Day 1 - Tianjin 9/15/11

Dear Friends and Family,
Hope that it is ok that I am keeping you updated even though there is not much adoption related as of yet. :-)
Our first full day in Tianjin (yesterday) was spent hanging with the Changs (our dear dear friends here) around their city. We got to go with Sophia and the girls to their open market to go grocery shopping. It is kind of like a farmer's market, but they also sell live chickens that they will slaughter and defeather for you. The veggies and fruits were so beautiful and colorful. Sophia says that she goes practically every day to just buy what is needed for that day. Pretty cool, huh? Attached is a photo of our family in the ride that we took to the market (it's only 2 blocks away). Sophia took that photo - that is the electric bike she takes every morning to send 2 of her children to and from school and for local errands. Of course there are no helmets or seatbelts :-P. Yes, we all fit in there, and after the photo, Dave came into the wagon, and also Sophia's two little girls, and then Sophia "drove" us to the market. It was really fun!

When we came home, Lorden took us to a place in downtown for local shopping. I think it is called Cultural Street (loose translation). Not very enjoyable because we are not used to bargaining. And as soon as you look interested in something, someone will accost you and start making a hard sell. When you walk away, they immediately start lowering the price. We did buy some wooden swords for the boys (with sheaths - pretty awesome) and some Chinese outfits for the kids. Way cheaper than China town. We had KFC for lunch. We are still nervous about adventuresome eating, so we thought that KFC would be a bit safer. The kids played on the indoor playground in there and then we went home. In the later afternoon, Lorden and Dave went to play basketball with some university students who believe and come to the book study. The boys and I tagged along, along with Caleb and Megan (the oldest and youngest of Lorden's kids). They played at the international school in town. There was a playground there and mini basketball hoops for the kids. We came home for dinner, and passed out almost immediately afterwards. We are feeling much better - the sunshine is helping with the jetlag.

Today we are off to the Tianjin portion of the Great Wall of China! Should be an adventure. Not sure if Aaron will be able to hike it, but we shall see. Fortunately, it is beautiful weather right now in Tianjin - somewhere between 75 and 80 I think. Not bad at all.

Forgive me if this is too much information and I am boring you with details. I will try to be more concise (not my strong suit, as you all know!).

I do read each and every e-mail from you. They are so appreciated and treasured as we really feel like strangers in a strange land :-). We also thank you for your continued pryers.

Love,
Chenning

We are in China! 9/14/11

Hello friends and family,
We are in Tianjin, China :-). Thank you for all the prayers and love. After a 24 hour travel day we are resting at a dear friend's home here. We are quite jetlagged, but seeing all our friend's faces was so refreshing and a sight for sore eyes. The boys did great on the flight. I thank the Lord for that :-).
We will be here, enjoying the company of our friends Lorden and Sophia and their 5 children and perhaps doing some easy sightseeing until Sunday early morning when we will fly to Changsha, the capitol of Lily's province, Hunan.
Love and hugs to all,
Xoxox
Chenning
A pic of the boys playing at hong kong international airport during our 6 hour layover.

2 Sleeps Left

Until we leave for CHINA!!!
I am about 90% packed. I have got all of Lily's stuff in a bag, and the boys' stuff packed as well. Still have to pack carry ons, charge up our electronics, and finish packing up Dave's and my suitcase (he is the weakest link).
I have really felt the love of God through His body. We had dinner with some friends tonight, and at the end they spent some time (with all the kids as well - we have 10 boys between our 3 families - Lily will be the first girl!) praying for our journey to Lily. I felt so encouraged! One of the moms at the boys' Chinese school also spent time a morning this past week to take my hands in hers and pray for our family. I praise the Lord for this family of believers. There is just NO WAY I could do this on my own. I am so grateful I don't have to!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I am so excited and nervous that I don't have time to do something like download and upload photos!!!

The Baby Blanket

We bought our tickets and pretty much everything is set as far as our itinerary.
We leave here on Wednesday 9/14, but really it is Tuesday because it is a red-eye flight. We fly via Hong Kong to Tianjin, CHINA. We are going to have the privilege of spending a couple of days with our dear dear friends there before going to Changsha to meet Lily. I have to tell you about our friends. This is a wonderful family - the Changs. Lorden and Sophia have 5 children. We met them when Dave was doing his residency at UCSD. I only had Matthew at that time, and Sophia only had her two oldest children then - Caleb and Jeremy.

We had just moved into an apartment complex near campus called Whispering Pines. We had an upstairs unit that was the farthest from the parking lot and laundry machines. Not very convenient with a baby! Anyway, one day after unloading Matthew and other stuff from the car, we had returned to our apartment. I heard a knock at the door. It was a lovely woman with a baby blanket in her hand, asking us, "Is this yours? I think it fell on the ground in the parking lot." It was Matthew's baby blanket (he was 4 months old at the time), and that woman was Sophia. From that day a deep friendship began. We had only been in San Diego for a few weeks - and I remember when I moved there that I asked the Lord for a friend. This was His answer to my prayer. It is a reminder to me of the Lord's faithfulness, and how kind He is to me.

Sophia and Lorden and their family have been such a blessing to our family. They are Chinese-American, but live in China. They have an adopted daughter. They are such a loving and faith-filled family. We love them dearly, and look forward to spending a little time with them in their home and seeing their life there.

From Tianjin, we will fly on the 18th to Changsha, Hunan. We meet Lily on the 19th!!!!! On the 23rd, we fly to Guangzhou where the American consulate is.

We fly home on the 27th.

It will be a big trip.

I am packing and getting ready!

Many things left to do =).

Thank you for praying for us. We truly need your prayers and depend on them. We wait upon the Lord, and are excited to see how He will bring us through this journey to Lily!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!!!

This has to be short. . .
But I had to share - our T.A. arrived at our adoption agency on Tuesday, 8/24!
Our confirmed day that we meet LIly Claire is 9/19!
We are still awaiting our consulate appointment. It was originally scheduled for 9/28 - but Xiaoqing is trying to move it to 8/26 if possible.

We are perusing flight options!

Getting very very excited, but also nervous and a bit stressed!

Thank You, Lord!

In Which I Finally Chronicle Phil's Eye Saga In Pictures

Scary globe of carnage (this is the day of surgery in front of the vet's office). Ugh, I shudder just looking at it!


Phil must have been in so. much. pain. Poor thing.


When I picked him up that day! Stitches, bruising, only one eye left. And that black band on his leg is where his IV was.


Getting his stitches removed!


Recovered! Still cute! Much MUCH better!

Our Care Package to Lily Claire

Finally I am posting the photos that Ann of The Red Thread sent me. This is the care package we sent to Lily Claire about a month ago that came with the updated photos. Pretty, huh? I would love to see our little lamb in that dress :-).




Sigh - still not much to report. Waiting. . . waiting. . .
I trust that our Article 5 was picked up last Friday (8/5/11) and now the wait for TA!
Xiaoqing will pick up our visas on Friday from the consulate in San Fransisco.