Yesterday we had so much fun with the Evans family at the Safari Park. The Evans' adopted little Matthew...he is 6. After the Park we all had lunch. The kids played together (5 of them between our 2 families) and had a blast! Little Analise Evans cried when she couldn't get a turn with the toy. So, when Charis got it, she brought it over for Analise to play with...such a kind little heart our new daughter has. But don't let her sweet smile fool you. We played a fierce game of Memory today. She is smart and whipped me the first few times we played. But when we added Daddy to the mix, things got harder and oh, she does not like to lose! How does God know how to find just the right kids to place in our families? Charis is going to fit right in! We finished all of our consulate paperwork yesterday and today was a processing day. Tomorrow we receive Charis' passport with the visa for entry to America as well as all her citizenship papers. 24 hours later, we can leave. So soon we will travel back to Beijing and on Friday we get to come home!!! Today was full of just plain fun things. I think Charis realized that she could eat anything she wanted from the breakfast buffet. Until this morning, she chose very familiar, very Chinese cuisine. Today, we went through each section of the hot food line and when we got to the end, her plate was empty! She passed up her usual dumplings, meatballs, rice, noodles and other meats. I pointed to her plate and said, "What do you want?" We went over to the pastry line...she wanted several things. I motioned and said, "One." She looked at me with pitiful eyes and groaned. It didn't move me. She needs to get used to that now! :) She finally decided on hard boiled eggs, dumplings, meatballs and some fruit. It was fun to watch her experiment. At lunch I got to eat with a friend's sister. When we adopted Faithy 3 years ago, I met a lovely lady at one of the stores. She and I exchanged e-mails and have developed a wonderful friendship over the past 3 years. Jennifer has even come to know our Lord. This spring, Jennifer came to America and married a New Yorker and in August we got to see each other again! It was great. Her younger sister met me at a restaurant today along with her husband and little 6 month old son. She can't speak any English, nor can her husband. And BTW, I can't speak Cantonese! This was a neat God thing. I approached the hotel about allowing a staff member to sit with us for 1 hour during lunch to translate for me. The hotel wouldn't free up any of their staff...the best they could do was a translating service for 600 yuan for 4 hours...even though I only needed 1 hour. I said no to that...and that was at 11:45 a.m. Jennifer's sister was meeting me at noon. I thought I would go to one of the shops outside of the hotel. I knew one of those shop owners would help me. Well, as I left the hotel's business center, our guide was on the stairwell there. Let me just tell you that this is a remote stairwell for visitors and our guide has to be at so many different places. The odds of me running into her were so very low. But there she was! She agreed to come to lunch with us and translate. What a wonderful time we all had. I delivered a gift to Jennifer's sister from Jennifer and am bringing some things to America to send to Jennifer from her sister. I was also able to give Jennifer's sister a Chinese Bible and book explaining how to grow in Christ. God is so at work all over the world. He sees everyone and knows all things and He loves revealing Himself. What a joy to be part of God's work everywhere we are. Scott introduced Charis to potato chips today. Thanks, Daddy. This girl loves junk food. Reality is coming though. Healthy food first; that's the rule in our home. I am being lenient here for her transition, but things must change. I know it will be hard for her...in all seriousness, be praying for her transition to our food. It is going to be really hard. She will rise to the occasion though. She is even talking about this. Enjoy some more pictures. When I get home I will put together a little on-line album so you can all see everything (if you want!!). We miss everyone and are so appreciative of all your prayers and support. 5 days and counting! Taste and see that the Lord is good!Monday, November 19, 2007
She is kind and competitive!
Yesterday we had so much fun with the Evans family at the Safari Park. The Evans' adopted little Matthew...he is 6. After the Park we all had lunch. The kids played together (5 of them between our 2 families) and had a blast! Little Analise Evans cried when she couldn't get a turn with the toy. So, when Charis got it, she brought it over for Analise to play with...such a kind little heart our new daughter has. But don't let her sweet smile fool you. We played a fierce game of Memory today. She is smart and whipped me the first few times we played. But when we added Daddy to the mix, things got harder and oh, she does not like to lose! How does God know how to find just the right kids to place in our families? Charis is going to fit right in! We finished all of our consulate paperwork yesterday and today was a processing day. Tomorrow we receive Charis' passport with the visa for entry to America as well as all her citizenship papers. 24 hours later, we can leave. So soon we will travel back to Beijing and on Friday we get to come home!!! Today was full of just plain fun things. I think Charis realized that she could eat anything she wanted from the breakfast buffet. Until this morning, she chose very familiar, very Chinese cuisine. Today, we went through each section of the hot food line and when we got to the end, her plate was empty! She passed up her usual dumplings, meatballs, rice, noodles and other meats. I pointed to her plate and said, "What do you want?" We went over to the pastry line...she wanted several things. I motioned and said, "One." She looked at me with pitiful eyes and groaned. It didn't move me. She needs to get used to that now! :) She finally decided on hard boiled eggs, dumplings, meatballs and some fruit. It was fun to watch her experiment. At lunch I got to eat with a friend's sister. When we adopted Faithy 3 years ago, I met a lovely lady at one of the stores. She and I exchanged e-mails and have developed a wonderful friendship over the past 3 years. Jennifer has even come to know our Lord. This spring, Jennifer came to America and married a New Yorker and in August we got to see each other again! It was great. Her younger sister met me at a restaurant today along with her husband and little 6 month old son. She can't speak any English, nor can her husband. And BTW, I can't speak Cantonese! This was a neat God thing. I approached the hotel about allowing a staff member to sit with us for 1 hour during lunch to translate for me. The hotel wouldn't free up any of their staff...the best they could do was a translating service for 600 yuan for 4 hours...even though I only needed 1 hour. I said no to that...and that was at 11:45 a.m. Jennifer's sister was meeting me at noon. I thought I would go to one of the shops outside of the hotel. I knew one of those shop owners would help me. Well, as I left the hotel's business center, our guide was on the stairwell there. Let me just tell you that this is a remote stairwell for visitors and our guide has to be at so many different places. The odds of me running into her were so very low. But there she was! She agreed to come to lunch with us and translate. What a wonderful time we all had. I delivered a gift to Jennifer's sister from Jennifer and am bringing some things to America to send to Jennifer from her sister. I was also able to give Jennifer's sister a Chinese Bible and book explaining how to grow in Christ. God is so at work all over the world. He sees everyone and knows all things and He loves revealing Himself. What a joy to be part of God's work everywhere we are. Scott introduced Charis to potato chips today. Thanks, Daddy. This girl loves junk food. Reality is coming though. Healthy food first; that's the rule in our home. I am being lenient here for her transition, but things must change. I know it will be hard for her...in all seriousness, be praying for her transition to our food. It is going to be really hard. She will rise to the occasion though. She is even talking about this. Enjoy some more pictures. When I get home I will put together a little on-line album so you can all see everything (if you want!!). We miss everyone and are so appreciative of all your prayers and support. 5 days and counting! Taste and see that the Lord is good!
