Welcome Home Wade!

Well today was a BIG day for Wade! He was going home to Shanghai to live with his new family and he just couldn't wait to get on that plane. First things first though, and we had to finish up some paperwork business at the government notary office and then apply for his Chinese passport. There was a lot of waiting around and he was quite board. After the business was complete, we headed to the airport to purchase his plane ticket. We were not able to purchase it ahead of time, because they needed to see his adoption certificate since he doesn't have his passport yet. We arrived three hours ahead of our flight time so we had a leisurely lunch and hung out. I think Wade was about to burst the whole morning. I did not imagine the extent of the excitement and happiness that he would have over joining our family. It has been a dream. God gets the credit and He has truly answered bundles of prayers.

You can see he won't stop smiling! I didn't have to coax him today. This was the best flight I have had in a long time. He said "Whoa" a hundred times and everything was amazing to him - especially the meal they served us on the plane. He thought that was incredible. He observed every movement of the plane and the mechanics on the wings. He loved the sunset and how high up we were. He kept pointing things out to us and saying, "Mom, look". I am still getting used to this little guy calling me "mom". From the time the adoption was final, he started calling us mom and dad. This morning I came out of the bathroom and he was awake in bed. He gave me the heartiest "Good Morning, Mom" I have ever received. He is not afraid to use what little English he knows. He will just fly with his language acquisition once it gets going. He has been a joy and a delight. He is so eager to please us and listen to any and all instructions we give him. When we got home tonight, he was wide-eyed in wonder. He continued his "whoas". Lucas and Lance were eager to show him his room. The girls made a name plate for his room door with his name in Chinese characters. He loved the spiderman things we had for him in his room. He is a BIG fan and wanted to work on the puzzle right then and there. I told him "ming tian" (tomorrow). He had a snack, played ping pong with Dad, helped us unpack and very willingly took his shower and brushed his teeth. When we said it was time for bed, he said "yes". So far, we are so very impressed with this young man. There is a lot for him to learn, but he is so eager and smart. His adjustment is going well. He likes us! We love him!! Time for me to say goodnight. This whole experience in the past week has exceeded our expectations and each day will be a new adventure that we look forward to.

A Mom and Son Day

Today Wade and I spent the day together. Rich went in to the Beijing office to work today while we enjoyed some more Beijing sites. It was a cloudy, foggy day but very mild and comfortable. Wade would have been much happier going to Happy Valley amusement park but being a mom, I insisted that we see a historical site so that Wade could remember some important things about his home city and country. I had the guide explain this to him. We walked through Tianamen Square and then went in to the Forbidden City. Our guide did a good job of explaining the history in stories that Wade could relate to. It was quite crowded with Chinese tourist groups so he wasn't able to get a good look into some of the buildings.

He doesn't particularly like having his picture taken, so we often had to coax him into smiling or laughing. We caught this one just right.

After we left the Forbidden City, we headed to the local silk market to see if we could shop for some clothes and shoes for Wade. We found several things but these Beijing shop owners were not willing to bargain like we do in Shanghai for the same stuff. I must have been wearing my 'Sucker' sticker on my forehead today. I even had the guide with me confirming my appraisal of what prices to offer. I did get Wade a pair of jeans but was unimpressed with shopping in Beijing. We left there to join Rich at his office building for a lunch together. It had started raining so our outside plans were a bit squashed. We tried a mall that sold kids clothes, but found out the selection was poor and the prices high. Wade tired of the shopping pretty quickly (typical guy) so we came up with a plan to visit an oceanarium. This was a more local place with no other foreigners but plenty of Chinese tour groups. It was a nice diversion on a rainy day but not the most impressive aquarium. As we were leaving, Wade was asking the guide about tomorrow and going to Shanghai. He said he didn't want to say goodbye to Beijing.

We returned to the hotel afterwards to wait for Rich to finish up at work. Wade read to me from a book we had bought for him the other day. He seemed to be reading so well in Chinese. I was impressed. I was also very impressed with him as I got out a word find puzzle book in English and he knew every letter and found all of the words on the page. He showed determination and never got frustrated even with the hard ones. Like Lance said, "he is smart". Tomorrow morning we pick up our adoption registration papers and head to the notary office and police station to apply for his passport. We fly back to Shanghai to start our new life 'at home' tomorrow afternoon. Can't wait for all our friends and family to meet him!

