Sightseeing & More Betsy!

We had another good night with Betsy. She sleeps so soundly...for that I am very thankful! She is taking naps too:) She is an absolute treasure. It is hard to believe we have only really known her since Monday. She loves playing with Sam and Ellie! She has all of us wrapped around her little finger;) Sometimes we just sit and watch her...she is busy busy. Maybe that's why she sleeps so well! I think I said before that she likes to color. She will sit and not make a sound for several minutes. She is very focused. You saw pictures of her with makeup. She loves to dig around in my makeup bag! The girl is a hoot...a doll:) She loves it when Todd tickles her. She will laugh so hard I think she might stop breathing!! We are having a great time getting to know her. Today we went to Saint Sophia's Church. It was built in 19th century by the Russians. There is a very heavy Russian influence here as Harbin is very close to Russia. Sam and Ellie fed the birds outside the church. There was a lady selling bird food. Betsy watched them, but wouldn't try it. The church was beautiful! We are leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon. I may not get a chance to post again.Please pray for a safe flight to Guangzhou and that Betsy does well as we travel. Thanks again for your prayers and comments... we appreciate it more than you know!

**scroll down for the "Orphanage Visit Post" from yesterday's pictures**

A Beautiful Day :) (the orphanage visit post from 3/30)

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 Yesterday was a beautiful day. When we got up the skies were blue, the sun was shining, and it was not as cold as it had been. We knew this would be a hard day, but were thankful for the opportunity to see the place Betsy had lived the first five years of her life. We met Teresa in the lobby at 9:00am. She said it would take 30 minutes to get to the orphanage. I thought she had told me earlier that it would take an hour, so I was glad to know it wouldn't take that long. When we got to the orphanage we pulled up to a black iron gate, and there was a guard shack too. The driver honked his horn and the gate opened. We drove through and around a circular driveway to the front of the building. When we parked we saw Betsy's nana and a couple of other orphanage workers coming out to greet us.  We opened the doors to get out and Betsy's nana reached out her arms to get Betsy out. She picked her up and said something to her, and she started to cry. I thought...this is not good! I asked Teresa what she said and she kind of laughed and said her nana asked her if she wanted to stay. Teresa said Betsy told her no...she wanted her mama! I took her, held her tightly, and everything was ok. I know she was just kidding with her, but Betsy didn't think it was funny(neither did her daddy!!). We were not sure how much of the orphanage we would get to see. Teresa told me earlier that the orphanage was very private, and we might only get to see what was on the first floor where there were no children. As we walked inside Betsy's nana said we could go to the second floor to see her classroom and her bedroom. We were told we couldn't take any pictures while we were inside the building. We followed her nana upstairs to her classroom. When we walked into the room all of her friends were sitting in chairs in a circle. They were so excited to see her! There were four boys and two girls. I will never forget their sweet faces. We asked the teachers if we could pass out the suckers we brought for them. They said it would be fine. Betsy gave all of her friends a sucker. They loved the suckers!! As I looked at these precious children my heart was breaking. These children were not only Betsy's friends, but her family too. They did everything together. I thought what will happen to them? This is where I lost it! I went around to each of them, looked into their eyes, touched their faces, and prayed in my heart that one day they would each know the love of a family. When it was time to leave they all waved goodbye. We walked down the hallway and got to see the room where Betsy slept everyday and night. It was a sweet little room with about ten beds( a little smaller than a twin bed) some lockers for their clothes, and a bed for their nana. There were mattresses, blankets, and pillows on the beds. There were windows and you could see the playground outside. After we looked around we went downstairs to a conference room. Betsy's nana asked if we had any questions for her. I had a few that I had thought of since we got her. Most of the questions I had were answered the day we got her. After we talked a few minutes she said she would show us the cafeteria where the children eat their meals each day. Before we walked out into the hall I gave her some gifts we had brought for the orphanage. She thanked me and smiled. I took her hands, looked her in the face, and said thank you for loving my baby. She continued smiling and thanked me for loving her too, and giving her a family. It was a very tender moment. We all cried some more and then went down the hall to the cafeteria. She showed us the table that Betsy sat at everyday to eat her meals. Next, we walked outside to the back of the building. We took several pictures, and walked around to the front. As we walked around to the front of the building we saw all of Betsy's friends playing outside. They were so excited to see her one more time. We took a few more pictures and it was time to go. We got in the van and as we drove away the children were smiling, waving, and saying Miao Miao, Miao Miao. It was a hard day, but a blessed and beautiful day. A day only our awesome, amazing God could plan:)

