Jet-lagging

We are finding out that our addicted readers are suffering from withdrawal symptoms...sorry! The postings will no doubt become less frequent over the coming days, as we try to adjust and establish some sense of routine. Sleep / wake time is still kind of messed up for everyone. Peter's fever is gone, but Julianna's lingers on, after a brief departure earlier in the day. So far, John-Nathan has not seemed to take sick. (Thanks for the flowers, nlc & kac!!)

This picture is one of a special man, whom we just call "Mr. Bill," who has been a help to us all throughout the process and who has prayed for us and with us--and even today when he finally got to see John-Nathan for the first time. (He's the postman!)

John-Nathan also met his in-town cousins today. They were very excited to see him! They brought him a pirate ship and stayed and played for a while. We were wondering if it was the first time that John-Nathan had ever opened a gift-wrapped package (?)

Later, when Grandpa brought Julianna home, John-Nathan thought it was pretty funny that Grandpa could do his thumb and finger just like he did!

Sweet Home Alabama!

Thank you Lord for bringing us safely home! Oh, the wonderful love and care of our God and the sweet prayers of the saints, checking Flightview, and praying us home at KEY points in our travel day. How we see His hand at work in getting us back home. Some of you may only think of O.J. Simpson in connection with the "bloody glove"-- But I remember him in connection with the Hertz commercial running through the airport. That was us yesterday, both at Narita (Tokyo) and Detroit, arriving at both gates as boarding was underway. Without going into great detail, suffice it to say that the travel was long and hard, with minimal rest along the way. We have plenty of stories to tell in person of trips to the lavatories (quite a challenge for 2 to fit in there--we even had three in there at one point!!), flight attendant personalities, sleepless nights, I mean days, I mean nights (?)...

Other than the stressful feeling from the time crunch in Detroit, passing through immigration was neat from the standpoint that John-Nathan's paperwork was received, processed, etc and when his passport was stamped he was congratulated on becoming a US citizen! (They waived the fingerprints and signature!)

Smiles, hugs, and tears at the airport were a precious welcome home. (sorry, pictures of the weary travelers arriving at the airport are on another camera) Being back in our own home was even better! John-Nathan was a bit overwhelmed by the newness and abundance of it all -- and so much bigger than a hotel room! Fun to watch him come to realize that all in his father's house is his, too! "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:32) Please continue to pray for rest for us. We all slept, more or less through the night, despite Julianna coughing still (fever has returned) and I (Peter) now have one too. Would rather be sick here than there...So we're a a bit poky, in between chills (fever) and thrills, watching all of John-Nathan's firsts in his new home! It wasn't until I pulled off the little devotional calendar page for today, that I said, "Oh, Happy Anniversary!" to my faithful wife. How grateful I am for her as my wife and as the mother of my children.

Hope that you will see him in person, too, soon!

"I love my wheelbarrow and my riding truck, but who's this little girl who wants to play with all my stuff, too?!" (I'm putting words in his mouth.)

"These mega blocks are pretty neat!"

"Hey, give me a call! I need to learn English!"

Immigration Visa in hand!

We went to the US Consulate this afternoon to retrieve John-Nathan's visa and take an oath that we had not falsified any of his paperwork. It was a rather anti-climactic event overall--more of a formality than anything of real substance. Technically, he becomes a US citizen upon landing in Detroit. We were given a packet of documents in a sealed envelope, only to be opened by immigration in Detroit!

Here we are with our coordinator, Leila, who did the leg-work for us here in Guangzhou.

Papa brought them each a croissant back from breakfast.
Our morning and evening were spent doing last-minute shopping and packing.

These license plates were in the restaurant we ate dinner at. The second one is for BW, TW, and MW!
We were able to see our friends one last time. They will leave in the morning also, heading back to Illinois. It has been a real blessing to us to enjoy their fellowship at the start and finish of this trip.

"The kids"

New tradition: beige couch at the Victory Annex.

Until the peacocks meet again...

Several of you have mentioned tracking our flights. Here is a reminder from our June 30th posting: Simply go to http://www.flightview.com/, put in Airline Code "NW" and our flight number. Click "FIND FLIGHT" and off you go (into the wild blue yonder...). There is also a "LAUNCH LIVE" option which can show you an icon of the plane creeping along its course. Our flight numbers for Wednesday 7/16 are 28 from CAN to NRT, 26 from NRT to DTW, and 3790 from DTW to BHM.

Thanks for praying us home! We look forward to...sleeping in our own bed, a special anniversary meal on Thursday (thanks, Mom!), chips and salsa, and seeing many of you very soon!!

With love and thanks, PCJJR

Visa appointment A-OK!

We had to stay in our hotel room this morning in order to be reached, if need be, by our coordinator who had taken all our paperwork etc in to the Consulate. We didn't receive a call until 12:10, saying that our application for John-Nathan's visa was accepted and is being processed. Everything should be ready for us tomorrow following his swearing-in ceremony at the Consulate at 4:00 p.m. Unfortunately, they do not allow any electronic devices in the Consulate, so there will only be our memories of the event to share with you.

