West Family Looking Fine

I am not quite sure what to say about these photos...except that we are one fine family! (only flaw is that we are missing our other 3).

More friends

Us with the Keuchenberg clan...and Chris/Alison Ude!

Friends from China

We made great friends in China. Bottom right: Michael & Heather (Cincy area); Top Left: Kevin and Michelle (Richmond); Middle: Ken & Amy (Milwauke). Their kids, respectively Bella, Levi, and Della.

Flashing back to last week. We had a group photo session with all 15 families...and lots of great pics as a result.

More Asher at Home

Asher has a new bed! We've begun the attempted migration:

* Sleeping with foster mother for months

* Sleeping with Alison the last 2 weeks

* Sleeping in a toddler bed next to our bed (began last night)

* Sleeping in a toddler bed across the room (in a few weeks?)

* Sleeping in Dallas' room (in a few months?)

For now this remains key issue #1: getting him to sleep more! And further from us! But we'll settle for the first for now.

More pics attached:

* playing with a "hat"

* playing with sisters

* Siblings in Chinese attire

* flying in Super Pop's arms

* walking in yard

At home with Asher.

It was fun getting home with Asher. He had fallen asleep in the last flight, so he was a little drowsy when the first photos were taken...but warmed up to his siblings quickly thereafter.

Guangzhou. Guangzhou. Guangzhou.

We're still in Guangzhou. The famous baby hotel (The White Swan)...on an island on the Pearl River. Great spot. Lots of comforts for us Westerners. 4 great days of bonding here. Gone swimming 3 times. Lots of restaurants (Asher takes an hour to eat...so he doesn't really rush our meals). Times with the other families. Its been great.

Slightly harder day for Asher today (rough sleep last night, bad naps, longer crying at bed). But he's still doing great. And he was a ton of fun with Nathan and Lori - his first visitors / family to meet him.

We go onto Hong Kong tomorrow night for 2 nights there...and then catch a quick flight to chicago and another to Pittsburgh.

Good day 2 in Guangzhou.

Twas a very nice day in Guangzhou.

* Work outs in the morning. Jason's run included a game of hackey sack with some 50-60ish women.

* We toured "the only tourist attraction in Guangzhou" - per Shiyan. The Folk Art Museum.

* We hit Lucy's for Western lunch...later the pool...nap time...dinner at Italian rest...and Starbucks.

Pictures:

* Alison and Asher in a walkway at the museum. ** Asher "stole" his first candy bar. I was actually letting him play with it and turned around to see it on / in his face and hands. *** We took him to the pool...his first time to really get in. **** The 3 of us outside the entrance to the museum. ***** The whole group went to dinner (40ish of us)...8 of us pictured at our table. ******

Asher Food

You know - if you'll read a blog post on what my son eats, then you'll read just about anything. But - I'll try to reward you (especially you Asher-fans...aka grandparents and the like) with some cute pics. The rest of you...maybe I'll have lost you from the blog forever.

Here's what is pictured: Asher with ketchup on his nose. Asher eating with another child (Cassidy). Asher eating his first ice cream (an ice cream bar on Wed night).

The People with us in Nanchang

We developed two special relationships in Guangzhou.

First - the Kuechenbergs. They are a sweet family of 6 that became a family of 7. From Indiana. Gary and Cindy with kids Anna (13), Nathaniel (12), John (that's Mr. Kuechenberg to you!) (10), Seth (5)...and new addition Mary Joy (6).

We travelled together to Nanchang. Got our children together (mad dash through crazy traffic in rain to baby building). Ate a bunch of meals together (including a buffet, another buffet, another buffet, another buffet...you get the picture). Went to a fountain/laser show at the river (and lost/found one of their children, though we don't know which one). Toured together. Worshipped together. Laughed together. Bonded together.

Second - Mary, our guide. Mary works in a government department in Nanchang...but acts as a liason for many adoption agencies in Nanchang. She, effectively, was Bethany Christian Services for us while in Nanchang. She picked us up...ushered us through the administrative steps...toured with us...got us to Western and Chinese food...etc. She spoke excellent English, has a great manner, and was a joy to work with. Plus she got my sense of humor which is an accomplishment in itself.

Last day of touring. We went to Tieneman Square. This is the large square with public govt buildings around it. And it was, of course, the site of the auspicious Tieneman Square student demonstration...I believe that was 1989.

We went to the Forbidden City - which is where the emporers lived from around 1420 to about 1920. After the last emperor, the Forbidden City became a public museum (no longer forbidden). This is in the center of Beijing.

Lots of things we saw:

- special yellow roofs (color reserved for royalty)

- 81 pegs per door (9x9)...9 believed to be the greatest number

- lots of building

- incredible human crush...like, freak-you-out-too-many-people shoving to see something

- many of the approximately 200,000 people who visited the Forbidden City today

- and amazingly, in contrast to Washington D.C., where 70% of the tourists appear to be Americans and 30% foreigners, the split at Forbidden City seemed still to be 99% Chinese...1% other.

The last thing we did was a rickshaw tour (small bike-pulled two-person wagons)...through a neighborhood of narrow streets.

So, we're glad to have seen more of Asher's country

Great Wall - A few more pics.

Just wanted to post a few more pics.

Greetings from China

We arrived in China last Monday night. So far we have visited the Panda Reserve and had some delicious Chinese cuisine, both Northeastern style and spicy Sichuan. We really like both. Yesterday we went to an amazing Acrobatics show. Today we had a big day going to the Cloisenne factory and then to the Great Wall. On the way home we drove through the 2008 Olympic village. It was a neat day.

We've been joined by the other families who will also be getting their babies/children on the trip. The children are being adopted from various provinces and the families whose children are from Beijing actually already have their children. It's been neat to see how after just a few days of being with their families, these kids really fit with their parents and seem so natural. They are all adorable. Of the families in Beijing who've gotten their children already, the oldest is an 8 year-old girl and the youngest ones are 4. I believe Asher is going to be the 2nd youngest in the group and one in a group of about half boys. The rest of us leave on Monday to go to our various provinces and pick up our children. WHOOOOOP! This is an Aggie expression for those of you not in on that.

I still keep wanting to pinch myself. It's hard to believe that in less than 48 hours we should have Asher in our arms. We are pretty wiped out this evening so we came back to the hotel and ordered Pizza Hut which tasted very good. We look forward to continuing to update you. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. So far it's been a very smooth and delightful trip with only 1 delayed flight and a little upset stomach. Praise God for that. We know that Asher's first few days could be challenging. We've heard that day 3 with your baby is a big turning point. We'll see. We know that God isn't just a "day 3" God. We know he can make the transition peaceful and smooth from the beginning even as Asher deals with a lot of fear, grief and loss. Pray for wisdom and peace and good health for all of us. We covet your prayers and support.