day 1... part 2

What a day! I'm sure for those of you who know me you won't be surprised by what my favorite part of the day was... dinner (so I'm starting with the latest thing we did and working back). Mckenzie and I were treated to the most yummy food I've ever tasted by Gayle and her darling daughters Lydia (Reeses age) and Addie (sp?- Meili's age). I met Gayle on a yahoo group and she and her girls live in Beijing (they are from the states). Anyway, dinner was amazing!!! (did I already say that ?) and the company was great too! It was fun to talk about the church here, shopping, food, and kids. We are going to get together again tomorrow afternoon/evening after we go to the Great Wall, lunch and the Summer Palace. Thanks so much, Gayle!!! (oh, dinner consisted of peanuts covered in seasame seeds, green beans like you've never tasted before, asparagus, really hot and really yummy chicken, lemon chicken, tofu (with a sauce like the Thai sweet/hot sauce we buy), pot stickers, crepes that were stir fried with cabbage (the crepes were cut like noodles) and rice - I think I included everything - anyway, it was wonderful)
Ok, on with the day.
We went to the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. It was a lot of walking but luckily the weather was just cold and not windy (tomorrow is suppose to snow and be colder) Mckenzie was like a rock star. We had a group of boys stop us and ask if she would be in a picture with them... didn't know what to say, so i said yes and then asked them to let me take one as well.
My camera battery went out right as we were walking into the Forbidden City. Luckily, another family had an extra one. We are with 3 other families. They are all very kind and it has been fun getting to know them. All 3 have their spouses and all 3 have all or some of their children... There is a cute little 4 or 5 year old girl (adopted from China), a darling 6 year old little boy who was at the same orphanage as Meili, and two boys (ages 11 and 14). Our guide is great and all is well there.
We then went to the acrobatic show. It was very similar to the one that we went to a few years back (at CSI) except the background stuff (sorry... my mind is mushy and I can't think of words) was much more amazing here. We had an hour or so before the show started and so Mckenzie and I walked around a bit... it was amazing to watch the cameras (of mostly Chinese boys) come out to take pictures (of her)... I'm glad you are not here Scott (not really) - I think it would be driving you crazy :)
We are both exhausted. In fact as soon as we got back to the hotel Mckenzie headed straight for bed and was asleep in about 2 seconds.
I did receive an update on Lili today. The info was very similar to that which we already have... it did say that she is still on a bottle (i'll have to go buy some) and that the person she is attached most to is her foster DAD.... I'm so glad I received this little bit of info here because if I had received it earlier I would have made Scott come- I hope she will like me............ Also, says she has a Mongolian spot on her bum and sounds like she may have a cold and runny nose right now. Oh, and she can say "dad"... great... hope she will learn mom soon! ..."she is active"... she'll fit right in, she sleeps with her foster mom for 10 hours (this I can handle) and takes a 2 hour nap (I hope she will need me to sleep with her during this time as well :) ) No birth note was with her and she is not a picky eater. I can't believe that in two nights I will be putting Lili to bed. Unbelievable!!!
Well, I'm off to bed. I hope you all enjoy your Friday - ours Friday was great! Love to you all, Melanie (Loye, I received your e-mail... you can post comments on the blog and we will receive them or you can just e-mail me - whatever is easiest - I'll get them either way - I just am not able to e-mail anyone) Sorry if this is rambling and if it does not make sense - I'm tired!!!

