Our Journey to Katherine Mei VanLue

Update on Katherine, 8/26/06

Hello! There are new pics on the blog but they are out of order. So sorry! We tried to download some a new way from our vacation in July (includes Kristin-3 years old, Leni-4 years old, and Katherine 13 months, and Julie-18 yrs. ) All from Disney World here in sunny Florida. Also you will see cute little blonde Kristin on her first day of preschool. She's definitely the sparkplug of the 3!! These are the pics without headings.Katherine continues to do well....crawling...a bit unusually but crawling nonetheless and will "cruise" around standing. She cannot stand being alone for even one second and will tell you! She sleeps great...around 12 hrs a night and takes 1 nap during the day...usually around an hour. She's talking and understanding alot! Her favorites are the cat, mommy, ice cream, no ..no..and no to baby food, mommy, flying, being upside down, swinging, eating mulch, mommy, and baby einstein. She feeds herself and seems to like independence unless she wants to be held...NOW! She likes baths in the kitchen prep sink which is quite funny to watch. The one thing that has amazed us is how BIG she is! Over 21 lbs.! She's currently not the petite little Chinese girl ! WOW! She doesn't eat that much but will eat most of what we give her. She's definitely a mommy's girl and loves her sisters!(and you too Jason) Today we visited the Winter Park Farmer's Market with her nephew Cade (currently 4 months) and created quite a stir. The big girls are very quick to tell everyone everything about us!Never a dull moment! It's still a bit difficult logistically taking a 4, 3, and 1yr. old out alone(mom says) but it can be done:) We're making the rounds of schools, grocery, playgroups,church events and doing quite well. Kristin started preschool and her teacher says she is the "Miss Sunshine" of the class. That's our Kristin:) Leni is doing kindergarten at home with mom in addition to going to her school on Tues/Thurs. afternoons. She has turned out to be the kindest, most loving little girl! Julie has started college making the trek to UCF daily in addition to teaching voice/piano 2days a week. Life is busy but fun and we are very grateful for the opportunity God has given us with these girls. We even survived 2 weeks of laying wood floors during all this! Please feel free to leave comments and we'll get back to you. If you don't want your comment posted just say so. Thanks for looking! We're having the time of our lives with these little girls!

Happy 4th of July

Hello everyone! This is our first blog update since we've been home. Thanks for keeping in touch! Katherine has been officially with us since May 14 and in America since May 27th. We waited to celebrate her 1st birthday (officially June 11) until July 4 so as not to overwhelm the poor kid so soon:) We are daily amazed at how smoothly she has adjusted.....not only to having parents, but to a new country and multiple siblings. She is very attached and likes being held constantly. She's visibly gaining weight and stands on her own for a few seconds.Propped up against the couch or table, she'll stand and play for a good 10-15 min. She rolls everywhere all over the room and scoots backwards....the only thing she hasn't figured out is going from a laying position to a sitting one. She responds to her name and waves bye-bye, and blows bubbles. She will take your hand and move it to do what she wants (like pick up a toy, feed her, etc.) She still tends to be on the serious side...very studious and pays alot attention to details in pictures, and her surroundings, but is very silly and smiley to those familiar. We've been to the beach a few times (the Atlantic...not the South China Sea:)) and to Disney's Blizzard Beach and Sea World. She's a great traveler and is eager to go wherever..whenever. Katie is eating whatever Mom gives her...mostly still baby food and cheerios/crackers....she just got her 4th tooth so she's been a little slow in that department. She sometimes will refuse food from anyone other than Mom so that's been a little funny. She does take 2 very short 30-60 min. naps during the day but sleeps from 8pm to 7:30. Kristin and Leni (ages 3 and 4) adore her and are eager to tell her story to complete strangers. They say she was an orphan in China and now she has a mommy and daddy like they do. Very adorable. They are great sisters!  Life is definitely full and we're running at record pace trying to keep up (mostly with the laundry) but we could not have asked for a better experience. Thank you God for your grace and mercy to be able to provide for this little girl. Look for more updates in the future! She's our girl!

See you in the USA

We fly out of Chep Lap Kok Hong Kong airport tomorrow morning and arrive after many, many hours of flying ..in Chicago (getting orange juice and salad!) then on to Orlando, arriving Saturday night. Thanks to all of you for blessing us with your posts and supporting us the way you have. We are very ready to be home! See all of you soon!

New Attituders

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to wish everyone that is going to New Attitude and safe and wonderful trip! I pray that God will show each one of you more of His grace and mercy through this conference and that you enjoy the fellowship with other believers. I know that you will have a great time and I look forward to hearing everyone's testimony when you get back. Katherine will be ready and waiting to meet you too! Have fun everybody! Love you guys!

Julie

Letter From Hong Kong

   On a more serious note here before we leave…, just wanted to say thanks to all who have followed this journey of the heart with us. As Christians, we are commanded in the Bible to care for the poor, and this trip has increased our desire to relieve the suffering of those most in need. The extreme poverty of most of the population in China is hard to bear. The darkness they walk in is even worse. We started the adoption process for Katherine 1 ½ years ago and in God’s mercy and goodness he gave her to us at just the right time. One little girl that was a number in an orphanage in an impoverished country, unwanted by her birth mom, covered with sores and sick, hungry, belonging to no one…..now has a mom and a dad and will suffer no more. We as a family gladly sacrifice new cars, houses, vacations, weekends of golf, etc. for “the sake of the call”. There is nothing that can compare to what we just experienced in China for the last 14 days. To live out the Christian life here on earth requires great sacrifice…. a willingness to give time, money, belongings and your heart. But with that sacrifice comes great grace. When you meet Katherine we hope you look into her face and see the face of Jesus. We do. Our only regret is for the many, many children left in orphanages not only in China but other parts of the world. We can’t save them all…nor are we supposed to, but there are now 3 little VanLue girls that will not hurt or go hungry again. What a privilege to be able to provide for their needs as their earthly parents, knowing this brings glory to our Father in heaven. We met a little 4year old girl in our hotel who had been adopted by a family from Colorado. She was perfect except she was missing an arm. This family chose her off the waiting child list, and she’s now on her way to the U.S.Another family had a 13 month old blind baby they had also chosen. They had bought her a new pink stroller to match her pink outfits. She is now too on her way to the U.S.A.The stories go on and on.Hopefully this journey we’ve taken will inspire you not to think more of us, but of the God of this world, who made us and called us out to be his own. We are only here doing His work as He leads. We look forward to seeing everyone again and introducing you to the newest member of our family! Please pray for us and our 14 hr. Hong Kong to Chicago flight/ then on to Orlando. Katherine is feeling wonderful and showing it!:) The flight may be a little challenging!

