Chris & Stephanie in China - Guangzhou (1 - b)

Finally, here are some pictures.

Chris & Stephanie in China - Guangzhou (1 - a)

Hi Everyone,
Sorry no pics yet...the place we went to last year can't do it at least today.:-(. Hopefully we will be able to send some soon, if not we will have some for you when we get back!

Sarah Ji Ji is soft, lovely, and more self-contained and quiet than her sister was, although definitely still scared and crying sometimes. She sort of shut down after we got back to the hotel yesterday and curled up with her blanket and slept through the night! This morning she ate a bowl of congi though, and some French toast, and she just had some rice for lunch. We are going through the adoption process with Samson yesterday, today and tomorrow, and will then have time for sightseeing in earnest starting on Thursday. Samson as usual is wonderful, and the White Swan is just as always--we don't have a river view right now but we are switching rooms tomorrow so we will get one.

More later! Kathryn and James, we are thinking about you all the time and miss you very much!!! Big kisses.

:-)
Steph and Chris-- Stephanie

Chris and Stephanie in China - Shanghai (2)

HI All,

The internet is much cheaper at this hotel than usual, so taking advantage of that to send another email. Speaking of the hotel, we really like it (the Panorama in Shanghai). We have a suite complete with large living room , and the restaurant on the 30th floor not only has a good breakfast buffet but also spectacular views of the Bund and Pudong!

Last night we enjoyed strolling along the Bund with the spectacular views of Pudong across the river.

Today was very busy and we saw the old, new and future Shanghai. We started with the Yu Gardens (begun in the Ming dynasty) and surrounding bazaar. Chris and I waited in line for 45 minutes to have dumplings at a shop right by the Yu Gardens that is very popular with the Shanghainese, and recommended by our guide Jane. It was worth every minute of the wait! Then we went to the Jade Buddha Temple, had a delicious dim sum lunch (yes, we are enjoying the food!!!) and went off to see the future vision of Shanghai at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. From there we went to Xin Tiandi and saw the Shikumen (Shanghai style architecture) Museum. Xin Tiandi is a new shopping , restaurants, bars, coffee shop etc. center fashioned from old Shikumen houses.

Finally we drove by the Shanghai LIbrary, the largest in Asia, so we could take a picture!!

Tomorrow we leave very early for the airport to catch our flight to Guangzhou. By 4 pm China time we should have our Ji Ji! We have really enjoyed our time in Shanghai and our guide Jane was great.

We will try to email again as soon as we can after we have Ji Ji, and hopefully include a picture!

James and Kathryn, lots of love and kisses!! Be good.

:-)
Steph and Chris-- Stephanie

Chris and Stephanie in China - Shanghai

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Hi Everybody!

We arrived Friday night after the usual grueling 13 1/2 hour flight to Beijing, made longer by the fact that the plane was delayed by an hour because someone canceled their trip at the last minute! However, they made up the time in the air pretty well and we made our connecting flight to Shanghai without any problems. We arrived at our hotel around midnight Shanghai time and were awake again by 6 am! Gotta love jetlag. We pushed through the jetlag all day today though with a full day of sightseeing--the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which has great views (it was clear and sunny today) and also a Shanghai history museum, the silk factory (we got your scarf Mom), a delicious sweet and sour pork lunch, and then the Shanghai Museum this afternoon! We'll go up to the room in a few hours and rest up before heading out to the Bund this evening, but wanted to send this quick email first.

James and Kathryn, we miss you very much and hope you are having lots of fun with Nanny, Grandma and Big T. Don't forget to do your homework James, and you have Spanish class on Monday. See Mommy still reminds you even when I'm in China! Kathryn, you be a good girl.

Tomorrow we have another full day of sightseeing and then Monday morning we are off to Guangzhou. We should have our Ji Ji (Sarah) in the afternoon on Monday, and will try to email with a picture or two shortly after that!

Hope you are all well!

That's all for now--

Steph and Chris-- Stephanie

Katie Xing Xing Goes To Chinatown For Gladney's CNY Celebration!!

Mom Monica and Dad Paul brought Katie Xing Xing for her big reunion with two roommates from Chongquing! Here are some pictures from Katie's exciting Chinese New Year celebration at the Jing Fong Restaurant in NYC's Chinatown!

In the first picture, Mom Monica is trying to distract Katie from joining the performers on the stage by dancing with her!
Roommates Reunited--Katie, Hayli and Valerie--Chongqing girls together again!
Mom Jodi with Hayli, Dad Peter with Valerie, and Dad Paul with Katie!
Mom Sue and Dad Peter with Valerie and her mei mei, Victoria!
And finally, a girl can only take so much excitement....tired out after the big day!

Gracie Turns 5!!!!

Mom Robin writes:

Gracie will be 5 on Wed and she had her b-day party this weekend. Of
course, in pure Skip style, he posted the pic's first thing this a.m.

