MJ and Nici Are In China 3--Nanchang--Gotcha!!!

Monday, July 09, 2007
Gotcha!

On Sunday, we left Beijing for Nanchang and arrived at approximately 12:45 pm. We were met by our new guide who brought us to our hotel. While enroute to the hotel, she informed us that we would meet our babies! When we arrived at the hotel, we only had about 2 hours to get ready and freshen up before leaving for the CCAA office. After what seemed like an endless drive, we finally arrived at the building. We had to take and elevator up to the 26th floor. When we arrived, the babies had not arrived, so we had to wait for them. We paced the floor for what seemed like hours. Finally, the babies arrived! None of them were crying. They all were so good and it was such a wonderful moment to finally meet our daughter. Words cannot explain how we felt. Also, my greatest fear of not recognizing her, went out the window. I knew her right when I saw her! The CCAA building was very hot and miserable. It seemed like we were there forever.
When we got back to the hotel, we changed Meghan and dressed her in a 9mos outfit. We quickly learned that she would need a couple of 6 month outfits because she is so tiny. We did not expect her to be so little! We took her to dinner with our group and she is such a good little eater! After dinner we took her back to the room and played with her until bathtime. She did great in the tub, but whimpered when we first put her in the little tub the hotel provided. After bathtime we soothed her and she fell asleep on my chest, while her daddy worked on some paperwork for the CCAA.
Here are some pictures from our special day!

MJ and Nici Are In China 2--Beijing!!!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Today we had a full day of touring. We first went to a Jade Factory where we learned how to tell the difference between quality Jade and fake Jade. It was very informative and we learned a lot about Jade! Then we had the opportunity to walk around and look at beautiful Jade goods. We could also purchase items at this location.

In this picture, the gentleman is carving the Jade. After he carves it, another worker then polishes it. After our visit to the Jade factory, we headed north out of Beijing towards the Great Wall. The view was beautiful as we approached the wall.

These are padlocks lining the wall as you first begin the climb. The locks are placed there by lovers and then once it is attatched, they throw away the key to symbolize their long lasting love.
Here is a view from the first guard tower looking up the wall. Some of the steps were high, some were short. They were very uneven, making the climb up the wall tiring and treacherous. It was also very hot! We were sweating like crazy!
I was able to make it up the wall to an area between the second and third guard towers. In this picture you scan see some of the wall snaking amongst the mountains.
After we toured the wall, we went to lunch at the Friendship store. This was fun and there were so many great things to buy and see. This store is government owned, so you can't barter, but it was an interesting way of shopping because you tell the sales representative what you want. She then writes it up on a ticket that you are given as you enter the store. After she gives you a copy of the ticket, you take it to the cashier and pay for it. The sales representative then gives you your items. After a little bit of shopping, we headed to the Ming Tombs. This was very beautiful and the grounds were immaculate. The tombs are guarded by animals, mystic beasts, and soldiers.

Once we finished walking the grounds at the Ming Tombs, we headed back to the city and then went to tour a Silk Carpet Factory. This was very interesting and we can see why those carpets are so expensive. Each one is hand made. The girls who make the carpets have to take a break every 30 minutes because of the tedious work.

We ended the day with a nice Peking Duck dinner. They carved the duck before bringing it to our table, but they put the meat in these nice porcelin dishes.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to pack and get some rest before our travel to Nanchang.
This is a picture of our hotel room. It was very nice and the beds are a little hard, but we were so tired everyday that it did not really bother us. Overall we really enjoyed staying at the hotel. Today (Sunday) we are flying to Nanchang. We are hoping we will get Meghan today, but we will definately get her tomorrow. I have no idea how our blog looks because I am unable to look at it, but I can post. So I hope it makes sense! We are going to try to post updates from Nanchang, providing that we are able to connect to the internet. Hopefully our next post will be from Nanchang! Only 8 hours until we hopefully see Meghan!

MJ and Nici Are In China--Beijing!!!

Editor's Note: This is from MJ and Nici's blog. For more pictures and back entries, please visit their blog here.

We finally made it to Beijing! Our flight over was uneventful, but long. I was nervous about all the flying, but that was quickly forgotten when we stepped foot in China!

We left Dallas at eight in the morning on Wed. and arrived in SFO at 940am pacific time. We left SFO at 1115am and 11hours and 26 minutes later we touched down in Beijing. Customs was busy, but we got through it with no problems.
We were not expecting such a nice hotel! It is very nice and it has all the ammenities that a person needs when traveling on such a long trip! This is a picture of the countdown clock for the Olympics on the Cultural Museum in Tian'an Men Square.
Here is a picture of the gate that led to the Forbidden City.
A picture of some rickshaws driving down the street in the Hutong district of Beijing.