     Tomorrow is sightseeing at “The Peak Tram” then on to the Temple St.and Jade markets. Today we went to a mall of 4 stories and 700 stores. Katherine liked it.:)Bye!

You Know You've Been in China Too Long When...

YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN CHINA TOO LONG…

…when the dishes prepared on the eel special of Iron Chef begin to look tasty…

… when you realize that the concierge assigned to your hotel floor isn’t just being friendly by meeting you at the elevator when you come and leave your room…she is posting in a book every time you come and go…

...you have sent your laundry to the Chinese street vendor now three times and the same stains are still there...but boy do they know how to fold them and package them so they look like the've been cleaned...

…You eat at MacDonalds…(the journey there actually makes it more appealing as you realize it beats the alternative of dried frogs from the street vendors you pass on the way)

…You dream in Chinese…of course you don’t understand a word in them because they are in Chinese and there are no subtitles…

…You have a hard time remembering your home phone number and when you finally do you drop syllables in repeating it like fee fi fo-fee fo fee fo…

… You begin having delusions of grandeur because (as Joey Phillips T-Shirt says) you are huge in China…(minus Yao Ming of course)…

...You actually have a hard time eating WITHOUT chopsticks...

… You start quoting Napoleon Dynamite clips to Chinese situations like “Gosh Julie you ate all the fricken fried noodles…or “ I’m training to be a sumo cage wrestler”...

…Your three basic food groups are now water, noodles, and Haagan Dazs…

…You have an overwhelming urge to say the Pledge of Allegiance when you see the only American flag in China in the U.S. Consulate...

…You have developed a bad case of scurvy because you can’t eat the fruit…and a case of rickets because you haven’t seen the sun through the rain and air pollution…

…You realize that you will be home in two days (really three because you lose a day crossing the international date line)

We're Free in Hong Kong

Hello from Hong Kong... What a difference a forty minute flight can make... The web here is working fine... so we are back up and running... we will post later tonight....along with updated pics...

You Know Your Orphan is Now a Princess if...

You Know Your Orphan is Now a Princess if....

... she will only eat drink sleep and breathe while being held...

...she refuses all food except Haagen Dazs served while being held...

... within 5 days of having her, she has more pairs of shoes than toes....(all of which were bought while she was being held)

...she went from being made in China to having her own maid in China...who she supervises while being held...

...she had her name changed from Don Fang Qun Er to Lady Katherine Mei which was accomplished while she was being held...

... she has gone from scabies to daily spa massages given while being held...

...she prefers Gymboree over Jiangxi which she selects while being held...

Oh and did I mention she really likes being held... 

Posting from Guangzhou

Howdy folks....We're at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island in Guangzhou . This island was established by the British in the 1800's so the architecture is more western. The hotel food is very safe and western so we're doing well.....but step off the island and back to China you go...scorpions, bugs, eels, giant mushrooms..It is HOT here...most places don't have air conditioning or a portable unit. Katherine gets stronger everyday and passed the medical (if you want to call it that)....It does appear that they strongly censor the internet here so not too sure what or when we'll have access...this time is a fluke. All americans that adopt have to come through here to the American Consulate and get your baby's passport and visa. In one week Katherine has left the orphanage (I have pics the nanny gave me from a camera I had sent a few months ago and they will break your heart. Katherine is a little survivor and is indeed rescued..the orphanage is in one of the poorest parts of Jiangxi and they really have nothing..peeling paint on the walls, sick kids, no toys, etc..but she is now living the good life of feeding on demand and getting diapers ....(ask me about that one))....and now has parents and is becoming an American. Pretty amazing living this out day by day. She won't let anyone put her down and is learning to trust. They gave them pieces of cloth to suck on in the orphanage so she still wants to do that when she goes to sleep. She is over most of her sick issues but still has some skin rashes. She has a big ol head but her body is so tiny! We're having fun with all the people in our group and getting to know their babies as well..everyone's from all over but one of our close buddies is a homocide detective and his wife from Tampa. :) and to think we met in China:)

That's it for now.....hopefully we can get through again soon....Katie Mei says to tell everyone HI! The name really suits her...but boy...she can have some attitude!:) She was so sick when we got her that we're just happy to see her responding to food and care....what a miracle!  Bye!

Hello From Guangzhou

Hey Everybody...sorryy we haven't posted in a while. The internet here isn't working very well and most of the time we can't access the blog at all. So be patient with us :-)

Well we made it here to Guangzhou after about an hour flight from Nanchang. Katherine did surprisingly well on the plane...just a little fussy at the end. Guangzhou is ginormous and very different from Beijing and Nanchang. We love it here...the hotel is really really nice and the shopping is wonderful! We usually have something we do as a group each day and then have the afternoons free to explore and shop...so we're finding some great stuff. Dad and I went out yesterday while Mom and Katie slept...we got Katherine some clothes since all the stuff we brought her is all too big. I found a Carter's brand onesie jumper thing in a 6 month size thinking it would surely fit...haha I was wrong...it's still too big. She is soooo little! We found her some really cute squeaky shoes here too! The hotel gave us "Going Home Barbie" as a gift...it's a Barbie carrying a little Chinese girl...it's adorable and pretty funny. Also Dad and I found all these DVD's for a dollar in this one store (Narnia, Shrek 2, Ice Age 2, Madagascar, Munich, Firewall, Mr. and Mrs. Smith....a bunch) but some of them we in different languages when we tried them out...yeah like Russian and German...it was pretty funny...but most of them work fine.

We spotted a guy swimming in the river outside our hotel this morning while we were eating breakfast...now it's not a small river either...huge boats go through all the time and I'm sure that there are eels and all sorts of other sea creatures in it...but this guy just kept on going...it was weird...plus it was raining...perfect weather for a swim through eel infested waters don't you think?

This morning all the families went together to get the babies visa pictures taken and a medical exam. Katherine cried during her picture and a one eyed lady gave her the med. exam. She didn't even have an otoscope for her ears...she just glanced inside them...with one eye...funny. Then after the examination the 4 of us went across the overpass to the other side of the island trying to find the McDonald's...we found it and it actually wasn't bad...tasted a little different than home (but then again we never eat at McDonald's at home) but overall it was pretty American. It cost us $3.50 for 3 hamburger combos. As we were passing by the stores on the way to McDonald's we would see freeze dried frogs in almost every store...yummy! We got Haagan-Dazs ice cream bars from a deli shop on the way back...so good.

