A Full Night of Sleep

Here's a picture of Sirra right out of the bath tub, She sure loves her bath time. I love to watch her play in the water. And she's real snuggly when she gets out.

A friend of mine, Barbara, took this picture when we went for a visit. I love how sweet her face looks. She doesn't seem to mind the cold at all but isn't too sure about the snow.

Last night was the best night yet. After a visit from her Aunt Carol and cousin Jake, Sierra went to bed around 8:30. She did not wake up until 6:15am!!! Now when you had been getting up at 3:3o am, this is great!!! We were supposed to go to the doctors today but because of insurance paperwork and Scott being sick, we cancelled the appointment. Poor Scott. All the sleepless nights in China and having to work the snow storm the other day, he really is under the weather. He took today off to go to the doctor with Sierra but wound up in bed all day. Please pray that he feels better soon. He so wants to spend time with his little girl and is feeling real bad!! David on the other hand has made a full recovery!!! Sierra has a cough but seems fine and so far I only have a slight scratchy throat. Hopefully the weekend will mend us all.

My friend Theresa and her son Kyle took Sierra and I out for lunch today. It was wonderful to get out. Sierra's big brothers have still come everyday. She loves to see them and Jenn and Sara too! On Sunday we will go to Aunt Carol and Uncle Steve's and celebrate Jakes birthday and watch the Super Bowl. It should be a fun time, it always is and now Sierra is finally with us!

I will straighten out my camera problem this weekend so I can really start posting more pictures.

A few pictures

I switched memory cards and this one works fine. These are some pictures from today. This is Dylan, a boy that I watch. Sierra just gave him a big kiss!!

She's looking out at the snow!!!

I made her some rice congee, its still her favorite meal!!!

We made some almost already made M and M cookies. She helped me put them on the cookie sheet. She liked eating one when they were done!

I will post more pictures soon.

Camera Problems

I am so frustrated with trying to load our pictures on to the computer. The computer won't accept the memory card although it worked fine on the computer in China. I want so badly to share with you the pictures of Sierra at home!!!' We are doing well. David is much better although Scott, Sierra and I have colds. Not too bad though. Sirra is doing great. she was getting up to start each day at 3:30 but today it was 4:30 and then she went back to sleep until 7:00. Yipee!!! Today is a beautiful snowy day. David is home from school but out shoveling the shopping center in town. Sierra will have a few children to play with as I watch kids when there is no school. She is a joy to be with, so happy and very rarely cranky. She is understanding a lot and is picking up a few words each day. Her older brothers and thieir girlfriends adore her and stop over every day! We are so blessed to have been chosen to be her family. She is a perfect match for us. She is tough and plays great with the boys. Although some things she learned at the orphanage just don't cut it here. Yesterday while at the local bagel place, she spit at the delivery man when he said hello. And then smiled the biggest smile ever!!!
I will try today to work on the picture problem. Hopefully I can get some up.
Thanks to everyone who supported us by writing comments to our blog while we were away. We loved gettting up every morning and reading them!! It made us feel so connected to everyone at home!!!

Homr 2 days!!!

Wow. I think yesterday was the first time since May, when we were matched with Sierra, that I didn't go on my computer at all!!! Tonight I had a few minutes so I thought I would post some pictures. Not. My sister sent me a new camera just before we left and while I was away I could post pictures fine on David' s laptop or the hotel computer. Now I am trying to load them on my computer and all I have are problems. First I have to find the software installation CD. That takes 1/2 hour. Then I put it in and they tell me the CD cannot be loaded to my computer. Nothing is going right, and I am tired so I will try and get everything working tomorrw.
Sierra is doing fine and is keeping us very busy. Her hours are still a little off but so are ours. Today she did much better!!

We are Home!!!

We are home and very tired. I will post more tomorrow, or actually later today!!!!

Last post from China!!!

I can't believe we are leaving tomorrow to come home!!! Yipee!!! I can't wait to see everyone!!
But we have had an incredible time here in China. It may take David a few days to remember the good and not the last couple of days!!! He was up and down the last couple of days with a fever but seems to be feeling better tonight. Many people in our travel group are sick which is not uncommon, but none of it was from the water!!!! Here are some last day photos!!


Do you remember Sierra in her native dress? Well this is Sierra in her American garb!!! Today was our official swearing in at the American Consulate so I figured she should be dressed for it. They even announced at the ceremony that it was her birthday tomorrow along with Isabella whose birthday was the 21st and Giorgia whose birthday is the 27th. Check out her little blue crocs!!!!


