Well it has been a busy Fall and Winter.  On September 1st, we put our house on the market to find a bigger house to fit all six of us.  We have had many showings, but no one is biting.  Unfortunately, as with the rest of the country, the market is very slow out here. we are hoping it will sell in the spring, but we are not really in too big of a rush.  When it sells, it sells.

On November 28th, we celebrated Sawyer’s 6th Birthday with a chocolate cake made from scratch by Shelby.  A couple of weeks later, my parents came out from Colorado to spend some time with us.  On December 24th, we celebrated Saffi’s 9th birthday.  My, how does time fly.

Other than that, we haven’t been doing too much stuff, just the typical family stuff.  Anyway, here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

If you all haven’t figured it out yet, we made it home safe and sound.  Once we got home, we decided that it was time to finish all of our projects that we started around the house.  So, needless to say, we have been really busy for the last four weeks between house renovations, kids’ doctors’ appointments and getting ready for school. 

Saige is doing extremely well.  This has been the easiest transition of all four.  I really think it was the fact that we took all the kids to China with us.  She follows Saffi around like, well, a little sister should.  She will randomly walk up to Sawyer and pat his head and give him a hug while they are playing on the floor and Sawyer will do the same to her.  She will seek out Saxton to play hide and go seek with her and Saffi.  All in all, she is the perfect fit.  I will update more later, well hopefully, it is a busier place now.  Enjoy the pictures.

Tonight, as we get ready to come home, we reflect back on this trip to China.  It was probably the most relaxing trip out of the four.  We really didn’t do anything except hang ou as a family.  We didn’t go on any if the excursions.   We went to the pool every day and tried to find a restaurant that we would never see in the USA.  We had a lot of fun doing this.  Needless to say, bonding as a family was more important to us than to go see things we have already seen.   Anyway, we fly from Guangzhou to Beijing in the morning.  Then in the afternoon, we fly from Beijing to San Francisco, then onto Philadelphia.  We can not wait to get home.  I will post more when we get back.  We’ll see you and talk to you all then. 

It takes forever to upload photos here and I need to get to bed. I will post more photos on our return home. See you then.

The last days have been pretty lazy ones for us.  Yesterday we had the traditional group picture taken and the group dinner last night.  Simon and Mieko took all eleven families to this traditional Thai restaurant across from the hotel.  The food was awesome and so was the conversations.  We are pretty lucky to have some really nice people in our group. 

Today, Shelby and Saige had to return to the doctor’s office on Shamin Island to check the results of the TB test, which of course came beck negative.  Sawyer, Saxton, Saffi and I went down to the pool while they were at the doctor’s and had fun splashing around.  Then this afternoon, we went back to the pool with Saige and Mommy to do more splashing around with some of the other families before they went on the Pearl River Cruise. 

Tonight was just another lounge around the hotel room.  Sorry to not be too exciting, we just want to spend time as a family to get to know each other.  We don’t need to go on all the excursions, because we have been there once or twice and really don’t need to visit them again.  The only thing we really miss is Shamin Island and the White Swan.  It was nice to be able to go outside of the hotel and walk along the river or down the mall and see all the flowers.  Now don’t get me wrong, this hotel is nice but we wish we were there.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last couple of days.  Enjoy, I am going to bed.

The day that every adoptive parent hates, the Medical Exam Day.  The day where, if you haven’t already (which we really hadn’t), get to hear how well your child’s vocal cords work.  Now, we have been through this three times before, but in none of our previous adoptions did the children have to get any shots, but they still screamed their heads off when the doctor laid them down on the table and poke their bellies.  Just add shots on top of that.  Poor little Saige had to have four shots today.  I could only imagine what went on in that room when that happen.  Ya see, I had three other children to entertain on Shamin Island while this was going on.  But, it seems she handled it like a trooper and recovered pretty quickly from the shock.

Unfortunately, this afternoon, Shelby started to feel a little sick to her stomach and all Saige wanted to do is sleep on her belly.   Also this afternoon, I had to go fill out some paperwork for our Consulate appointment.  When I came back downstairs, Shelby wasn’t feeling any better and all she wanted to do is lay down.  Sorry to say, all that Saige wanted to do is sleep on Shelby’s stomach which didn’t help the situation one bit.  So, there Shelby lay in pain until finally Saige woke up and decided that she wanted to eat.  Finally, Shelby got some relief from the extra pressure on her belly, right?  She wasn’t that lucky.  Sawyer wasn’t feeling too well either, so he decided he wanted comfort from mommy too.   Finally about 8pm, all the kids were in bed and falling asleep and Shelby finally got her wish, to lay down with no added pressure.  Hopefully she feel better in the morning.

