Recap from China

Hi Everyone,

Well, we are back with Grace and it is 3:35 am and we are awake. Grace is still on China time and I guess we are as well. I will write more about our "travel home" day in the next posting.

This is my re-cap post. Since I was not able to update the blog while in Nanning, Guangxi, I emailed many friends and family instead. This posting has those emails in it by date. It is a long posting but good reading so if you have some time then take a look..enjoy:)

March 30, 2008 - Nanning, Guangxi
Hi Everyone,

We are now in Nanning, Guangxi. It is currently 9:50 am. We are going to meet with our rep to do some paper work. We get Grace at 3:00 pm. We are 15 hours ahead so I believ that it will be 12 midnight their.

I cannot update the blog from here. Blogspot is blocked.

I will email more later. We might even be able to use Skype so my parents!

More later.

God Bless,
Tim Phuong


March 31, 2008 - Nanning, Guangxi
Grace is thin but healthy. We are going to see the Chinese doctor today for a routine check up, but she's fine.

Let me say first that all the families traveling with us are the best! We spent two days in Hong Kong. We went to a laser light show over the water where Hong Kong projects lasers and lights into the sky and on the buildings. The lights move to music playing in the park.
Hong Kong was fun but not the real reason we are here.

Here is the scoop so far. Two days ago (3/30) we arrived in Nanning, Guangxi around 7 pm China time. The reps took us to the hotel and gave us a breakdown for what we would be doing while we are here. When we got to the hotel and checked in, our reps told us to meet them at the Chinese restaurant on the 1st floor. A group of us went down there but no one met us except for some confused locals. So we went to the "western style" restaurant on the second floor. In the rep's defence, they were caught up dealing with some reservation mix up so we'll forgive them. All turned out OK and the food was really good.

The next morning (3/31 in China) we had a nice breakfast at the hotel, filled out some paper work and paid adoption fees. After that we went back to our room and recorded a "before" video for Grace. We both had a hard time holding back the tears.
Then we went to the local grocery store. We got many stares, especially since we went in a large group.
That afternoon we met Grace for the very first time! We thought we would be crying but it all happened so fast (about 10 min.). They handed Grace to Phuong.
Grace is the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on! :)

She was very sweet but curious. None of the babies cried...until we got them back to the hotel. The orphanage told us that Grace responds to Yu Yu, so we have been calling her that and trying "Grace" now and then. "Yu" means fine Jade.

Now reality set in! She cried for 4 hours before she calmed down. She would not eat anything we gave her and Phuong got worried...so then I got worried and tracked down some other families. They were all great, as I said before, and reassured us that Grace was fine and this will pass. Of course we knew this could happen going in but in the moment you forget everything.

Now, Grace clings to Phuong, which is great and a big relief to her, and I prepare the daily materials.
Grace is still not sure about the bald white guy yet. I would be lying if I said that am not a little sad about this, but I know she will come around. She will let me feed her if Phuong is holding her. She looks at me while Phuong holds her however.

The only "toy" she likes right now is my plastic name tag the reps gave to us. She also has a strong grip when she gets hold of my finger and a good kicker...a natural martial artist :)

Today, 4/01 in China. we finalized the adoption in terms of the China part and Grace is officially ours! We will be spending a few more days in Nanning while we wait for our paperwork to come back, then it's off to Guangzhou to do the US paper work.

That's all for now. I will send more updates as I get the chance. Maybe our Blog will work once we are in Guangzhou. Meanwhile, I am taking plenty of video and photos.

Gold Bless,
Tim

April 2, 2008 Nanning, Guangxi
Hi Everyone,

Good news and bad news...

Bad news:
Still cannot access my blog :(

OK...on to the Good news:
All 3 of us are doing great!
Grace lets me hold her, carry her, feed her, etc. Both of us have earned her full trust...I hope.
We had the doctor appointment last night. He said that Grace is healthy. She just is a bit malnourished which can be remedied with some meat when we get back he said. Also she has some mild eczema which we got some ointment for. She cried for a while after that and we could not go down to join the others at the Chinese restaurant. I went down to get food by myself however. No one at the restaurant spoke English so I had a good time trying to order. The little bit of Chinese I learned worked. I ordered chicken and noodles and got squid and roasted snake...

...just kidding, we had chicken and noddles :)

We are trying to keep her on a schedule and it seems to be working. She seems to be happy.
We wen to the local mall today here in Nanning which includes a 3 floor Walmart. Grace loves being outside and taking in the sights. She was a big hit at some of the local clothing stores! We really did not buy much. Some diapers, a children's CD, and a pink blow up tiger punching bag...getting her ready for training :)

So much to write but I cannot think of everything.

I believe that some of the other people took some digital photos of the 3 of us so as soon as I get some I will email them off to everyone.

Tomorrow we go to the museum or maybe the temple depending on the weather. It is raining today.

OK, more later. All the best to all of you and God bless!
Tim, Phuong and Amazing Grace :)

PS.
I am sorry if I am not getting to everyone in my emails :( Please feel free to pass the info along :)

April 3, 2008 - Nanning, Gunagxi
Ni Hao Everyone!

Another quick update. I am sending emails out as I cannot access our blog. It's a way to document our "adventures."

