are all OK. We need this to be done prior to going to our consulate appointments on Monday. All of the babies that are adopted out of China need to go through this process so there are a lot of babies here. In the building that we went to the first thing they do is take a picture of the babies for their visas. Then we have 3 different rooms or stations that we need to go to. The first room is the measurement room. Kathryn was measured for height and weight, she is 70 cm tall and 6.6 kgs in weight. I think this translates to 27.5 inches tall and 14.5 lbs. The second room/station is the ENT. The doctor there checked out her eyes and her nose and when he tried to check her throat Kathryn bit on the stick and would not open her mouth. She was biting it so hard he could not get it out. It took a few moments to get through that room. Then we had the final room. This is where the babies hearts are listened to and they check the overall body out. Well of course this didn't go very smoothly. Kathryn is very heat sensitive and any where that you hold her she gets these red marks on her. Well of course she had red marks all over her body so the nurse in that room had to go get the doctor to check her out. This took a few extra moments and of course had me a little on edge. But the doctor came and talked with me about it and in the end signed the document. He thinks she may have a little allergy to her clothes. I will see if this persists when we get home. Maybe she will just have sensitive skin just like me!
After the medical doctors office most of the families went back to the hotel, they were very tired from the night before. I decided to go with Grace who was going to get her nails done. The three of us had lunch in a fast food Chinese restaurant and then went to the nail place. I decided to get a manicure and a pedicure. This was a ton of fun and I am glad I went. Kathryn took a good nap in my lap as the ladies were working on my nails. When she woke up she of course charmed them all. Grace and I call Kathryn our "little bird". She makes so many little noises that it reminds both of us of a little bird.
After getting my nails done, Kathryn and I went back to the hotel by taxi. (Grace had some other things she still wanted to do before going back.) So we made it back to the hotel and later in the evening ended up going to supper in the hotel with one of the other families. Since we had gotten a coupon for the hotel buffet we decided to take advantage of it. A nice casual supper with no stress was great. And then early to bed.
Love to all of you,
Kathryn and Elizabeth
March 30, 2011
Today when I woke up it was very rainy outside. One of those days when all you want to do is stay in and be cozy. But that was not to be as there was a lot of stuff to get done today. First the usual get up and get going. Feed Kathryn, who by now is becoming fussier about what baby food she will and will not eat, get dressed, eat breakfast and start packing. The hotel we are staying in is very nice, but the air conditioner in my room hasn't really been working and it is very hot and humid. I did have a maintenance man come once but that didn't really help. I will be happy when we move to a new hotel, maybe I will have better luck with the air.
The group had to meet at 11:00 to fill out more adoption paperwork. My consulate appointment is on Monday in Guangzhou, as is several of the other families and we needed to get our packets ready to make sure we had everything we were suppose to for the appointment. Grace, our guide, picked up all of our necessary documents from the local office this morning in the rain so we are good to go. It took about 1 and a half hours to put all of the paperwork in order. I got all of my stuff done and then went back to my room to finish packing. Kathryn got a little nap in while I was finishing the packing and by 3:00 I was out of our room, checked out and just waiting for the other families. This is when the fun started.
Just as we all were about to load the bus to go to the airport to catch our bus Grace my guide came to me and told me there was something wrong with my room. I'm thinking to myself, what could possibly be wrong. I just left it less than 30 minutes ago and all seemed to be right. Well apparently there were 2 cracks in my sink that I never noticed and they told me that I broke the sink. Really, how does one break a porcelain sink? I had never even noticed the cracks. They told me that I must have dropped something in it. I explained to them that all of the baby bottles and dishes were plastic, what exactly could I have possibly dropped that would have broken the sink. They asked me if I noticed it when I checked in. I told them that I never noticed it and with a brand new baby looking for cracks in my sink wasn't my priority. By now, Grace my guide is getting PO'd. She is speaking very quickly at the manager and telling them that they can not hold me responsible. Still they are telling me that I have to pay a lot of money to pay for the sink.