Saige has been a part of this family for almost a week and we have found out many things about her personality.  For instance, she is extremely smart.  I am not saying this because she is my daughter.  I am saying it because we have seen her do things or say things a normal three-year old would not think about.  I call her my three-year old going on thirty.  Yesterday, before we left Kunming, we went to a local restaurant to have lunch.  We ordered some noodles and various other dishes.  Saffi and Saxton were joking with each other about how much noodles they could eat.  Out of left field, Saige told our guide, Eric, she can eat a big bowl of noodles by herself right in the flow of the conversation.  Eric said she knew they were talking about noodles and had to add her two cents. 

She can also manuever a pair of chop sticks like a thirty year veteran.  If you put a fork and a pair of chop sticks in front of her, she will push the fork away as if you just insulted her and pick up the chop sticks and go to town on the food.  And when I say, “go to town,” I mean exactly what I say.  Yesterday when we got to the hotel in Guangzhou, she ate two apples and three bananas by herself.  Tonight she ate 3/4 of a large plate of noodles and a whole apple, with the exception of the two pieces she fed me.

She also has a great personality.  She likes to joke with her brothers and sister.  She will engage Sawyer in a game of tickle the belly.  She likes to be chased by Saffi around the room and will gang up with Saffi and Sawyer on Saxton to play a game of dog pile.  She’ll sit and sing to herself and then look at you with a huge smile on her face and then sing to you.  She’ll count to ten in Mandarin with a little song to help it along.  She will repeat things you say to her in English with perfect clarity.  It is scary how smart this kid is and we love her it so much.

Anyway, once again it is getting late.  I hope you enjoyed the story of today and I now you’ll enjoy the pictures (since that is the real reason you all come to look at our blog, just kidding).  Have a great day!!!

I am going to make this post fairly short.  We are in Guangzhou and happy to be one step closer to home.  I will write about our flight and our hotel and what happened, well now, today, later.  We are all just a little tired.   In the mean time, enjoy a couple of pictures.

It’s 2:25 am local time and today we head to Guangzhou. While we are happy to be one step closer to home, we are going to be very sad to be leaving Kunming. Kunming will always have a special place in our hearts. We now have two beautiful children from this beautiful city. Today, we got to see more of this city when Eric took us to another park far away from the hotel. I don’t remember the name of the park, but it was opened just four years ago. It is almost as beautiful as the Green Lake, but newer. Earlier, we went to Carrefour Market and got some things for lunch like steamed pork buns, pork and vegetable dumplings and a roasted chicken in a chili sauce. We found this nice place, next to a moon bouce, and ate our lunch.

After lunch, the kids went on this giant moon bounce and had a great time. Well, except Saige. She got on the thing, ran around for a couple of minutes, then went over and yelled for MA MA. Once she was off of it, she told Eric in manderin, “I don’t want to play on that because it is too dirty.” Way too funny. On the other hand, you couldn’t get Sawyer, Saffi and Saxton off the thing. They had so much fun running around. It has really been the first time they could do this because it has been raining all week and we have been couped up near the hotel. Acouple of times this week, we tried to go out around the Green Lake, but each time it would start to down pour. Then it would reain for the rest of the day. So, this was a good energy release and the kids loved it.

Last night, we went out to eat at the restruraunt that our friend Susan took us to. It was another amazing meal. Then we came home and by 8:15pm, everybody was asleep. Today, we get Saige’s passport, then we are going to a Buddhist Temple and then onto the airport to Guangzhou. I wish we could spend one more week here, but it is time to move on, for now. We will bring everyone back in the future to revisit Kunming and hopefully we can get to the Stone Forrest. Well, at this time, I would like to say good-bye to Kunming and thank you for the two beautiful children you have given us. They are in good hands and we will not let them forget about the beautiful place they come from. Our next post will be from Guangzhou. See you then.