We put down Grace around 9 pm last might and she did not wake up until 6:30 am. She is a very good sleeper. Today was the first day we ate breakfast as a family...yea!

We needed to be at the lobby today at 10 am to go to the museum so after breakfast we put Grace down for a quick nap. As we got ready she just slept. We hated to wake her up as she was sleeping so good. This was her first forced wake up. She did very well. She slept for about an hour and 15 min and got up with only some slight whimpers.

The museum was OK. I got some great video of the city while the tour guide spoke about Nanning on the bus. This will be great for Grace to view when she is older. The museum showed a little bit about her culture and what life was like here years ago up until now. There was some kind of presentation celebration going on outside of the museum and I got some great video of some local dancers. For some odd reason they were playing the theme from "The Magnificent Seven."

We went around the grounds of the museum and there was a local craft show going on. A lady gave Phuong a Chinese paper cut for free and some guy was walking around taking video and photos of our group. We don't know what this was about but it seemed harmless.

Then we went to the gift shop and purchased some items for Grace. A doll dressed in her native outfit and a purse type bag. They are very nice and all together it only cost $7.50 US.

Next we went to a local restaurant for some Chinese food. It was very good. Grace and Phuong were followed by this little Chinese girl who was very interested in Grace. She kept saying "baby...baby" and wanted to play with Grace. It was very sweet and I got some of that interaction on video.

Grace had a wonderful time. She likes both pf us and smiles and laughs when I lift her into the air. She pushes hard with her feet when Phuong "exercises" her and when she is happy. She (Grace) already knows how to give "5" when I put my hand out and seems to enjoy our interaction.

We just put her down after feeding her a whole bottle. She did not want to go down after so much excitement but finally did. Phuong and Grace are both sleeping now.

We should be getting the photos back today from the cameras we sent to the orphange before we came. They should be very interesting.

Tomorrow we go to the Buddhist temple for some photo op's and moe Chinese food.

We will be leaving Monday afternoon for Guangzhou. We are just waiting for Grace's passport.

That's all for now.

God Bless,
Tim, Phuong and Grace Yu


April 4, 2008 - Nanning, Guangxi
HI Everyone,

It's Friday in Nanning. What a tiring day. We got up this morning and had breakfast again as a family :)
Then we got ready to go to the temple. This was a nice trip but very tiring both for us and Grace. First we stopped at this beautiful garden. It was a bit misty out and cool. We walked around the garden for about 1.5 hours. There was a bridge made out of only bamboo that was a mile long which we walked across.

Then we went to the temple. By this time Grace was getting tired and we changed her diaper and tried to feed her. The temple campus was very smoky from all of the incense but nice anyway. We were not allowed to take photos of some of the statues but I did get some video and photos elsewhere in the temple. None of the monks came out. Grace was a big hit here with the local people. The came around us speaking in Chinese. Michael, our guide, told us that they were trying to figure out if Grace was full Chinese or mixed. I guess she does look like "us."

After the temple we went to a pagoda and lake. Most of us climbed to the top of the pagoda. I was only a few steps behind Phuong when she made it to the top in front of me. I was taking video on the way up. When I got to the top, Phuong was once again surrounded by these Chinese school girls practicing their English and smiling at Grace...she's a star now! We took a photo with them and then made it down to the bottom. Everyone was getting ice cream so we joined in. Guess what happened next. Once again Grace was surrounded by interested Chinese. What a ham :)
We were all tired but everyone was hungry so we went out to a local Chinese restaurant. After that we headed back to the hotel.
Tomorrow there is a group going to the zoo but I think we will sit that one out.

We are still waiting for Grace's passport. We are told that this will come Monday morning and them we head to Guangzhou for the US side of the paperwork. This is also where we will meet up with the other families we met in Hong Kong. We have not seen them with their babies so that will be exciting too.

I know everyone id waiting for photos...don't worry they are coming :)

Hope all are doing well at home. We are enjoying our time here but looking forward to getting home.

God Bless,
Tim. Phuong and Grace Yu

April 6, 2008 - Nanning, Guangxi
Hi Everyone,

This will probably be the last email from Nanning, Guangxi. We leave tomorrow morning for Guangzhou around 9:00 am.
Today we received Grace's passport. Her photo is so cute...but not as cute as she is in person.

We did not do too much between yesterday and today.

Yesterday we went shopping for more formula and diapers so that we would not run out and still have some when we get home for a week or so. When we got back, Phuong and grace took a nap while I went out with some of the guys to Wal Mart for more diapers and such...oh, and had another ice cream from McDonald's with mocha topping...yum :P

Today, Phuong, Grace and I went to this other super Wal Mart to find some cute clothes for Grace and a squeeze ball. Oh, I need to mention that both Wal Marts here have whole dried chickens and snakes like beef jerky...now that's good eat'in.
We then went to the surround mall which has 5 floors. Not to many shops were open because it is Sunday but they were nothing special. Lunch was good at the local two story Pizza Hut. There was some students eating there and doing what appeared to be home work. Grace was the local celebrity again. This Pizza Hut has some many different things then the ones in the US, including shimp, some different shake "like" drinks and some other things I cannot remember right now.

I really hope that I am sending everyone these emails. I have limited time at the business center so I do apologise if I am missing anyone. Again, please update anyone who I may have missed.

God Bless,
Tim Phuong and Grace