1st day in China

(by Mckenzie) Today we went shopping. I got some cute new boots and two skirts and two cheap ds game for me and my brothers. It was really fun. We took a taxi to the silk market. The silk market had lots of things and people would just grab you and ask you to buy things (sometimes they would not let me go). It was kind of scary until I got use to it. They called me "young pretty girl" and my mom "lady". I would guess that there were at least 300 small shops at the silk market. Lots of stores sold the same things. There were purses, luggage, shoes, clothes, video games, jewlery, and toys. The taxi ride was really bumpy because people kept bumpig into us. There aren't lines on the roads and cars are just everywhere. You don't wear seatbelts. In a minute we are going to go the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square and to an acrobat show. For dinner we are meeting with a family who lives in Beijing and are from the US.
(by Melanie) Hi, I am so excited to say that we successfully took a taxi and went out by all by ourselves. It was fun and I am amazed by how easy it was. I forgot how overwhelming it is to shop here. All of the stores sell the same items but everyone is competing for your business. They are all open shops and they yell at you the whole time. I think it really shocked Mckenzie at first especially when they would block us in their stores and not let go of our arms until we pealed their fingers off of us. Like I said earlier... there is no personal space here and once I remember that it makes it easier.
We are still not able to e-mail out but we are getting e-mails in. Thanks to all for sending them. (Mom and Dad... I'm sorry to hear that it is so hard for you in Las Vegas. I am happy Nathan is with you and pray that you will be okay. My heart aches for what you are going through and I hope we will be able to find some peace having his personal belongings home. I love you.) (Scott... I need you to shut off the wireless connection and internet modem at home... the computer guy at the hotel says that I can't send stuff because of our server with cableone...??? it probably just needs to be shut down, unplugged for a bit and then replugged and restarted) (Tracie L.... how did you post pictures on your blog? the icons that are usually here to post pictures are not availabe...??? I have been able to post using anony... like you suggested... it is just in German and the icons are gone:) )
Anyway, we are off for a fun day!!! I hope everyone is well - mom, dad and Nathan I hope you are doing the best you can!!! I love you all! (Reese, Davis and Meili - I hope you are having fun at your friends homes (thank-you good friends) and having good days at school. I love and miss you and will have your baby sister in a two days. It is pretty emotional being here in this great country that gave us one (and almost two) special spirits in our home... I am truly grateful - I love you kiddos xoxoxo.... Love you Scott - thanks for taking care of everything xoxoxo (oh,... Sandra, I have your camera ready for the orphanage - I hope I will see sweet Mae Ellen and Sara I'll be looking for your angel (but won't take pictures as you requested)
Melanie

We made it!!!!!!!!!!!

After 4 different flights and 24 hours of being gone from our home, we made it!!!
We had a great time running from plane to plane and eating lots of Korean food. We flew Korean Air and they were amazing. Mckenzie and I loved the beautiful little islands you see as you land in Seoul. On our flight to China we sat next to a cute young girl from China. Mckenzie was fascinated by the book she was reading... she said mom she started reading the book from the back and then read up and down left to right... it is very different and I'm glad that she will be able to see the difference. When we picked up our luggage (I've remembered from the last trip that your personal space does not exist in this culture) anyway so I squeezed in between two older Chinese men. They were very nice and helped me get the bags onto our cart. They kept telling me how pretty Mckenzie is and asked in very broken English (but much better than my broken Mandarin) how old she is. They were so nice and Mckenzie was amazed by this. Our guide and driver picked us up from the airport and told us about our upcoming days. Today we will (just Mckenzie and I - take a taxi to the silk factory) as group go to the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and an acrobatic show. Tomorrow the Summer Palace and The Great Wall - YEAH! We will be on our own for dinner and I think I will call the lady from the US who lives here - she nicely volunteered to go to dinner with us. After getting to our hotel last night we walked the streets a bit. There were lots of young adults leaving the shopping and dining areas. The hotel and streets are all decorated in red with lots of beautiful lights and lanterns for the Chinese New Year starting on February 7th. Very beautiful. Mckenzie is still asleep. I am excited for this day. She just wants to pick up Lili but it will be great for us to get our feet under us before we get her.
I can't post photos from here- if anyone who has been to China and posted pictures on blogger please let me know how you did it. The icons that normally come up for photos are not there...??? I'll try to figure it out and get some posted
I hope all is well. Love, Melanie

Melanie and E-mail

To those out there who are trying to email Melanie, she is having trouble sending email. We are able to instant message but she can't send any email from any of her accounts, she is able to recieve her email though. She is hoping to figure it out soon.

They made it.