Don't be disappointed, it is just me, Jennifer M....Meia is having some technical difficulty getting the  written post for their day at the orphanage to go through....but I do come bearing pictures!!!!  She wants me to post the pictures (which are priceless) and she is going to work on getting the post to go through. She says I can tell everyone that the day went great at the orphanage and Betsy did well again last night.  What a blessing:)  Now, the pictures (couldn't get that one to turn, it wouldn't cooperate!!!)...have a great day!  Jennifer

One Night Down...

Our first night with Betsy went very well. She was very busy all afternoon playing with all of us. Her Nana said she usually takes a nap from 12:00-2:00, but that didn't happen yesterday! Teresa told us that if she was playing and having a good time getting to know us it would be fine to skip it. We had alot of fun with her! She loves to color, and does very well:) She ran from one activity to the next. We played with everything we brought. She is a funny, sassy, clever, and very happy little girl:) She loves to play and has the most precious laugh! Everything that was in her file from the orphanage describing her personality was right on target! One thing that was in the file was that she can be a bit obstinate:) We are finding that to be true!haha After we ate dinner last night we decided to give her a bath. Her Nana said that she had only taken showers. She didn't want any part of taking a bath! We got out the My Little Pony and a cup we brought and she got in the tub. At first she would only stand up, then she squatted down, and finally she sat in the water and had alot of fun. We put her PJ's on her , and she loved them! She is definately a girly girl;) Ellie got out all of her new clothes and showed them to her yesterday when Teresa was with us. Teresa said she liked the clothes, and wanted to know if we had more! She also loves to have her hair combed and fixed with bows and barrettes. That's my girl!! When it was time for bed I said the Chinese word for sleepy, and pointed to her. She shook her head and smiled. I also said the word for tired. She continued to shake her head. I took her to the potty and she knew what was coming. She did not want to go to bed! Todd and I decided the best thing to do was just to let her sleep with us. He was in the bed and I put her in the bed with him. She was NOT happy! She started to cry and wanted out of the bed. I picked her up and thought...we are in for a long night. I sat on the edge of the bed, held her close, patted her back, and rocked her. I was so thankful she was allowing me to comfort her. After about ten minutes she fell asleep. It was around 8:00pm, and she slept till 6:00am. She whimpered one time during the night, but never got fully awake. We kept hearing a sucking noise on and off through the night. She is a thumb sucker, but only at night. We have not seen her do it during the day. She is a precious little girl, and I can't wait to get to know more about her! We went back to the Adoption Center today, and all the paperwork is finished. She is officially our daughter! Tomorrow we will go to the orphanage. Teresa asked the Director of the Adoption Center if it would be OK for us to go and she said yes. I am so glad we can go, but I know it will be an emotional day. Please pray for us as we visit the only home our daughter has known. We love and appreciate all your comments, and emails...keep them coming!!

