Home Sweet Home!!!

Meritt and I are so blessed to have SO many good friends and family!  Here are just a few who made the trek to the airport...special thanks to Mr. Randy (the handsome one in the back left), who was kind enough to celebrate his birthday by driving his family to the airport and then driving our luggage home to us.

 Marshall (our oldest), his bride to be Rachel, and Macey (our daughter)...and now Maggie and Mary Henley's best friend...they have really taken to her!

 Here we come...a nice picture of us (all of the airport pictures were taken by Jody...thanks!) making our way through the airport to meet our family and friends!

 Can you say overwhelmed!  The girls didn't know what hit them with all the attention they received...it was awesome and really helped make them feel loved!

 The one in the stylish flower ensemble holding Macey's hands is Bella (Jody and Rick's little girl they adopted from GZ over a year ago)...Maggie and Mary Henley have been carrying her picture around with them for quite some time now and were VERY excited to finally meet her.

 Well here's six of the Sims Seven...Matt had a middle-school basketball game last night, which they won!

Bella, Jody, Maggie, Meritt and Mary Henley...I see many, many play dates in the future for this group!  And, unfortunately for Mr. Rick and me...it may also mean many, many shopping trips too!

 Bella with her welcome home sign for the girls and two precious panda dolls...the girls slept with them last night...very sweet!

 And finally to our house where the girls got introduced to their room...and of course the dress up cloths, which include many tiara's...which we had to put on immediately.  Note Meritt's got hers on too... the princess is home!

 Macey (and tiara) making sure the girls know they have princess slippers as well...which made a lovely sound scurrying across the bathroom floor at 4:30am this morning when the girl's internal alarm clock woke them up.  Thank goodness for Macey...she got up with them and they have been playing together all morning long.

 And, of course no princess outfit is complete without a magic wand!

 ...and tutu's

 ...and slippers...learning to walk in high-heel slippers...always a challenge!

 ...and then it was go time!

 Awesome pictures of all the Sims kids plus Rachel at the kitchen table...

 and in the kid's den...

...the family's complete...at least for now!  :)

Meritt and I are so excited to be home with our family...the smiles above warm our hearts!

And with our friends...who kept us going while we were overseas...and who we know will help us to continue to shepherd the lives of these precious gifts He has so graciously blessed us with!

Love,

Meritt and Mike

A visit to the GZ Zoo and a 3 hour van ride to Hong Kong!

 Just inside the gates waiting on our ride to take a quick tour of the GZ Zoo.  That is the rest of our "adoption group" with Meritt and the girls.  We are the first ones to leave GZ...of course we've been here since early fall...at least that is what is feels like.  Although, Meritt and I both agree, GZ has been a welcomed improvement from the interior cities of Hefei and Xian!

ROLL TIDE!!!!!  That's all I'm going to say about that!  (at least on the blog anyway!)

 Please don't feed the animals!

Maggie, Meritt and May Henley strolling through the Zoo.  The girls really had a great time...the weather was awesome and they ran up and down the sidewalks, jumping and giggling...and holding each other's hand as they walked.  Yeah I know...where's the picture.  When I went to snap it...the camera card was full!  They really seem to be getting much more comfortable with letting go of Meritt (good and bad)...good from the sense I think they feel safe that we aren't going anywhere and they can trust that...bad from the sense that we have to watch them much more closely.

I asked Meritt the other night after we (really she) got them to bed..."well, do you have the energy necessary to keep up with them 24x7?"...she said "most of the time"...which I thought, you know, we would have answered that question the exact same way 17 years ago when Marshall was 4...13 years ago when Macey was 4...and 10 years ago when Matt was 4.  It's honest and real...and what it is all about!  I really love that about her...she is a fabulous mom, and Maggie and Mary Henley...just like Marshall, Matt and Macey...will come to realize it (if they haven't already) very soon!

 That's Rebecca (our guide) talking to the girls and Meritt.  She thought they were hilarious because of all the questions they asked...why this and why that...she also thought the amount of english they have picked up in two weeks was amazing.  I told her mine had improved as well over the last few weeks...but she didn't seem as impressed.

 Taking a nourishment break...bananas with a lollipop chaser!  Maggie is a bottomless pit and has a big-time sweet tooth.  Mary Henley is more measured with her intake (slow eater)...that is until you tell her it's time to leave the buffet...then she starts cramming anything and everything she can get her hands on.  Meritt and I think it is a function of the orphanage, and only having a short period of time to eat.  Maggie does the same thing to some extent...but she also has the need to not have anything left on her plate when she leaves the table.  Meritt and I have learned to only give her smaller portions and refill her plate more often, so she doesn't worry about having to clean her plate.

