Outta here!

It was good to be moving on from Zhengzhou city today (Friday).  We spent the morning packing, having a light "picnic" lunch in the room, then checking out of the hotel early afternoon.

Packing up included the boys in a suitcase as well.  Then it was the boys bouncing on beds.  Then it was the boys climbing on the nightstand.  (It was a veritable circus.)  Then it was the parents going crazy.  Then somehow everything and everyone found their place.

Goodbye Room 340!

Just before leaving the hotel for the airport.

We swung by the passport office for our guide to put some polite pressure on them to finish up Jack's passport -- right on the way to the airport!  Thank you Lord for favor with those workers.

Jack's favorite place to nap.

At the play yard in the Zhengzhou airport.  It was the best playground thus far (other than our hotel room)!

He must have gone down this slide 20 times!

Finally, it's boarding time, after over an hour delay.  Jack's first plane ride is also his farewell to his home province.

So far, so good.  Buckled in.  Stickers help occupy and distract, but...the plane just sat there at the gate! We were told that we were waiting for air traffic control clearance.  We knew it wasn't looking good when they put on a movie (not suitable for family viewing), then they pulled out the serving carts laden with water, then some tempers flared among the natives (passengers and flight attendants).  Then after another hour, the plane finally pushed back from the gate -- but our boy didn't want to be buckled anymore!  Yes, he became that child you don't want to be sitting by on a flight.  Celinda didn't even notice the take-off as she was wrestling an unhappy toddler--she had already used up all her bag of tricks occupying him during the departure delay.  A nearby passenger offered gum, a key chain, and a flight attendant brought milk -- of course, he was not interested in any of these things.  He just wanted to be "up".    

So the minute that she could stand up (yes, even before the "Fasten your seatbelt" sign was turned off), Celinda stood up and he quieted down as if someone had flicked a switch.  On this note, it's not too early to be praying about next Saturday's flight from Hong Kong to Detroit!

Eventually, he (and John-Nathan) were out cold for the last portion of the flight.  So much for Jack using the seat we had to buy him! 

Finally, after a cloudy, bumpy descent, we made it to Guangzhou a couple of hours late.  Relieved, but tired, and with an additional 40 minute transfer to the hotel.  We were also relieved to be away from the man in handcuffs who was sitting across from on the plane -- but that's another one of those stories for another time!

Sweet of the hotel to have a crib ready with some thoughtful touches!

We know that we are a day behind -- we will try to catch you up with tomorrow's post.

Made it to Guangzhou!

Just a brief post to say we made it to our next stop late last night. More about the flight and some pictures coming later on today. We have to hit the ground running today with a visa picture for Jack and a medical appointment for him, as well. Please pray for our day here as you drift off to sleep :). Jack has to have a TB test done and then read on Monday. Pray that that is all negative!

The hotel here in GZ is so much better than ZZ! We have a suite which is allowing for 3 of the 5 of us to keep sleeping this morning. A good thing for weary bodies. Better get moving soon though.

Love to all from Guangzhou!
Celinda and Jack :)

Last full day in Zhengzhou

Howdy faithful blog followers and friends! This is Julianna here making sure you have some pictures and a little news for tonight (your day I guess). Nobody else is up to it ;) Well, things are a bit crazy here! Today was another down day adoption wise- no paperwork. So we made an outing to the Zhengzhou Aquarium.

Jack was mellow in the morning but had some smiles for Mama!

In our element? I've always wanted to be a mermaid! 

Many of the tanks had this warning to not put your hands in. Our guide told us that was to be taken seriously! These fish can eat people.... go figure. Grandma, the tanks were wide open we could have placed our limbs in them!

These fish drink from bottles! Although we chose not to feed them ourselves, we enjoyed the unique sight.

Sea lion show-- Even sea lions are acrobats in China!

JN with the turtles.

This is what Jack excitedly chants while looking at the above picture, "Ma ma, ba ba, ge ge, jie jie, "bish" (fish), ba ba, ge ge, ma ma, jie jie....." 

Check out the turtle!

Real live mermaid!! Haha!

Shark-o!

Aye, aye matey! 

Another adopted kiddo with Jack. Hotel divided!

So, our outing was interesting as everything is here. The Georgia Aquarium is definitely better, but the outing was fun and unique. I kept thinking, "Only in China... (insert something odd)" 

Love to all! Keep the prayers coming for us, they are needed. (JR)

Our upside down life...(yes, this odd room was at the aquarium???)