Betsy Day:)

                                    
                                      

 I don't even know where to begin. This has been an unbelievable day! We got up around 6:00am.(Sam and Ellie about 5:45am!)We all slept well, but were ready to get going. We took our showers, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. As we were finishing our breakfast we noticed a family coming in that "looked" American. Let me just say we are the foreigners around here! When we got up to leave they came up to us and asked if we were from the United States and if we were here to adopt a child from Harbin. Their guide had told them about us. We were SO excited to meet them! They have a 7 year old bio daughter, and a 5 year old adopted son from Ethiopia. It was such a blessing to run into them...such a sweet family! Our God cares so much about every detail of our lives...he sent this family to be here at the same time we are! One thing I was really worried about when thinking about coming to Harbin was the fact that the Heilongjiang province has done very few adoptions. I knew for a fact we would be the ONLY Americans here...God knew differently:) After we talked to them for a few minutes we went upstairs to get everything we needed for the BIG day! When we were ready we went down to the lobby to meet Teresa, our guide. She was already there talking to the Vopels, the family we met. They were waiting on their guide. We talked to them a few minutes and Teresa said it was time to go!! I was so excited and nervous too! We had to drive about 30 minutes to the Adoption Center. When we arrived there Teresa said the two children, Betsy and the Vopels daughter(who is 18m old), would arrive in about 45 minutes. Sam and Ellie were a little sad that she was not already there waiting on us;) We went up to the third floor, and Todd and I had to sign a few papers. Before we knew it the children were there! The Vopels daughter went right to them, but Betsy was another story. She cried really hard, tears streaming down her face. It was heart breaking. Tears filled my eyes ,but I held it together pretty well. Ellie was very sad, but knew this could happen. We started digging around in our "bag of tricks", a backpack we brought for Betsy, filled with bubbles, gummy lifesavers, and several other goodies! She would have nothing to do with me...would only let her Nana hold her. We tried several things, but the cup with Cheerios finally made her smile. She allowed the Director of the Adoption Center to hold her. After a few minutes, she went to Todd. She really liked him! Sam and Ellie got out the bubbles, and she really started warming up to them. She still didn't want anything to do with me. She loved the bubbles, and would let Todd blow them. Little by little she began to look at me, but that was about it. The director got out a picture album we had sent, and she knew each of our names in Chinese. After taking several pictures, and blowing many bubbles it was time to go. She let Todd carry her outside, and sat on his lap in the van on the way back to the hotel. On the 30 minute ride back to the hotel she warmed up to each of us more and more...even me:) She laughed and we all had alot of fun with her! When we got back to the hotel she let me carry her inside. I was thrilled!! Teresa went up to our room with us, and answered several questions I had. She is great! We have had a really good afternoon. Betsy, or Miao Miao is doing very well. She is so smart! Teresa kept saying she is very clever. Teresa also said her Nana loves her so much. She was very sad to leave her today. Teresa also said that Miao Miao was one of three or four children that was in this woman's care. She said she was very well loved by everyone at the orphanage. Knowing someone has loved her so well makes me very happy and thankful. Thanks again for all the prayers...we have felt them covering us every step of the way!

Brrrr....

It's so cold!! I know it sounded like I would not post again until tomorrow, but I had to do this really quick one. We went out to"explore" our new surroundings, and it IS unbearably cold!! Sam and Ellie wanted to walk out on the frozen river where everyone was flying kites. It was incredible! This is a huge river and it is frozen solid! There were lots of people out flying kites, and playing with their children. There were lots of vendors selling everything from cotton candy to bubbles! It was fun...just thought I would share it with you! That's really all now:)

In Harbin...less than 24 hours now!!

It is 4:00pm in Harbin City, China on Sunday afternoon. We arrived at the airport around 1:30pm, and were greeted by our guide for the week...Teresa. She is so sweet and very helpful! Teresa is a graduate student at a university here in Harbin. She works part time as a guide for the adoption center. We got in the van with Teresa and our driver for the week, and traveled about 40 minutes to our hotel. The hotel we are staying in this week is very nice , and is located in the heart of Harbin's downtown area. There is a river across the street from the hotel. It is frozen solid! People are outside standing on the frozen river flying kites!! It is cold, but not unbearable. There is a Walmart very close to our hotel. We are about to get out for a little while and explore our new surroundings:) Teresa will be back in the morning at 8:45 to take us to the adoption center to meet Betsy! She said it will take us about 30 minutes to get there. I can't believe that in less than 24 hours we will have Betsy with us forever! When we landed at the Harbin airport and I saw the word Harbin tears filled my eyes. It is such an indescribable moment! I know those of you reading this that have been where I am at this time can totally understand. I am so thankful and very humbled that God has chosen us to be her parents. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and comments! Till tomorrow...:) 

