Hey all !! We are in Guangzhou!! After quite a delay due to weather (rain, lightning and wind) in the Hangzhou airport, we finally took off to Guangzhou. We love Guangzhou and feel like it's a little piece of home here. Hangzhou was absolutely gorgeous and I definitely left my heart in Jin hua, but it is good to be here with the other families from CHI who have been waiting for their kiddos like we have. To see these new family bonds taking shape is exhilirating!! We had lunch at Lucy's and the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. After 10 days of chinese food (ok... I will admit we did have Mc Donalds a few meals) we loved the American fare at Lucy's. They have things like burgers, fries, quesadillas, BLT's and even apple pie!! Jonah had his physical today for his Visa and he was so brave! They did some poking and prodding but he was a champ. He is a real trooper. We then played in a local park for a while where I fell -which was evidently GREAT entertainment for Jonah- He laughed until he was in tears. I guess I'd do anything for a smile where Jonah is concerned , but that is not what I had on my list. No worries, I am fine and Jonah keeps asking me to do it again! I won't have pictures tonight- sorry!!!! My camera isn't charged enough to transfer the pics to the laptop so I will do it in the AM. Good night from China y'all! Thanks for your love and prayers! We love you!
Marianne

Happy Late Birthday, Marianne!

Definitely worth the wait, though, huh?????

Love,

Cynthia

Go read this

Make sure you scroll down all the way down to "older posts" and click on it. It will tell in detail more about our orphanage visit.

Where Jonah slept

This is Jin Pei's bed with the blanket from his momma on it and Jonah's is to the left of it. We did get back the blankets I sent over the last few months, including the one I made and sent via US Mail!! It was very well used so he did sleep with it!

Jin Ya

This is another one of Jin Ya. I tell of her in the long post below these pictures. Her parents died when she was young, but she does remember them so China considers her unadoptable because she has memories of her parents. I am on a mission to convince them otherwise.

Mavery on the run

This is Mavery, the spunky girl who did not want her photo taken. She too was woken up from her nap for our arrival and she wasn't having it- the photo shoot I wanted that is. She warmed up a little with a sucker from Jonah. Shannon, you have your work cut out for you! This girl knows what she wants!

Emma

Here is Emma, What a beauty she is and sweet too! She loved the little purple purse with legos we brought her. With those big eyes, I have a feeling she'll get anything she wants once she's home!!

Jin Pei and his backpack from Mom and Dad

Thanks for the cool stuff MOM!!!

" You woke me up for THIS?"

This is Peggy's Benjamin. He is a doll. He was woken up from his nap for our arrival and wan't real thrilled.

Her name is Jin Ya

OH MY HEART

Hello Everyone! We are on day 3 of having Jonah and he is so fun. He is opening up more everyday. I am finding that he gets very quiet around lots of people. He just freezes. I feel sad for him , but let me tell you, once it is just us back at our hotel the real Jonah emerges again. He sings, serves us water- he takes the glasses from the mini bar and pours each of us a glass, passes them out with pride and never drinks one himself. Jarrod says this is very traditional. He is playing up a storm with his brothers and is definitely all boy. He will fit right in! Last night he did the cutest thing. You see, every night he prepares his bed for bedtime with this little ritual of foling down his blankets perfectly and having his stuffed animals in place-all lined up and his pillow "fluffed" and put back in the perfect spot. Well, last night he did his little ritual and then looked over at my bed. He looked at me with those eyes as if to ask if he could just sleep with his Mama...... of course I said yes and he snuggled right in with a huge grin on his face. I think he has decided he likes having a mama. It boggles my mind how much he is just experiencing now for the first time. He waited 6 years to crawl in bed with Mom and Dad ? How many times in the last 6 years did he go to sleep lonely? I got to see his bed and it had a wooden bottom-much like a child bed but without a mattress, just a slab of wood with a bamboo mat on it. Next to his bed was Jin Pei's bed. I am so grateful they have had eachother. I am glad Jin Pei knows he will be home soon and can see Jonah. I knew who alot of the kids were at the orphanage because their files were sent to my agecy also and I keep in touch with all their mamas. They are no longer "pictures"of cute little kids, they are real ,beautiful human beings , orphans,who just lit up when they saw us. The are loved at the orphanage-it is apparent. However, you can see in their eyes that they wanted to be the one who got to go "Home" with their family. They were all beautiful, precious little people with little personalities of their own, a story of their own, and a purpose on this Earth. My heart broke as I had to leave. I pray for all my new little friends every day. I know some will get homes, some will not, but one thing is for sure, it changes you. Going there changes you FOREVER. Believe me when I say my wheels have been turning non stop since we left. There has to be a way to do more for these kids. One in particular, I will try to post her photo here is a beautiful girl 13 years old who is there because her parents died. She remembers them so for this reason, no one in China would want her and the Government assumed all these years that no one in America would want her either-just because she remembers her parents. She is 13- she is beautiful, friendly, very smart and kind, She should be shopping at the mall and crushing on boys for heaven's sake. I asked the orphanage director if there was a way I could convince the powers that be that there would be families out there in America who would feel as I do and they said YES!!! They said if I could get an agency to request her file, they would make sure her application was sent. They said it is in my hands because they have so many rules over them , but if the CCAA knew a family /families wanted her she would have a good chance of going up for adoption to that family. Of course my first thought was,"I will be back in 6 months" but I think my husband is out of money!! - I spent time with her and she is so lovely. I gave her a bracelet my MIL made for a gift and she lit up. I will do everything in my power to get her a home -(if it can't be mine). I hate to think of her future -She just needs a Mom and Dad to guide her and love her-she had that once and for unknown reasons, her family was taken from her life. -UHG!!