A quick note from Celinda: Appreciate Julianna taking care of this blog post. She has been a very good photographer, don't you think? Things are going pretty much as expected. We are all very tired. Five people in a fairly small non-toddler proof hotel room gets old quickly! We have a little burst of relief in the thought that we fly to Guangzhou tomorrow evening around 5 p.m. (that is 4 a.m. CST) and begin the last leg of the China part of this journey. We appreciate your prayers for the travel and rest of the trip. We know people are lifting us up and we are so grateful! 

Jack Zanzhi is super cute and cuddly. He has been learning to give kisses and they are so sweet and gentle. We are enjoying getting to know him. We continue to pray for his little heart and mind with all the adjustments he is having to make. Pray specifically for his sleep times (naps and nights). We are all in a period of change, and while it has its challenges, it has its joys, too!

Keep praying and commenting :). We love hearing from you through the blog and e-mails. It is like fuel for the journey! Love to all~ Celinda

GOOD grief

Sidewalks are a misnomer -- they should be called "siderides" around here because they are mainly the venue for bicycles, motorized bikes, scooters, etc. and they come and go in either direction on any given "sideride".  As with any shared roadway, you feel like your life is in constant peril.

Since we had no appointments today, we had a leisurely breakfast--still before 7:00 am, but that's life with these little guys. After breakfast, we went to the play room, where a pen of plastic balls gobbled up Jack like quicksand.

Nice to visit there with another family who have a little guy from Maria's.

Since Jack was having a hard time going down for a nap, I thought that I would remove John-Nathan from that particular situation, so we headed to a city park up the street.  Upon cresting one particular path, some sweet strains reached my ears: "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because He lives."  Just what the Doctor ordered!  Of course, it was being sung in Chinese, not English.  The rest of that story will have to wait...

Back on the hotel front, Jack had conked out for his nap, likely exhausted from a long bout of crying.  Upon waking, he was doing better, so we thought that a trek down the street to Pizza Hut would be in order.  John-Nathan also got an ice cream treat at KFC.  

Bedtime was rough again for Jack.  Fatigue seems to be a trigger for him realizing what's no longer normal in his life.  The new normal will take time to establish, but we expect Jack to make great strides over the next few days. As the title of this post says, we recognize that these hard times are needful and ultimately beneficial for our little guy.  We're super tired and trying to get to bed, so…until tomorrow! (PR)

130 km/hr

We reached that speed during at least one point on our outing this afternoon to Jack's "hometown" of Luoyang.  I'll leave you to calculate the mph.  Of course, we were buckled, even if our driver and guide in the two front seats were not...

Well, this morning started out by returning to the government office to finalize the adoption.  The director presented us with certificates and congratulated us on the happy event!  From there, we went to another government office for a notarization process (i.e. more paperwork, money, and gifts).  From there, the real fun began...

We were told that it would be 2-2.5 hours to his "orphanage".  We told our guide that someone who had gone there yesterday had encountered a closed road and a difficult detour.  She assured us that both she and the driver knew where they were going.  Some 3+ hours later we were there (we encountered the same closed road and difficult detour).  We saw more of his local city than we ever cared to.  It was actually quite comical, watching the driver and guide figure out how to arrive at a location whose road had been closed. After several stops on the road to ask "locals" and calls on a cell phone to a mystery person, they finally took our advice to call Maria's itself for directions, which proved to be the most helpful.

The welcome at Maria's Big House of Hope was, well, like home.  We saw people we knew, people we knew of, and people who have known and lovingly cared for Jack for nearly three years.  So much could be said about this incredible place and its incredible people.  Needless to say, we are grateful for what the Lord is doing at and through Maria's.

We will try to get some video posted on our YouTube channel tomorrow.  Right now, we're beat, but we did want to get some pictures posted for you.  We love the comments--keep 'em coming!!!!

Whose crib is this anyway?

Jack is a good eater!

Chillin' out.

Lovin' the bath!

It's official!

Long day in the van!

When we pulled up outside Maria's, his nanny called and waved to Jack from his former fourth floor room.

A hug for/from Jack's nurse, Jonalyn.

And from Becca the preschool teacher.

Stayin' close to mommy at Maria's,

Sorry, Alice -- we missed you but enjoyed seeing your daddy! 

Visiting with his nanny in his room.

Next to one of our pictures they had posted on his wall.

Out front of Maria's, just before leaving "for good".