Back in the room Dad was holding Katherine and eating his ice cream. Just to be funny he offered some to Katherine and lo and behold she ate some! She actually opened her mouth and ate the ice cream! Now you must understand that this kid has not eaten any solid food the whole time we've been here...she clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head "no" when we offer her anything besides a bottle...so this was a pretty big deal! Maybe she's loosening up her stubborness a little...wishful thinking I know.

Tomorrow is our appointment at the American Consulate here in Guangzhou and then we will get the group pictures on the famous red couch here in the hotel. Wednesday we pick up her passport and visa and she becomes an official American citizen! Then we fly out on Thursday to Hong Kong...the last leg of our trip before we head home. We are really enjoying our time here and the time with Katherine but we are also ready to get home and see all of you! Remember to check the photo album for some new pictures and we will try to post more later if we can!

GuangZhou

Arrived safely...stop

More later... stop

See pictures...stop

Ohhhh At the market...the fresh food? market...

(Note) for a look at the yummy morsels discussed in this blog, you must check the bottom of the picture album as they posted weird...I wonder why...)

At the market, the fresh food ,market...well I think I'm gonna buy me some food, it looks so fresh but whatta do I pick.... The EELS because they look so good, the FROGS because they look so good, the SNAKES because they look so good.... I put them right into my bag....

What a day...We had the morning free so we decided to go to a local street market. The first few vendors were not bad, you know vegetables and the like...but the culinary smells that filled the air could not begin to warn us of the sights ahead... In the middle of the alley were piles of trash and on either side you had your choice of delectable morsels of amphibians and other slime producing forms of protein. Julie was doing fairly well, after all she had duck in China and a chicken neck in Bolivia, until she was offered another fine delicacy... A bag full of snakes by a young Asian wanna be courter. Julie poliely said NO upon which he offered a live snapping turtle.... At this point Julie began to walk away, she would have run but the traction on the street of garbage was not that great, not to mention the hundreds of people walking and the fairly frequent moped coming the other way... after all this is a street market  you know.... Well the gentleman suitor was not one to give up so he began hitting on her again...No I mean literally hitting her legs with the bag of snakes... (definitely not proper courting protocol)... I was further down the road taking pictures when I heard my daughter and wife summoning me to save them from the snake-man... We took some other families in our group back later that day and found that he had sold or given his turtle away probably to another female...I am so proud of Julie for holding out for Mr. Right ...come on...what kind of serious offer doesn't also include some pig parts, frogs and eels...

We were on our own for dinner and rather than joining the others in a Pizza Hut Rut I ventured out to a chinese resturaunt. Now who else has really ordered Chinese take out in China... Todd would be proud as I ordered off the menu that had no English and worse NO pictures...we ended up with spicy beef, stir fried vegetables, and rice...white of course...remember the water buffalo???

My run this morning took me by the riverside park... I ran by just in time to witness in the same area three different aerobic choices all three including music... There was traditional Tai Chi, ballroom dancing, and modern line dancing all on the same street corner....quite a sight... it really made running look so boring but I just couldn't decide if I wanted to be Jackie Chan, Fred Astaire, or John Travolta...

The usual scribe turned in early so I hope this account will suffice. Tomorrow we fly to Guang-jo (mom Joe according to Kristin) where we will be for almost a week. More later...   

Fun Facts for the Day

On our way to the village we saw that the water buffalo were allowed to roam free in the rice fields...they also freely relieved themselves.... Now we know where yellow rice comes from....kind of makes you wonder about brown rice huh...

The average village family makes 7.000 yuan a year... about $850 US dollars of which 1/3 goes to coal to heat their houses.

      To keep a second child costs 12,500 USD....   

I ran by a local temple this morning..after all we were all up early... and I was listening to Party by Chris Tomlin-son... What a difference to party with the true God of the universe...for eternity... quite a contrast....

I saw multitudes of Chinese exercising doing that Dao thing they do...many walk backwards as part of their regiment...

I also ran by several Karaoke bars ...I wonder what the song choices are...

For Rachel...and whoever else

Hey Rachel and other fellow shoppers...

I forgot to mention that the shoes we bought her here are the 3-6 month size...I don't know how the sizing here equals over there but if you go shoe shopping for her just keep that in mind...probably 2's or 3's would be ok! All her clothes are still too big...guess that means more shopping when we get home huh? Oh and she looks good in anything... but pink, purple, and baby blue are definitely the best choices :-) Off to drink some Coke...yay something American...sort of :-)

The Village People

Hey Everyone! It's 3:50 pm on Thursday here...but 3 am there...weird :-) We had such an amazing day today. We woke up to a cold and rainy Nanchang City. Katherine got up earlier than usual this morning...try 4 am! So we all got up cause it was pointless to try to go back to sleep...I don't think I've ever woken up at 4 am without an alarm clock before. Anyway...we met our group down in the hotel lobby for a trip to the countryside...despite the weather conditions. Wow I am so glad that we were able to do this...it was incredible and definitely one of the best things we've done so far.

We traveled by bus to the village...which surprisingly (or not) was relatively close to the heart of the city. We got some good video footage on the bus. Katherine is doing better on the bus rides...but she hates it if you sit down on the bus while holding her. You must be standing which given the bumpy roads is somewhat difficult :-) The trip there took about 25 minutes.

The village reminded me a lot of the conditions in Bolivia...very poor and dirty...but the people are so kind and friendly and really understand the language of a smile. We walked all around the area past people's homes and lots of rice fields. Our guide Michael told us that we probably would not see many children though because they are all in school in the mornings. But there were some babies and younger kids that appeared :-) Everyone in the village wanted to see our babies and were curious about why we "definitely not Chinese people" were holding them. We got some amazing pictures...well I guess I should say DAD got some amazing pictures...definitely lots of "Jesus faces" in this particular village. The poverty that these people live in is heartbreaking. It was very impacting to see the kind of life and atmosphere that Katherine must have come from...It definitely makes you very grateful for the kind of life you have and makes you wonder "why me God? Why did you choose me to have all these blessings you've given me?"