It's Official!

This morning we got up early to eat, pack and check out of the Holiday Inn in time to be picked up by the driver at 8:00. We drove to the China Civil Affairs office for a 9:00 appointment to register our adoption of Wade. We were the first appointment of the day. It was an exciting time and we could tell that Wade was nervous.Here Rich is signing some forms from the orphanage that he was unable to sign on Friday. Wade wants to know every detail. We are waiting to go into see the adoption registration officer.

We were asked why we wanted to adopt Wade and then asked to promise to always take care of him and never abandon him. Wade was also asked by the officer if he wanted to be adopted by us and he eagerly answered yes! He is signing his agreement on the forms. The officer was friendly and efficient and we were done in less than a half an hour. We found out that our paperwork would be ready for pickup on Wednesday morning. Rich had planned to go back with the kids to Shanghai but changed his plans to stay in Beijing with Wade and I instead of flying back up tomorrow evening. This meant that our kids had to fly home without us. Boy were they excited! I was a bit nervous, but knew that they were absolutely confident and unafraid. Stacia said that she has been waiting to fly on her own for a couple of years now.

Before we needed to go to the airport, we had a couple of hours of free time. We decided to go to a beautiful park near the Forbidden City called Bei Hai Park. There was a large lake, temples, trails and rocks to climb. The sky turned cloudy and the air was hazy so the view from the tops of the hills were not quite so spectacular but everyone enjoyed scouting out the place and running around. Wade doesn't slow down. He is jumping, twirling, climbing, skipping and running at every chance. He also likes to do martial arts moves. Did I mention that he told our guide that he wants to take Tae Kwon Do lessons?

A hazy view from the top of a temple tower. This is probably a more typical picture of the Beijing sky in winter and spring. The past couple of days were beautiful, sunny spring days. We were very grateful for the mild temperatures and absence of sand storms. Just last week they were having terrible sand storms in Beijing and two weeks ago, they had a bad snow storm.

We encountered the Monkey King on our adventure in the park. Evidently Elise thought he was a loser!

This is one of the beautiful buildings (temple) in the park over a gazillion years old. Today Wade started to call me Mom. He is so happy to finally have a family. He was clearly feeling a bit more comfortable today with us. He seems to be at ease with just being himself. He was even doing cartwheels down the hotel hallway. We will need to get this kid into some activities that will keep him moving! It is precious to see him connecting with the kids little by little. Lance and Wade have even been getting a bit physical at times goofing off.

After sending the kids off at security in the airport, we went to a new hotel nearer to Rich's office in Beijing and to the Government offices for our appointments on Wednesday. Thank goodness it had a pool because Wade absolutely loves to play in the water. He really wants to swim and is trying so hard to kick and make himself go in the water. Rich was trying to help him but of course communication is a slight problem. We plan to get him swim lessons at our pool at home asap!

Later that evening we went walking outside to look for a restaurant. We found a small Thai restaurant that appealed to Rich and I but didn't know if it would appeal to Wade. We decided to go for it. We ordered Pad Thai, chicken satay, broccoli, spring rolls and pineapple fried rice. He really went for the noodles, chicken and broccoli. He tried the rice but said he didn't like it. He passed on the spring rolls. I am still very impressed with his determination to try new things. After dinner, we went to walk around in a very large underground mall. He would just look around in wonder at things. Of course I don't think he had ever been in a mall before. Knowing that he liked ice cream, we stopped at Coldstone Creamery and he ordered a 'love it' size chocolate with waffle cone. He dove into it immediately. With his love of ice cream and chocolate, he will have no trouble fitting in with our family! We give thanks to God for another full and blessed day.

