Sofie is with us!

What an awesome day. It could not have gone better. We went with two other families to the Ministry of Social Services (Civic Affairs Office) and Sofie (Tian Tian) was waiting for us. This was a little unexpected but we weren't complaining. She met us at the door and told us hello. It was a great experience. Sarah Jane out did herself and became the best big sister we could have imagined. She hugged her, shared toys, held her hand, introduced her new sister to us and basically blew us away.

June Comforting Sofie (Tian Tian)

Adoption Director with us

Sofie was so sweet and totally took to June right away. It was a great moment to see June, Sarah Jane and Sofie all together laughing, sharing toys, blowing bubbles and having a great time. This was a totally different experience than we had with Sarah Jane. We enjoyed every moment of this one. Lots of video and pics taken.

Everyone enjoyed blowing bubbles

Sherry, our guide, helping Sofie with official fingerprinting

Then it was time to shop for a new stroller, toy airplane and puffy pink coat for Sofie, take an official family photo, eat room service, do more paperwork and then go to bed. Sofie did so well all day with us but struggled a little at bedtime. June was so great with her and introduced Sofie to some classic American bedtime songs that Sarah Jane heard her first night with us. She settled down, we turned on some cartoons and all was good. She slept great... mom and dad, not so much. But, it's all good.

We woke up today, had hotel breakfast buffet, and then headed to the civic affairs building to finalize adoption paperwork. We met the orphanage adoption director, took some pics, filled out more paperwork (did I mention that we've done a lot of paperwork?) Not done yet. We then went to Police Headquarters for more official business and pics of kids. That ends our official paperwork for her province, Xian. We are now waiting for Pizza Hut to arrive! Oh yeah, it's being delivered to hotel. We're just a little excited.

-Bud & June

We made it! After 28 hours of flights, we finally made it to Xian, China. We are very happy to be in our hotel, sleeping on beds and not airplane seats. We met up with our great friends, the Cassadas, in Detroit and caught the next plane to Beijing together. They brought their 5 yr old daughter, Jenna, and Sarah Jane had an instant travel buddy. They both did so great during all the flights.

Finally made it to Xian, China hotel

So, we enjoyed the hotel breakfast, which was very diverse in its offerings. We stayed away from the chicken feet and other assorted, non discernible foods. But, bacon and eggs are universal so it's was a great meal! Then on to Walmart! We are Americans, so it was gonna happen. We purchased some necessary items, made sure June didn't get arrested for setting off the alarms as we left (we have video), and walked back to the hotel. I think we may be the only foreigners in this city of 5 million. Smog is pretty rough here and the traffic is the usual crazy.

Our crew walking to get lunch in Xian, China

The most important meeting is coming up later today. We will be uniting with Sofie around 5p and we are so ready to get her. Sarah Jane is ready to meet her sister! We'all send more pics and info tomorrow after we get her. We have lots of official appointments coming up and we'll try to get all the info for all to see.

Our nephew, Brien and niece, Claire in Xian Hotel (The Grand Noble Hotel) 

We thank you for your prayers, it is very much  needed. Say a prayer for Sofie if u could. It may be a very tough day for her with all of this.

-Bud & June

Here we go again!

Welcome back to our blog. It's been three years since we arrived home from China with our beautiful daughter, Sarah Jane. Isn't that crazy? It has gone by so fast that we can hardly believe it. She has blessed our family in so many ways it's difficult to express. Needless to say, she is a member of our family and it seems that she's been with us from the very beginning.


A little over a year ago, as June and I reflected on where God would lead our family, it became clear that another daughter was waiting for us in China.


The paperwork process took five months and then we waited seven more months for a phone call from our agency. Finally in July 2016 we were introduced to Wei Si Tian (Sofia). She is a beautiful, five-year-old little girl with a sweet personality. We were thrilled to learn that she's living in the same wonderful orphanage where Sarah Jane lived.


As we prepare to travel to Xi'an, China, again (Nov 11-24), we will be taking Sarah Jane with us. We will also be accompanied by our niece, Claire, and nephew, Brien. June and I are very thankful that they are coming as they will be helping with the girls.


We will also be traveling with a fantastic family we met during our last trip to China. They adopted their Jenna from the same orphanage as Sarah Jane and they are adopting another girl from the same orphanage! God is amazing to allow that to happen. All our girls will be from the same place.


