Another day...

I am perturbed.  I think that is the best way to sum up my current feelings.  It is still almost 5 hours before I meet my son.  There are two other families here who already have their precious babies; even my husband has our youngest, and I sit here twittling my thumbs.  I know it is an orphanage decision about when and where the exchange takes place, but it doesn't change the fact that it is irritating.  All in His time - I think he's still trying to teach me patience :)   I did get to see Shepherd last night.  He is sooo cute.  I could just pinch his little cheeks all day!  When I came up on the screen he was playing in the background and Scott called him over.  He looked at the computer and said "Mama".  Broke my heart that I couldnl't pick him up and hug him, but it also filled me with joy that even thousands of miles away he knows who I am.  Last night was rough for Scott and for Chong Chong (ophanage nick name).  We stayed together on Skype while he screamed and cried for mama and baba - not us.  We knew he was tired and had a long day but going through it by yourself is rough.  Scott did get a little sleep last night but Chong Chong was up several times.  He is a fiddler and is very stubborn so he should fit right into our family.  We spoke this morning for a few minutes and he was all smiles and kept taking Mama's picture with the camera and then would show it to me.  He blew me a kiss and told me bye.  No love you yet but that is ok.  Scott is doing a wonderful job with him and I am so proud to call him my husband.   The biguns at home are doing well.  They are helping Memaw and having fun skyping with us.  My internet is not very consistent but it seems to be ok for the most part.    I had my first Guiyang meal yesterday with my guide Vickie.  It was FABULOUS.  One dish, hands down, is the best meal I have ever had in China.  Unbeknownst to me, Guiyang is famous for it's

Settleing-in in Lanzhou

As my darling wife has stated, glad to be not moving and clean from a shower. The Grand Soluxe Hotel is very nice with all the amenities, including some remodeling on the side of my room. I'm sure it will be nice when they finish sometime when I am back at home enjoying Thanksgiving with the whole family. My guide had a brought time finding me Becca's my timing with a Dutch tourist group arriving made it hard to find the "American". Steve is very nice a very knowledgeable. We traveled a hour or so to the hotel and saw many unique things. The hills around this area(Steve called them mountains) are made of Golden Sand. They are stepped in layers to allow for agriculture. Many have a small temple on top to pray for good harvests. They also have small caves made into them for people to live in.
I will meet Shepherd this afternoon around 4:00. Another family is adopting a little girl from the same orphanage and they both will be brought to the hotel then.
I am off to see what I can find in the very noisy city. There seems to be a constant noise of car horns, fireworks, and loud music.

Scott - the silly American at large

Made it to Guiyang

Well, I am here. I arrived at the airport about 2 hours ago.  My guide is Vicki and seems really sweet and fully of energy.  Which would be great except I am totally beat.  The sad news I will not get to meet Sawyer until Monday afternoon.  The orphanage does not want to bring him to the hotel and the adoption office isn't open until Monday.  He is a few hours outside of the city so it will take most of the morning for them to get here.  I really miss Scott.  Although we both know this was the right thing to do for our entire family, it did not stop me from crying when we had to part in Beijing.  My flight here was good with no problems.  The funny thing was I was the ONLY and I do mean ONLY white person on the plane...and in the airport for that matter.  Vickie saw me before I saw her.  Our driver seems good - aka - we did not crash between here and the airport.  For those of you who have never been to China, think of it this way...the lines on the road are merely "guidelines".  Most of the time, the drivers drive ON THEM instead of BETWEEN them.  It is good to be back in China and I look forward to all of the fun things Vickie has planned.   I do have a favor though.  I cannot get are RQ here for some reason.  We did not download VPN's before we left so would someone please email me if they see another parent is in the province. I am at the Sheraton which is SUPER nice.  Also, if LynnC posts, tell her I said hey and can't wait to meet in Guangzhou.  Stupid cell phones aren't working either.  Worked fine in Beijing and in Korea but not here.  Go figure.   Going to take a shower now.  36 hours of travel stinks...literally!!   Lots of love! Sheila

Fwd: Hello from Korea

Subject: Hello from Korea

Hello all across the pond...We finally made it to Korea which is the first leg of our journey. Our troubles began in the ATL parking lot when Scott "misplaced" aka lost our parking ticket that you have to show the attendant guy. After missing the first shuttle, we found it and were on our way to check in only to find ourselves in the longest line of Asian people we have ever seen! It took 1.5 hours just for us to check in. We then find out that we have not been seated together and are 5 rows apart. I am not the best flier so this caused a major breakdown because KA said the flight was booked and there was nothing they could do. Long story short we were finally seated together just in time for the flight to take off 1.5 hours late!

The food on KA is ok but definitely airplane food. The service is impressive though. They have someone who goes into the restroom after each use to spray air freshener, wipe the sink and fold the toilet paper end into a cute triangle. Our seats were nothing special but I did tell Scott I wanted to fly first class just once..hubba hubba you should have seen those seat!

The airport is very cool architecturally and the place is so clean. They make the smokers go into a glassed in room that I swear is hermetically sealed. So from hear we fly to Beijing then on to our separate provinces. We are 13 hours ahead right now but will only be 12 ahead in China. We are tired but ok after we ate and drank lots of water.

We have talked to my mom and the boys. It was great to hear them since we miss them so much already. All thoughts and prayers on this journey are appreciated. Thanks for following along.

Sheila
Sent from my iPad

Test post

We are leaving tomorrow!!  Can't wait to meet out little ones!!

Got dates....

We will fly out on May 27th, get the boys on May 29th, and fly home on June 9! Can't wait to see the boys!!

Sheila

Doin' the HAPPY DANCE!!!

After the longest Travel Approval wait in Chinese adoption history, we have our TA's for our boys!! We can now travel to meet them for the first time. Right now, the plan is to leave on Wednesday, May 25th and return around June 10th. Both boys will have birthdays either before we get there or while we are in China. Sawyer will turn 5 and Shepherd will be 4. I hope they are as thrilled as we are to have them become a part of our family!!! Thank you all for the love and support. Please continue to follow us on our journey.

Sheila