Wade's Beijing adventures continue

We were up and about early to get ready for church this morning. We took a 40 minute drive to the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. There were two services at 9:30. Rich took Wade to the Mandarin fellowship and the kids and I went to the English service. It was of course Wade's first church service. We wish we could have been together at worship, but we thought it would be nice for him to have his first service be in his language. He said the service was solemn but the music was beautiful. What might he be thinking? After church we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. I think we were the first ones there for lunch. They offered another one of Wade's favorites - chicken wings. And he got a big side order of fries. The boys enjoyed going around and looking at all of the electric guitars signed by music artists. I am surprised that they know who some of these guys are since they must be ancient (they were popular when I was in High School). The meal was great and afterward we headed to the Science and Technology Museum (at Wade's request) and met our guide Jenny.

Lance didn't hesitate to try out this space contraption but Wade wasn't the least bit interested. I think he is a bit overwhelmed and just taking a lot of stuff in. He skipped from one exhibit to another, just trying things out for a minute or two. He was interested in the exhibits that required you to use a computer and were interactive. He was not at all interested in in stopping to read about things. I was a bit surprised by this museum. Supposedly, it is fairly new and right down the street from the Bird's Nest. There were so many interactive exhibits that were out of order or closed. What is that about? It was a busy day to be there for Chinese families, yet so much of it was not working. Shanghai's beats this one hands down.

One of our favorite stops was our trip to mars on a rocket ship in the three D motion theater. Wade asked our guide if it was dangerous. Again, you don't know what is going through is little mind. He didn't appear scared though. The trip lasted 5 minutes - wow what technology can do today!! On a side note, I had the guide ask Wade whether he had ridden in an elevator before Friday. He said that he had only been on an escalator. Imagine the things we take for granted.

This is a neat time for us, realizing that each day in itself is a simple gift from God. No need to "look forward", or wonder what will happen next. Just appreciate what we have, and the blessing that each day brings. See you tomorrow!

First Full Day as a Family

Our day started with a buffet breakfast in the hotel. It was a very nice one with lots of wonderful choices - good for us, overwhelming for Wade. I can't imagine what was going through his head. We took him around asking him "yao, bu yao" meaning do you want this or not? He just shook his head yes or no. He choose a few items and then went back to the table. He quickly ate up what was on his plate and then when offered more, he indicated that he was full. Well everyone at the table proceeded to go back two, three or four times and we asked him a few more times if he wanted to try something that we had gotten. He was adamant that he was full. After breakfast, we went to get ready for the day at the Great Wall. It was looking like a beautiful day and it proved to be so for the entire day. What a blessing! The ride to the Mutianu location of the wall was long but so worth it. Having been there two previous times I never get tired of the awesome beauty of the wall and surrounding mountains. As we arrived at the Wall, we realized that we did not do a good job of planning for lunch so we discussed our options as to what to take up on the wall with us for a couple of hours. Our guide, Jenny said that she thought there was a new Subway opened up at the base of the wall by the parking lot. I found it hard to believe, but sure enough there is was! It was perfect for us to take with us in our backpacks. Wade had never had a sandwich before but dove right in choosing the meatball sub. Once again, he did not hesitate to try something new. I am amazed at how easy he is to please.

We really enjoyed ourselves as the weather was so nice and it was fun to watch Wade take it all in. I wonder if he got tired of us taking pictures of him? Is there ever a bad picture on the Great Wall? I doubt it. He pretty much stayed ahead of the pack the whole time. Must be he is in pretty good shape. I never saw him huffing or puffing on those steep climbs as I was. So many times I wished that I could read his mind. What must he think of this place?

After hiking together for a while, Rich, Wade and Lucas continued on to the end of the renovated part of the wall. It was quite a steep hike as you can see from the pictures. At the top they stopped to have their picnic lunch of Subway subs and bask in the sunshine. The rest of us picniced farther down and waited until they rejoined us. We then continued on in the opposite direction to pick up the alpine slide to take down the mountain. It was another long up and down hike but it seems as if Wade picked up the pace (even after he just completed the long hike with Rich and Lucas). I think he was very excited to go down the slide (another first!).

Wade is such a great age for this kind of thing. He seemed to be "in his element" even though he has had few experiences of this type. He is active for sure. At times he was just like Lance jumping down stairs, hopping up on things and spinning around.

