Let's take Sofie home

Today is the day. We've been waiting almost 2 weeks to be able to bring Sofie home and it's finally here. We've enjoyed our time tremendously while in Xian and Guangzhou. We were so thankful to have our good friends, the Cassadas, with us during the journey. We relied a lot on each other during our time in China. And we could not imagine doing this without them. We're thankful that God allowed us to adopt from the same orphanage at the same time. So, Sofie has been doing great since she's been with us. She's taken many big strides toward accepting us and being a Hall. It took her no time at all to fall in love with Sarah Jane. Sofie loves big sis. Sarah Jane has been such a wonderful help for me and June as she played with Sofie and kept her engaged. It was a great decision to have the two girls together in China. Claire is now "au pair Claire". She has been awesome with everything. We also want to thank Dee and Mike for taking care of our boys while we've been away. It's been a challenge for them to take on a 10 and 13 year old but they did a great job. Thanks to all who've prayed for us and supported us during this time. Next entry is when we have entry into the USA with our new citizen daughter. Take care and God Bless. -Bud

US Consulate Appointment

Good Afternoon All, At this stage of the game, it's all about waiting around. We wait for breakfast because we still get up at 4:30a. We wait for the tour bus typically at 9am to take us to an appt or go sightseeing. We then wait to see if we can actually eat what's on the lunch menu. We then wait for dinner b/c the afternoons are for kids napping and parents taking a breather. Then we wait to see if Papa John's will deliver to our hotel and that it hopefully tastes like the Papa John's that we know. Yes, and sorta. The cheese sticks have a pineapple custard something in them. So, we wait. today we finally reached the last appointment on the schedule. The US Consulate appt is for Sofie's visa and for her to gain citizenship to the USA. This is the most important appt as all others have built up to this point. It thankfully went very smoothly. As we pulled up to the Consulate we once again realized how many Chinese people are trying to gain entry into the US. The lines were long and as we left, they were even longer. It's very comforting knowing that for a brief time, we were on US soil. I will never take for granted how special our country is even with the craziness of the election and aftermath. We have an amazing homeland. So, our family is very ready to say goodbye to China tomorrow. We even went to the McDonald's across the street for lunch. And, thankfully, it tasted just like home. June's fish filet and my Big Mac tasted normal and the fries were amazing. And, Sofie loved my Big Mac. She is a Hall after all. We will get Sofie's visa around 4:30p our time and then head to the airport for our 9:30p flight out of Guangzhou. We are thankful that China gave us our daughters but the USA will be their home. Sarah Jane is now watching Kung Fu Panda with her sister, Sofie, on the hotel bed. How appropriate. Good night and God bless. -Bud

Lazy days in Guangzhou

Day #...? I'm beginning to lose count. It must be time to go home. Sofie is doing amazingly well. She has been so good with Sarah Jane and June. She is coming around quickly to accepting June's affection. And, she loves to imitate Sarah Jane in everything. Even putting her hands in her pockets and skipping. It's fun to watch. Today started off like most days. Eating a huge hotel breakfast (it's my favorite time of the day), visiting with old and new friends, drinking decent coffee, FaceTiming with our boys and heading out to tour the city. Helen, our tour guide, led the group to the Chen Temple. We were able to see "Chinese finger art." The artist uses his fingernails along with his whole hand to make traditional Chinese landscapes. June also was able to try out some Chinese tea at the temple tea house. And the girls played well together. After that, we went to the "pearl market". This is a mecca for all things pearl, jade, amber, etc... It is huge. I couldn't believe it, but I got lost. I pride myself on my navigational skill, but it is a labyrinth down there! Thankfully, I made it out alive... to buy more pearls. These girls will put me in the poor house for sure. So on to a Dim Sum restaurant. They had Coke, Sprite and Air conditioning! Creature comforts go a long way. Also, the food was great. BTW, Guangzhou has a tropical climate so it is warm. Xian is more Northern so the days were on the cooler side. The temp was great in Xi'an but the smog killed it for us. Temp is warmer here, but not nearly the smog. Brien, my nephew, leaves tomorrow AM and we will be sad to see him go. He's been a great help and a lot of fun for the group. Plz pray for safe travels for him. We will be having a "happy, fun touring" day tomorrow as we wait for the US Consulate appt on Tuesday. It's all about that appointment. Thanks for checking in with us. We appreciate the prayers and support as we go through this with Sofie. Please keep her in your prayers as she processes all these changes in her life. -Bud

On to Guangzhou

We have checked Xian off the list and flew to the southern city of Guangzhou. We are happy to move on to the next step in the adoption process but are sad to leave the birthplace of both our daughters, Baoji City/Xi'an. However, the smog was out of control and it was making a lot of folk in the group sick. Time to go.

Foster family

My Girls We were so happy to see a bunch of American families adopting children when we went to the hotel breakfast. They were from all over the USA and from various backgrounds. It was so encouraging to see so many adopt these children. Did I mention that the breakfast buffet was huge... and western cuisine friendly? Loved it. So, on to the hospital. You truly need to visit a Chinese hospital to appreciate what we have back home. They seemed professional and courteous, but there is a notable difference in clinical atmosphere. Sofie did great! They checked her vitals, ENT, a physical and then she had blood drawn. What a trooper. Our guide, Helen, was a barracuda and got us through the intimidating process quickly and efficiently. We let Helen lead the way and we stayed close behind in her wake. She gets stuff done.