Melanie and Mckenzie made it all the way to Beijing after 23 hours of traveling. They called me this morning at 7am to let me know they were there. They said everything went well. Hopefully, they are sleeping now to try and get their body clocks switched over to China time.

Mckenzie only slept for two hours because she didn't want to miss anything. Hopefully, this excitement will continue for another 13 days.

last second change of plans.......................

The road from here to slc is closed due to weather. I called the airlines to check on prices from here to slc and they were able to get us tickets (get this deal... for zero more frequent flier miles - all we have to pay is a 75 dollar change fee) - oh, and we now fly home instead of to slc. Here is our new flight schedule:
fly to slc 6:40-7:44 am (1/16)
slc to lax 8:30 - 9:29
lax to seoul 11:05 am- 5:10pm (1/17)
seoul to beijing 7:00 - 8:10pm (1/17)

Guangzhou (1/29) -lax9:00pm - 5:50 pm (all on 1/29- we get back before we leave)
lax - slc (1/30) 7:20 am- 10:23am
slc - home 11:30am - 12:34pm (1/30)

We are excited! Can't believe it is here. Sad to leave my parents to go pack up Ryan's belongings but glad Nathan will go with them. So many different emotions! (a friend reminded me that we are going throug 3 of the more stressful things in life all at once - death of a loved one, birth of a loved one, and a new job -(Scott's new bishopric member calling) THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS - they are keeping me (us) going :)

I'M GOING TO CHINA TOMORROW (posted by Mckenzie)

I'M SO EXCITED TO GO TO CHINA!!!!! I'VE NEVER BEEN ON AN AIRPLANE BEFORE. TOMORROW I WILL. ON THURSDAY WHEN UR ALL GOING TO BED WE'LL BE TOURING!!!!!!!!!!! I'LL PUT LOTS OF PICTURES ON THE BLOG. I'LL ALSO BE WRITING ON THE BLOG.
LOVE,
MCKENZIE

photos of Ryan's memorial and packed and ready

Well, the bags are mostly packed and the only thing left to do is clean the house, pick up some warm socks, and get a battery for my watch (nice list to help me :) )

Switching gears... (this has been so hard to do both)...The hospital that Ryan worked for held a memorial service for him. I am amazed by how many people attended... we are told it was standing room only. Also, it so nice to read the comments posted to his obitituary on-line. I am happy to see that those who knew him respected him just as we did. So happy for the many great memories I have of him :)....

Lili.... here we come - we are so excited to get you !!!

getting ready to go

Hi everyone,
Well, tomorrow we leave for the airport and we fly out early Wednesday morning. We should have Lili by the time everyone wakes up Sunday morning. Pretty unbelievable!
I am going to open this blog up to everyone while we are gone.... so, if you hear of someone wanting to get on just share the web address. I'll close it up again when we get home. I don't have time to add tons of new readers right now.
I got most things for Lili packed last night. Today I'll work on laundry and getting the house cleaned and then work on what Mckenzie and I will take. I'm excited to get her but am still having a difficult time changing gears - if I didn't have this to do I'm sure I'd be up in bed with the covers over my head - so, it is good that I have something that we have to do.
Thanks again to everyone!!!

Thanks to everyone

I am blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members! Many are here in town and many are not. Thanks for all of your e-mails, food, flowers, phone calls, watching my kids, cleaning my house, attending the funeral/viewing, thoughts and prayers, etc. You will never know how much each of these have meant to me.
We are all going to be alright. It is such a difficult loss and I think we are all numb from head to toe but are grateful for our belief that we will see and be with him again.
Once again, thank-you. I am trying to shift gears to my trip to China but am having a hard time - luckily I had most things done before this all happened.