This is a picture from the Silk Factory Institute. We learned how the silk is made and then processed to make goods. It was very interesting!

This is a picture from the Chinese Acrobatic Show. This was a great way to end the day! We really enjoyed the show and were amazed at the flexibility and balance all of the performers had.

Tomorrow we will continue our adventures and I plan to post some pictures on the blog tomorrow.

Abby and Georgia With Their Daddy!!!

Mom Pam writes:

Attached you will find pictures of Dad (Paul) with Abigail (Abby) and Georgia taken on Fathers Day 2007. Abigail is 5 1/2 years old and was adopted on August 6, 2002 in the Jiangsu Province. Georgia is 3 1/2 years old and was adopted on September 12, 2004 in the Jiangxi Province.

Sarah and Lauren With Their Daddy!!!

Lilly And Her Daddy!!!

Mom Kristen writes:

Hi! These are a few pics of my Husband Mark & our daughter Lilly and her
brothers Hunter & Fisher. Lilly truly has the men in her life wrapped
around her little finger! Mark is a great dad, the kids love him dearly.
The pics are of Mark and Lilly camping in New Mexico, Christmas 2006 and
just this past week at the beach in North Padre Island, Tx.
Lilly's gotcha date is July 17, 2004, from Zhonjou, in the Fujian province.
We were very blessed to get her at just 7 mo. old!

Whitney And Her Daddy!

Whitney is enjoying a day at the Central Park Zoo with her father, Jeff.(left and bottom right). In the top right picture they are at a birthday party in Pound Ridge, NJ. Whitney is from Chongqing and turned 2 in February.

Ian And His Daddy!!!

Dad Andrew writes:

This is a picture of Ian (from the town Guan Yuan in Sichuan, adopted May 17, 2005, Age 2 in this picture- he's 3 now) and dad Andrew. Struggling with potty training.

ShiPeng And His Daddy!!!

Here are some pictures of Gladney's longtime facilitator, Samson, and his baby boy ShiPeng, along with Samson's wife Chrysanthemum and his mother, the proud Grandma! These pictures were taken at a park outside Guangzhou in March. ShiPeng has since grown a lot and now weighs almost 17 pounds!

Emily And Her Daddy!!!

Mom Lisa writes:

Attached is a picture of Andy with our daughter Emily. Emily is from the Hunan Province (Yueyang County SWI) and was adopted in Nov 2004. She is now 3 1/2 years old.

Alida And Her Daddy!!!

Mom Jennifer writes:

Alida with her dad, Bill. Age 3 1/2, Guangdong Province, DongGuan City SWI, adopted 9/13/04.

Lylia Ting And Her Daddy!!!

Mom Deborah writes:

These are photos we took in China last January. Lylia Ting Corbett is now 6 years old. We adopted her in January 2007 from the Bejing Children’s Orphanage. In the first photo she is the one with the orange jacket.

Nina And Her Daddy!!!

Dad Eric writes:

Enclosed is my father's day photo submission. Since I'm usually BEHIND the camera 98% of the time when taking pictures of Nina,I'm not usually seen in them with her!! I hope this one will do.

Here are our stats:
Eric and Nina Ping
Nina is from the Hunan Province
We adopted her in July 2005
She will be 3 years old on August 14th
We live in Bernardsville, NJ

This photo was taken at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ in April 2007. We were in Arizona to visit relatives and I was racing in Ironman Arizona. A few days before the race we took an evening stroll through this lush and peaceful garden. Nina was fascinated seeing all sorts of desert birds and colorful flowers.

James, Kathryn and Sarah And Their Daddy!!!

From Mom Stephanie:

Chris is the photographer in the family so it was hard to find pictures of him alone with the kids, but I dug up a few! (I really need to take some more of him alone with our youngest, Sarah, though!). James is almost 7 1/2 now, Kathryn (Guangdong, adopted 2006) will be 2 1/2 on July 1st and Sarah(Guangdong, adopted 2007) is 21 months. These pictures were all taken within the last six months. The one of Chris standing behind Sarah in her stroller was taken at the Guangzhou Zoo in March.

As you can see Chris almost always has a child hugging him or riding his back!

Kathryn in particular is a real Daddy's Girl these days!!


Happy Father's Day To All Dads!

Xiang Xiang and Her Daddy!!!

Xiang Xiang
age 5
Hunan
Adopted December 10, 2002

Ming Lu In China with Her Daddy!!!

Mom Erin writes:

Attached are some pix from our recent trip to China.
Ming Lu Chen is now 2 and a half. She is from Jiangxi and we adopted her Nov. 2005. She is very social and expressive! She speaks full sentences in English and Chinese. She can count to 10, knows her colors, shapes and many, many animals...and she loves to tease.