As we were walking back to our bus school let out for the day! Yay! We got to see lots of children! They came walking down the road with umbrellas and their backbacks staring at all of us Americans with wide eyes. A few of them didn't even have on shoes but you would never suspect that they are complaining about that. They would cautiously come up to you and say "hello"...they looked very proud of their English :-) Talk about some cute kids...oh my goodness...the most beautiful faces among the most disgusting and ugly living conditions...amazing. Once they found out we wanted to take pictures with them they would smile and started getting silly...they especially liked being able to see the picture after we took it. All the boys stood around these two big guys in our group...I guess they don't see too many tall men here...besides Yao Ming :-) It was so hard to say goodbye to them...some of them even ran behind our bus waving goodbye to us.

After the visit to the village we came back to the city and walked the streets a little. You feel like a goldfish in a bowl...everyone staring at you, pointing, and talking about you...kind of unnerving. we found two stores with cute baby clothes, shoes, and books in them. We bought Katherine the cutest dress for about $4.00 U.S. and yes we got shoes to match of course :-) We found lots of good stuff. Walking up and down the streets is really eyeopening...passing by all the different stores and all the different people...and all the different smells...yuck! In the 2nd clothing store we went into the ladies working there loved Katherine. We showed them our card explaining what we were doing and they smiled and gave us the thumbs up sign...then Mom showed them pictures of Leni and Kristin and explained that I was her daughter too...they were astonished that Mom and Dad had 4 girls! That's unheard of here! It was neat "talking" to them and seeing their reactions and expressions. The people here are really friendly...for the most part. Much nicer than in Beijing...those people will run you over...literally.

We went to the local market after shopping and got Coke (our only food connection that tastes like home), bottled water, and Cheetos to try. Bad idea...they were disgusting. They are not at all like the ones at home...more like cheese flavored styrofoam...although that might taste better than these. They have Lays chips but in really weird flavors like Green Tea and Japanese Steak...no thanks.

Katherine is changing every day and she does the cutest faces. She's either really serious or silly...or screaming if on the bus :-) We love making her laugh...her eyes completely disappear when she does...it's so cute. She's starting to mimic certain things we do too...it's cool to watch her interact with us alot more. Can't wait to get her home so she can interact with all of you guys too!

I think the water here is making my hair fall out...seriously. Every time I wash my hair it falls out in chunks...oh well...at least I have thick hair! The air here makes your skin really dry too...and there isn't a hair dryer in the hotel...oh well we can "rough it". You have to put your room key into a little box in your room in order to have power...really strange but I guess they really want to conserve here.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with the group...yummy I can't wait to see what I eat tonight :-) Maybe I'll eat dog thinking it's beef or something...woof woof. More later! Thanks for the comments everyone! We always check it first thing in the morning to see who has commented so keep 'em coming! Love you all!

P.S.

Sorry I forgot to include this in the last post. For those of you that think my parents are too old to be doing this...about 75% of the adoptive parents we've seen are older than Mom and Dad. These orphans need homes with loving parents...not just homes with young parents that don't know what they're doing :-)

Mama Ate Lunch!

Hey guys...

You won't believe it but Mom actually ate lunch today!! This morning we went to a park here in Nanchang which was really pretty. There was a path that went all the way around Elephant Lake. It was rainy today but not pouring so it was fine. We walked all around the lake..Katherine did great! She hardly made a sound the whole time...she likes the Hip Panda carrier thing that Mom brought. She likes to suck on cloth too...she tries to suck on her clothes and blankets when she's tired.

Anyway...the coolest part of the park was the Daoist Temple at the end of the path...complete with Monks and everything. It was all very interesting for us...as we were trying to sense the spiritual aspect of these people at the temple. There were a lot of shrines where people would come and bow to the statues. Each statue had a different meaning and "deity". There was one room with 60 different statues and each person had a specific statue that would protect them depending on when they were born. There was incense burning in each different room and the smell was very strong. The whole atmosphere was very dark and quiet. It's something that every Christian student should do don't ya think? It was most interesting...Dad videoed the whole thing and took lots of pictures.

After the park trip we went to lunch at a restaurant near the park. We were a little skeptical because of the food we had last night...which wasn't that bad but definitely not like Chinese take-out in the states. Surprisingly the food we had for lunch today was great! Still not like at home but it was tasty...most of it anyway. They brought meat soup and vegetable congee (basically rice water) for the babies (Katherine ate some of the soup but she hates that congee junk). Then they brought us mushroom (nasty), bok choy (like if cabbage and broccoli had a baby), shrimp with the heads still on (little eyes staring at you...eww), two beef dishes which were AMAZING but really spicy, snow peas which were great, corn, tofu soup (nobody at that), white rice, and fried pumpkin strings(really yummy). I ate a little of everything and Mom actually ate the beef stuff and she liked it! And the whole meal was 30 yuan per person, which is about $3.50 in U.S. dollars. Very cheap and pretty satisfying although I'm getting hungry again :-) We have the rest of the day off to do whatever so we might take another trip to Wal-Mart for some books and baby shoes.

Dad thinks Katherine's birthday might be wrong...he thinks she's probably a few months younger but there is no way to tell. She's a peanut...proportional but tiny. We put a 9 month outfit on her today and it was huge...practically swallowed her. Better stick to 6-9 month stuff Rachel...all the outfits we brought her are too big but they'll have to work while we're here. She's feeling a lot better every day...she's much more smiley and interactive with us. She plays really well now and babbles different sounds. She guzzles her bottles and sometime will take two 8 oz ones in a row!

Can't wait to see all of you...tomorrow we are touring the countryside which should be very eye opening. It will be very cool to see the poor side of the city although it's everywhere here. More from China later!

Top Ten

Hey Everybody...

It's 6 am here in Nanchang and Katie Mei just woke up :-) She's having her morning baba with Mommy right now and Dad is exploring the Chinese Gym...yes they do have one here in the hotel. So,...Mom and I thought we would entertain you all with our top ten lists of the best and worst things in China so far...in our humble American opinions. So I'll go first...