Ryan's obituary in the paper today -

Dr. Ryan Euzene Rich
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Dr. Ryan Euzene Rich, age 33, passed away Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nev., from injuries sustained in a car accident. Ryan was born June 20, 1974, to Randy and Criss Rich in Burley. He married Tanya Hellewell on July 5, 1996. Together they had the light of his life, Rylee Marie Rich, on Nov. 24, 1998. Ryan and Tanya later divorced. Ryan graduated from Minico High School in 1992, were he loved playing quarterback and riding motor cross bikes. In 1999, he graduated from Utah State University with a bachelor's degree in biology and minors in chemistry and Spanish. He then graduated from medical school in Kansas City, Mo., in 2004. At the time of his passing, he was finishing his medical residency in Las Vegas, Nev. Ryan was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994, and was serving as his ward single adult representative. Ryan's favorite pastime was spending time with his daughter, Rylee. They loved going on roller coaster rides, swimming, watching movies, camping, playing games, drawing pictures, telling jokes and being in the outdoors. He truly adored her. He was passionate about life and always had a sparkle in his eye. He had the ability to make others around him happy. He will be deeply missed by his daughter, his parents, siblings and everyone who knew him. Ryan is survived by his daughter, Rylee Marie Rich of South Weber, Utah; his parents, Randy and Criss Rich of Rupert; siblings, Melanie (Scott) Hunsaker of Twin Falls, Greg (Kristi) Rich of Midvale, Utah, Nathan (Heidi) Rich of Rexburg and Leslie (Tavis) Johnson of Pleasant Grove, Utah; grandparents, Doris Rich and Bill and Melba Heiner, all of Burley; 11 nieces and nephews; and wonderful aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Gerald Rich; and cousin, Alyssa Brower. The funeral will be held 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at the Rupert LDS West Stake Center, with Bishop Robert Trevino officiating. A viewing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at the Hansen Mortuary Rupert Chapel, 710 Sixth St., and one hour prior to the funeral Friday at the church. The family requests instead of flowers that money be sent to D.L. Evans Bank for a trust fund that has been set up for Rylee's college education.

Sad, sad, sad day

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from a detective in Las Vegas. He was looking for my parents and had been unsuccessful since they were in Rexburg visiting my youngest brother and wife. He asked me if I am the sister to Ryan Rich. I told him that I am and he told me that he had passed away.

Ryan was born on June 20th, 1974. Two years after me. He was an amazing man! He was living in Las Vegas finishing up his residency in Family Medicine and hoped to make his home again close to us so he could be with his lovely, and very sad little 9 year old daughter.

He died in a car crash on I-5 and I-215 on January 4th at 1:15 pm. (we did not find out until January 5th around 9:15-9:30 am) We don't know many details and hope to find out more soon.

I am so grateful for the time I had to get to know him... particularly the last 6 months. He overcame many, many difficult obstacles and is a huge example to us in our lives on how we should live, act and not to ever give up hope.

I will miss his bright blue eyes, him telling me I am foxy (even when I wasn't), his big bear hugs, his deap laugh, the "shaggy dog" stories that would go on and on, his grateful phone calls when he would call and say he was just thinking of me and appreciated all that we did for him and many, many other great things.

I am so grateful that he was able to spend Christmas break at home and New Years with my parents. Also, I'm glad that we were able to go to dinner with him before he had to head back at Thanksgiving... I am just grateful for him!

I love you Ryan!!! And can't wait until you are able to give me a hug once again. You will be missed dearly!!! And I am so, so sorry for my sweet parents for having to go through the biggest heart ache of their lives... I love you! To my wonderful brothers and sister - I love you - we have to keep going - he would want us to laugh and enjoy life (with a M&M McFlurry and two apple pies in our hands). And, sweet, sweet little Rylee... words can not express how much your daddy loved you - you were the reason he kept going - we love you so much- you have your daddy beautiful blue eyes!!!

Thank-you to all of my great friends and family who have called, stopped by, dropped by food or flowers, prayed for us, or even thought of us. We really do appreciate you. We are blessed!

Happy New Year

We had a great day today. Scott and I did a little shopping and complied our paperwork for China - not a lot of fun but it felt good to ALMOST get it all done.