Wade was a bit anxious about the alpine slide but did just great and enjoyed it very much. Rich is behind him breaking the rules of the road by taking pictures while driving. The other kids were worried that I would go too slow on the slide. They didn't want to get caught behind a slow poke. I flew down that thing leaving the slide monitors along the way yelling "slow down lady!" I just laughed out loud thinking about my kids' and their comments.

After a very long drive back to the hotel, we freshened up and our guide took us to a "popular" restaurant right down the street from the hotel. Wade had never had Peking duck and we wanted him to try it. The problem was, that all the other dishes came first while they roasted the duck and he was full before it ever got to the table. At our insistence, he was a trooper to try it anyway and said "hao chi". It was good.

Long enough for now, there is so much to say but impossible to say it. All of the kids are handling this really well, and we are so proud of them. Their attitude will make or break how this transition goes, and we can say so far that they are a huge part of the solution!

Keep praying, we covet every thought sent to Him on our behalf. Much love.

Gotcha Day for Wade!!

What an amazing day it has been! After a 40 minute delay (which seemed like hours) we took off for Beijing this morning at 11:40 where we knew our son was waiting for us. We arrived at the orphanage around 3:30 and as we pulled up to the gate, Wade was walking out to greet us with an orphanage worker and our guide Tom. We hugged and the kids were introduced to him for the first time. We walked back inside to complete some paperwork. This picture was taken just after we got in to the orphanage. Wade was wearing the coat we gave him as a gift back in December.

I signed I don't know what several times with Wade anxiously looking over my shoulder the whole time. The formal paperwork process will take place on Monday at the Adoption Registration office. Rich was unable to come up with us because of some yearly reviews with the company vice presidents this week. He is on his way tonight as I type (a 3.5 hour delay at takeoff).

What a sweet kid he is! He definitely likes that "Chinese Peace sign" when he gets his picture taken. Stacia was so sweet in asking him questions in Chinese. All the kids did so well today speaking with him. It was much less awkward than I thought it would be (for me). He was VERY ready to go. I think he has been very ready for 3 months (since we last saw him). There were definitely no tears shed as he left the Beijing Social Welfare Institute for the last time. There were smiles all around!

On the way out of the orphanage, we passed a school and Stacia asked Wade (in Chinese) if that was his school. When he said it was, I asked the driver to stop and Wade and I ran back to take a picture. No tears shed there either. As you can see, it was just a beautiful day in Beijing!

Knowing that Wade likes video games, Lance brought along his game boy for Wade to try. As far as we know, he had never played one before. It took Wade 2 seconds to figure it out. Lance said "wow, you are smart" (not in Chinese). Wade really enjoyed himself and it was a nice ice breaker as we all got into the van and left the orphanage. I think I have another screen time junkie on my hands!

We are staying at a Holiday Inn in Beijing and it is lovely. So far the service has been outstanding and they are so welcoming and accommodating of our family. We decided to have dinner in the hotel and 5 of us ordered the mushroom, salmon, fettuchini! When we were at the orphanage, I asked our guide to ask Wade what foods he liked. Wade said hamburgers, chicken wings and pizza. I think he will fit in with this group just fine. At dinner he ordered a hamburger with fries and a coke. He absolutely gobbled those fries down and then attacked that big burger. He ate every bite on his plate and enjoyed it.

This is a picture of the backpack on Wade when he came to greet us at the orphanage. It contains a lifetime of possessions. In it he had a plush Spiderman (he likes Spiderman and I just bought him one very similar to his not knowing he had one), three books on martial arts (?), an old empty wallet (which I promptly got out my wallet and put 50 kaui in it), a plastic wrist toy, some mangoes, candy and snacks, his hat and gloves that we gave him in December, along with the photo album and picture frame we gave him as well. Hmm....humbling

After dinner the kids went for a swim. I found out earlier in the day that Wade didn't know how to swim but was not afraid of the water either. He was excited to go. The water was a bit chilly but he bravely got in. Stacia stayed close by and I ran the cameras. He seemed to have a great time as the kids were tossing the ball around with him, splashing him, and including him in their games. Stacia was trying to teach him how to kick. After a while he felt brave in the water and we took off his ring. He stayed close to the side a bit but bravely ventured out into the middle of the pool. I don't think he wanted to get out.