Best so far:
1. Katherine (duh)
2. Hot Tea (it's really good)
3. The Architecture (some of the older buildings are really amazing)
4. Coke!!! (tasted a little strange at first but I just don't care anymore)
5. Ritz Crackers (found at your local Nanchange Wal-Mart!)
6. Walking the streets and soaking up local color
7. Pizza Hut (greasy and would be gross in America...but really good here)
8. Making Katherine laugh/smile (there is no greater sound right now...besides English)
9. The bus rides (could qualify as an amusement park ride)
10. White rice (really the only thing in the restaurants that is safe and identifiable)

Worst so far:
1. The water (smells horrible...I can't even begin to describe the smell...try the smell of a porta-potty backed up for about 10 years)
2. The "fried road kill in peanut oil" smell (it's everywhere here)
3. Crossing the street (nobody stops for you...seriously I think I'm going to get killed everytime I try to cross it)
4. Eating duck thinking it was chicken (I thought it tasted slighty weird for chicken)
5. Getting stared down by the PSB officers (nightmare material...no kidding)
6. The "deli" at Wal-Mart (the pig snout about did me in...and the smell)
7. Hearing Katherine cry (poor thing...it hurts me)
8. Not knowing more of the language (which actually might be a good thing cause I'm sure I would butcher it)
9. The deadness in the people's faces and eyes
10. Did I mention the smell? Yeah it definitely is bad enough to get put on here twice :-)

Now Mom's turn:

10 best things about China so far:
1.The whole "gotcha" experience of getting Katherine- amazing being handed a true orphan and in an instant her life is immediately transformed-wow
2.Having your own personal doctor because we've now been through bronchitis, ear infections, dehydration, scabies, ringworm, contact dermatitis and an impacted colon.....in 2 days
3. Having a magnificent sitter at home named Medana who will be up for sainthood soon....she is the mom of 5 for 10 days! She needs a standing ovation and a bowl of Ben and Jerry's (actually the whole pint to herself)
4. Climbing the Great Wall, seeing Forbidden City and seeing Chairman Mao
5.Listening to Chris Tomlin sing "I stand Amazed" from the new Passion CD as we flew over the mtn's of central China knowing there are people in prison and giving up their lives for Christ right underneath the plane
6.Walking the streets of Nanchang with your baby and interacting with the people who read the card around your neck-the people here are very friendly and curious
7. Watching Katherine begin to play with toys because up to now her only toys have been her hands
8.Wal-Mart--we found m&m's, ritz crackers and pampers cruisers...all in chinese packaging but recognizable.Goes well with the jar of Jif p. butter we brought with us!
9. Seeing the farmers work the rice paddies....they really wear pointy hats like the pics in our history books
10. Being able to immerse youself for this many days in a non-tourist city ....watching, listening, looking, so we can tell Katherine about this place she came from.
11. ( I get 11 because I'm the mom) Having Julie experience this too!!!!!!! It's funny watching her get hit on in Chinese:)

Mom's 10 worst things about China ( I'm searching my brain....trying to find something disagreeable:)
1. The OVERWHELMING SMELL!
2. The food....not like Chinese at home at all .....mostly we eat breakfast, then peanut butter
3. The overwhelming poverty most of the population lives in. It's so widespread here...and the worst at home makes this look good. You hurt for these people and understand why they are forced to abandon their children just to survive. Very sad.
4. They have to pay the equivalent of $12,500 USD to keep a second child
5. The number of children still left in orphanages
6.Scabies....don't understand why they don't treat this....all the children from Taihe in our group (10 families) had it and the children are (were) miserable
7. Chinese baby formula
8.Fearing for your life when you cross the street
9. The OVERWHELMING SMELL IS NAUSEATING
10. Squatty potties--got dehydrated myself and had to start Cipro because of the fear of having to use one
11. (again cause I'm the mommy) The nasty water that smells like an outhouse and that's what you have to shower and wash your hair in.........
12. Having your blow dryer blow up even after using a voltage converter......bad hair for the rest of the trip!

That's it from this camp! Off to do some sightseeing with our wonderful guide Michael who is from Beijing..he stays with us the whole time, interprets and does all our paperwork procedures. Couldn't do this without him! There are 22 families from our agency here in the hotel, of those we're broken down into 2 groups. There are also other agencies here. Some folks are from France and Portugal. These little babies leave the poverty here and are taken all over the world. It's amazing and very moving to hear little (previously) adopted 5 and 6 year olds speaking french and spanish.

Talk to you guys later!!!

Everything is Just Ducky... Just ask Julie

Hello All

Today was the official signing day for Katherine's adoption. All went well... well all except Katherine who hadn't went at all since we got her... Needless to say she was miserable. I now know that if for no other reason, I went to Medical School so I could help her...and this crisis too soon passed...Thank God...

Later we walked the street in front of our hotel. The crosswalks actually have a sign with a man lit up when it is safe to cross with a number under it...which we assumed was how many pedestrians had been hit that day until the number began decreasing which indicated how many seconds you have for the Chicken Americans to cross the road. We also encountered the smell of fried road kill from the local markets... We encountered a man who read the card about us that our guide had written out in Chinese... After reading it, he began to speak to us in Chinese...when he saw that we were not understanding he started to write out on his hand slowly with his finger Chinese characters...boy what a help that was... I guess that is the Chinese equivalent of us speaking slower and louder when we speak to someone who doesn't know English. We walked by the city hospital where I don't believe the teachings of Pasteur and sterilization have been heard yet...however they were wearing gloves in the dental clinic next door using equipment from the 50's... 

Our guide took us to a local restuarant for dinner where he ordered our food for us..Julie thought she was enjoying A Kung Pao Chicken with peanuts dish which really turned out to be sligthly warmed duck...Between Bolivia and China Julie is certainly has broaden her tastes.... Cissy has too... she had a Chinese Cheeseburger... well Cheese something burger.... On ordering the cheeseburger for her I asked the waitress to cook it for a long time and she said It come to your room in twenty minute.... One thing we have not heard at the buffet is... you go now...you eat to much...

More later

From Dining  on 400 yaun a day

2nd Day in Nanchang...long

Hi Everybody (Julie here again...Mom and Dad are busy)

Thanks for your enthusiastic comments and encouragements about Katherine...we are having so much fun with our little girl...now that she's eating. The past 24 hours have been very interesting...here's how it went down:

After we got back from the Civil Office yesterday we tried to get her situated and tried feeding her the formula they gave us. Haha...that was a joke. We were told that the babies like their bottles scalding hot so we tried that first and she wouldn't take it. Then we tried a warm bottle...no again. Then we even tried room temperature and she still would not take the darn thing. Poor kid...she had a several hour bus ride that day coming from the orphanage and they didn't feed them on the bus, so we knew she was starving. But she still refused to take a bottle...we even tried to different kinds of bottles. Needless to say we were getting a little worried that she would starve and we would end up in Chinese prison or something :-) On top of not eating the poor thing was scratching herself raw from the scabies and really congested. To put it plainly she was miserable and would not eat anything. In spite of this she slept soundly through the night from 10-6:30...yay!! But Mom didn't sleep much...she kept waking up to make sure Katherine still breathing.