We took the kids to watch National Treasure. The older two liked it a lot more than the younger two but the popcorn, candy and pop kept them happy. We sat with our friends (the Coombs) who happened to be at the same show as us. Morgan (he is Mckenzie's age) had a huge box of Gobstoppers and about midway through the movie accidentally dropped the box and the tiny little candy's rolled all the way down to the front of the theatre. It was so funny (and loud). Almost as funny as when we dropped a really large sprite at the movie and it drenched the man (Scott's mom's cousin - he doesn't know it was us because we ducked) in front of us.

After we got home we made Hawaiian haystacks and did fondue. I love the chocolate dripping down Reese's face (double click on photo to see it better) - he was in heaven (they all were)- fruit and chocolate who wouldn't be...???

We hope you have a wonderful New Year!!!

Meili..

Meili is sporting her orange pop mustache and her purple tillow. She and Mckenzie made it until 1 am this morning- the boys until about 10. Reese woke up disappointed that he did not see the ball drop. I tried to convince him that he did not miss anything but I don't think he believed me.

We had a fun night last night hanging out with friends (and our kids). Happy New Year!!!

In China Itinerary

Inside China Travel Itinerary
Jiangxi Family - Hunsaker
January 17 — January 29, 2008

Jan. 17 (Thu) Arrive in Beijing Flight: KOREAN AIR 853/8:10pm
Stay at Zhaolong Hotel (3 nights)
Tel: 01186-10-65972299 Fax: 01186-10-65972288
FTIA Coordinator: Catherine: 01186-13910937695

Jan. 18 (Fri) – 19 (Sat) We will arrange tours to the Great Wall, Summer Palace and Forbidden City.
(Watch Acrobatic Show on Friday afternoon)

Jan. 20 (Sun) Morning: Beijing to Nanchang Flight: MU 5174 (11:35am-1:55pm)
Stay at Galactic Peace International Hotel (5 nights)
Tel: 01186-791-6111118 Fax: 01186-791-8865088
Afternoon: Go to the Civil Affairs Bureau of Jiangxi Province to receive your child
Local guide: Mary: 01186-13807914383
Jan. 21 (Mon) Morning: Go to the Civil Affairs Bureau of Jiangxi Province to complete the adoption registration procedure. Go to the Notary Office to complete notarization
procedure

Jan. 22 (Tue) – Jan. 23 (Wed) Tour may be arranged and will be optional. Free time available if not touring

Jan. 24 (Thu) Morning: Visit the Nanchang orphanage on Thursday
Afternoon: Pick up all notarized paperwork for your child

Jan. 25 (Fri) Morning: Pick up the passport for your child Afternoon: Nanchang to Guangzhou Flight: HU 7164 (3:30pm-4:55pm)
Stay at White Swan Hotel (4 nights)
Tel: 01186-20-81886968 Fax: 01186-20-81861188
A local guide will pick you up at the airport and will take you to the hotel
Local guide: Helen: 01186-13724018461

Jan. 26 (Sat) Morning: Have visa picture taken and medical exam performed for your child

Jan. 27 (Sun) Morning: Tour may be arranged and will be optional. Free time available if not touring

Jan. 28 (Mon) Morning: Your local guide submits the visa application documents for you to the U.S.
Consulate Afternoon: Tour may be arranged and will be optional. Free time available if not touring

Jan. 29 (Tue) Afternoon: Have the group-oath taken at the U.S. Consulate
Receive your child’s visa
Evening: Guangzhou to LA Flight: CZ 327 Dep.: 9:00pm

Have a wonderful trip!
We have arranged you to visit the orphanage. The round trip from the capital City to the orphanage is about 2.5 hours. The fare has included in your inside China costs.
(Please note: your actual schedule in China may vary slightly from this itinerary)

Christmas lights at Temple Square

After going to to Provo to see my sister's new baby (see post below) we went to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, UT. The lights were amazing - and there were tons of people. We spent a couple of hours walking around, watching the nativity and walking up to see the statue of Christ.

Uncle Nathan and Aunt Heidi went with us (lucky for us.... or I'm sure we would have lost a child or two). Meili would not let Nathan and Heidi out of her sight. They are so good to the kids and they (we) love having them around.

Congratulations Leslie and Tavis!!!!

