this house was built for four

It is tough to do summersaults with short little baby arms!

Not all butterflies and rainbows, but this was truly the experience of a lifetime! This movie is about 6 mins long.


The Whole Trip. This is long. 44 Minutes long, in fact. This is our China trip, uncut!

These photos are from the playground, Sarah's baby shower, and the Stock Show:

We have been having a great holiday season. Since I haven't posted much since getting home, I figured it was time to at least get some photos up.

Gency is doing great and we are adapting to our new life.

We ventured off Shamian Island today. The market area across the river sells a LOT of dried out things. Medicinal and for food; from the earth and the sea. Seahorses, Mushrooms, Ginger, and lots of unidentifiable (to us, anyway) things. Here's some photos:


Sea Horses

Frogs

Mushrooms

?????

Nov 10th- tour of Buddist temple – the temple of 6 banyon trees- it had multiple statues of different – very large buddhas- and we got a blessing for the babies and a picture of our selves with the monk who gave the blessing- Griffin found a turtle on the grounds and so that was the highlight- plus we got to throw coins into a statue for good luck which we all did-

Then off to the arts and crafts palace- amazingly ornate building with scenes carved into the roof. They also had exhibits of ancient Chinese art forms- there was a fantastic one on pottery- it really made me think twice- My thoughts on china have been so on present day china – the burgeoning economic machine with billions of people. But china has this amazing cultural history – so much longer than western nations- it was a good reminder for me

Nov 11th- Griffin’s birthday!!- had to go to a quick doctor check up for Gency to get her paper work but then we took Griff shopping and playing- out to lunch and then the guides were sweet and got him a cake which we shared with the other kids on the trip. I tried to swim in the outdoor hotel pool after seeing others do it but no chance- 64 degrees too chilly-

Nov 12- Thad , Griff and Gency went to the zoo but I bailed to have some down time – trying to kick a nasty cold- I went to the local health clinic where I heard you could get a massage- OMG- for less than $10 I got the most amazing foot rub which included a back and arm rub as well- I wish I could import that to the us.

Since I'm such a slacker, Sarah has decided to write up the events of the past several days:

Nov 1st- we get to Hong Kong after 2 days of traveling – immediately go on a tour with the group – it was interesting – Victoria Peak- great views of the city – then to jewelry making factory and Standley market- we just sat on the beach and found great sea glass for our collection-Out to lunch with the group the first of many great Chinese food meals- That night we slept to get ready for our trip to Nanchang to meet Gency!

Nov 2nd- Fly to Nanchang- last flight as 3 for a while- Get to Nanchang- meet Evelyn and James our life line for the next week- It was raining- as it would for the entire week. Get to hotel – very nice and prepare to meet our babies – see pictures it was crazy. Gency comes to us with a box- in it is the camera we sent, the hello kitty dolly and some eye medication- she has an eye infection.
Take Gency back to our room and get acquainted. Hard to explain- we have been waiting for her for so long but she has no idea who we are or what she is doing with us.

Nov 3rd- go to registration office, notary and police station- all necessary steps in becoming Gency’s family- the registration office – Thad goes into pay the registration fee which was a fairly surreal experience - I wait with Griffin and Gency then we both go in for our interview – all a bit nerve racking since we don’t want to do anything wrong that could be misinterpreted. Gency is doing well but sleepy.

Nov 4th- meet with the doctor checking over all the babies- she listens to Gency’s heart and starts to get a concerned look on her face and begins talking with James about it – it seems that it is beating very fast- we had taken her temp the day before but it seems she has a fever now and all of sudden seems very lethargic- James and the doctor prescribe amoxicillian and cold medicine- we choose the amoxicillian and say no to cold medicine- they say if she not better tomorrow they want to take her to the hospital for a antibiotic shot- we are not very happy about this – but we retire to our room to watch her for a very nerve wracking 24 hours where she spikes fevers of 105.2 – we give her motrin which helps but she is on fire. Griff and Thad go out with the group across the street for dinner and bring me home Chinese take out- who knew?

Nov 5- Gency seems better not as hot- we have been stuck in the hotel for a couple days and the guides had said they would take us to a park- but of course it was raining- so they took us to an indoor flea market which was very interesting – lots of childrens thing and stuff you would see in the US - made in china. We got some stacking cups which Gency was a big fan of – lots of people staring at us. Lunch out – more Chinese food!

Nov 6th- Gency is really on the mend and starting to act more like her self- its so interesting to see her real personality come out as she gets more and more used to us. We go on a tour of a large temple- very cool and not RAINING!- also see a Chinese music presentation- Chinese food lunch!
I think I have to mention that every day – for breakfast we eat at the hotel buffet- this is no pile of bread and coffee- it is the craziest spread- full Chinese food noodles, dim sum, congee, Korean food, eggs bacon, super random interpretations of American food – (buttered ham anyone- its ham in a butter sauce) corn on the cob- muffins cereal-mystery items- really something to behold.
We heard rumor that the dinner buffet featured duck soup with a duck carcass floating in it – sorry to have missed that

Nov 7th- stuck in the hotel again – starting to get a little stir crazy- we go to the gym area a couple times a day to entertain our selves- Griff is a big a fan of the kick boxing stand that he can attack in a myriad of ways- he has also tried the tread mill the bikes and we make daily trips to the pool. Today we try the room of exercise balls and Gency can join in the fun- she is starting to be able to pull up and stand holding onto something- she makes her self laugh and thinks Griffin is a hoot- G
Griffin has been a complete rock star on this trip which has had its challenges and really boring times- he has really been great and loves playing with Gency and all around has been a great travel companion- I am so glad we decided to bring him- he has been really wonderful.

Nov 8th- Finally we are leaving to Guangzhou- The hotel folks have been wonderful but we really ready to move on – We go to the airport and stand around – finally we get checked in and say good bye to Evelyn and James- I have to say I am not sure what we would have done without them- they made everything go so smoothly and they made sure we were all well taken care of. CCAI really does a great job on the trip like everyone told us.
We make our first flight with Gency- she was a model traveler- the 1.5 hour flight was a breeze- I am sure the 15 hours will be a piece of cake – ha!



We arrive in Guangzhou- its not raining- we are all so happy- we get to Shamian Island where we are staying – very different than Nanchang- lots of Americans- and much more Americanized which at this point we need since we’ve been really feeling out of sorts after being in Nanchang for so long and being stuck in the hotel.


Nov 9th- fill out paper work for our consulate visit- painful but means we are so close to officially making Gency a part of our family and taking her home – we are ready- she is doing so great and is letting us get to know her better and better each day.

After a very eventful 30 hour trip to China from Denver, we finally got to hold our baby on November 1st around 5:15PM China Time. Here are a couple photos: