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We skipped Sunday School this morning and opted to just try out worship service with Elijah.  I explained just a bit on the electronic translator before we left.  He is so easy going with things and just takes everything in stride.  He did great during the service, standing when we did, trying to sing along and even folding his hands to pray.  He was also greeted by so many friends and politely said, “Nice to meet you” several times.  Then after service he was all about helping stack the chairs and cleaning up bulletins.  What a kid!

We also had a dusting of snow this morning, so after lunch Elijah was anxious to head outside.  (Lunch was Taco Bell drive-thru and he discovered that he really liked tacos and burritos, they even mix in well with ramen.  Who knew?!)  He is used to cold weather and some snow in Beijing, but enjoyed trying out the sleds here and hopping on the rope swing.

There were still some Christmas presents waiting to be opened, so he enjoyed those tonight.  He’s going to think that we just have presents all the time!  In just one week we will celebrate his birthday, then a week later is Ami’s birthday.  Oh well, parties and presents are fun and it’s always great to see him flash those dimples.

We got a bit more settled in today.  We finished unpacking the boys’ suitcase and backpack.  Elijah very neatly arranged his new belongings in one of his desk drawers.  He always carefully puts things back in their packages and takes pride in what he has.  I also got a bunch of mail opened.  It’s opened, but not all sorted through.  I have many stacks around the house and will be glad to get organized again.  We are so thankful for meals that friends are bringing.  What a blessing!

Ami woke Elijah up at 9 this morning

We have had a great day of unpacking and settling in.  I had a monitor in the boys’ room overnight and heard them at about 4:30 this morning and thought they might be up for the day.  Benjamin kept saying, “Shhh, three more hours.”  He was still tired, but Elijah was wide awake.  Fortunately he got drowsy enough again and feel asleep and I had a hard time waking him back up at 9:30!  I woke up at 7:30 and showered and went to the grocery store for some milk and breakfast stuff.  Everyone else was still asleep when I got home and I finally woke them all up at 9, except for Elijah who wouldn’t budge until later.

Elijah woke up his usual happy self and enjoyed seeing things in the daylight.  It’s totally as if this is where he belongs and he is right at home.  Our two neighbor boys/friends came over mid-morning and the kids all had a great time running around and playing.  Even though they may not be able to communicate in words, they laughed and had a great time.  Elijah turned his nose up a bit at sandwiches for lunch, so I got out some ramen.  For now I’ll make sure he’s happy when fed, but I won’t always be a short order cook.    He really doesn’t seem like a picky eater at all, so I’m sure he’ll do fine and we’ll accomodate as much as possible.

This afternoon Benjamin really wanted to go to his first Upwards basketball game, although he had missed the first two practices.  We were all feeling up to it, so we ventured out.  It was fun to get out for a bit and Elijah got to meet some of our friends.  This evening a dear friend brought dinner for us, such a blessing.  I barely got enough stuff for breakfast on my quick run to the grocery store this morning, so this was a great help.  I spent most of the day doing laundry and sorting through stuff from suitcases.  Still more to unpack and put away, but I need to hit the huge box of mail that the mailman delivered this afternoon.  I know it will take a few days to feel caught up on stuff, so we won’t start school for another week.

Tonight we had our first real family devotion time.  It’s a nightly habit for us, but on the trip we were doing good if we even prayed together before bedtime.  With being in two rooms, the odd schedules and different activites, we were juggling quite a bit and sadly devotions were the first thing to go.  But this evening it was neat to see all five kiddos gathered around Chris to read and for prayer time.  I explained to Elijah through the electronic translator that this is what we do each night.  He enjoyed reading and helping Chris.  One more child to train up in the way he should go.  Lord, please grant us wisdom and patience!

Here are a few pictures from today, but check back on yesterday’s post for more pictures of our long day of traveling.