So Grace tells me to get on the bus with Kathryn and for all of the families to load the bus. The hotel manager is getting the next level manager. So we wait, as the clock is ticking, and Grace is getting nervous about us missing our flight. 5 or so minutes go by and a new manager shows up and Grace and I get back off the bus. One of the other families took Kathryn from me. The hotel staff are not letting us go, the bus we are taking is the hotel bus, so we have no option but to wait. They want me to pay for the sink, the one I am not responsible for breaking. Grace is now basically arguing with the hotel staff in Chinese, I wish I could have understood her, telling them that I could not have possibly broken the sink. Bottom line however is, they weren't going to let us leave until I paid something. Originally they wanted over 200 US dollars for the sink. Now I think we were at 100 US dollars. They told us that we needed to wait until they could get a hold of yet another manager. Grace is really worrying about the flight. There are 9 adults and 4 babies that are suppose to be on the flight. So....I paid $100 for a sink that I didn't break so we could just leave. Grace is still trying to negotiate a refund for me....more to come. Remember earlier in the week the bus driver ran into the wall, I wonder if the bus driver has to pay for the repair of the bus. After this episode, I assume he does. Poor man.
Now for those of you who followed the blog when I was in Kathmandu will recall I do have a history of breaking things, or destroying things as I was kindly reminded by my friend Kim. But I swear, I admitted to all of those things. So if I had broken the sink I would have admitted it. Before it was found and delayed us all. Another great story for the record books.
After all that excitement, the rest of the evening was rather routine. We made it to the airport and caught our flight. It was slightly delayed due to the rain and landed in Guangzhou about 8:30 at night. By the time we got to the hotel it was almost 9:00 our time. I was glad to be in a new place, with an unbroken sink!!
Good night!!
Love Kathryn and Elizabeth
The group had to meet at 11:00 to fill out more adoption paperwork. My consulate appointment is on Monday in Guangzhou, as is several of the other families and we needed to get our packets ready to make sure we had everything we were suppose to for the appointment. Grace, our guide, picked up all of our necessary documents from the local office this morning in the rain so we are good to go. It took about 1 and a half hours to put all of the paperwork in order. I got all of my stuff done and then went back to my room to finish packing. Kathryn got a little nap in while I was finishing the packing and by 3:00 I was out of our room, checked out and just waiting for the other families. This is when the fun started.
Just as we all were about to load the bus to go to the airport to catch our bus Grace my guide came to me and told me there was something wrong with my room. I'm thinking to myself, what could possibly be wrong. I just left it less than 30 minutes ago and all seemed to be right. Well apparently there were 2 cracks in my sink that I never noticed and they told me that I broke the sink. Really, how does one break a porcelain sink? I had never even noticed the cracks. They told me that I must have dropped something in it. I explained to them that all of the baby bottles and dishes were plastic, what exactly could I have possibly dropped that would have broken the sink. They asked me if I noticed it when I checked in. I told them that I never noticed it and with a brand new baby looking for cracks in my sink wasn't my priority. By now, Grace my guide is getting PO'd. She is speaking very quickly at the manager and telling them that they can not hold me responsible. Still they are telling me that I have to pay a lot of money to pay for the sink.
So Grace tells me to get on the bus with Kathryn and for all of the families to load the bus. The hotel manager is getting the next level manager. So we wait, as the clock is ticking, and Grace is getting nervous about us missing our flight. 5 or so minutes go by and a new manager shows up and Grace and I get back off the bus. One of the other families took Kathryn from me. The hotel staff are not letting us go, the bus we are taking is the hotel bus, so we have no option but to wait. They want me to pay for the sink, the one I am not responsible for breaking. Grace is now basically arguing with the hotel staff in Chinese, I wish I could have understood her, telling them that I could not have possibly broken the sink. Bottom line however is, they weren't going to let us leave until I paid something. Originally they wanted over 200 US dollars for the sink. Now I think we were at 100 US dollars. They told us that we needed to wait until they could get a hold of yet another manager. Grace is really worrying about the flight. There are 9 adults and 4 babies that are suppose to be on the flight. So....I paid $100 for a sink that I didn't break so we could just leave. Grace is still trying to negotiate a refund for me....more to come. Remember earlier in the week the bus driver ran into the wall, I wonder if the bus driver has to pay for the repair of the bus. After this episode, I assume he does. Poor man.
Now for those of you who followed the blog when I was in Kathmandu will recall I do have a history of breaking things, or destroying things as I was kindly reminded by my friend Kim. But I swear, I admitted to all of those things. So if I had broken the sink I would have admitted it. Before it was found and delayed us all. Another great story for the record books.
After all that excitement, the rest of the evening was rather routine. We made it to the airport and caught our flight. It was slightly delayed due to the rain and landed in Guangzhou about 8:30 at night. By the time we got to the hotel it was almost 9:00 our time. I was glad to be in a new place, with an unbroken sink!!
Good night!!
Love Kathryn and Elizabeth
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Quiet Day March 29,2012
Today is a quiet day. There was not a ton on the agenda which was nice. Kathryn and I got up and skyped with family and friends back home. It is always hard, trying to stay connected when you are 13 hours different. I know my kids at home are so busy, but I miss them so much. I love seeing them on Skype but we have been a little challenged with their schedules and mine.
