Adventure to the open market!

Today we had a little adventure to the open market. This is where the chinese people buy and sell their produce, meat and other local goods. They live above their little shop that is below. This is the real deal, not the movies.

Check out this electrical work. This is outside between two little shops. Call OSHA!!! Scott this one's for you from Mike.


See this scooter. Hanna, one of our CCAI guides and Jeff are in there. Mike, Savannah & I are behind them in one taking the photo. Talk about Mr. Toads Wild Ride in the streets of China. Their driving philosophy is "I Go".


This is our view from our scooter. We did not think we would be riding one, just the ones trying to take a photos of the Chinese people riding one. Especially with a baby. Aren't we hypocrites?


Photo of the open market. This is just down one street. We did not walk through the whole thing, due to the germs. We had Savannah with us, so we wanted to be very careful. They are actually cutting live animals after they are choosen.


This is how they sell their dinner. They eat everything including cats, dogs, turtles, beets, snakes. As you can see in the photo there's a rabbit, cat, lemur, and various reptiles in the bowls. It was quite shocking to see what they sold for people to eat.

There was a shop that sold dog and then butchered it right there for you. We were too early to see that one. Praise God!! Mike & I got plenty of stares and smiles. There were two little kids that couldn't stop starring and laughing at us. Mike was definately out of his comfort zone. I thought it was great to see. Definately a reality check.

The bottom of the Pagoda. I ran out of room on the last post. I can only post 5 pictures each post. That's why I have so many entries for this day. Mike did go to the top. We have never sweated as much as we did today. I also had the pleasure of using a squatty potty. I do have to say that it is better than squatting in the woods. Especially when you are cutting down your christmas tree.


This was the end of a very long morning. She crashed out.


This is the backside of of our 5 star Hotel. This is not a 5 star according to AAA standards. My Sister in law would not have approved of the bathroom. I had to buy tile cleaner on my first trip to Walmart and clean it myself.

Tomorrow, Friday, is our last day in Nanning. We will be leaving Saturday morning for Guangzhou. It has truely been amazing!

Time To Be A Tourist

Today Michael, our CCAI guide, arranged for us to go to Qiuing Xiu Mountain. This the entrance to the resort. We were headed for the Temple at the top, so we just got out of the bus to take pictures. It would take too long for us to walk. Plus it was soooooo hot. Below is a link with more detailed info about it.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangxi/nanning/mt_qingxiu.htm







This is part of the Buddhist Temple compound. There's incense everywhere and lots of Gold Buddha's. We took some pictures, but weren't supposed to. A monk yelled for us not to.


There was an option to pay to have the babies blessed. We opted out of that one. She has already been blessed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Our obedience to him is why we are here. He has great plans for this little. We are excited to see what God has planned for her.


This is below the Pagoda. The koi were going crazy for the food.


These are the first in a series of steps to the Pagoda.



Longxiang Pagoda
On the top of the mountain stands a pagoda called Longxiang pagoda or Qingshan pagoda which is the symbol of the Qingxiu Mountain. Firstly built in Wanli period of Ming dynasty, it had 9 stories, 2 stories being destroyed by lightening later. But the whole building was blasted off because the government thought it was the target of Japanese fighter planes during the Anti-Japanese War. It was't rebuilt until mid 80's, preserving the architectural style of Ming dynasty characterized by green pills and bricks and eight-square eaves. The diameter of its base is 12 meters and it has 9 stories of 60 meters in height and 207 steps, being the biggest and highest pagoda in Guangxi. From the pagoda, visitors can view the sight at a distance of about 20 li, overlooking the whole city.

Just Kickin Back!

Here are a few photos of us in our room. I'm having troubles with photobucket, so I can't do a slideshow for you all. The internet connection is not the greatest here.

Last night we all slept great! We fell asleep around 8 pm and woke up around 5 am. Savannah refused to take an afternoon nap and just fused and demanded constant entertainment. There are a number of factors that we could attribute to her fussiness, but who really knows. It could be her cold, maybe an early ear infection, teething, constipation, gas, hungry, overly tired or just beeing an orphan and being torn from everything she knows.

It is truely a guessing game at this point.


Mama entertainment


All smiles this morning! I call her a chunky monkey. Her thighs are so chunky. The outfit she wore yesterday barely fit around her thighs. This one may be going to Hannah sooner than we thought.


Time for an early nap. Yeah!!

She's just sooo cute. We can't stop taking her picture when she falls asleep.

Playtime on the floor! That is what she really loves. Her upper body is really weak, so this will help her build her muscles.

Walmart!

Walmart again!! It doesn't matter where the Walmart is, I still can't stand the store. We went there again. This time we went to the old one.

This is the shopping area we went to taody. There was the Walmart and a department store. Everything is tall and you go up. In the middle are little stands selling Coke or McDonalds.

Savannah slept through most of our shopping experience. Daddy endured the heat and sweat of this little one. She was soaked when we took her out. It is so hot here, you start to sweat as soon as you get out the door.

We managed to leave the department store with only 3 pairs of shoes. Anyone who knows me or Shelby knows that WE love shoes. No squeaky shoes yet! There are more to come.......

Ready Set Go! Almost!

She loves playing on the floor. She's rolling around and on all fours. She is so ready to start crawling. She might start before we come home.


Our smilie is not quite as happy today. She has a really bad cold. She's taking some chinese cold medicine, so hopefully that will help her breath. She's only taking bottles with formula and rice, but not as often as the orphanage says. We've tried to give her food, but she has no clue. She wouldn't even touch the french fry I gave her today. What child doesn't like french fries?

First Bath!

Last night was Savannah's first bath. Daddy took her in the bath, so she wouldn't be afraid. She loved the water.

More Adoption Day Photos

Adoption Day!