More Sightseeing...to Harbin on Sunday:)

We had another great day in Beijing! Today we went to the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, and a Chinese tea room. I think the tea tasting was my favorite part of the day. We also had an awesome lunch! There was so much food...enough to share with two other families:)The Silk Factory was very interesting. Ellie has been learning about the Silk Road at school. This was an awesome hands on experience for her! She took lots of pictures to share with her teacher, and classmates. She kept saying..."my teacher is going to love this!" We have been talking alot today about getting Betsy on Monday. It is hard to believe we will have her soon. We are packing up tonight, and will fly to Harbin tomorrow. Our flight leaves at 11:40a.m. Please continue to pray as we are two sleeps away from Betsy's Gotcha Day! Pray that technology will continue to work for us when we get to Harbin. This will be my last post from Beijing. Harbin City...here we come!

The Great Wall and "China Town" Food

We had so much fun today touring Beijing! Sorry, I have no pics yet. I am able to post, but the posting page comes up different here than at home. I have tried to get it to work, but so far...nothing:( I got some great pictures of our day...maybe I'll get this worked out soon. I really want to be able to post pictures of Gotcha Day on Monday. We met our guide downstairs this morning at 9:00 a.m., got in the van and went to The Great Wall. What an amazing sight to see! It was beautiful, but very cold and windy!! We got a great workout climbing up and down!haha I never knew how steep some parts could be. After we did this we went inside a hotel down from where we entered The Great Wall. We were to met our guide in 30-45 min. Their was a little area where you could sit and drink hot chocolate. We all got some, and it was so good after being soooo cold!! We walked around a few shops, and then met up with Nicholas, our guide. He took us to a restaurant for...Chinese! It was good , but he called it "China Town" food saying it was more like American Chinese than authentic Chinese food. We have had fun getting to know him...he is really funny. After we ate we went to the Jade Factory. We saw women carving jade, and making beautiful art out of it. The Hutong Tour was next...loved it! We rode rickshaws through the streets and had alot of fun learning the history surrounding Beijing. It was very interesting. We were finished around 4:30, and headed back to the hotel. We all took a little nap. Todd ventured out a little later and found a Pizza Hut. Sam was so glad:) We ate and talked about the day then everyone was ready for bed! They are all asleep...while I'm up posting. I am extremely sleepy too, so I guess that's all for today. Hopefully I will be able to share pictures soon!

The Day That Never Ends!

We are finally in Beijing!! I thought we would never get here. I am so glad i can post too..hope this continues to work. We arrived at our hotel around 10:00pm on Thursday night. We were greeted at the airport by our guide, Nicholas. Everyone is in bed, but me(I need to be). We have had a very exhausting trip. We got up on Wednesday morning at 4:30am. We have been up for over 30 hours! If none of this makes any sense that's why!haha We are going sightseeing and have tours lined up tomorrow(Friday) with Nicholas. We had a delay with our flight today and thought we were going to miss our connecting flight from Seattle to Beijing, which was going to cause a HUGE mess, but thankfully we made it just in time! I think we had 10 min. to get to our gate!! They were literally waiting on us, and we were told this would never happen. If we were delayed we would miss the flight because international flights are not held up, or there is a fine once they arrive in China. Let me just say...tears of joy are flowing right now because of the sweet prayers sent up by friends and family. God got us where we needed to be at just the right time! Thanks to all who prayed us to Seattle:) Iam overcome with thanksgiving!My kids kept asking after we left Seattle...when is it ever going to get dark? It seems like we have been up a solid two days! I appreciate all your prayers,comments, and love! Maybe I can share pictures after our day out tomorrow! Good night:)

Need To Be Sleeping, But...