Well, I'd better go- The boys are doing great and so are we. I miss my babies at home terribly but we only have 6 days left! I love all of you and will post more tonight!

Two new pictures!!!!

Marianne has found a way to download photos!! It still takes forever, but she is starting to get them through! Yeah!!! Here is my Jin Pei with the ever-precious Jonah during the Mallory's visit to Jinhua....

The boys had on their matching Spiderman watches we sent them last month, and apparently they don't want to take them off!!! At Jin Pei's feet is the Diego backpack Marianne lugged all the way to China for us -- NINE pounds of goodies for our boy!!! She said he immediately ripped into the bag and stuck stickers all over his arms.

He will fit right in here!!!

And here is a photo of what our sons do best -- hang out with the girls!!!

Marianne and I will have to discuss the best way to barricade our homes from teenage girls in a few years!!!!

Enjoy. She said she will be sending more later tonight, but I have to get some sleep -- I have been living in two opposing time zones since Sunday!!!! If I keep this up, I will already be on China Time by the time we leave to pick up Jin Pei!!!

Cynthia

Jonah is a HAM

We have had quite a day! We went to his SWI and our boy wouldn't even look at us all the way there. He was silent! He had a good time once we got there and saw his best friend Jin Pei and all the other kids. He passed out the toys we bought yesterday for the SWI as well as some candy and cookies. He took Jin Pei's backpack and made a beeline from the parking lot to Jin Pei. Sooo cute!He was very proud to be passing out the goods to everyone! He was very meticulous and made sure no one was left out! OK, so it was time to go. We got to stay a long time. I got lots of pictures and video ( I will post them soon-just have to figure out why they won't leave my computer). I got to hug and kiss all the kids. The director was very kind and let me ask about each one and was eager to share any information. OK- so as I said, it was now time to go andI was wondering how he would be-would he want to stay? Did he spend a day with us and decide it wasn't working for him? He had been soooo cold all day. I just wasn't sure! Well, he waved good bye like nothing, climbed in the van, climbed up on my lap !! Not really a snuggle but more than I had gotten all day:) Well, it took about 30 minutes and he BURST INTO SONG!!!!! He sang and sang and sang! It was so cute. Then he started feeding everyone, making silly faces and started to talk about "Diego" (the boy on Jin Pei's backpack) For two hours he would not stop! Our Jonah has shown his hammy side and is happy I think to be with us. What a brave little boy!

Finally Brothers!!!!!!

12 more hours

In 12 hours we will be a family of seven! I am so grateful our wait is almost over. I just want to hug and kiss my little boy. We really like Hangzhou. It is a beautiful city!! I hope I can sleep tonight. I will be loading lots of pictures tomorrow. We love all of you and can't wait to share our day tomorrow with you all!
Mare