We woke up this morning and we could already tell Katherine was feeling better...not scratching as much and her nose a little less stuffy...but she's still pretty sick. Today at 9 am we went to...ta-da! The highlight of our trip (besides getting Katherine of course)...shopping at the Super Wal-Mart right here in the heart of Nanchang City...the tourist capital of the world :-) The Wal-Mart was such an experience...yep we traveled all the way to China to go to Wal-Mart :-) The Wal-Mart is two stories high and the shopping carts are incredibly tiny. Clothes, toys, and baby stuff is on the 2nd floor and all the food is on the first floor. The clothes are interesting...they have Disney and Harry Potter clothes for the kids and they sell split pants outfits for the babies. The real interesting part in the Wal-Mart came when we decided to journey on to the first floor...the "grocery store". To get down to the first floor they have an escalator that you push your cart onto...very inventive.

The smell downstairs was almost unbearable...in fact Mom tried to hold her breath the whole time...she blew up her mouth like a puffer fish...which they probably sell in the fish department..alive :-) Oh if only we could bottle it up and send some home to you all. They had your normal produce...and when I say normal I mean produce that looks like it's been chewed and then thrown up again...yeah really tasty. And the meat market...ha...make sure you ask Mom about it when we get back. The meat market featured fresh pig ears, snapping turtles, albino chicken feet...and pig snout...right there in the window for all the passerby's to see...and yes we saw and about threw up all of our breakfast. And what was worse was that people were buying it...makes you think of "Boars Head" sandwich meat in a whole new way doesn't it?

After Wal-Mart we took our bags and went and sat in the front of the store on the street curb. Immediately we were surrounded by all these beggars...so sad. They come right up to you and ask for money...it's so pitiful but you have to tell them no or they will keep coming back. Dad has gotten really good at handling the riff-raff. Katherine did great in the store...but once outside she was miserable again...still hadn't eaten anything and would not take a bottle. As we continued to sit waiting for our bus a crowd of people came and would stare at us holding our Chinese babies. Our guide had written us all cards to hang around our necks that explained why we Americans were holding a Chinese baby. Once we showed the crowd our cards then they smiled and gave us the thumbs up sign...it was cool. The bus ride back to the hotel was interesting...Kitty Kat here cried...screamed rather all the way back...starving I'm sure but the booger would not take a bottle. Finally back in our room she fell asleep and calmed down...but we still had the bottle problem to figure out before she woke up.

We went to the lunch buffet in our hotel and tried to find somewhat Americanized food...the closest we got was braised chicken in orange juice...which wasn't too bad actually..but Mom hated it...she prefers her Diet Coke and her Diet Coke...it's kinda hard to come by here. The good thing about the buffet today was the pig knuckle in soy sauce...just in case you really wanted the pig snout at the Wal-Mart but weren't able to get it...they were kind enough to give you an alternative. When we got back to our room Katherine woke up...and what do ya know...she finally took a bottle with formula!!! We almost didn't believe it...but she gulped it down and was much much happier. Yay! We got a child that can eat!

Mom and I explored the hotel a little bit this afternoon and we found fish tanks on the 4th floor with some very interesting sea creatures in them...sharks, horseshoe crab...yeah my guess is that they will cook those up for dinner...yummy :-)

We got our laundry back today...we sent it out last night. They did a great job and they return it pressed and folded. Great, clean, and cheap.

Katherine is turning into a silly girl...she's laughing and smiling all over the place now that's she's gotten some food in that belly of hers. She likes her toys...is discovering what to do with them since she's never had them before...and she looks cute in ruffles...really cute. For those of you keeping track (Rachel) she's fitting into 9 month stuff great and 6-12 month stuff from Gap really well. Just remember she's about 19 pounds but still pretty tiny compared to American 11 month olds.

She's having her bath right now...loves playing in the water and getting lotioned up afterwards. In fact Mom has been giving her massages all day today and now she sticks her feet up in the air to tell us she wants one (Katherine not Mom lol). Tonight we're getting Pizza Hut for dinner...we'll see how that goes :-) There are KFC's everywhere too...maybe we'll try that tomorrow. Alright I know this has been a long post but there is so much to tell and I know you guys want details so there you go! Be sure to check out the pictures from today :-) Love you guys! More tomorrow!!

Julie and the Crew

We Have Katherine!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!!! Yep...we have her! Here's how the day played out:

After a 2 hr flight from Beijing to Nanchang....over central China (amazing in itself) we deplaned, rode to the Civil Affairs Office and took a short elevator ride up to a hallway. We could hear the babies crying when we got off and people (Americans and Chinese) were walking the hallways with little asian faces :-) Then they called our whole group into the room where the babies were waiting. We looked and looked but didn't recognize Katherine right away...each baby had a name tag with their picture on it so we tried to look for hers but didn't see it. They call the families one by one...not all together at one time so we waited and waited...then Mom spotted her picture and waved frantically...she found her!!! Then they called our name and in a minute she went from being an orphan to being our princess. It was the most amazing emotional moment to see this precious little girl finally go in her mother's arms. She stared at Mom for a minute and then realized what had happened and that's when the crying began :-) Well...at least we know she has a good set of lungs...even despite her tears at first you could definitely see the face of Jesus in her eyes...incredible.

We stayed at the Civil Affairs Office for a little longer...videoed and took pictures...and then the whole group got back on the bus with their babies to head to the hotel. We hadn't even been there yet since we came right from the airport. Katherine did fine on the bus ride (it was only about 10 minutes long) and she fell asleep in Mom's arms. Once in our room at the hotel (which is really nice by the way) we started looking her over and getting to know her. Dad did a physical on her which she fussed through but got through it. She has bronchitis, scabies (she scratches herself constantly), and an ear infection, but everything else looks normal. She weighs a little over 19 pounds which is a great size! She actually has some cheeks and thighs on her...yay! Mom gave her a bath...most likely her first one in her life...she did great and then took some medicine...it's nice to have a physician that comes with the room ;-) She likes laying on her back propped up by pillows and plays with her hands a lot. As for my shining moment...well I got the first laugh out of her :-) She's adorable when she smiles and laughs....and she's cute with that worried look too! We're still working on the bottle thing...she's not quite sure what to think about all this new American stuff thrown at her...but she looks great in Baby Gap pj's :-) She also likes the Baby Einstein DVD we brought..she payed really good attention to it. She fell asleep in Mom's arms again and is now sleeping soundly in her crib.

