More Exciting Adventures

The last couple of days have been filled with lots of sightseeing and shopping.

Yesterday, we went to the Pearl Market. The pearls were very beautiful, and much more reasonably priced than at home. The chinese are very proud of their fresh water pearls that come in all sizes and colours. The market is in a shopping complex with lots of other vendors selling everything from silk scarves to knock-off shoes and purses. It was great fun bartering for "deals".

In the afternoon we went to a tea ceremony, where we learned a great deal about chinese tea etiquette. Even the boys enjoyed sampling several varieties. Later that evening, we went to an acrobat show. It was really interesting and fun! The boys especially enjoyed seeing 11 girls riding one bicycle!

Today, we visited the Forbidden City, built in the 1400s. It was truly remarkable to see ancient architecture that is so well preserved. The city is very large, with 9,9991/2 rooms (of course we only saw a sampling). While there, you can just imagine the emperor reigning from his elaborate throne. This afternoon, it was back to the pearl market for more souvenir shopping.

This evening, we had a good-bye party with the other ten families in our group. It has been wonderful getting to know these amazing families and their new additions. We will really miss them! The party was complete with a magician clown and birthday cake for a sweet little six year-old boy.

Grace had a great time at the party, running around in her "squeaky" shoes and red velvet dress. We must say, she looked adorable! She was "talking" to our two chinese guides today, and they relayed to us what she was saying, which was really neat. Overall, she seems to be saying less in chinese. She answers to "Grace", "Fei Fei" and "Baby". Grace is happy most of the time, but can be a real bear when she's tired or having her diaper changed.

We can't believe that the finish line of our amazing race is almost here! We are looking forward to seeing you all when we get home.

Quiet Day

Today, Grace had a medical at the Visa Office here in Beijing. She was the only babe from our group who had to have a medical due to the paperwork route we chose to take. One of the families in our group offered to keep the boys at the hotel while we were gone, which was so sweet of them. They had a great time at the hotel ... they would have found the medical long and boring.

It was nice to just be Murray, Diane & Grace for the morning. Grace didn't like being stripped, measured and weighed, but overall it went well. We met several families from the Vancouver area and their little ones. One of the families is adopting identical twin girls!

As yesterday was long and exhausting, we decided to take the day off from sightseeing. Instead we spend several hours shopping at a local market. We didn't come home with much, but the bartering experience was fun. (We're pretty sure we were well ripped off!) We spent the evening watching a movie and having some family time. We're really going to miss spending so much time together!

Grace continues to be the life of the party, and the light of our lives!

The Great Wall!

Today we visited the Great Wall north of Beijing. It was truly amazing. Our legs are sore from the steep climbs and ascents! Pictures do not do it justice. Grace rode in a carrier on Murray's back and slept most of the time. It was a long day as we also visited a jade factory, cloissine factory and rode by the Olympic venues.

We finished the day with a bath for Grace. Up until now, Grace has hated her baths. But tonight, Benjamin jumped in and coaxed her into loving the experience (Thanks Ben!)

We're all exhausted and ready for bed!

Back to Beijing...

Grace continues to do better each day with her new forever family. She is now comfortable with all of us and readily goes to each of us while hesitating with strangers. She is such a hoot; we all enjoy her antics and expressions. She knows immediately when we're talking to her vs. each other and usually responds with a grin. She continues to talk a blue streak and is mimicking a lot of gestures. Last night was the first night that she slept through. She fusses a bit at bed time but quickly settles. Our time in Beijing is jam-packed, however Grace is very easy-going with her schedule.

Yesterday, we completed our stay in Xi'an with a visit to the city wall where Murray and the boys had a chance to rent bicycles and ride around a portion of the wall (thanks to Paul and Gillian for the idea - we loved it!), while Diane, Grace and our guide for the day (Rebecca) strolled along. The wall was built 600 years ago and is the last remaining, completely intact city wall in China. We also had a brief visit to a 1,000 year old Pagoda.

Before heading for the airport, we picked up one last very important document - Grace's passport! We flew back to Beijing last evening, met some other families at the airport and travelled together back to our hotel. Grace did very well on her first flight and slept some, but we're still a little nervous about the 13 hour flight home!

Today we photographed the children, prepared our paperwork for the Visa and Sponsorship applications and took a trip to the Beijing Zoo. The Pandas were the highlight. It was a beautiful day in Beijing to be outside enjoying the sunshine after 5 days of fog, rain, snow and sleet in Xi'an.

We are enjoying getting to know our little Gracie and are falling more and more in love with her each day.

Some pics from yesterday...

We had technical difficulties last night, so here are a few pics of yesterday's adventures...

Some more pics

Had a little technical difficulty last night so our update did not include pictures... Here's a few pics from yesterday...

The Marathon Continues...

In our haste to post earlier this week we neglected to let you in on a few details surrounding the adoption. We were hoping to meet Grace's foster mom or at least ask the nanny some questions about her life in foster care, however we did not get to meet her foster mom. Our meeting with the Director was extremely short and we did not get to ask any questions except we know she was in foster care right up to the day before we received her. Grace arrived in Xi'an one day before we did and spent the night with a nanny from the orphanage. The only things we received were a sparse photo album, an immunization record and a disposable camera which we are hoping contains photos of her with her foster mom.

We had a very good day today. Murray, Matt and Josh went on an interesting day trip, the details of which we can't disclose on the blog, but can tell you about it later. That left Mom and Ben with Grace for several hours. We had a wonderful time with her. Grace is doing so much better with me (Diane) and we are thankful for all of you who prayed. Apparently, it is quite common for toddlers to attach to one parent first (often Dad). She can now be passed between us with very little fuss. She is quite a little ham, and likes to laugh at her own antics!

Tonight we all went out for "hotpot" dinner. It was a lot of fun for the kids to boil their own food in a pot that's in the centre of the table. Thankfully, one of the restaurant staff caught on to our lack of experience, and helped us ensure our food was properly cooked! Grace was quite an attraction; she enjoyed smiling and giggling for the table of young men next to us. Afterward, we went out for a scoop of Haagen-Daas (sp?), which cost about the same as our entire dinner!

We are all feeling so blessed to have this precious little girl in our family. But wow, we've forgotten how much work a 15-month-old toddler can be - exhausting!