I can't!! I had to post one more time from home before we leave:) All the bags are packed and ready to go! We are so excited:) We are leaving our house at 5:45a.m. I don't know how much I'll sleep though. In less than one week we will have our daughter! We will meet her for the first time. I pray she has peace , and is accepting of us as her family. We feel so honored that God has chosen us as her forever family. Betsy turned five on Saturday. She will never have another birthday without a family. We celebrated with a cake and can't wait to celebrate many more with her!! Thank you all for your words of encouragement, calls, food, and travel goodies! Most of all we thank you for loving, suppoting , and praying for us throughout this journey. We are so blessed!!

Flight Plans:)

Yesterday Todd received an email with our flight itinerary! We will leave Huntsville International at 8:30am on Wednesday, March 23. From there we will fly to Atlanta. We have about a five hour layover...then on to Seattle! When we arrive in Seattle we will have about 30 minutes...yes I said 30...to get to the next terminal to depart for Beijing, China!! Our flight to Beijing will be about 12 hours. We will arrive there Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. We will be in Beijing Friday and Saturday. Our travel agent is working on hotels and getting us a guide while we are there. I can't believe this time is finally here! Please continue to pray as we get things taken care of here, and finalize all our travel plans.

Got TA...Going to Get Our Girl!!!

Can you believe it? Last night when I got home from church I had a message on my answering machine from our social worker Karla. She asked me to call her as soon as possible. I thought...she can't be about to tell me we have our TA...it's too soon. I called and that's exactly what she said!!! She also told me that they were trying to get our CA(consulate appointment) for April 6th(which happens to be Sam's, my oldest, 12th B'day!) She said if that didn't work out it would be the first of May before we could travel because of the trade fair that will be in Guangzhou. We prayed last night that all would work out according to God's plan. This morning around 10:00a.m. we got a call saying we had our CA for April 6th!!!! We are so excited...can't wait to go! Please pray for us as we have LOTS to do before we leave. Todd is working on travel...probably leaving this coming Tues. or Wed. We have to be in China March 27th. Gothcha Day is looking like March28th!!! That's all for now! Will post again when we know more:)

Waiting on TA!!!! Plus...Betsy Update!!

I found out today that our Article 5 was picked up last Thursday, March 10! I knew it had been two weeks on Thursday since our Article 5 had been dropped off, but never heard anything. I called our agency to see if by some chance they might have heard something over the weekend , and to my surprise I found out I was already into my wait for my TA without realizing it(haha)! Praising God for this wonderful news:) Our social worker told me we have about a 2-3 week wait now for TA. We are finally down to our last wait. I can't believe it! Last Friday I got updated measurements for Betsy. There really is a little person under that BIG coat;) She is about the size of my 31/2 year old. Those cheeks must weigh about two pounds each! I love her sweet smile...can't wait to see it in person:)

Betsy's "Kid" Shower:)

Thursday night some of my sweet friends from our church gave me a shower for Betsy. It was so much fun! Before I left for the party that night my children were talking about it and decided that since Betsy was not a baby the party should be called a "kid" shower (haha:). They are so funny! I got some great gifts, and really enjoyed every minute of it! Ellie and my mother were also at the shower. Ellie had the time of her life!! She said it was like having a birthday party for Betsy. The cake was decorated with a picture of China (in case you looked at the picture and couldn't figure it out;) and the pink heart is where Betsy is right now. Thanks to Laurie who hosted the "kid" shower, and to all who brought food and gifts! I am even more excited now to bring Betsy home:) What a blessing to have such caring, thoughtful friends!