This is the thing that sucks about jet lag. Sawyer fell asleep at 5pm yesterday and woke up at about 11:30pm. Luckily, with the help of melatonin, he went back to sleep quickly as did I. Unfortunately, Saige had her first night terror, which I think scared me more than her, and now I have been awake since 2am and can not fall back asleep. With my luck, I will be falling back asleep and Sawyer will wake up again. Oh well, that is life and I will get to spend some one on one time with, which is always fun.

Anyway, more about yesterday. After we came back from the orphanage and the finding spot. We decided that since it isn’t raining out, for once, we would go for a walk around Green Lake and find a place to eat. So we did. As we walked down the street, we saw this restaurant and decided to go in. Well we sat down and the nice lady motioned for Shelby or I to come over to the display cabinet. In the display cabinet, was just ingredients for the meals. So Shelby pointed and said “yao” (want), not really knowing what she was ordering. So we kind of got concerned that the kids might not like it. The food finally came out and it looked very yummy (Saffi’s word not mine). Everyone devoured the food, including Sawyer who is a very picky eater. It was so flavorful with the right amount of spice. We had chicken with mushrooms and fresh vegetables in a light brown sauce, chicken with whole garlic cloves and fresh vegetables, a steamed green vegetable that tasted almost like candy and pork ribs.

After lunch, we crossed the street to the Green Lake Park.  Both Shelby and I think it is more beautiful this trip than the first time we were here.  The sun was out and the water lilies were in bloom.  We bought the kids ice cream from one of the vendors and they loved it.  Sawyer was on my shoulders while he was eating his and dripping his all over my hair.  Who knows, it could be a great hair product.   Saxton got a panda ice cream popsicle.  When he was almost done, the remaining ice cream fell to ground.  He look devastated, then he asked if he could share Saffi’s watermelon icicle,  which she gladly did.  When Saige picked hers out, she climbed up on the ice chest, rummaged through the entire thing until she found her chocolate ice cream cone.  Which she proceeded to consume and drip on her shirt and her new blanket, not to mention the mess it made out of her face.  Too cute.

After we returned to the hotel, the kids played and played and played.  Well, three out of four of them.  Sawyer, as stated earlier, was the first one up yesterday at 2:30am (it’s that jet lag thing again).   So, as the other kids wrestled, dog piled on each other and played Jedi Knights, Sawyer was fast asleep on his bed.  But, the other three were having a ball in the living room.  Saige was handling her own with big brother, Saxton.  Her and Saffi ganged up on the poor boy and dog piled him.  My boys don’t have a chance with these two girls.  Our house just became louder. 

Well, I am going to try to get some sleep.  It’s 3:15 and raining hard outside.  I would open a window to listen to the rain, but we are on the eighth floor.  So, that’s not going to happen.  Enjoy the pictures:

This morning, we went to the Kunming orphanage for our second tour. Almost exactly four years ago, we are just a week early, we visited the orphanage when we met Sawyer for the first time. This time, it was to bring Saige to say good-bye to her nanny. The visit went better than I expected. Saige did not cry once. In fact, when the nanny asked if she could hold her, she said, with a very stern tone, “bu yao” (don’t want). As we visited, I noticed that Sawyer was becoming more and more uneasy. Specifically, after we walked through the physical therapy room, he was pulling on my hand saying, “let’s go.” He began to tug hard as to hurry us along. Luckily, we did. We then went over to the new building for the children. It was a lot nicer than the old building that was deemed to be in a “dangerous condition,” and will be torn down later this year. On the way back the van, Saige reluctantly let her nanny hold her for one last time. After the picture was taken, she stretched her arms toward Ma Ma to get back into her arms. As for Sawyer, when he saw the van, he ran to it and jumped into the back seat, latched his seat belt and started to stem (rock back and forth for self soothing). Once we left the orphanage gate, he was back to beautiful little self.

We then headed toward sages finding spot. From her Certificate of Source of Abandoned Infant, “She was found abandoned at a road turning point near Shanshui Driving License School; on February 21, 2007.” Just as when we saw Sawyer’s and Saxton’s finding spots, it seemed as though someone turned off all the sounds. I snapped my pictures and hopped back in the van and the world came rushing back in to my head.

I will post more tomorrow.  I am very tired, but want to tell you all a lot of Saige’s personality which was starting show today.  Stay turned.

Here are some, but not all, of the pcitures I wanted to download. I don’t know what’s going on, but WordPress is not allowing me to do a bulk download. Therefore, there might be just a few pictures until we get home. Sorry.