Introducing Tavis Parker Johnson (aka... Parker)! He was born on December 22nd at 11:45 pm weighing 6lbs and 13 ounces and 19 inches long. We drove down Sunday morning to meet Parker. He is darling and so, so sweet!!! Leslie, Tavis and Mia are so lucky to have their newest addition.
Congratulations! We are so happy he is here and is healthy and mom is doing well too (looking great too)!!!

updated measurements - taken on 11/29

We just received these measurements:

Height(cm) 73 28.7 inches long - 3rd percentile
Weight(kg) 10 -22 lbs - 75th percentile (this is if she wasn't wearing clothes..i don't know if she was)
Head Size (cm) 45 17.71 inches 50th percentile
Chest Size (cm) 46 -18.1 inches
Feet Length (cm) 12 - 4.7 inches
Teeth 6/6 - not sure if the is 6 total or 6 on top and 6 on bottom..??

flights

Well... after a long day of phone calls I have our flights!!! YEAH!!! I was able to use 120,000 frequent flier miles... another YEAH!!!
Here are our flights:
1/16 8:30- 9:29 Salt Lake City to Los Angeles
1/16 11:05 -5:10 pm (1/17 - we lose 15 hours) - LA to Korea
1/17 7:00 - 8:10 pm Korea - Beijing
(no long lay overs... :) )

1/29 9:00pm - 5:50pm (January 29 - getting the day back-notice we get back before we left) Guangzhou to Los Angeles
1/29 9:20 pm - 12:05 am LA - Salt Lake City (I think we will get a hotel in SLC)

I am so happy to have a direct flight from China back to the US. Hopefully we will sleep the whole way home. (but that may be bad because we will need to sleep again when we get home)

Travel dates

Mckenzie and I will be traveling to China on January 16th, 2008 and returning home on January 30th, 2008. We are working on flights and hope to use frequent flier miles (looks like it should work) but we will know more shortly. After we have the flights the China staff (for FTIA) will start making plans for our in-China travel and sight seeeing. We are flying to Beijing (get there pm on the 17th) and will probably spend the next day or two touring. I am excited to have this time to spend with Mckenzie... hopefully we will create some wonderful memories and it will be nice to get our feet under us before we travel to pick up Lili (I would guess the 20th or so).
We should have our itinerary by the end of the week!!!
YEAH!!! This does not feel real yet!!! I'm sure once we have all 5 kids home it will... aghhhh...

Lili is19 months old today.
I just received word from our agency that they think we will travel the week of january 14th. We will know for sure by the end of the week. I hoped we would be able to go a bit sooner but with the holidays this will probably work out better. We should have her by about the time she is 20 months!!! Yeah!!! (hopefully, with this longer wait they will potty train her :)... I am not having any luck getting Meili potty trained ... maybe that is what I should concentrate on for the next month)

TA...TA...TA...TA!!!!

I received the phone call around 9:30 that our agency received our travel approval today!!! YEAH!!! She said that we will travel with the group traveling the 16th of January... I begged her to try for the 2nd of January. She is going to try but she did not seem too optimistic!!! Regardless, Mckenzie and I are going to China to get our baby!! Mommy's coming!!! (This is why I am so superstitious.... with a lady bug sighting the day before - how can I not be?) Happy day!!! The lady who does travel arrangements at FTIA is out of the office today (go figure) and will be back in tomorrow and we can ask about the 2nd. We should have US Consolate appointments confirmed by the end of the week!!! Yahoo (Yaboo!!!)

Ladybug, ladybug...

Ok, call me crazy BUT...

I was sweeping my kitchen floor this morning (remember, it is December and it has been freezing temperatures for a good month and a half now) and after I was done I noticed a tiny, little ladybug walking around on the floor. We all thought that it was pretty amazing that the ladybug has stayed alive this long BUT I'm taking it as a sign that good luck is coming. :) (Ladybugs are known through out the international adoption community as a sign of good luck.) Maybe, just maybe we will get our Travel Approval tomorrow (or at least soon) :)

Here is Miss Lili

Our agency received this cute picture today! I love the look on her face. Look at her teeth and her LONG eyelashes and her bushy eye brows. Isn't she cute!!! The hemangiomas don't look so bad - we wonder if they are going down a bit. Her skin looks like it recovered well from all of the bug bites.