 The panda below was really cool...it was unbelievable how much dexterity she had in stripping and eating those bamboo shoots.

 The bears were really funning...we watched them for quite some time.  Even though you weren't supposed to "feed the animals"...most all of the Chinese people would throw them various food items.  The bears would scan the crowd to see who was ready to launch them a piece of food and would then sit back and catch it in their mouths.  Not sure who has who trained in this set-up!?!

 Meritt decided she needed at least one more picture of me and the girls, so she decided to take one of me splitting a banana for the girls.  Very exciting...no blog comments necessary on this one.

Well, we are in Hong Kong tonight at the Marriott Sky City just two minutes from the airport.  It is 10:55pm Wednesday evening and the girls are trying to get to sleep.  Our flight leaves at 10:45am in the morning and we land in ATL at 5:48pm EST after a 3 hours layover in Detroit.  It will be a tough day for the girls...and probably for Mama and Baba too!  BUT it is way worth the pain!

Meritt and I really want to thank you all for joining us on this journey...I know that I speak for her when I tell you truly...we would not have made it without you...your prayers...your comments...your emails...your texts...your support of our family back home.  It has been incredibly difficult to be away from Marshall, Macey and Matt...despite the great care they are getting!  We are incredibly blessed to have you all in our lives!

It has been a wild ride...exciting, frightening, enlightening, challenging, rewarding, frustrating, fun and sometimes not-so-fun.  But then there were a lot of times just like now...when it is quiet...and we get the chance to reflect on the big picture.......and fact that He has put it all into motion for His greater glory...and our richer joy!

See you all very soon!

All goes well at the ACS...Maggie and Mary Henley take their oath! Then a dinner cruise!

 Well it is Tuesday evening around 9:48pm and we have had a big day.  All went very well at the ACS today...no paperwork issues and our oaths are complete.  When Maggie and Mary Henley hit the ground in Detroit on our way home...they will be US Citizens, which is very cool!  Above and below...appropriately attired in our Chinese dresses on our way to take a group picture.  They are pretending as though they are on very important phone calls...please take a message!

 Check out Mary Henley's pose...it's like...o.m.goodness...will she every quit talking...I've got no time for this!

 Group photo before we venture out for our Pearl River Dinner Cruise...the folks on the left are from Douglasville, GA (right down the road from us)...the folks in the middle are from right outside Harrisburg, PA, and the folks on the right are from Decatur, AL.  They were are very nice, and we enjoyed getting to know them!

Meritt and the girls messing with the koi fish in the garden on the hotel grounds...very nice...except we kept thinking one of us (Meritt or me) was definitely going to have to get wet rescuing one of the girls...thankfully neither fell in!

Aboard the dinner cruise...it was a very pleasant boat ride up and down the Pearl River...food was okay, although the girls ate a ton!  They loved the salty soup and corn.  Meritt and I stuck to the rice and fried noodles.

 Several pictures on the outside deck...really cool skyline and lit up boats!  Check Maggie out giving us the leg-lift!

 Mary Henley munching on her fourth half-ear of corn...and Maggie giving us her best smile!

 It was a little cold, but the girls seemed to really like being out in the night air.

Well, this is our last night in GZ.  We hit the Zoo tomorrow morning at 9:30am, pack up and hit the road to Hong Kong around 4:30pm.  We are staying at the Marriott Sky Hotel right next to the airport and should get their around 7pm.

Today was a fun day.  The ACS appointment was a little nerve racking as you waited for your name to be called and then waited again to see if your paperwork checked out...but all in all it was not too bad.  

Meritt sent me back to the jewelry mart on a wild-goose (pagoda) hunt for beads and pearls and dresses and Chinese New Year envelopes and movies...I am not wired for shopping.  I did have very specific instructions, which normally works but in this case fell completely apart when 75% of the shops were closed for Chinese New Year...yes, including all of the specific ones I was to visit to collect bracelets and beads.  I did the best I could...so, if you are on the gift list please just smile and hold your giggles for later.  If you are not on the gift list...consider yourself fortunate!

Sorry in advance...and talk to you all very soon!

Dr. Meritt is correct...TB tests are negative! Shopping and playing in the park!

Monday morning came with a visit to the clinic to read our TB test...as I stated yesterday, Dr. Meritt had already given us her "officially-unofficial" reading and as usual she was right!  Big sigh of relief!  So after our 15 minute visit to get the "official" reading, we had about 3 hours to explore shops and park on Shamian Island.  Oh and our bus ride to the island was uneventful as well...in case you were wondering if we filled up any more of our pink bags.  Not today baby!