Thank you Lord for your protection over us on our journey home!  Just a quick note to let you know we are home safe and sound.  Only missed one flight (our connection from Chicago to KC) and got on another flight just a couple of hours later.  We were met by family and friends.  Thank you guys for the “picnic”, so thoughtful and just perfect for what we needed.  We are so glad to be back in the USA.  Elijah is now a citizen of the USA!  The kids were all troopers.  It was great fun to see Elijah run from room to room in the house, discovering closets, the “secret passageway”, the cats, etc.  It’s true, just like he always belonged here and oh such a part of our family.  He is sleeping soundly in his very own bed, sharing a room with a brother, tucked in warmly with hugs and kisses from family, fed and clothed…. we are so very blessed to have him HERE, with us.  Thank you Father for this amazing gift, for the miracle of adoption, for the way you made this come to pass.  Wow, it’s really hitting me now.  It is REAL.  My dear son Elijah is sleeping in our home.  WOW!!! 

I will post more with pictures tomorrow.  Thank you for praying us home!

We enjoyed our last yummy breakfast buffet this morning. Tomorrow morning we meet in the lobby at 5:45am, so there will be no leisurely breakfast. Our bags are packed and the bellboy just picked them all up to be downstairs and loaded on the bus for us in the morning. We managed to check-in three bags coming and only have four going back. Not bad for seven of us with all the souvenirs, and some extra things Elijah brought from PHF.

This morning we met for group photos in the lobby. There were twelve families, but almost every family had at least one extra person along, so we were quite a large group. All but one family adopted a special needs child and they ranged in age from 15 months to Elijah at almost ten. It has been neat to visit with these families and share this bond through adoption. There is an understanding that goes deep and a joy that we share.

We ventured to the zoo with three other families after the photo shoot. It was a very nice zoo and we took in another day of beautiful (although smoggy) Guangzhou weather. Then later in the afternoon we went to the US Consulate to receive Elijah’s Chinese passport with his US immigrant visa stamped inside. When we land at our port of entry in Chicago and pass through immigration he will become a US citizen!

We are almost done, just need to board that flight and arrive safely home. Then a whole new chapter will begin. Elijah sure has a whole new world awaiting him. We think he’s going to love it, yet we know there will surely be some grieving for all that he has known that has been left behind. New language, new food, new sights, new sounds, new customs, new manners, new house, new friends, new family, new clothes, new smells, the list just goes on and on.

We thank you again for all the support, prayers and encouragement we have received. It has been a blessing beyond what we know. It has surely sustained us throughout this journey, from the time we felt called to pursue Elijah’s adoption until now and for the days and months ahead. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God is good. We give Him all the praise and glory for making this miracle come to pass. He broke down so many barriers for Elijah to become a part of our family. Thank you Abba, our adopter!!

One more full day! Yes, going home has been on our minds for about a week. We are still enjoying our time here and making the most of it, but we are all looking forward to our own beds, own food, and other comforts. While six of us are thinking of the comforts of our home, I wonder how Elijah feels and if he has any idea how different things will be. He has had time to adjust to our family, but going to the USA will be so very different for him. He won’t hear much Chinese anymore, he won’t be eating pig knuckles and dried whole fish, and he will be surrounded by uncountable new things. We can’t communicate about it, but I think he is excited and will take it all in stride. We are so thankful for his cheerful and easy going personality!

Today one parent had to stay in our rooms for a couple of hours while our guide made a trip to the US Consulate to submit Elijah’s visa application. Fortunately she didn’t call back with any questions about paperwork, so we are good to go. Tomorrow we will make the trip to the Consulate ourselves to pick up his visa.

While the girls stuck around the hotel, Chris took the boys out for some shopping of their kind….to an electronics shopping area. They found some bargains on Game Boy games and Chris said Elijah did a great job sticking with them and they had a good outing.

We also took a stroll through another huge park across from our hotel. It has a lake that we walked around and tried to “keep the danger away”. Of course with two curious boys in our family, danger is always near. We also discovered a huge exercise area in the park. At first I thought it was a children’s play area, but it was a community exercise area that was quite busy. It has massage rollers, twisty turny things, joggers, table tennis, swingy things and much more. The folks were quite serious about it, but our gang just had fun trying things out. I took some video that we’ll get posted sometime.

