Internet / VPN has been a little flaky over the past couple of days - so the post is pretty long!
Before leaving Nanchang we visited a large park in the city. In China the government spends a lot of money
on large parks that have exercise equipment, lakes, trees, amusement park, etc.. they are frequently full of people. When we visited there were
a large number of elderly people in the park and they gathered around us almost
immediately. They did not understand why
we had 4 kids – why we had adopted when we had 2 kids (especially twice), they
were nice and wanted us to get involved with them. One of the guys gave us badminton rackets and sent Jerry and Allie on their way!! It provided them with lots of entertainment as our crew was not very good – LOL!! They loved watching our kids interact with them
We finally found a great restaurant in Nanchang (Bistro 100), it’s a
French restaurant that was started by a guy from Texas – go figure, but the
food was really good. Just had to deal with the guy smoking every 5 minutes beside us! It’s amazing to me
how many people smoke here – no matter where you go – the taxi drivers, people
in the hotel, restaurants. Even in the
Civil Affairs office where we had to sign papers for Braxton – the guy had a
cigarette on the desk. His full time job
is to work with adoptive parents on finalizing the papers and he sits there
smoking – AMAZING and crazy!!
On Friday we flew from Nanchang to Guangzhou, so happy to be
here. While there are still many
challenges – it just feels more like home.
This is the providence where Sarah is from and we spent about a week and
a half here last time. We feel more
comfortable with the restaurants, people and the hotel is 100 times
better. Braxton did great on the flight,
he was awake the whole time, looking around and checking out everyone.
Braxton is making small improvements each day – it’s amazing
to see him start to explore and use muscles he probably did not even know he
had! The kids continue to do well,
although Sarah is getting a little tired of mommy holding this baby. Trying to give her dedicated time, but she is a momma’s girl and it’s hard for her to give up anytime. She is getting to sleep with me each night, so she loves that! Braxton’s
personality is starting to show through, he has discovered food and LOVES
it! We are amazed at how different he
looks after just 1 week. He is already
looking healthier and I hope the weight gain comes shortly behind. He is going to join the ranks with our
biological children and be picky – he pushes away anything that does not taste
sweet! He can down a 4 oz bottle of
apple juice in about 10 minutes, but give him water and he can go all day – who
does that sound like???? Allie!!
Braxton had his medical appointment yesterday. He did not like it, but everything went
really well. Since he is under 2 he did
not have to get a TB test – YEAH!! One
less thing to cry about. We ran into a
couple that also adopted a little girl from the Heartbridge Healing Home and
was in the same room with Braxton – how cool!!
We saw them briefly when we were at the healing home on Saturday. There is a pretty big group of people here
adopting – so exciting to see so many children going into loving homes (many
strong Christians).
After the medical exam we went through all of our paperwork
and got our US Consulate appointment package ready – our last appointment
before we leave for Hong Kong!! Our
appointment is Monday morning and we will be able to get his US Visa on Tuesday
afternoon. The kids were excited to
have dinner at Lucy’s on Shaiman Island (one of their favorite places in
Guangzhou)! It was great!
Today we visited an Academy where the Emperor families attended during the Chen Dynasty. The workmanship that people did by hand is just amazing - the pictures do not do it justice.
Then onto some more shopping... I think China wants to make sure they get as much US $$ as possible
while we are here – LOL!! They are doing
a pretty good job of that.
My little shopper...
More pictures…
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