I can't believe we have a new member of the family...it was all such a blur...a good blur but fast and very surreal. It's almost like you don't accept the fact that it's happening until after it's happened. We've been telling her that there are a lot of people that are anxious to meet her...especially her sisters (hi girls we miss you!) We are beyond thrilled at everything that happened today...what a Mother's Day to remember! But most of all we are astounded by God's faithfulness and kindness in giving this gift to us. Thank you all for your prayers...God is hearing them! Please pray that Katie Mei would get over her sickness very quickly and adapt well to her new Princess lifestyle :-) Hope you like the pictures...isn't she cute? Will post again soon!

Scott, Cissy, Julie, and the newest addition to the princess collection: Katherine Mei VanLue :-)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hi Everybody!
This is Julie here...my parents have been doing all the posts so far so I figured it was about time to post something of my own. So let's see...first off it's 6:52am here in our hotel in Beijing...but it's 6:52pm at home. I woke up at 3 this morning and didn't get back to sleep until about 6. But it's fine...just a big and weird adjustment.

Yesterday was by far one of the coolest days ever. We got to see the big "touristy" places of Beijing...Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square, and The Great Wall...those things were so amazing and beautiful. But the coolest part I thought was the bus rides to and from all these places. This was fun for me because you got to see a glimpse of how these people live. We passed tons of houses that were nothing but piles of rocks, a hospital in shambles, and lots of people on the streets. I was listening to "Indescribable" on my ipod while we were driving and I just sobbed...I couldn't help it. I was so captivated by the presence of God...even in a city I knew nothing about that was halfway across the world. I just sat and prayed for each person I passed...that their dark and sad faces would change to those of hope and joy. There are so many people here that look like they have no reason to live and that they have given up. I know that there are people like this at home too...but it just really hit me yesterday with these people. I am amazed that God is allowing us to see all of this and witness this part of His creation. It truly is Indescribable...He is an amazing God!!!

Ok now for some stuff that some of you may not even care about...but some of you might find it interesting. There is lots of construction that continues all day everday...they're trying to get this place shaped up for the Olympics in 2008. The beds in the hotel room are soooo tiny and rock hard...seriously it's like sleeping on a board :-) They have a really nice bathtub in the hotel...but there is no drain for the water so we can't figure it out...but it's ok...soaking in parasite water is not really my favorite thing. Our first authentic Chinese meal was yesterday morning for breakfast...and I'm sure they probably tried to Americanize it a bit. I had fried white rice which tasted really strange, fried noodles which were really good, a crossant type thing with golden raisins in it, corn flakes with warm milk, and hot tea. I think I will probably be losing weight here. Oh...the men here all stand around and slap their butts for absolutely no reason...maybe they're checking to see if they have one yet...or it's their idea of exercise. The babies all wear split pants...hilarious but sad at the same time. They sell Diet Coke and Coke in bottles...my mom is so happy. The Coke tastes just like home. They sell canned drinks too and they have the pull top from the 70's. We saw on International CNN this morning that there is a typhoon heading towards Hong Kong...we might be living Typhoon Lagoon. Right now my parents are practicing their fencing skills with the Chinese slippers the hotel gave us with our room. While my dad and I are fine, my mom, who is usually always cold, is now always hot...I guess when we made the cross over to the other side of the world her temperature climate changed too :-) State run T.V. sure is interesting...very biased and lots of propoganda.

Anyway..I'm sure I will have more to report soon...Be sure to check back when you guys wake up tomorrow because we will have Katherine!!! Thanks for your prayers and comments...they really help us stay connected with America and English speaking people :-) I have to go eat my rice and noodles now...and to steal some bread so we can make peanut butter sandwiches...shhh don't tell :-) Have a great day everybody! Miss and love you all!

Julie (with mom and dad looking on)

We Climbed the Great Wall and BIG News!

Hello everyone! Thanks to everyone sending messages both on and off post. We appreciate it! Today was tourist day. First, we all got up at 4am because it was 4pm at home. No one could sleep:) Big time change! We then got on a bus and went to Tiannamen (sp?) Square and the Forbidden City.  Very amazing...the PSB (gov't police) are everywhere. Also there are sooooooo many people! They aren't kidding about this being the most populated country. We then visited a cloisonne factory and a gov't run "friendship" store.....then on to the Great Wall. WOW! It was perhaps one of the hardest things we've ever done (climbing it) because the stairs are very uneven and very steep, but we perservered and did it! Coming down was just as hard.Does anyone remember the Amazing Race episode a few seasons ago when they had to unlock all the locks by finding the correct key to fit? Ring a bell? Well all those locks were on this section of the Great Wall. Neat to see.....but the views from the Great Wall are nothing short of amazing. It is truly a great wonder of the world. No stairmaster for us for a while. The food has been ...well...not awful but a little scary since you dont know what it is. At lunch our group was given a big fish on a plate with the head and tail still on and chopsticks. Scott tried the fish. I ate rice. For dinner we had cheez-its. Even though they have made great strides in getting ready for the Olympics and construction is everywhere (they hammer all night long), the poverty is overwhelming. Very, very sad but they don't seem to think it should be any other way. The children are beautiful! We even saw a family today with 2 kids (very unusual!!) They wear those split pants so their little bottoms hang out. Had to take some pictures of that. Everyone stares at us...they are very curious. The PSB officers freak Julie out. They won't let you take their picture. All in all...a facinating experience. People here definitely don't have much, even though it's the capital city.

Well...we have big news!!! We get Katherine a day early! We will have her at 5pm tomorrow instead of the next day. They said it better fit their schedule and we all said OK! We started all the remaining paperwork tonight and we leave for Nanchang tomorrow morning. It's a 2 hr flight and we then go straight to the Civil Affairs office to pick up the babies! They gave us a little sign in Chinese that explains why Americans are in China holding a Chinese baby. We have to wear it when we go out in public in Nanchang because it's such an unusual sight to see an American, then on top of that they want to know why you have one of their babies.  Pray for us! Tomorrow is a life changing day! Hope you are all doing well. We're going to Nanchang!

We're in Beijing

We're here safe and sound. The flight wasn't bad at all. We flew up the Calif. coast and THEN right over central Alaska (way too cool!) and then over the Bering Sea and down into Russia. There were giant ice sheets floating everywhere. Tomorrow is the Great Wall and Forbidden City.....we haven't eaten anything here yet but there was a Starbucks when we got thru the China Border Patrol. They are getting ready for the Olympics....signs are everywhere. Our beds are very, very small but the hotel is nice. Scott walked down the street and bought a big water bottle and 2 20oz. cokes for $1.More tomorrow...........Hi little girls! Hi Mom Jo! Hi Cade!