Lindy And Her Daddy!!!

Mom Lisa writes:

Names: Don & Lindy Li-Xiao
Gotcha Day: April 3, 2006 Adopted: April 4, 2006
Province: Changsha, Hunan
Lindy's birthdate: May 8, 2005

Explanation of pix...

The one of them sleeping is on a bus in Guangzhou. Lindy is 11 months old.
.
The one of them in the flowers is taken in the Texas bluebonnets here in San Antonio. Lindy is almost 23 months old in this picture.
The one in the blue and gold is Lindy wearing her daddy's alma mater colors. Don is a graduate of the Naval Academy. Lindy is almost 18 months old in this picture.

CCAA Summer Camp In Beijing!!!

“Embracing China & Experiencing Beijing” Summer Camp 2007

August 14-23, 2007

Beijing, China



The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has invited up to 25 children, between the ages of 12 and 16, adopted from China by Americans, to attend an all- expense- paid 10-day camp in Beijing. The only cost involved will be the air travel expenses to Beijing and spending money. Hotel lodging, meals, sightseeing, and in-country travel is all covered by CCAA. Gongzhan Wu has the great pleasure of accompanying the participants on their trip, along with other well- trained American and Chinese chaperones/guides. This is an exciting and life-changing opportunity for children to gain a better understanding of Chinese culture, history and art firsthand.



The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) is working in conjunction with CCAA to publicize this unique camp and they have just begun accepting applications. For more information or for an application go to https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/about/conf_events.html or contact Gongzhan Wu at Gongzhan.Wu@gladney.org.





Just to follow up the brief announcement about the CCAA Summer Camp 2007 last week, here are two links to an official announcement of the Camp and the camp itinerary for your reference.

https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/about/documents/ChineseCampAnnouncementFINAL.pdf

https://www.adoptioncouncil.org/about/documents/ItineraryFINAL.pdf



Please feel free to share it with your local FCC chapter as well as any other China adoption groups you belong to.



After the news of CCAA summer camp was announced last Friday, I have received numerous inquiries, and we have begun receiving applications. We are all very excited about the opportunity. I will keep you posted.

Lily Visits Her Hometown!!

This is an article Lily wrote about her trip to Changsha, Hunan Province, in July 2005.

Orphanage Donation

Hi, my name is Lily and I am nine years old. I went to China this past summer with my Mom, uncle, aunt and cousins. I went to my hometown, Changsha in Hunan Province. In Changsha, we visited my orphanage. Well, it was the new one, because my real orphanage was torn down. We went to the orphanage and I saw these cute little babies waiting for a home. We saw a baby who was going to be adopted on Monday. We were so lucky we got to see the babies. After we saw the babies we went into a meeting room. I had a gift for them. It was $100 which equals $800 in yen. I feel so proud of myself for doing that good deed!

This Summer--Karolyn's Homeland Journey ( 4 )

Mom Lisa writes:

Here is another update from Karolyn:
She just celebrated her twelth birthday in China. Although Karloyn was not sad on her birthday, she thought it would have been a better celebration if she had been home in NYC.


Karolyn noticed immediately everyone in the school is Chinese. The school is very interested in her background and where she and her sister came from. Karolyn is also tutored every day after school for two hours by students from Beijing University.

Karolyn will revisit the Great Wall . She last saw the Great Wall when she was 5 years old and we picked up her sister. She is also planning to travel but does not know where her friends are will to take her. She is having a good time and seems to really enjoy being in China. No homesickness yet.

The Gladney Annual Picnic in New York !

Mom, Dad, and Whitney had a terrific afternoon at the annual Gladney picnic in Larchmont, New York. There was a bouncy tent, magician, popcorn machine, balloon artist, and plenty of fun lawn toys for the children. It was particularly nice to see our Gladney friends from the New York office! Thank you for a wonderful day

This Summer - Karolyn's Homeland Journey (3)

Mom Lisa writes:

Karolyn is having a wonderful time. She says that Beijing is not as crowded as she thought it would be. Karolyn also found out, contrary to what I told her, her friends buy food that has been imported from the States so she doesn't have to be too concerned about eating. I had advised her to eat like she does when she goes to Mexico. Everything has to be peeled and nothing raw can be eaten. Evidently, ours and Karolyn's friends have found sources which provide food that they can eat. However, they still wash everything with the anti-microbial wash.

Monday, she starts school. Her friend's teacher is not the typically very strict teacher that one finds in China. We are hoping that Karolyn is allowed to stay with Ann in the same class even though Ann is totally fluent in Chinese.

Karolyn's sister is still having trouble adjusting so I have arranged many playdates and sleep-overs during the next three weekends.