She loves her rice congee!! Look how she tips her bowl to get it all! We ate our last meal at Lucy's.

This was Sierra's and Julia's last meal together. It was a blast meeting Julia and Diane and John. We will miss them terribly. Tonight the hotel sent up a cake for Sierra's birthday. Julia and her mom and dad joined us in the hall for a mini birthday party!!

David wanted me to post what he has been doing the last few days!! He really is doing much better tonight and I am so glad. It doesn't matter if they are 3 or 17 you hate to see your children sick!!!!!

We are going to bed. We have to be up early to get to the airport. We fly from Guangzhou to Beijing on a 10:00 flight and will wait at the Beijing airport until our 5:00 flight home. I can not wait to touch down on US soil!!! It's been so much fun to be able to share this adventure with you. There is so much more to tell in person. We have loved being here and are grateful for the kindness that we have been shown. It's sad to know we are taking Sierra away from the place of her birth, but I know that she has the potential for an amazing life here in the states. She would not have that here. Tim, Sara, Paul and Jenn I can't wait to give you a hug!! Jake and Ben, you will love your new cousin, she will give you a run for your money. She will certainly fit in with all the boys in our life. See you all soon!!!!!

Love, Kathie Scott David and Sierra

Quiet Day on Shamian Island

Today we had a pretty quiet day. One parent from each family had to go to the Consulate to resign a form tht we had signed at home. The agencies, not just ours, all had the wrong form. So I got to ride 45 mins. to the consulate while Scott stayed back with a sick David and Sierra. David is still under the weather although he did go to dinner with all of us tonight and is feeling better. Some of our families are leaving tomorrow so it was the last night with all of us. Tomorrow we pack and then go to the consulate for our swearing in ceremony. We leave early Friday morning to fly to Beijing and then take the 5:00 pm flight home. It will be Sierra's third birthday! We arrive in the US at 5:00pm Friday, how weird is that!!! It,s like a wrinkle in time!!!

Here's the serious Sierra!!

Sierra with Dad!

Sierra in the stroller holding hands with Isaiah, a sweet little boy will be living in Florida!!

Thiss is silly Sierra who was going around, opening her shirt and saying Ta- Daaaaaa!!!

And this is soapy Sierra who loves to take a bath!!! Unfortunately she hates to get out!!!

I can't believe its almost time to leave!! Except for David getting sick, its been a wonderful adventure!! The time has gone by so much quicker than I thought it would. We have met wonderful people who it will be hard to say goodbye to. Our travel group families are an awesome bunch!! All their children are lucky to have them for parents!! Our friends Diane and John and their beautiful daughter Julia live so far away in Wisconsin. We will never forget the friendship we shared with them here on the island. Thank goodness for the internet as we will definitely keep in touch!!! I already dread having to say our final goodbyes to everyone. But I am so ready to get home and start Sierra in her new life. It won't be easy, orphange life is very different and it will be hard for her just to be a 3 year old. We see things sometimes that just breaks our hearts. Its hard to explain but its there. But she has a light in her eyes now when she smiles that she didn't have before and her laughter is music to my ears!! I can't wait for all of you to meet her!!!! We are all tired tonight so I am signing off. Tomorrow I will post our last post from China!!!

A trip to the park and pictures at the White Swan!!

We went this morning to the Yue Xiu Park in Guangzhou. We hailed a taxi from our hote and off we went!!! That is a story in itsself!! The park was beautiful and huge. Inside they had an amusement park. Sierra had her first merry go round ride, she got to drive a car and the big boys got to play bumper cars!!

And Diane B, this is for you. Guess what our friend John wsa doing while we were in the park?Now we know why he wanted to go. David is hooked now too, I think!!!


What a face!!!

Maybe she will be a gymnast!

We had pictures with them dressed in native dresses. Although Sierra looked beautiful she is not a dress kid!!! But I did have tears in my eyes when I first saw her dressed up!!

Judging from the smirk on Sierra's face and the look on Julia's I wouldn't be surprised if Sierra pinched her!!!(only kidding)

The waterfall at the White Swan. Isn't this precious?!!!



David wasn't feling too well this morning, he had a slight fever, but he is doing much better this afternoon. Things are winding down. We will be home soon!!!

Mostly pictures!!

Sierra and I took a walk today and she kept wanting to pose for pictures. She wouldn't really smile but she looks cute anyway!!!

She loves to play with Legos and she picks them all up when she's done.

Here's a picture with Dad. Dad is usually taking the pictures with the other camera.