Please pray for our little Sofie as she waits for us. Also keep our boys, Sam and Silas, in your prayers as they stay home with their Uncle Mike and Aunt Dee. Thank you Dee & Mike! Lastly, please pray for safe travels for all and that God is glorified in our actions and deeds.


God has been so good to our family. Our prayer is that we can show Jesus and shine a light on adoption. It seemed crazy at first to even think about adopting, but now we think we'd be crazy not to. May God bless you and make sure you keep reading daily!

-Bud

Bud, June, Sarah Jane (6), Silas (10), Sam (13)

Final Blog Post (homecoming)

Thanks to you all for following our blog and for all your prayers and support. We are so happy to be home!

Our dear friend, Renee, was kind enough to meet us at the airport and take these sweet pictures.

Sarah Jane loved the escalators in the airports!

Our boys were so happy to see their daddy! Feeling was mutual. :)

Saying hello to Pepper and Grandad.

A little smile!

With our family. 

Sarah Jane has been home one week and has done remarkable well. She is still adjusting to life outside of the orphanage but she is amazing us with her adaptability. She is over her jet lag (Bud and I are still waking up at 2 AM). She is loving mealtime and snack time and grab a bite from whoever is eating something time. My friend Angela took me to the Asian grocery store before we left so Sarah Jane could have some familiar foods after she got home. Thank you, Angela! She loves to go bye-bye in the car and often takes my hand and leads me to the door.

She seems to understand nearly everything we say and has learned to say enough English words and signs to boss us around. We are making good progress on singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Deep and Wide".

She loves playing with her new toys, coloring, painting and chasing her big brothers. I have to remain in her line of vision at all times, but she is slowly increasing her distance away from me. She is still very leery of Bud but enjoys joking with him...as long as he doesn't get too close.

Hey, this painting thing is kinda cool! 

I love my Bitty Baby! 

I love jumping on a big pile of clean, warm laundry! 

Special thanks to our family, friends, neighbors, church family, and school family who have filled our freezer and pantry to bursting, taken extra special care of our boys, have left little pink packages at our door, and have called and sent messages! Your love and encouragement have really lifted us up and kept us going. There just aren't words to say thank you.

While we are all anxious to take Sarah Jane out and introduce her to you all, we have to be careful to limit her time with others until she sees us as her parents and not just another set of nannies. It's going to take some time.

Again, we are so thankful for your love and support. The Lord has been so gracious to allow us to travel down this path, and we are humbled and grateful for the opportunity.

Much love to you all! 

June

We're Almost Home

This is the end! Actually, it's just the beginning when you consider the H family of 5. I (Bud) am sitting in the Atlanta terminal waiting on our flight home. We just got done with a smooth immigration and customs visit. All the paperwork with Sarah Jane was what it needed to be.

Sarah Jane is on her way to be able to collect social security and live the good life! As far as Sarah Jane and flying long distances, she did well. Thankfully, she slept for a portion of it; and we had bulk head seats. That made all the difference in the world!

We left Beijing EARLY in the morning. 

Sarah Jane had a good start on the plane. 

A tired Mommy. And a hungry Sarah Jane digging for snacks. 

We are very much ready to get on this last flight and put our arms around our two boys. Man, did we miss them! Then, it's off to Fall Fest (the Halloween party at our church). The fun never stops for the H family. 

Once again, we want to thank our family and friends for helping our boys during this time. They were always on our minds, and it was nice to know that they were surrounded by awesome folks who love them.

Thank you to everyone who kept up with the Crazy H Family Adventure via the blog these past two weeks in China (and two years waiting). We can't tell you how much we appreciate your prayers during this time. God is good and kept us safe and healthy.

Btw, a huge thanks to our niece, Claire, who took care of the blogspot and picture placement. This was the best way to keep up with everyone while in China. She was also a well-needed editor as I was writing very late at night.

Sarah Jane has been a great traveler these last few days. She loves the escalator and conveyor walkways! She is ready to meet her brothers and start life in Louisiana. We can't wait for you all to meet her.

God bless.

-Bud, June and Sarah Jane BingXia

USA Bound (almost)

Oct 30, 2013

This is it. Today we leave for Beijing for the 1st leg of our trek back home. We had to figure out what to do until 3:30 PM until our airport ride came for us. Thankfully, we were able to spend some great time with our friends from North Carolina. They have a little girl who is close to Sarah Jane's age. They don't exactly play together, but the adults can kill some time with good conversation.