Meritt and the girls met the young lady in the picture above (Jenny) and her son.  She was extremely nice and invited us to stop by her shop that she and her husband (Mark) own...more small world stuff on that below.

Not trying to make any political statements here...just found this comical...and somewhat humorous and sad that the Chinese people probably have him more figured out than we do based on the characterization.

Back to Jenny and Mark and their shop.  We spent a great deal of time with them...first picking out shoes for the girls (very cute, white something or others that squeak...but you can remove the squeaker...which we promptly did)...then we picked out provincial dolls for each of the girls (Hefei and Xian)...very nice and something the girls will really appreciate...please don't tell them that we have already mixed them up and can't remember which is which!

While the girls were trying on shoes, I was nosing around the shop and noticed these really cool wall plagues with scripture versus on them in both Chinese and English...I really liked them and thought they would be a nice touch to the girl's room.  As I was reading through the versus they had, Mark walked up and asked me if we were Christians.  I said yes, and he said so are we...then he showed us his Chinese/English bible and pictures of his family.  They were extremely nice!

As Meritt and Jenny talked further, Jenny then got out a photo album of her most favorite customers (I think she meant the really big spenders) from across the globe...after thumbing through several pages, Meritt turned to me (she didn't have her readers with her) and said..."Mike, is this Jody?"  And, of course it was...see below where Meritt is pointing.

Note: despite the fact that we bought two pair of shoes, two dolls, a scripture plague and a few other gifts...sadly we did not make the "Customer Hall of Fame" photo album...

A couple more photos from the island...it is REALLY nice...especially as Meritt and I thought back to our previous two weeks in Hefei and Xian.  In comparison, GZ is like the French Riviera.  Please don't tell the girls this, but Meritt has concocted a plan to convince them they are from GZ so that when we return to visit their homeland...we won't have to return to Hefei and Xian!  After contemplating further her devious plans, she mellowed a bit in the afternoon and said we could take two day trips (fly and in and out in the same day) to Hefei and Xian!  From GZ of course!

We saw a photo of the statue above in one of the magazines in the hotel...so we figured we needed a photo of it as well.  Seems to suggest that China is both rooted in its cultural heritage, yet progressively with the times as well.  What do you think?

This is Jordon...he has a shop as well.  Very friendly!  We bought the girls two stuffed dolls and he wrote their names in English and Mandarin on white paper and gave us the translation for the symbols that make up their names.  It is really cool and will look great framed on their bedroom wall.

We found the park...it was awesome to see them play and giggle and smile and bump their heads and cry and trip and fall and kick and scratch...just kidding about the kicking and scratching.  It was your typical day at the park with two toddlers...very fun.

And what, pray tell do we have below...wait for it...could it be the much requested pictures of Mike with the girls!!!!!   Yes!

In this first one we were running around the trees and decided to hide from Mommy...Mary Henley doesn't quite grasp the concept of really hiding.  If you remember the story I told you all about running in the halls of the hotel in Xian...Mary Henley and I would run ahead and turn a corner to hide from Maggie and Meritt...well Mary Henley couldn't stand the anticipation and would instead stick her head out from behind the wall and watch Maggie and Meritt walking down the hall.  They would "boo" her anyway and she would scream nonetheless.  Same thing here...just pretend she's behind the tree.

They love to be tickled...and generally think I am a goof-ball...which I am okay with.  Now back to reality and the more important pictures...Meritt and the girls taking a break before we head back to the bus and the hotel.  Note that Maggie is dressed all in blue (her favorite color) and Mary Henley in pink (her favorite color)!

We dined out this evening at Paddy's Pub...good Carlsberg beer, chicken nachos, fried rice, some spaghetti, and a cheeseburger slider.  We had a hard time finding something the girls really liked...which is the reason for the garden variety selection.  The Pub had a tribute to the Beatles going on so the girls got to hear me sing...A LOT!  Most likely the reason they were unable to find something that agreed with them.  They really liked my rendition of "You've got to hide your love away"...a personal favorite!

We are back in the room now and Meritt has got the girls ready for bed.  We go to the ACS tomorrow for our oath and to present our documents for the girl's visas.  This is a BIG deal.  Please pray that we have everything we need and they are in all in order and proper condition!  Thanks!

See you all very soon!

"Apple-Pear Revenge"!...then a nice shopping trip...and hanging in the hotel lobby!