Today we went to a hugh mall that is all jewelry shops. We went to the pearl and jade markets. We bought Sierra a strand of pearls for her wedding day.



People everywhere!

We found a McDonalds!!! It tasted great!!

Tomorrow we are venturing on our own in a taxi with our friends John and Diane. We are going to a big, beautiful park!! We have a group photo at 2:30 so hopefully we will make it back in time!!!

Hi from Guangzhou!

It was with great sadness today that we learned of the death of our beloved dog Lucy. Lucy was almost 16 years old and we knew this trip would be hard on her. Our good friends Cathy and George had so graciously offered for Lucy to stay there. Lucy always loved to go there for visits...We had originally asked that if something happened while we were gone that we not be told. But no one had to tell us ... we knew. Thank you to everyone who we talked to who did not tell us. I think we had to come to the realization slowly. For those who don't know the irony of the timing, we adopted Lucy 7 yrs ago this weekend. When we decided to get a dog we decided to adopt an older dog that might have trouble findng a home. We struck gold when we found her. I will do a special post when we get home about how wonderful she was. Today we are just really sad.

This morning we attended a Christian church service, something that not too long ago was not allowed. It was in Chinese but a tanslator translated into English. 2 of the Hymns were in Chinese , 2 in English. It was an awesome service.

The trip to the zoo was fun. Sierra loved seeing the animals. The zoo was clean but they are way behind us on zoo theory. Many of the amimals were in cages, including dogs. It was hard to see them like that.

Sierra is a joy. She is coming out of her shell and definitely testing her limits. She will keep us very busy, but her life is so different than it was. I can't imagine what it would be like to see so many things for the first time. I can't wait for everyone to meet her!!!!

Here are some pictures of the day. Cathy and George thank you for everything!!! I know how hard it was for you. Tim, Sara, Paul and Jenn, I can't wait for you to meet your little sister. She really is a cutie. Ben and Jake there is a special picture that David made me take just for you!!!

A Whole Day on Shamian Island

John, Joe, David, Hebe and one of the other shop owners!

Eating her lollypop after the doctors appointment

Today started out with a trip to the medical examination office. It was right around the corner so we wlked. it was beautiful today, in the low 70s. We came home and then went to lunch with our friends, John, Diane and Julia. They live in Wisconsin so they are experiencing cold at their home also. At 2:30 we met to do paperwork. Scott got to go shopping and hang out with Dave and Sierra while I did over 2 hours of paperwork!!Ugh!!! And that was the American paperwork!!! Hopefully everything will be in order when Alison goes to the consulate on Wed. for us.

After paperwork we all went out to dinner. We didn't realize that 1 meal OTHER than breakfast was included. We have fun eating as a group. The other members of our group who had children in different provinces met up with us today. It was great to see them again and meet all their children.

After dinner we went to our usual hangout in front of one of the shops. For those of you who have been here its Hebe's shop. She comes out and plays hacky sack with David and John. Sometimes some of the others join in. Scott even did a little tonight. The video clip shows another guy from the shop playing a Chinese flute, the guys playing hacky sak and Sierra singing.

Tomorrow is church in the mrning and the zoo in the afternoon!! I should have some good pictures!!!! Its supposed to be 78 dgrees!!

Visiting a Tomb

Some really nice apartments in Guangzhou. They are not all as nice. We were told by our guide that if you have something that says made in China it was probably made in Guangzhou.

Part of the King Yue museum

A sweet little girl just out of the tub. She was smiling but as soon as she sees the camera she stops!!!

Today we visited the tomb of King Yue. He no longer occupys the space but it was neat to go underground into the different chambers. The artifacts that were found with him were beautiful. This tomb was discovered in 1983 so it wasn't that long ago. Sierra loves being pushed around in her stroller but also likes to get out and walk a little. Of course there is no disabilities act in China so there were many stairs to go up and down. I knew there was a reason that we brought David.

We ate another great lunch at anther cantonese restaurant and had dinner at the Italian restaurant that we love!!!

I hate to tell you all this at home but its 70 degrees today!! I know that is not what you are having at home and I feel a little guilty. ( but not much) We are enjoying everything we are learning and seeing about the place where Sierra was born!

Of course we woke up to the news about the airplane that crashed in the Hudson River. Hopefully by next Friday we will forget about it. Yeah right!!!

Here's a video clip!! Beth, thanks for the camera with video!!!!!! If you listen closely you can hear rher singing. She sings in Chinese and it sounds so cute!!!