Claire and Sofie at Hospital

Sofie and SJ at the Chen Temple We then went to a crazy crowded mall and bought some shoes for Sofie and other stuff we needed. The shoe brand is hilarious, "Disweiny". Take the "wei" out and it is a dead ringer for Micky & Co. I'm sure trademark law is soft down here. But, they are cute. So many people stuffed in that mall, cutting in line, pushing, shoving... It got to me and I decided no one is cutting in front of me anymore. A man has his limits. So, it was dinner time and there was a McDonalds around the corner. Claire and I went to get a couple Happy Meals for the kids but were headed off by no less than 100 people in line. It was nuts. Chinese apparently love the Micky D's. We said no and moved on to the friendly Starbucks in the hotel. It was a good end to the night.

Day 6 in Xi'an, China: Off to the Orphanage

It's a late post today, but better late than never. It was a long day that began around 4am. We slept in. We want to thank everyone for taking time and checking on this blog. I've been trying to keep current but the jet lag & busy schedule are a challenge.

We loaded up the bus early this morning and we were able to visit the orphanage for Sarah Jane and Sofie. It was an amazing experience that was very difficult for all of us but very necessary. Sofie has been having a tough time transitioning from foster family to us. Being able to meet the foster family and have Sofie see this can be very beneficial for many children. So, we spoke with Kelly from the Sparrow Fund for guidance. She is a wonderful resource and helped us during this time with sage advice.

We were able to go to Baoji City which is about 3 hours to the West of Xian and bring the whole family. We were able to visit with many children an have some time with her foster mother and siblings. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to talk with her about Sofie and her interests. But, the most important part was that Sofie could see June and foster mom together. After serving us lunch, it was time for Sofie to Say goodbye to her foster family and go with us. She is a brave little girl. We want to again thank Kelly for her great insight with this situation. She slept slept the whole ride home. We were all wiped out. Tomorrow, we say goodbye to Xian and head to Guangzhou for Sofie's first plane ride. Pray for the group that the children will do Well during this travel phase. God bless and we will share more soon.

Day 5 and all is well. It's 4:00 am in Xian, China and the city is alive with honking cars, trucks, mopeds, and street sweepers and smog. I've been watching a weird game show that is 1 part Wiped Out, 1 part Millionaire, 1 part X factor, and 1 part science show. It's awesome and I can't wait till the USA gets their version. Sofie is snoring next to me and Sarah Jane is also enjoying the crazy game show. It really is a multi-generational show!

Update on Sofie: she is hilarious. She has a great sense of humor, a tremendous amount of compassion when playing with the other kids on the trip, and she has decided that I am not a bad guy. It's hard to imagine what Sofie's going through right now. She had lived with a foster family for probably four years now. Grown up with these foster "parents" along with her foster "siblings" and had a normalish life. Now, it's all changed. As you can imagine, she is going through some rough emotions right now and we are all getting through it together. We are very thankful that she and SJ (along with our friend's daughter, Jenna) have hit it off so well. It helps to redirect during the low times. Also, she has a universal love of the iPad, iPhone, and all things tech.

BTW, she doesn't hate me. We hold hands and walk around, wrestle, sit by each other on the bus, talk through a translator app (which is amazing), eat in my lap, talk about our feelings... maybe not the last one yet. I've enjoyed it thoroughly. Fun things we did today: Toured the 2,300 year old Terra Cotta Warrior archeological site. We did this during our last trip but Claire and Brien enjoyed seeing this for the first time. It was a clear, cold day in a beautiful, mountainous area. Couldn't have asked for anything better. Sofie did well with a couple sad moments. But, SJ to the rescue. She did a marvelous job of keeping Sofie occupied.

As the rest of the group has been denied sleep b/c of jet lag and all that goes along with a trip like this, my nephew, Brien is probably getting more sleep now than he had back home. He is a sleeping machine. Standing up, in a bus/plane, hotel lobbies, hotel floors and basically anywhere that people will let him be. We are all jealous of his super powers.

June and I wanted this experience to reflect back to God. He has been our strength during this time. There have been happy and joyful moments followed by the tough ones that you can't control. June and I understand the process that is taking place with Sofie but it can be hard to face sometimes. We have relied on the power of God and His Word to overcome these obstacles. Our prayer is that Jesus can be seen in our actions and deeds. That's it for now, more to come soon.

-Bud

Good morning from Xian, China. It is 3:30am and we are wide awake! Sarah Jane is my blogging buddy this morning, Sofie is asleep (lucky girl) and June is organizing the smallish hotel room. There is no amount of organizing that can overcome a small living space such as this. We have our 'grocery store' on one side, the 'girls play area' on another, we pushed the two full mattresses to make 'super bed' and that leaves enough room to walk to the bathroom. It's working.

Yesterday was a full day. We tried to stay busy after the official appointments but sleep hit us pretty hard. That is why we are up at 3:30a waiting for breakfast buffet to open. Sofie had a good day but she is missing her foster parents and home in a bad way. She will sometimes have cry moments but June is great and just holds and comforts her until she can push through the moment. It's tough seeing her grieve, but it's understandable.

Sarah Jane has been a great big sister. She makes sure she holds Sofie's hand, explains what's going on, and basically try to comfort her the best she can. It's really cute and Sofie is happy to go along.

Today we will take a tour of the Terra-cotta Warriors. As I said in the blog during the last trip, it's like Disney meets archaeology on a vast scale. Think Chinese Epcot without the rides. The best part is that it has a Subway Sandwich shop. Oh and yesterday for lunch we had Pizza Hut. It tasted so good! Having said that, I have officially given up eating native. It was a valiant effort, but now I'm jonesing for french fries, bananas, snickers, etc... Anything that's either prepackaged or identifiable as a happy food. This local cuisine will make your tummy say, "hmmmm", not in a good way.

We have visited the local Walmart three times now. Well worth the long walk but they don't like to give you bags to carry your stuff. What's up with that? On the way back, we were able to see our first police scene with a passed out guy laying in the middle of the street. So, we watched. Anything for entertainment.