I left my (hopefully nothing) in San Francisco

Hey all

We arrived to San Francisco without a hitch and spent the majority of the day in The Muir Woods National Park... you know the song..."from the redwoods... to the valleys... to the oceans white with foam..." The redwoods are truly amazing.... even if the ocean view trail we chose to hike never gives you a view of the ocean...   (Check out the photo album for pics)

....While we were yet.... God came to us.... We are all adopted out of our natural fallen nature into God's family by an act of His Grace. In essence He chooses us as His sons and daughters. He adopts us into His family. It is based on nothing in us and fully on his grace. As I think about Katherine there are alot of similarities to the way God adopts us. She didn't apply to be adopted by us... she was chosen by the Chinese government... Right now she has no idea that she is about to become my daughter.... Likewise I didn't apply to be a son of God...He sought after me...the day prior to accepting Christ, I had know idea what it meant to be God's son... If you know Christ spend some time today basking in the fact that God has chosen you to be a son/ daughter of his.... If you know those that do not know Christ yet, this may be the day that you help to introduce them to their true father... and don't be afraid to share because like Katherine, they may be totally unaware that tomorrow they will be adopted.

We leave today for our short  17 hour or so flight to China. Our next post will be from Beijing... Thanks for your prayers... what a privilege it is to know Jesus and to be an ambassador of the Gospel... It's time for me to go wake up the other "living epistles"- Cisssy and Julie who are currently comatose...

We're Off to China!

We're off! Thanks to all of you who are staying connected this way! We wanted to take a moment to share our thoughts about our adoption journey and why we do what we do. Why China? Why little girls? We get asked this alot. Here's a synopsis of our personal family "calling".....

Almost a decade ago,  we began to feel called to missions, and although that usually meant foreign travel we wanted to do more here in the U.S. God had quietly spoken to our hearts about adoption for a period of time and finally felt it was time to pursue God's plan for us in this area. After much prayer and discussion we felt called to the "throw-away's" of society. The poor and needy, the destitute, those with no hope or future. Especially children. We could no longer ignore the cries of those who even in the U.S. have little chance of eating 3 meals a day, have no idea what it means to have parents, stability , someone who cares about their wants and needs (even on the most basic level)and most importantly, the Gospel.We as a family and as Americans are so blessed both spiritually and materially. After searching scripture  we began to see how fervently God's concerns are for those that lack (the poor). We were convinced of God's plan for our family. We began researching countries and guidelines for adoptionfor each. Due to other circumstances, we pursued domestic adoption almost 6 years ago which has resulted in two precious angels from God: Angeli and Kristin. Their stories are miraculous in themselves as God's providential hand is seen throughout their testimony. The God of all creation took them literally  out of "hell on earth" and has given them not only a mommy and daddy but His Word daily implanted in their hearts. They were brought "out of the pit" and given new life in our family. They will always know the love of their Heavenly Father through the love of their parents. After all, we are all adopted as sons and daughters of the living God.:)

Late last year God again spoke to Scott about international adoption. That meant one thing to us.....CHINA. In China, because of their culture, little girls are seen as unvaluable. Many, many are abandoned every day as the one child policy and poverty force parents to desire their children to be male. 98% of children in orphanages there are healthy, females. Many are left in markets, at gates of Orphanages, or even killed at birth. China is still a developing nation and a dictatorship. Many times choices are made for you. There is no freedom of religion. Underground house churches are growing by leaps and bounds but many there are still imprisoned and even killed for their faith. Many little girls abandoned for the favored "male" live their entire lives behind the gates of state run orphanages only to be turned out at age 18. Having no family,many turn to prostitution or dishonest means of employment. God is allowing us to go into this communist country for the sole purpose of rescuing one of his children. Katherine is in Central China in a little town named Taihe. She was left in a box at the gate of the orphanage a week after her birth. By Gods grace, this child will no longer be an orphan... she was left there unable to claim anyone as her own...but now will be brought back to America, raised in a family with brother:) and sisters, and know  the God who made her: the God who called her out among millions to be the one for us. What a privledge to be allowed to do this! Isj it a sacrifice? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Are we older parents? Yes. But God's grace is daily with us in ways that are too numerous to list here. And the rewards far outweigh the sacrifice. We also know you are never too old to help save a life. These children are eternal beings with souls. Our family learned that this life is not one of convenience or living to satisify our own cravings. We are committed to  living for eternal purposes.

Life is a vapor ....eternity is a long, long time. We want to be a part of what God is doing here on this earth, living out the great commission as he daily leads.We don't want to live a wasted life marked by slothfulness and indifference which is so easy to do here in America. We have been entrusted with the greatest prize....the Gospel.  Our heart is to be not only "hearers" but "doers" and run this race with our eyes on the prize. We (our family) as long as we are able, desire to be an advocate for the adoption community...encouraging others to pursue God's heart for them in this area. It has been for our family the most amazing miracle of tangiblily seeing God's heart for us his children displayed through these little girls. That's why we're going to China. Please pray for us! We can't wait for this little life to be entrusted to our care!

Something else that is stirring our hearts is that we will be walking the same ground as the martyr. Those who have given their lives for the sake of Christ.Katherine is in an area where the underground church is growing but still faces extreme persecution. We are honored to be there and pray for those who daily risk their jobs, families, and even lives for the gospel. Wow! We're going!

INTRO

Hello (Ni hao)  all! Join us on our journey to get Katherine. She is from the Taihe orphanage in the Jiangxi province of China. (Click these links to see a map and info about the province... you can click the back arrow at the top of your screen if you go to the link to return to our blog  http://www.gwcadopt.org/china/provinces/jiangxi/ , www.gurrad.com/china/red_thread_map.htm )

We leave May 10th!!!This blog features the following:

PHOTO ALBUM  Clicking the picture of Katherine to your left will open up a photo album where you can click on the thumbnails for a visual diary of our trip.

BLOG UPDATES  We will blog daily about our experiences as much as our access to the web allows...We'd love for you to accompany us via the net on our journey... 

YOUR COMMENTS While we are in China, you can send us a little of you and America by posting responses to the blogs we post. Simply click on the word (comments) below the blog you wish to comment on. (At the bottom of the comments posted there is a menu for you to post a comment. You only need to fill in your name, email address and comment. Don't worry if your post does not appear right away as we have to read it before it can be posted to the blog.You do not need to fill in the URL line. If you don't want your comment posted just say so in your message.

We look forward to hearing from you!!!   

( Keep those blogs and blogs coming...)