Hello From the USA

We are home!  Feb 4 was truly the longest day of my life.  We landed in Pasco one hour before we left in Hong Kong.  The moment our airplane wheels lifted off for home I had to sigh a big sigh of relief that now no new paperwork drama would unfold in Ch*na.  Our flights went great but without much sleep for any of us.  We were so thankful for the individual movie/game screens that even had a language choice in Chinese.  That kept Selah entertained for a few hours.  Then she thought it was great fun to try to push the call button and when that didn't work then getting up to go to the bathroom every little bit was the next great advent.  The one time I thought I would try to sleep she decided to push buttons, take apart her headphones, and raid the snack stash.  At least we had no crying just quiet naughty sounding Chinese.  Before we left Hong Kong Shane had some Chinese money he wanted to exchange.  I wish I had thought to take a picture of his face when he saw his American money.  He was so ready to leave for America.  The best event of the day was being reunited with our four other children that has stayed home.  3 1/2 weeks is a LONG time for all of us to be separated.  I want to say thank you for all the food that was provided for the children while we was gone and what is in my freezer for all of us now.  It's a huge blessing!  The last 48 hours have kind of been a fog.  Right now things are going well with everyone.  We all have a lot of adjusting to do and finding that new normal.  This month is filled with medical, dental, and eye appointments.  Another new for us is that Shane feels like he would like to attend public school and have the access to ESL.  So we will soon be checking into options for schooling for him.  Selah acts about half her age and hasn't had much education at all.  We plan to just let her adjust and learn English until fall and then make a decision about schooling for her.  The prayer needs now are getting over jetlag, communication/English learning, adjusting to a new culture and new food, and there are more.  I will share some more pictures of our trip.

 

Last picture of a family of 7

 

The long flight to China

 

So tired at Shanghai

 

 

Food anyone??

 

The beautiful lobby at The Garden in Guangzhou

 

Smog isn't a beautiful thing!

 

Paddle boat ride at the park in GZ

 

The best part of GZ-sandals!

 

 

Shane with Lily who worked so hard to get his paperwork done.  She broke down and cried just from all the miracles that she saw done on his behalf.

 

A Chinese wedding

 

 

Celebrating Shane's 14th birthday

 

 

 

Pearl River cruise

 

 

 

Sweet potato vendor in Hefei

 

street sweeper



 



 

Posing for picture

 

 

 

Writing poems with a brush and water

 

Making her officially ours

 

The only panda we saw after visiting three zoos

 

 

 

Selah's friend from province

 

 

Orphanage visit

 

Her foster parents

 

Dinner anyone?

 



 

Dancing with Mickey

 

 

Our adoption group from all over the US

On Shamian Island

 



More of the island-beautiful peaceful place

 



Some sweet ladies teaching Selah a Chinese dance with a ball on the racket

 

A statue on the island dedicated to adoption

 

View of our hotel

 

Meat?  No thanks!!

 

 

Selah's foster parents

 

 

Shane's best friends

 

Eating at his orphanage

 

His two aunties or foster moms-he was spoiled!

 

 

 

Saying good-bye

 

 

 

 

At the Chimelong Sarfari

 

Our first selfie-the first time she let my cheek be that close to hers

 

Ready to leave at Hong Kong

 

The first picture of the 9 of us