New photos of our girls!

Lauren & LiLI

In the USA

Photos of LiLi!

Click on the "China Photos" link on the right side of the page to see China pictures of LiLi.

Home...Sweet...Home

Yesterday we finished up a few last minute shopping items...mostly small gifts for the girls to give them as they grow up....then we had our consulate appointment in the afternoon ( a 20 minute bus ride across Guangzhou)...then back to the hotel to pick up luggage and off to the airport. We had no time in between for dinner...so when we arrived at our airline gate we stopped at a small shop and ordered some sandwiches, fruit, rice, etc... THEN we found out they didn't take credit cards ( a lot of places in the airport do) and we had spent all of our Chinese Yuan....we only had large U.S. bills and travelers checks which they either couldn't or wouldn't take...so we told them we were sorry and walked on down to some chairs that were close by. In a few minutes one of the girls from the shop came to us with a bag with some of the things we had ordered...we explained again that we didn't have any Chinese money to pay for the food....finally Wanda told her the only small U.S. bill that we had was a $5 she had found in her coat pocket...she asked the girl how much she could get for the $5... the girl replied only the rice and took it out of the bag and handed it to us... she apoloqized profusely for having to keep the other food. So Lauren and Lili enjoyed their last China rice (at least for a while) and the rest of us snacked on beef jerky and crackers. Between the two of us Wanda and I later counted over $2000 in U.S. funds that didn't do us any good at the time.

Lauren and Lili were both great on the flight from China...we left there at 9pm...flew for 12 1/2 hours and landed in Los Angeles on the same day at 6:30pm ( go figure on that one for a while). Lili never cried or got upset at all...she slept part of the flight and played and giggled the rest of the time. We spent the night in Los Angeles and flew from LA to Houston this morning...arriving there around 1pm. We then had a 4 1/2 hour drive home. Lili never cried on this plane ride either...or on the drive home... She sat in the car seat behind Lori and watched everything that was happening. After we got home tonight, she sat in the floor in the girls room and played with
Lauren and Lori. Lori put her down to sleep in her new room around 8:30 and she did great.

Thanks to all of you again for your thoughts, concerns, and prayers. Our trip was as good as it gets...and much better than we had expected. We know that Lili will still have times that she has some grief over her foster parents....but I really feel that it will be minimal. She has such a happy disposition and has already shown a real comfort level with all of us. She is a real blessing to our family. Hopefully in the next few days we will get some additional pictures on the blogsite...maybe early next week.

P.S. We wiill probably keep a low profile the next 2 or 3 days to recover from the jet lag and to let Lili get comfortable with her new surroundings...but I'm sure Lori will have her out soon to see everyone. Rick

Tuesday in Guangzhou

We've had a 'free" day today to relax, shop, etc. I went with Wanda and Megan shopping while Lori stayed in the hotel with her "girls". The high temperature today was in the 50's again and Lori didn't want to get them outside. We did venture up to Lucy's for lunch....it's much cheaper and more American style food than the hotel. Lili is now mimicking a lot of our words....she is great with the vowel sounds but doesn't get many of the consonants. We're not sure how much of this is her age, the language being so new...or if it is complicated by her cleft palate. But her smiles are wonderful and non-stop. I've never heard a 2 yr. old that giggles any more than she does. Last night she didn't cry at all....Lori is reading books to her at bedtime and tonight when she told Lili it was time to go night-night Lili climbed up in the bed and sat down in front of the pillow...ready for her bedtime story. We are amazed at how much she already understands. Wanda was saying today that she didn't think our trip could have gone any better....We agree.

Thank all of you again for your prayers and kind thoughts....We are certainly blessed. Lauren is pretty much on her best behaviour...as you might expect she feels a little left out of the spotlight occasionally and hasn't shared everything perfectly...but all in all she has been very good about Lili. And it is very apparent that she already loves her a lot....Lauren gets a little upset when we have to correct Lili on anything. Megan and Wanda have had a blast shopping...and so far we've only had to buy one extra suitcase...not two like our last trip.

Tomorrow will be a busy day...we pack in the morning and then go to the consulate in the afternoon for Lili's visa...then we leave the hotel for the airport and start our long trip home. Please continue to keep us on your prayer list...that the flight will go well... we can't wait to get home to see all of you. I'm not sure if I'll have time to post tomorrow or not....but I'll try. Rick.