She finally did it, but she didn't realize it. 

We watched the girls play on the playground, eat from the endless bag of Honey Nut Cheerios and drink bottled water. Be very thankful that you can drink from your tap at your house. Not here. 

We then introduced Sarah Jane to the nutritious benefits of McDonalds. For my friends who cringe at the thought of children eating fast food meat product, we took it to a whole new level. Remember, she is my daughter as much as she is June's. 

Sarah Jane loves her some Mickey D's.

McD's in China tastes weird. I'm sure China's version of the FDA has tight controls on the fast food industry here... Probably not.  A Happy Meal at this stage of the game is manna from heaven and Sarah Jane ate it. Btw, June's Filet O' Fish agreed with her. Although there were times today when she questioned the wisdom of that decision.

Poor June. She was a good sport.

Our van came, we said goodbye to some lifelong friends and headed to the airport with the most important documents that I've ever carried; Sarah Jane's immigration and Visa for the USA.

We will arrive tonight in Beijing, sleep for about three hours and get on another plane for Atlanta via Tokyo. I am happy to report that we will not be eating the sushi in the Tokyo airport.

So, good night from the Ghuangzhou airport.

- Bud, June and "happy meal" Sarah Jane

Just a Few More Days.

October 29, 2013

Good evening from The China Hotel in Guangzhou, China!

Our little Sarah Jane is sleeping in the big bed with her feet hanging off the side. Momma is sliding in next to her with hopes that Sarah Jane keeps her knees and feet to herself during the night. The little girl is like a helicopter in the bed at night! Did I mention that Sarah Jane worships June? All day and all night. I am totally content with the table scraps of affection that remain. 

Sarah Jane is out! And barely hanging on. 

So, today was our final appointment at the US consulate's office with our swearing in. That's it, all the paperwork is completed. We can get on the plane tomorrow and start the loooooong process of returning home!

In our red, white, and blue outside the office. 

Celebratory trip to Mickey D's for ice cream!  

Not so sure about this whole ice cream thing...

What's up with these weird Chinese happy meal toys?

Pink piggies! It has begun....Sarah Jane's first pedi. 

Bad translation sign for the day. 

Cajun food option in China.

We will head to the airport with all the paperwork in hand tomorrow at 3 PM and arrive in Beijing around 10 PM. Once we get to Beijing, we will go to a hotel and wake up for 3 AM in order to catch our flight to Tokyo. We have a lay-over in Tokyo. We will then transfer to the 13-hour flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta, we'll jump on the connecting flight home! And we're gonna do all this with a three year old that doesn't speak English. No problem for this family. We got this.

If June and I seem to have the 1,000 yard stare when you speak to us next week, we're ok. Give us a few days to get back to central time. Jet lag wore us out when we got to China, and I hear it's worse on the return.

Btw, Sarah Jane is doing great! She is letting us stroll her everywhere. She eats just about everything and even gave me a hug tonight! We are so happy with how she has been handling the transition from orphanage life to family life. June and I can only imagine what this little child must be feeling at this moment. She has experienced a great amount of turmoil that we can't begin to comprehend. But, she laughs, skips, plays, hugs, and sings all day. God is so good to us to let us experience this three year old's life.

There were some emotional moments for June and I. One was meeting a couple of adoptive families this week that were taking home children with Downs syndrome. These kids will experience a life that is filled with love and will be given an opportunity to thrive. We get so caught up in our own journey that we fail to grasp the challenges of other families. Once again, we saw God moving in China. 

Also, we will say goodbye to the remaining three families that have been on this journey with us. They have all been a tremendous encouragement to June and I. We all shared some tough times, boring days, hot hotels, excruciating cries from our kids, weird food, and crazy traffic. But, we also shared many great unforgettable moments that few will understand. One example is that only a handful of folks will truly comprehend the total chaos that is "gotcha day", the day we met Sarah Jane. This was by far the most emotional roller coaster of a day since June's difficult delivery of Sam 10 yrs ago. Can I tell you that June and I were worn out!??!

We can't wait to get on the airplane to see our boys and introduce them to their sister. Please keep our Silas in your prayers as he gets better from being sick. Thanks to Aunt DeeDee for nursing him back to health while mom and dad are 6k miles away.

God bless and safe travels for the H family.

-Bud, June and a "daddy-hugging" Sarah Jane