These shirts actually say "big sister" and "little brother".

Comparing mouth sores with Elliot... (he's the oldest son of our "adoption buddies" we met in Beijing)

This afternoon we went off the island (along with the family we had met in Beijing) to do some shopping at the wholesale markets. Nice to get wholesale prices for single items, without buying bulk! (See how happy Celinda is with the deals she jsut got?! She normally previews the blog before posting--but she's in bed right now, so I'm taking a chance on this one!) We felt like we were walking through the pages of the Oriental Trading Company catalogue and THEN some! Pearls, jade, boxes, clothes, etc...We have some interesting stories from the outing, including running through the rainy market streets of Guangzhou and piling eleven into a tiny, 7-passenger van! We definitely made some memories....

Girls shop, dads takes pictures, watch the children, and pull out the wallet at the right time!

Our two families' kids were good "hang-out" buddies. John-Nathan was always offering little Zoe snacks!

We dropped off our loot back at the hotel then turned right around to head out for dinner. John-Nathan had skipped his nap today, but fell asleep as we strolled to the restaurant. He slept all through dinner and transferred successfully (for now) to bed, with out his evening bath or bedtime routines...poor little guy will probably wake up at midnight thinking it's time to get up. You can pray for him, not just for tonight, but for his plane trip home and his body-clock adjustment--ours, too!

We will post one more time: our Tuesday evening. We will have an early wake up on Wednesday morning to begin our voyage home. For all of you stealth readers (those who have read yet never commented), please keep in mind that you only have one more day to chime in and post a comment. We would love to hear from you if you have a moment :) For our regular posters, thank you SO MUCH for the encouragement you have been to us along this incredible journey! Reading your comments has truly been a highlight of our days!! It has helped us feel "connected" back home at some very "disconnected" points and places in our days over here. (PR)

Sunday in Guangzhou

We had a slow morning until leaving the hotel for a short walk to church. We attended a Chinese-English service at Christ Church right here on Shamian Island. It is an open (registered) church and very well attended--standing room only. The preaching was quite sound.

John-Nathan napped through the whole service--I'm sure that was a factor to his melt-down later in the afternoon at his usual nap time. See, we went to eat lunch after church, but when we came back to the room after lunch, he was not interested in continuing his unfinished nap. He definitely did not want the curtains closed. So, we're still learning about him (and he about us) and what makes him tick.

Afterward, we were even able to meet some of Robin's friends from when she attended here 1996-2000!
Sister sharing a snack with her little brother.
Playing drums on an empty snack canister.

The girls went to "spy out the land" a bit while John-Nathan napped. You have to visit a number of the shops to see where the best deals really are.

Tomorrow our coordinator will turn in our visa paperwork in the morning. We do not have to go to the Consulate, but we do need to be available back at the hotel in case there are any questions for us or irregularities. We plan to go out shopping in the afternoon.

Saturday in Guangzhou

Each new day is a step closer to home. We met the other families in our group (from the same agency) at breakfast this morning. One from Oregon and one from Georgia. We've been saying all week that there wasn't anything John-Nathan didn't like to eat--well, today at breakfast we found something! Actually, the discovery began yesterday at lunch when we tried offering him a piece of pineapple and later a piece of chicken from the sweet and sour chicken dish. In they went and out they came. Well, the same thing happened with the orange slice today at breakfast. Our deductive skills lead us to believe that the child does not go for citrus fruit/flavor at this point!

After breakfast, we all headed out together for a short walk to a little photo shop where we had visa pictures taken for our children. From there we went almost next door to a clinic for their medical check-up. I just realized that we only have video footage from there, no shapshots...In any case, we had to chuckle at the sign in the waiting room: Quiet Please. Children were anything but. Forgive us for sounding like proud parents, but John-Nathan did SOOO well! He laid down on the examining table and let the lady doc poke around. At the next station he got weighed and measured without a fuss, and at the last station he got his ears and mouth checked out without complaint. That last doctor couldn't stop smiling and saying he was so smart!

Afterwards, we strolled around the island some, picked up a few souvenirs--and our packaged laundry. Two groups of young school children stopped us at different points to practice their English. They were having an Outdoor Lesson. Back at the ranch (hotel), we had lunch in our room before J-N went down for a nap (and Mommy, too).



Later this afternoon we filled out all the US paperwork. Good to get all the last paperwork done and fees paid! Our coordinator will take it all to the Consulate on Monday.

Giggle times on the bed after naptime.

This evening we were able to meet back up with the family we had toured with in Beijing--fun to see them again! We strolled around together some after dinner. These pictures were taken inside a restaurant that we didn't eat at, but had plenty of fresh exotic and aquatic fare. Then we bopped into a 7-11 for ice cream bars. From the look on John-Nathan's face I would say it was the first time he had ever tasted ice cream. His eyes lit up in wonderment and delight! (PR)