Monday in Guangzhou

Follow up from yesterday... Lauren and I were on our way back to the hotel in a taxi. The taxi driver was reading his newspaper and driving too fast at the same time... it made me a little apprehensive. All of a sudden he started speaking very rapidly and looking in the mirror at me...I knew instantly that something was wrong, but I had no idea what. He pulled over to the curb and started motioning for us to get out. I didn't know where we were but i knew it was still a long way from the Hotel because we hadn't crossed under the freeway yet. He finally convinced me to get out of the cab and he went up front and raised the hood to show me that he had a busted water hose and the engine was overheating. He motioned for us to walk from there... when I asked about another taxi he made all kind of motions and talked for a full minute but I understood that in this spot our chance of catching a taxi was very very low.

Lauren and I walked a few blocks, found the freeway, crossed under it and my good sense of direction (or more likely an angel) told me to turn right...after we walked a few blocks I saw the small medical clinic where Lauren got her very quick exam 4 years ago. I knew we were on the right track...a few more blocks and I could see a tall building that had letters on top that I had seen the night before from our hotel window...we turned and walked a few more blocks to Shamian Steet and found our way down to Lucy's. Lucy's is a very familiar American adoption family hangout in Guangzhou near our hotel. Lauren and I stopped there for lunch...A PBJ sandwich and cheeseburger! A nice way to top off our adventure. Lauren thought the whole thing was great fun. I had enough exercise to do me for a couple of days.

Today, we took Lili to the same medical clinic for her examination. All went well and this time the young doctor could speak some english. He said Lili was a very pretty girl. We have had a lot of the Chinese people stop and tell us how beautiful she is. This afternoon we went shopping near the hotel. The weather has turned cold... the high today was 53 with wind and some light rain....now the sweatshirts feel pretty good.

Tonight we went over to Pat Dexter's home and had dinner with Pat and family. They are missionaries that have lived here for 3 1/2 years. Pat was in Lori's original Novy group when we were adopting Lauren...and they have been communicating via email ever since. Pat and her husband and children are really wonderful people... It was nice to finally get to meet them. She had a great meal prepared and we had a very nice visit.

Tonight when I left the room to come down to the business center, Lori and Lili were laying in bed singing. Lori has a Chinese lullaby song that she has been singing to Lili every night and tonight Lili decided to sing with her....it was so sweet... I will never forget their two voices together and the big smile on Lori's face. There are so many concerns and so many precious moments on this journey that your emotions are on somewhat of a roller coaster... but then you know....I've ALWAYS loved roller coasters! Tomorrow we have a day to rest, relax, shop, and then on Wednesday we get the travel visa and start our long trip home on Wednesday night. I'll try to get Lori to come down tomorrow morning and post some more pictures. Please keep us in your prayers for the flight home...I expect it will be trying for us all...especially Lili and Lauren. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support. We are truly blessed. Rick.

From Rick

Just a quick post...we have to pay for computer time here in 15 minute blocks and I've already been on a few minutes checking email for both of us.

Everyone in our party is doing fine. Wanda and Megan are shopping regularly, our two tigers...Lauren and Lili and getting along better than sisters should... and Lori and I are on cloud 9. Lili is still crying at night... but less each night and not as hard as the first few nights. She already loves Lori and clings to her...and this morning she gave me a big hug several different times. We went to visit a Buddhist Temple this morning...built about 600 years ago. Then we went to an art museum and saw some very pretty embroidered paintings, fine carvings, statues, etc. Afterwards, Lauren and I took a wild cab ride while the others went shopping. I'll fill in the details of the cab ride later...I'm out of time for now. Rick.

From Guangzhou

Well we made it to Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel...and they have great air conditioning. Last night at Nanning we had to leave the windows open because the a/c just didn't produce enough cool ( and the outside temp was only in the upper 70's.). The city traffic noise with honking horns, sirens, etc. was difficult to sleep by...sometime after midnight, the room was cool enough that I could close the windows. Lili has already learned "No" in English and shares it with us when we do things she doesn't like. Today on the bus, we had been telling her she had to sit down.... then she told on Lauren when Lauren was getting out of her seat (quick learner). She has come up to me a couple of times today and given me big hugs... makes my heart skip a beat... we have been very concerned about how long it would take her to warm up to us. Megan and I took Lili and Lauren to dinner last night... and Lili wouldn't eat a thing...not one bite...she just sat there and looked at me with those big brown eyes. Then I remembered that Lori had started feeding her rather than letting Lili do it herself. I asked her if she wanted Mama...and she smiled. I went to the room and brought Lori downstairs and Lili ate everything Lori would offer her. Ahhh, a Momma's touch. We don't have internet in the room here so I'm having to send this from their business center. Lori will try to send some pictures tomorrow. We feel like we're in the home stretch now. Keep the prayers coming. We appreciate all of you. Rick.