Journey 2 Grace: March 2007

We have been very busy. All 3 of us had to go to the Doctor. Jeff and I had ear infections in both ears and throat infections and Grace had a slight ear infection in one ear. We are all feeling much better now. We have been doing lots of shopping and have figured out how to barter very well. We have been spending lots of time with our new friends the Bakers and the Vansells. Grace is totally crawling everywhere. She is definitely keeping us busy. She has been sleeping really good. And actually slept through the night on Tuesday(from 9:30pm to 7:30am-Mom kept waking up though just to check on her ) Tuesday we went to Biayun Mountain, it was so cold there!! It was beautiful though. We actually took a enclosed cablecar up the mountain(similar to a gondala). The view was spectacular. It was a little smoggy but still a good view of Guangzhou. They still had up decorations from New Years-so those were neat to see. Up on this mountain they also have the largest bird cage. It is this huge enclosed area, all covered by this netting on top. They also have a tamed bird show which was pretty cool. After that we had a noodle lunch a the resturant at the bottom of the hill. Yesterday we took the group picture and the picture of the girls on the famous White Swan Red Couch(very popular with Chinese adoption groups). It was hysterical. All the girls start out happy and then they all start crying. As anyone who has ever tried to take a picture of any kid knows you have a limited amount of time to get the shot. Try that with 10 plus kids and what a mess :0) We also got to watch the video of our Gotcha Day and a power point with pictures of all the kids and their new families. It was really special. I can't wait to share it everyone. I went our shopping with all the other mothers today-Thursday, for extra suitcases. It was the first time we have been away from our babies for any length of time. We had a great time. We wheeled and dealed and got some great deals. Julie and Michelle did a great job getting us a good deal on our suitcases 120 yuan for a big suitcase- which is about 16 US dollars. The starting price was 380 yuan about 50 US dollars. Way to go girls! We had our farewell dinner tonight and then went out for Banana Splits at Lucy's.
We have had such an amazing time here in China. And we have met some great people. We have definitely made some wonderful memories. I can't wait to bring Grace back to China when she is older. It is so beautiful here and such a rich history. This will be our last post from China. We have loved reading all the wonderful comments everyone has left and we hope you have enjoyed following our journey. Stay tuned, I will try and update it soon after we get home and get settled.

Love Gen, Jeff and Grace

Gen,Grace,Michelle,Emma,Jaree and Isabella

Grace with Beijing Bear

Grace and Emma

I know how to rasberry!

Red Couch Photos

Grace, Isabella and Emma on the red couch

The Whole Group

Can you believe my mom made me wear this hat!

Farewell From China- See you all real soon!

We are all doing well. Grace had her medical exam today,Saturday. Grace is in great health. She weighs 19.5 lbs and is just over 29 inches long. She finally broke that tooth through. She is still drooling a ton. It's hard to believe it has been 7 days since we became Grace's Mama and Baba. It seems hard to remember what are lives were like before we got this sweet angel. We love watching her explore all the new things in her world. She is starting to try and stand up. She goes from lying down to sitting her self up. She scooches around and I am sure she will be crawling any day now. And before we know it she will be running. Fisther Price and the White Swan have set up a whole kids play area here. So we took Grace down there to play one day. She really liked it. We went to the zoo yesterday and the Chen Clan Temple the day before. The Chen Clan Temple was amazing, the arcitecture is incredible. They also have a whole room of Irovy carvings. It is so beautiful. Here are some more pictures. We will try to post again soon.

Love

Gen, Jeff and Grace

Grace Playing at the Swan Room