We are in love!!!

Only a few more weeks and we will have her in our arms. I can't wait to see what she really looks like- we keep getting pictures of her hemangiomas instead of her - better than nothing :)

snowy day

Well, we finally have enough snow for the kids to play in. I think Meili ate a couple of gallons of snow and the boys had a good snowball fight with Mckenzie and Lexi (the boys claim they won). After everyone came in I was getting a bit frusterated because I could not find Mckenzie and I needed her. I finally found her out shoveling our widowed neighbors driveway... wow... that made me happy :) Meili loves the sunglasses she just found at the bottom of the toy box and loves to pretend that she is mom (or various other people) driving around in her car with her baby.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Melanie

I love this song...

My friend, Lora, just sent me this beautiful song on you tube. Jodie gave it to me last year but Meili hadn't spent any Christmas' away from us so it did not affect me too much. (I loved it and thought it was beautiful last year.) It hit me much harder this year! I think I would have cried big tears if my kids weren't laughing so hard at me. Anyway, here it is. I think it is beautiful http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7285661691084173302&q=third+day+merry+christmas&total=17&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=7

Scott just left for Texas. His trip was canceled last week an hour before he was supposed to get on the plane... so, he'll be gone this week instead. The boys cried when he left and now they are ready to "get the party started"... ugh... they wear me out! Gotta love it!!!! Enjoy your quiet week Scott!!! We love you!!!

busy day

We received our Letter of Approval via Fed Ex yesterday. It was so great! I had lots to do in order to get it back same day to our agency. I had to fill out all of the travel papers, gather and notarize tax returns, w-2s and k1's, passport copies, notarize vaccination affidavit, create, notarize and send for authentication a power of attorney (for Scott), apply for visa's (for myself and Mckenzie), and on and on.
Meili took a nice long nap which helped so I could get it all done.
It is always a bit emotional to complete part of the process. We've been waiting for a long time to be able to complete this step and to enjoy the day! The letter of approval (loa) asked us if we were still willing to adopt Hong Yuan Xiu and we had to sign and date it. Then, after the rest of the paper work that came with it was complete I sent it off. I had such a peaceful feeling leaving Fed Ex. We are so close to having her home!!!
Wow, a family of 7... pretty hard to believe :)
I completely spaced off my scout training meeting last night... oops... sorry guys!
Oh, we had to decide who was going to travel before we sent stuff back - it is Mckenzie!!! She is sooo excited. We talked with her teacher about her missing school. She agreed that it would be a wonderful trip. Mckenzie wants to go to the Great Wall - I need to decide if I am tough enough to deal with the frigid temperatures of Beijing in January.
Hope all is well! Take care!
Melanie

LOA

HI!!! WE JUST GOT THE PHONE CALL FROM OUR AGENCY at 10:30 am!!! THEY RECEIVED OUR LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. WE WILL TRAVEL SOMETIME MID JANUARY (probably).
I am soooo excited!!! She is our daughter!!!
Our agency will fed ex the package today. We will sign and send back tomorrow. and then it will be off to China. China then will approve us for travel (this is taking 3 weeks)- then our agency will request a US consolate appointment at the end of the trip - once the consolate date is set we will plan our travel.
YAHOO (OR YABOO - for my good friend in UT)

Mckenzie's passport

We received Mckenzie's passport today. Now if only we would get our letter of approval... day 82 - but, who is counting :)

We are home! We had a fabulous week away. First we enjoyed a few days in Portland with Scott's sister and family and then 4 or so days at Scott's parents house (thanks to Kim and Vaughn and Loye for letting us come). We had a great time just hanging out and being together. The kids loved playing with their cute cousins... it was amazing to watch Meili, Maren and Paige play so well together. (she loved baby Abi (sp? - Abigail)and baby Isaac) And, finally the 5 year old boy cousins played really well together!!! Yeah!!! I love it when they hit the age of enjoying each other.