We had our adoption interview at the Registration Office today. This is where we finalized all our documents and officially accepted Jiangmian as our child and promised to them that we would never abuse, neglect or abandon her. We also made the promise that we would love and take care of her as our own child.


Her footprint was stamped in her official documents.


This is where we officially received our Adoption Certificate.


Here she is ALL Smiles!

Today was a very busy day for us at the registration office and then the notary office. Tonight we have an appt with a doctor to get all checked out. Tomorrow is a shopping day for all of us.

Thank you all for your sweet comments that you have left since yesterday. It is a treasure to wake up and read. We miss our family and friends and can't wait to see you all at home.

Our First Photos of Savannah Marie Jiangmian!

Gotcha Day Recap!

Today was an amazing day! It started with all our paperwork. Later in the afternoon, we all loaded up into the bus and drove to the Lottery Hotel. We practiced the words we learning early today and her nickname. Which is Mian-Mian. We were instructed not to cry because the babies wanted to see our smiles and would respond better to a smile than they would tears. All the parents did great keeping themselves together.

Each baby was brought into the room one at a time. As one more baby was added, things started to get crazy. She was so wiggly and happy. She was interested in everything around her. Many others had this look of concern on their faces. They are all sooo beautiful. Today was an answer to soo many prayers. Not only for us but for all the other parents as well.

It amazes me when I think about how GOD choose us for this baby! No one else or not another baby, but Jiangmian.

After we received our babies, we all went back to our hotel. Many babies fell asleep on the bus in their mommy's arms. Not our Mian-Mian. She sat with Daddy and played with a few toys. She finally crashed after we took our famaily photo. Just before we took the photo, she was putting on a show for the other families. She was smiling and kicking her legs. It looks like she's a thumb sucker. She wouldn't drink her bottle and she sucked her thumb until she fell asleep.

Tomorrow morning, we meet at the registration office to complete the paperwork we started today. It also means that we have completed the harmonious period and we are still adopting her. If there were any reservations or issues, today was the day that you had to make that final decision. For us, it has been very harmonious. I'm not sure it has been for others. Things can change tonight. I'll have to let you know in the morning.

Time to Go! Mike and Savannah are asleep and I can't stop blogging!

Judy, thank you for checking my blog at 2:30 am and having sweet dreams about my Savannah!

The Official Paperwork! Be sure to read the whole post!

Her passport documents. All the Beiliu babies were photographed in red shirts.


Time for fingerprints.


The bus ride to the Lottery Hotel.


Our Official Travel Approval Letter. We had to hand them this letter so that they could match it up with the baby.




HERE SHE IS!!!!

It was an amazing moment for all our new mommy's and daddy's. She's a wiggly one and gave us many smiles. I can't really give much right now, I need to make a bottle and we have to go downstairs for a family picture.

Oh-I got the disposable camera back from her orphanage. I'll post more pictures later.

Today is the day!

Today will be a really busy day. It is 7:30 am and our day is just beginning. Well, I take that back, I've been up since 2 am. My body is not adjusting to the time change well at all. We've been using Skype to talk to our parents and kids. It has been wonderful! I highly recommend it.

After we eat breakfast, we all meet to start the paperwork. We don't actually turn anything in and officially do the paperwork until tomorrow. Later today, we leave at 3:10 to meet our babies at the Lottery Hotel at 3:30.

It is going to be an amazing time for all 11 of the families in our travel group. 7 of the babies are comming from the same orphanage as Savannah in Beiliu City.

So, stay tunned for photos later today. For my family and friends, it will be late tonight or tomorrow morning before you will be awake to check the blog.

We are in Nanning!

Here we are waiting with our travel group of 11 families for our long awaited flight to the province, Guangxi, where we will be meeting our babies. All the families that we've been to talk with are amazing. It is wonderful to share our adoption stories with one another and get to know everyone.

After we arrived to our Hotel, we decided to have lunch. We had authentic chinese food. It was a challenge because you order based on the picture. We had some help from Michael our guide to help us find chicken and not alligator or some animal's intestine. It was delicious!!! I was warned about the food and I loved it. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food, so as long as I know what it is, I think I will be OK.

The inside of the restraunt. We are definately the foreigners here. We stick out like a sore thumb.

Well tomorrow is the day!! I can't stop thinking about the long awaited gotcha day. We start our day with paperwork. This is to give us a head start in getting the paperwork started. Once we get the babies, it will be kinda crazy. We don't actually start the paperwork process until tuesday morning. We are just getting it started

We leave the hotel at 3:10 to meet our babies at 3:30 pm. There are 7 babies comming from Savannah's orphanage and 2 other families live in CA near us. One family is sooo close that they drive by our church everyday. What a blessing this will be for our girls to be able to see each other as they grow up.

That's all for now! I'm going to leave you with some information about Nanning, Guangxi.







Nanning, Guangxi

Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Province, is not only the political, economic and cultural center of the province, but also plays an important role in the economic development of southwest China. Nanning borders Vietnam, is neighbor to Guangzhou, close to Hong Kong and Macau, and faces Southeast Asia. This advantageous location makes the city a commercial and communication center, opening China to Southeast Asia.

Pleasant climate endows the city with evergreen trees and fragrant flowers all year round, hence the name 'Green City.' In such a beautiful land, more than 30 ethnic minority groups have been living harmoniously for 1,680 years. Zhuang is the largest minority group of China. Over 90 % of them live in Guangxi. Their history and ethnic culture add charm to the city.Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Province, is not only the political, economic and cultural center of the province, but also plays an important role in the economic development of southwest China. Nanning borders Vietnam, is neighbor to Guangzhou, close to Hong Kong and Macau, and faces Southeast Asia. This advantageous location makes the city a commercial and communication center, opening China to Southeast Asia.