Chinese Miami
12/01/08 21:45 Filed in: Travel &
Prep
We're in Guangzhou! And, man, is it HOT!!
We got here yesterday (Friday afternoon, CST), having come from -5˚C in Beijing/Langfang to 31˚C in Guangzhou was a shocker! Man, we were sweatin' rice cakes when we got off of that plane (carrying a winter coat for each of us, wearing long pants & multiple layers of clothes...). We've been run a little ragged w/ appointments, scheduled dinners & social time (always hated that), and needing to get some laundry done w/o a laundromat nearby. So, please forgive the lag in updates.
Tomorrow morning we're heading to get a group photo taken of all the adoptive parents & kiddos, then *finally* getting some church time (yippee!!). Afterward, the day is completely ours -- woohoo!!!!
I may try to start the play-by-play recap & analysis for you all during some [much needed] downtime tomorrow. We'll see. It's been difficult getting things done that we want to get done whilst juggling the eight of us (a lucky # in China, BTW), and trying to be everywhere we're supposed to be *on-time*... praise God we've been doing well on that part, tho!
Jae & Caedyn continue to be the stars of China -- Jae'll be featured on FaceBook pages of about 600 Chinese women & young ladies in the next week
-- while Kai-Le Hope has continued
progressing in her comfort with the family. She
has laughed out loud with everyone at least a
few times now, and has walked down the streets
holding the hand (pinky, actually) of each one
of the girls, Suzanne, Carolyn and myself. She's
fallen asleep on Taylor, Carolyn, Suzanne and
myself at different times, and bedtime continues
to get much, much less painful. Hallelujah!
Carolyn is, quite simply, amazing. She has seen the best, and the complete worst, sides of the McElvy fam, and endured it with smiles. Little Yang-Yang has latched onto her with an iron grip, and has been Hope's pacifier for the last few days, when needed. She's been great helping us get ready in the mornings, and has just done SO much. The Chinese people have even asked her how much she gets paid to be the ayi (Chinese nanny) for so many children! Heh.
There's a Starbucks around the corner from our hotel, so Suzanne is doing great
She's such an awesome mommy -- I'm glad she's the mommy for my children. I did pretty stinkin' well grabbing this lady, huh? She's been a little worn-out with all the fuss, muss & tussle, but she's hung in there. When I was laid out for a day with a major head-cold & sinus congestion, she kicked me into bed for a while, took the kiddos into the other hotel room & let me rest. She's just wonderful!
Taylor & Peyton have been great -- as usual, eh? Peyton has maintained her stance that she "[doesn't] want to leave China", despite the ongoing squat-pot issue. I think her bladder is starting to adapt... Taylor hasn't freaked totally about being in every Chinese person's photo albums, yet. We've been stopped a few times to get pictures taken with people, or to have our picture taken for their enjoyment. Today, we, quite literally, stopped traffic as folks continued to gather around our rather large family, and pet, ohh & ahh over our children. I thought the taxi behind the guy stopping to gawk was going to have a conniption while honking at him! (It's a one-lane, one-way road outside of our hotel.)
Well, that's all for now. I'm having the time of my life, and I love watching my family grow -- in size and together. What a blessing this trip has been!!
Singing praise,
Charlie
We got here yesterday (Friday afternoon, CST), having come from -5˚C in Beijing/Langfang to 31˚C in Guangzhou was a shocker! Man, we were sweatin' rice cakes when we got off of that plane (carrying a winter coat for each of us, wearing long pants & multiple layers of clothes...). We've been run a little ragged w/ appointments, scheduled dinners & social time (always hated that), and needing to get some laundry done w/o a laundromat nearby. So, please forgive the lag in updates.
Tomorrow morning we're heading to get a group photo taken of all the adoptive parents & kiddos, then *finally* getting some church time (yippee!!). Afterward, the day is completely ours -- woohoo!!!!
I may try to start the play-by-play recap & analysis for you all during some [much needed] downtime tomorrow. We'll see. It's been difficult getting things done that we want to get done whilst juggling the eight of us (a lucky # in China, BTW), and trying to be everywhere we're supposed to be *on-time*... praise God we've been doing well on that part, tho!
Jae & Caedyn continue to be the stars of China -- Jae'll be featured on FaceBook pages of about 600 Chinese women & young ladies in the next week
-- while Kai-Le Hope has continued
progressing in her comfort with the family. She
has laughed out loud with everyone at least a
few times now, and has walked down the streets
holding the hand (pinky, actually) of each one
of the girls, Suzanne, Carolyn and myself. She's
fallen asleep on Taylor, Carolyn, Suzanne and
myself at different times, and bedtime continues
to get much, much less painful. Hallelujah!
Carolyn is, quite simply, amazing. She has seen the best, and the complete worst, sides of the McElvy fam, and endured it with smiles. Little Yang-Yang has latched onto her with an iron grip, and has been Hope's pacifier for the last few days, when needed. She's been great helping us get ready in the mornings, and has just done SO much. The Chinese people have even asked her how much she gets paid to be the ayi (Chinese nanny) for so many children! Heh.
There's a Starbucks around the corner from our hotel, so Suzanne is doing great
She's such an awesome mommy -- I'm glad she's the mommy for my children. I did pretty stinkin' well grabbing this lady, huh? She's been a little worn-out with all the fuss, muss & tussle, but she's hung in there. When I was laid out for a day with a major head-cold & sinus congestion, she kicked me into bed for a while, took the kiddos into the other hotel room & let me rest. She's just wonderful!
Taylor & Peyton have been great -- as usual, eh? Peyton has maintained her stance that she "[doesn't] want to leave China", despite the ongoing squat-pot issue. I think her bladder is starting to adapt... Taylor hasn't freaked totally about being in every Chinese person's photo albums, yet. We've been stopped a few times to get pictures taken with people, or to have our picture taken for their enjoyment. Today, we, quite literally, stopped traffic as folks continued to gather around our rather large family, and pet, ohh & ahh over our children. I thought the taxi behind the guy stopping to gawk was going to have a conniption while honking at him! (It's a one-lane, one-way road outside of our hotel.)
Well, that's all for now. I'm having the time of my life, and I love watching my family grow -- in size and together. What a blessing this trip has been!!
Singing praise,
Charlie