I can't believe that we have added another beautiful child to our family. It is still a dream. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a nigh....... I won't say it! I am so proud of my kids. They were so welcoming and loving to Wade. I think he really enjoyed the day. I know I did! As Stacia and I were sitting by the pool, she asked me if I thought this would be our last adoption. God only knows.... I think these kids were pretty impressed by Wade. Just today he has shown guts. He is brave and gentle. He is smart and determined. Just looking at him I can't imagine him going for the rest of his life without a family. There is so much potential in him. I feel very blessed that God chose us to be his forever family.

Wade sat right next to me as I loaded the pictures onto the blog. I can tell he is very interested in computers. He probably already has some things to teach me. After loading the pictures, I put him to bed. He is in an extra bed beside our bed and the other kids are in an adjoining room. He is sleeping like a baby. Everything went so smoothly today. I know it was because we were so widely covered in prayer by our amazing group of family and friends. Well, God showed up and I have been moved to tears several times today. Wade was so gracious about the clothes I brought him (all hand me downs), took his shower and hung up his towel and bath mat, said thank you in English several times. Tomorrow we have the Great Wall on our itinerary. He has never been there. We asked him where he had been in Beijing and he said the zoo and Tianamen Square. It will be so fun to share these amazing China highlights with him. I can't wait! Thank you again dear ones for your love and prayers. More tomorrow...

To Beijing to join with our new son, Wade!

Tomorrow we fly out of Shanghai on an 11:00 flight to Beijing. We will go directly to the orphanage to welcome Wade to our family. We are so excited that the time has finally arrived! There will most likely be some very nervous energy in that room tomorrow. We met him last April while helping Christian World Adoption out on their Hope Project at his orphanage. We were interested in the idea of adoption again and were open to what God had in mind for our family. I guess He made it very clear to us by Wade asking us if we would adopt him. It was meant to be! So almost a year later, he will officially be our son. We saw him again in December when we participated in another Hope Project and that time he knew we were adopting him. We had a sweet, nervous and awkward reunion. I think he is very ready to come home. He has known for a while but I am sure has not been able to understand the reason for the wait. We told him that we would be back as soon as we could. I hope we are worth the wait! This has been an incredible faith adventure and it has only just begun. We are counting on God's grace for the challenges ahead. We are so thankful for all of our incredible and supportive family and friends. Thank you for praying. I hope to keep this blog up during the next week as we spend time together as a family getting acquainted.

Back in Business with the Blog

Well, we bought a proxy that seems to work from China, so we will try it! Blogs are blocked in China, as are YouTube, Facebook, and who knows what else. I heard that Google will be next. Those who complain about things in the land of the free and the home of the brave don't know how good they have it!

I'll make this blog about our last trip, that's always a good way to introduce you to more of Asia. And pictures are more fun than me writing, so it is better this way. Vacation means plenty of pictures.

We just returned for Boracay Island, in the Philippines. The Philippines has 7,107 islands, so it is mostly just one tropical island after another. It is beautiful, beautiful...but also very poor. The people are wonderful, but don't always have much in the way of material goods. So we decided to go on a vacation with a mission!

Each day started with construction. We were helping to build a ministry center/school/medical center/orphanage. And did our kids work! We went with our friends the Liptak family, plus Lori, another friend from church.

Every afternoon/evening we went to feeding centers -- 20 of them spread around the island. Many hundreds of kids. Fun, sweet, and loveable - they also needed the help. We brought vitamins, medical supplies, games...whatever we could. It was great for them, and great for us, and we have memories that we will never forget.

At the end of a week of intense work, we also took a weekend to enjoy the beauty of the place on our own. Whether boating, beach, or just walking, it was a very memorable place. Think Hawaii, at 75% discount. :)

It is fulfilling and inspiring to be able to join with a local ministry and see for ourselves how big a difference that we can make for others. And it is very humbling. To realize that we did not ask to be born where we were any more than these people did. "But for the grace of God, there go I."

We found faithful, fun, forever friends in this new place. God is good.