When we got home we were lucky enough to make it for my niece (on the other side) b-day party (they actually brought the party to us (thank-you :) ) Happy b-day Rylee!!! She had most of her cousins here to celebrate with her. Our kids are going to go through cousin withdrawl when they have to go back to school on Monday.

Today we have waited 80 days since Pre-approval. Our agency was closed Thursday (of course), and Friday so on Monday hopefully they will have 3 days worth of packages delivered and hopefully one of them will contain information for us. Mckenzie is getting very excited to go... Scott and I talked about it today and we are pretty sure she will be the one who goes with me.

I found this pretty song on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSV5xW-NLu8 I love the songwritter and singer... I think he is a Christian singer and he writes a lot of songs about adoption. If you have a second take a listen :)

Have a great weekend!!!

Melanie

Mckenzie's passport

Well, Scott and I decided that we should get Mckenzie a passport. We took her to Costco to get her picture taken and then raced over to the court house with her birth certificate to order it. It is taking the passport people 6-10 weeks to process them so we also decided to do an expedited service (with the holidays and then she will also need a visa and that will take time)... so, she should have it in two weeks. She is thrilled with the thought of possibly being able to go (she said that 15 hours on the airplane with nothing to do but read would be heaven). The boys love the idea of dad staying home... I think Scott likes the idea... I'm not sure how I feel...??? It is a safe country and I know we would be fine... in fact, we'd have a great time together. If he does not go I may make him promise to take me to Hawaii next summer for our 15th anniversary :)

Our agency is saying that Letters of Approval are just trickling out right now. 1 or 2 at a time/ week or two weeks. If this is the case we may not hear something in the next batch like we hoped. Who really knows... it is definately taking a lot longer than they and we thought. I think we are going to start getting Mckenzie's stuff ready (passport, shots, visa, etc) for back up in case Scott can not travel. She would love to go and I of course would love to have her with me... but, it is such an intense bonding period I would definately love to have Scott along. Guess we will wait and see :)

Day 65

Well, we have been waiting 65 days today (some wait a lot longer - some do not). It is hard not to become obsessed. Hopefully, we will hear something soon! It is looking less likely that we will be able to travel during the Christmas break and end of year. Typically 6-8 weeks is needed between the next form we are waiting on and actual travel. Hopefully news will come soon!
The kids are doing well. They get out of school next Thursday (they go only a half of a day) and are out until the Monday after Thanksgiving!! Wow, it is a long break. Parent teacher conferences are on Thursday and Friday and the next week is for Thanksgiving.
We have been trying to potty train Meili. I am done with diapers. Her skin is so sensative that she gets sores from diapers... It has been a long 2 days but hopefully it will get better. She understands but just doesn't like to do it.
Hope all is well.
Melanie

Love without Boundaries

Dr. Buckmiller and Emily are in China doing surgeries on some children. It looks like they removed a hemangioma today from a child. (This is the nurse and doctor that we will take Lili to.) The address to their work in China is: http://lwbchinablog.blogspot.com/

Another address to look at is http://www.chinesestarfish.blogspot.com/ (Thanks Sara and Jodie for telling me about it!!!)

Halloween

On Tuesday, Scott and I were scrambling trying to put a Luke Skywalker Padawan (? Davis insisted it all went together) costume together. When Reese and Mckenzie got home from school they thought they should have one too... so, they all ended up being padawans and I have to say they all looked pretty cute.
Scott and I went to Vegas Wednesday morning and my mom watched the kids for us (thanks again mom!!! we love you!). We had a great time going to a show, dinner, wandering around and spent a lot of time with my brother Ryan. He is doing so great and it makes us very happy to see him happy and doing well. While Scott was in his classes Ryan took me all around town... and to the NY, NY roller coaster... we had a great time... it has been a long time since we have spent this much time together.
It was soooo nice to get away with Scott!!!
No new news on Lili. Hopefully, we will hear something soon.
I hope all is well. Melanie