It is so hard to believe that we left Manhattan on May 5th and it's already May 30th and we head out in the morning! We have truly enjoyed almost every minute of this trip. Ok, not the throwing up part though... It's really bittersweet. Jerica and Ariana absolutely loved coming back to China to see everything and to see the country they were born in.
We did lots of shopping on Shamian Island today. This is the place where we stayed when we adopted Jerica and Ariana. We just didn't have enough time to explore the island more. On the way back from the island, our bus did get hit by another bus, but just the large mirror in front. Kind of made a loud noise though. As crazy as traffic is in China it's amazing you don't see more accidents.
As for the kids, here are a few updates:
Jerica - wants to stay and eat more food, and do more shopping, but is not interested in learning how to speak or write Chinese, she says it's too hard! She's going to have to learn how to cook up some good Chinese food for us! So many people would try to talk to her in Chinese and she just gave them the "I have no idea what you just said" look and they stopped.
Ariana- loved it here and wants to learn how to speak Chinese. She has been Josiah's best friend and a great helper to her parents. She was not as fond of the food as Jerica and I think she's ready for momma's cooking.
Alexa - is EXTREMELY homesick and wants to get on the plane, yesterday. She loves her baby sister and perhaps they will get along great with similiar personalities. She had a great shopping trip today and found many treasures to bring back home.
Isaiah - gets along with anyone here and has enjoyed playing with some other boys in our travel group. He's ready to get outside and play in our backyard. WAY too much energy stored up in that little body. He can't wait to get home and play with his Chinese sword he found today. Uh Oh, what did we do?? And one of his parents, and I won't repeat his name, allowed him to also buy a VERY noisy toy.....
Elijah- is still not a fan of Josiah, so we're having some issues with that, but it will come. He needs to get home and get back to his no dairy diet and I think he'll feel better. It was hard here staying totally away from dairy. Some days all he would eat was a muffin and I couldn't guarantee there was no milk or butter in it. He LOVES his little sister and won't stop kissing her which can lead to Kendra screaming for him to leave her alone. (At least he likes one of them!) ;)
Josiah- is still our happy little 3 year old. He is still not a fan of Elijah yet. He LOVES to eat and we're going to need to monitor his food intake because he seriously won't stop eating unless we leave the restaurant. He knows his new name and will look everytime you call it. He's starting to speak some English words, usually when the other kids ask him to say something. He loves it when we sing songs and has lots of the actions for Jesus Loves Me downpat already! And he knows the first 3 words of our bedtime prayer!! :) We're getting there. I bet by the end of summer he'll be speaking all English.
And then there's Kendra - Kendra actually had a really good day today. She was much happier and didn't cry half as much as she had prior days. She loves the stroller a whole lot more than the front pack. She wakes up the happiest little girl and gives you smiles that will melt your heart in a second. I'm sure she will really blossom once we get home and she can explore her surroundings. I'm anxious for her to have her surgery too. She gets food stuck and it just breaks my heart cause she cries and gets frustrated until she gets it out. She says some English words but I'm sure after her surgery she'll REALLY talk... ;)
Todd - well he's ready to get home and get back to work for some peace and quiet! ;) And I'm just ready to get home and get life started as a family of 9.
We really had a wonderful time together as a family. I will cherish these memories as long as I live. I don't know if God will ever give us a chance to come back to this country again but I do hope so at some point. There are amazing things to see and learn about. Or just maybe Todd will want to bring us back to adopt another child (or 2)!! :) (Just seeing if he's actually reading our blog!!) I seriously would though. Seeing all those kids in the orphanage and the huge need for these "special needs" kids to find a family, how could I not...
Our guide today gave us a long talk about their one child policy and hopefully when we get home and I'm bored cause I won't have anything to do, I'll write about it. It truly breaks my heart how this country really doesn't value the gift of children.
So, farewell China! Kind of have a couple tears in my eyes to leave but anxious to see everyone back home! Thanks for following along and watching this all unfold. We've been SO blessed! God is so good! Goodnight.