It is much cooler here today. It has been very warm but some rain came in last night and cooled everything off. The first thing we did was go to a very beautiful park that surrounds a lake. We were able to take a walk and just enjoy being in the outside. Kathryn was a little cranky this morning, she just seemed unsettled. She slept good so I am not sure what she is feeling. She is not singing and chatting like she has been. After walking around the lake for awhile the group then went to a porcelain shop. Nanchang is known for their porcelain. I did not purchase anything but 2 of the families did. They were very beautiful tea sets for their little ones.
Between the park and the porcelain shop this took about 3 hours and after that we were done for the day. We headed back to the hotel and really didn't do much. I fed Kathryn and then she took a 3 hour nap. Maybe that is why she seemed a little off this morning. Not sure. When she woke up she was back to her happy chatty self.
Friday is going to be another busy day. We are traveling in the evening to Guangzhou, I should be getting Kathryn's passport today and away we go to our next step in the process. I am excited to moving on. Once step closer to coming home.
Love,
Kathryn and Elizabeth
Orphanage Visit and Finding Spot March 28, 2012
So today was our orphanage visit. Because Kathryn had gotten so much sleep the night before she was wide awake for the 2 hour bus ride to get there. Apparently the ride used to be 4 hours before the highway was built. Now the highway makes it feel much like the US, except with different scenery. As we passed by I could see the farmland being tended by hand and with an Ox in some cases. Instead of cows in the fields you could see small herds of oxen. I did see one herd of cows like you would see in the US. On the highway there are many trucks hauling goods. The trucks are not nearly as big as the semi's in the US, most of them are cab-overs with 2 drivers. (I only know they are cab-overs because Gabe likes to call them out when we are driving)
Our destination for the day is the Fuzhou Children Welfare Center, Fuzhou City in the Fujian province. When the group arrived at the orphanage we were taken to a meeting room. In the meeting room they had created and hung 3 banners for the 3 that had come from there. In the pictures you can see the banner it says "Welcome Fu Ya Lan Back Home". This was very nice of them. The director of the orphanage talked about how he gives the little children names. Fu - which is Kathryn's Chinese last name comes from Fuzhou. Ya - which is Kathryn's first name comes from the year that she was born. Lan - which is Kathryn's middle name means Orchid. The children are called by their middle name so Kathryn went by Lan. No child in the 20 years that Director Joe has been at the orphanage has ever had the same name. I got to take the banner with me, it is quite large, but wouldn't that be nice to have at home?
In this meeting room all of the families were given each child's orphanage record to look at. While we couldn't understand it we could take pictures of it. I only took 2 pictures. One of Kathryn from the day she was found and one of the person who found her. I think this will be important to her as she gets older. We than proceeded to take a tour of the orphanage. They have asked us to not put photo's of the orphanage on our blogs so I will respect that wish. This orphanage is very big and very clean. We only saw a few children which I think was by design. Most of the children from this orphanage actually go to foster families. Kathryn was with a foster family most of her life prior to being with me. As I walk though the buildings I can't keep from comparing the surroundings of my little Grace and where she came from and Kathryn, so very different.
After our tour the group went to lunch. Once again this was a very traditional Chinese meal. Some of the food was very good. I am not good at eating spicy foods so I had to pass on some of the dishes. But what I did try was very delicious. Kathryn was really hungry at lunch time so I actually spent a lot of time feeding her. She really likes the steamed eggs, I am going to have to try and figure out how to make them. I am not having much luck again at getting her to eat her baby cereal, I am going to have to try something else.
After lunch we proceeded to go to 2 of the 3 babies finding spots. I was able to see where Kathryn was found at, it was a very busy street with many shops. She was found in front of a large gate in a very busy area. I take this to mean they really wanted her to be found and to be loved, and loved she is. I felt bad for Trish and Jay the family that could not see their finding spot for their little girl. There was not enough information for them to determine exactly where she was found. The third little girl with us was able to see her finding spot. It was also in a busy area where she was sure to be found.
After all of that excitement we took the 2 hour bus ride home. Kathryn, still wide awake was just snuggling with me, talking like she loves to do. I am hoping to get some video uploaded of her chatting away. Struggling to make it work. I don't think it is me, but it could be:)
The evening ended very quietly. It was a long day and Kathryn was tired. She went to bed early again after eating and slept the whole night through.
Love to all,
Kathryn and Elizabeth
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