 Nothing on the agenda today but a trip to the market to find gifts for friends...and a few for the girls.  Above they are showing off their new bead-bracelets...and drinking sprites.  Very fun.  Unfortunately the bus ride to the market included Maggie filling up several barf-bags as a result of the "Apple-Pear Revenge".  It was quite a scene as we had several of our "adoption group" pitching in by holding bags and passing wipes!  More unfortunately for Maggie it continued for a good 45 minutes after we arrived at the market...Meritt sitting on the steps holding our pink barf-bags while Maggie filled up a few more!  Mary Henley was really amazing...normally she clings to Meritt when we are out in crowds, but somehow she sensed that Maggie was hurting so she helped me push the stroller (which by the way neither one like...so it acts as a backpack carriage).  Thankfully after about an hour of cleansing...Maggie bounced back in full force!

 Above striking a pose with our new bracelets...which they told everyone on the bus later that their Mama had bought them as a pretty new gift.  Isn't she nice!?!

 The very nice couple who "hand-crafted" a large number of very expensive, very rare, artisan bracelets for our dearest friends and family back home!  They were very nice and asked a number of questions about the girls and our adoption.  They have a 7 year old son who was also in the shop helping them.

 A picture of the center of the market...lots of rain...but lots of fun...obviously except for Maggie's first hour, and also except for the bathrooms...although the girls had to go...they passed!

 Back on the bus heading to the hotel...Maggie was all smiles and talking up a storm to anyone who would listen.  Mary Henley was catching a few Z's.

 After we got back to the hotel, we walked across the street (actually under the street) to a mall.  We walked every inch of it just letting the girls explore a little and get more accustomed to being in crowds.  They did really well...and very much liked the toy store and kids clothing store.  Mary Henley is extremely fond of pink and we walked through this section that had nothing but pink clothes...she touched and rubbed and felt everything...and always with a sigh!  It was hilarious.

Picture above - the girls finally couldn't hold it any longer...only to find a line in the ladies room.  I snapped a quick photo...and then got some really odd looks from the ladies in the line!  Probably not the smartest thing I've done since being in country!

 As we were walking back under the street (it's actually part of the subway but pedestrians use it to cross from the hotel to the shopping mall)...I noticed the sign above and had to take a picture.  Notice the rules: No Smoking (okay), No Explosives / Firearms (got it), No Pets (makes sense), No Balloons (what!?!).  I'm still trying to figure this one out.

 Back out from underground on the way back to the hotel...the girls have come such a long way from those first several days when they were absolutely terrified to get out in the crowds.  It is really cool to see them getting more and more comfortable with both Meritt and me...and each other!

 Speaking of which - we stopped in the hotel lounge to grab and adult beverage (Meritt and me), a plate of fries and a couple sprites.  In the picture above, Mary Henley is removing all of the peanuts from the bowl that Maggie does not like and refilling it with her favorites.  It was about a 5 minute conversation between the two of them that lead to the  project.  Mary Henley performing her motherly duties by making sure that Maggie did not have to worry about finding anything in the peanut dish that she did not care for.  Mary Henley then picked out her favorites and neatly discarded those that neither of them cared for by handing them to Meritt.

 This little pose was staged by Mary Henley...she got both Maggie and Meritt to lean on their arms knowing full well that I had the camera out and was taking pictures.

 Hamming it up with our most provocative poses...and then our best scary, smiley-face!

We finished our day with a grilled chicken and italian sausage pizza, some very syrupy orange drinks, and two rather very large Tsingtao's...the girls had the orange drinks.  I got two kisses! for hunting and gather our dinner...neither of which were from Meritt.  We also had a MAJOR breakthrough with the potty process today...Mary Henley actually grabbed my hand twice today to help her in the bathroom!  Now...I know that may not seem like a big deal, and is one that I will likely regret having been brought into the circle of confidence at a later date...BUT, it is a huge step for her in her trust with me!  Also, I am sure that Maggie will get their sooner because Mary Henley is setting the pace.  It feels really good~

Tomorrow we get our TB tests read.  Dr. Meritt' pre-read says we are good to go...but we will likely look to have the physician at the clinic confirm her reading!

Tuesday we go to the ACS (American Consulate?) to take an oath and submit our visa documents...this and making sure we don't miss our return flight on Thursday are our final two big hurdles...please pray that all of  our documents are in order!

Wednesday we go to the Zoo in the morning...pick up the girls Visa in the afternoon and then take a bus ride to Hong Kong (about 2.5 hours)...then we catch the first of our return flights around 10am Thursday morning!  Yippee!

See you all very soon!