This morning after our yummy breakfast buffet Michaela and I headed out with some other ladies for some more shopping on Shamian Island. I had to buy another suitcase, which of course it was “best price and very good quality for you”. It’s a genuine Polo and I think it might last me through to KC. It’s fun to shop for souvenirs here and Michaela spent her fair share, too. Chris and the others just hung out at the hotel and played a bit with some of the other kids. For some reason or other they weren’t pining to go back out the ice cube pool.

This afternoon our group visited a tea house where we had more of the same that we had in Fuzhou. It’s fun to watch them steep the tea. We tried several kinds again…our favorites are oolong, jasmine and ginseng.

I packed up a bit tonight and figured out how much more laundry we needed to have done before leaving on Friday. Even though I like laundry service I will be glad to get back home to my own washer, dryer and detergent. We’re also a bit tired of wearing the same clothes, but we are definitely blessed. We still have plenty to choose from!

I asked Benjamin last night if he is still glad to have a brother and he immediately grinned and said “oh yeah”. I think we have pushed through most of the honeymoon stage and are feeling like this is for real and we are all still very happy about it. Elijah is pretty much all boy, so that leads to fun, especially when he acts younger than he supposedly is. We’ll work on manners and such as we go. It’s hard to teach him that slurping, hawking, and blowing your nose without a tissue aren’t good manners when he’s grown up knowing that as totally fine culturally.

We can’t wait to be home. Thanks for following along with us and for your prayers. They are greatly appreciated! Kathy, I picked up some panda nestlings for Kamryn. Again, very good price and good quality! Ha!

This morning we met to go get the adoptive children’s medical exams done, as required by the US for their visas. It is very basic and not thorough at all, but just more red tape. We took all of Elijah’s medical records that we had for his heart condition and surgery, but the doctor didn’t say a word and just pushed us through with everyone else in the very loud and crowded room. One more step done.

After the exams we had quite a bit of time to do some souvenir shopping on Shamian Island, a very popular stop for adoptive families. The bargains and bargaining were not near as good as I had remembered from last time. Kate, you’d be disappointed in me, but I’m heading back tomorrow with 4 less distractions to try my hand at a better discount. The kids had fun shopping and enjoyed using some of their spending money they had saved up to use here. Elijah was excited to get his beloved Ultraman figure and DVDs.

This afternoon we tried out the pool. The temperature was about 80 here, but the pool is not heated. Chris said after going numb, the pool wasn’t too bad. We figured that Elijah had never been in a pool before so we came prepared with water wings. Chris was getting in the pool to be ready for Elijah when Elijah just jumped straight in! He was so shocked at the depth, the cold, the buoyancy…and the look on his face was priceless. Neither Chris nor I were prepared for the moment so unfortunately it’s not on film and Chris quickly reached over to help Elijah (the water was 3-4 ft. deep). He thought it was great though and continued to bounce around in the water despite being so cold. We’ll be getting swimming lessons very soon!

Tonight several families ordered Pizza Hut together and we visited out in the hallway for quite a while. There are several kids in our travel group that we met up with here and our kids have enjoyed playing with them. Good fellowship and neat to hear the stories of how God is working in other families and how they came to answer the call of adoption. He is faithful and when we are obedient to His calling in our lives, it is incredible to see the fruit!

Elijah did so well today in sticking with us and not pouting over things. We almost had a sword through a leather couch at Jordan’s, but that’s another story and all is well. Unfortunately due to that incident neither son will be bringing home a sword! Benjamin is learning that sometimes consequences of the actions of others fall over to him as well.

Just three more full days here. I am ready to get home and into a routine, whatever that will be. I doubt the kids will be excited about starting school back up, but we’ll get going as soon as we can. It has been nice to have so much family time together. Chris and I are lacking in the couple department as we are always watching out for the kids in this foreign land and making sure all is safe and well. I think we’ll need a date and a breather when we get home. Anyone up for watching five awesome and active kids?!