She had the party at a place call "outrageouhiss pets"... really cool;
all these different animals; snakes, bugs, turtles. My little girly
girl loves bugs and animals.... go figure!!!

A Few More Pictures From Gladney's Chinese New Year Celebration!!

A wonderful time was had by all at the Chinese New Year celebration at the Jing Fong Restaurant in NYC"s Chinatown on Feb. 17, 2007. The food was delicious, the company great and the performances beautiful and exciting! Here, courtesy of Monica, Gladney mom to Katie Xing Xing are a few more great pics from the day!

In the first picture, Gongzhan Wu, Gladney's China Program Manager and Director of the New York Office, addresses the guests.

And exciting and beautiful performers!

Gladney Houston Chinese New Year Celebration!!!

A grand time was had by all at the Gladney Houston Chinese New Year Celebration earlier this month. Lucy and Lily Grace pose fetchingly in their traditional Chinese outfits; Hannah, Abby and Emma pose with the pigs that Gongzhan brought the children; Paul blows up ballons with help from Georgia and Hannah, and finally Gongzhan poses with the children.

Thanks to Pam who sent in all of these wonderful pictures!

Whitney and Grace Visit Chinatown For The First Time!!!

To celebrate Chinese New Year and a couple of very special second birthdays, Whitney and Grace's families went to Chinatown in NYC. We were in the same travel group and the families have become good friends. Grace and Whitney shared a crib at the Dianjiang SWI in Chongqing. Whitney's birthday is February 25 and Grace's big day is February 26. We hope to go to Chinatown every year to celebrate their birthdays. Just like in China, we had our own private room. The dim sum was great and everyone had fun catching up. The children especially liked the dragon parades that we saw all over Chinatown. span>

The pictures show Grace with her big brothers and sister and parents; a dragon parade; Whitney and Mom Beth Anne, and Whitney, Beth Anne and Daddy Jeff!

Joelle and Jessie Welcome The New Year At Gladney's Fort Worth Celebration!

Mom Kathy writes:

Here’s Joelle and Jessie at Chinese New Year in Fort Worth and our Aug/Sept 2006 travel group (Yulin, Guangxi).

Gladney New York CNY Celebration!!

A wonderful time was had by all at the Jing Fong Restaurant in NYC's Chinatown on Feb. 17, 2007. Here Kathryn is getting ready for the big event; then hanging out with her brother James on the stage at the restaurant; then they delighted with everyone else in watching the magician, face-changer, and dancer!!

Happy Year Of The Fire Pig!

Annabelle and Juliette Send New Year Greetings!!

The family writes:

Happy New Year Of The Pig!!

Virginie, Michael, Annabelle and Juliette

Colin and Katie Celebrate The Year Of The Fire Pig!

Katie joined the family just one year ago! It looks like she has adjusted well to life with loving parents and of course a big brother, Colin!

One Year Ago Today...

...a very frightened little girl named Qing Xin Li Tong (Tong Tong) was placed in my arms at the Adoption Registry Office in Guangzhou, while Daddy stood right beside us and her orphanage director and nanny tried to cheer her up.

Flash forward a year and Tong Tong, now Kathryn, is a typical feisty, stubborn, affectionate, smart two-year-old. Here are some then and now pictures. The ones from our "Gotcha Day" are pretty obvious. The three lower pictures were taken on her 2nd birthday, just this past Jan. 1st. Her big brother James is helping her with her gifts.

What a difference a year makes! We love you, Kathryn Tong Tong!

-Mommy (Stephanie), Daddy (Chris), and Big Brother James

Happy Chinese New Year

Dear Friends,

The Gladney China staff wish you all a very Happy Chinese New Year.

We also have a holiday present for your child. This is an e-book titled “Celebrating the Chinese New Year, which is now offered for download on from our China Initiative site.

Thanks to the Shanghai-based Changjiang Publishing Foundation of Cultural Exchanges, this is the first e-book we can offer you, with many more to come. The future e-books will introduce other important holidays. If you feel the e-book is good, please feel free to share it with your local FCC community.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gongzhan Wu

Mei Joins Her Forever Family!!!

On January 29, 2007 parents Jeannine and Kevin welcomed Baby Mei into their family in Nanchang, China. Here are some pictures from the famous White Swan hotel. Baby Mei is now home with her older siblings! For more details of their exciting trip, see Jeannine and Kevin's blog here.

A Look Back To The Year Of The Dog with Lily and Nathan!!!!

They are posing with mom Amy who writes:

This photo was taken last February before the Chinese New Year Celebration which our church hosts every year for our Friendspeak students. (Students learn English using the Bible) Ryan and I had Lily's dress and my jacket made in Nanchang and purchased our son Nathan's outfit in Guangzho. Nathan's favorite activity was practicing painting Chinese characters taught by one of the students.