Really Rachel Coming Soon

Oh my goodness, you really read our blog! That's so sweet and fun to share. Thanks for caring and following along in our own little miracle. In everyone's lives there are those times we marvel at those happenings that are truly full of bliss...an engagement, a wedding, a new birth, a trip of a lifetime, finally getting that Ph.D, etc. Well, we're in the middle of one of those, and we're thankful for the family and friends we have that surround us with lots of "ooohs" and "ahhhs". Ultimately our Great Redeemer is the true deliverer of our new daughter. We give all praise and glory to God for His very real love.

So, the transition has been wonderful. The jet-lag not so wonderful, but certainly over now that's it's officially been 1-month this week. Rachel has had many milestones including walking, 6 new teeth, a first Father's Day, lots of food fun, swimming, etc. We're starting a new blog to chronicle Rachel's first year with us to log all those pricelss moments. The new blog address is: www.really-rachel.blogspot.com We'll start updating soon!

Arriving on A Jet Plane Saturday

WE ARE HOME! We landed DFW at 9:16 a.m. Saturday getting the "honor" to wait in immigration for a solid hour. Unlike China or Japan, DFW Immigration had no lanes for priority-special cases. A good hundred strong, we waited. Rachel and Elizabeth were so wonderful to wait patiently. We finally got to approach an inspector only to be escorted to a detaining office where more paperwork and processing is performed. Didn't matter we were a honest family waiting with a baby. We were to wait with everyone else. The odd thing was that when they finally did get to our paperwork, they only stamped it 3-times and sent us on our way. Seriously folks, nothing logical or streamlined in today's DFW immigration experience. OK, rant over. Ha ha.

We breezed through customs with baggage and finally saw the EXIT sign. Boy, did that look good! The doors opened and we were greeted with great "Hoorays!". Wow! What a great surprise to see everyone! Noah, Simon, Nana, Papa & Grammy, David & Abby, Becky & Zoey, Robert & Lisa, and DeLynn! Thank you all so much for waiting for us! Words are truly inadequate to share how our hearts are filled with friends who delight in coming to a busy airport on a Saturday morning. We won't forget that celebration.

We arrived home to another celebration that Nana and the boys put together with balloons, surprises, and colored paper-chain decorations along with a Sasser Welcome basket! It was great to see our boys grinning so much with excitement. Coming together again today was so tremendously joyful. We are thankful for this day the LORD has truly made.

Leaving On A Jet Plane Friday

Wow, we were really on our way home! We checked out of our Guangzhou hotel Friday morning and were on a shuttle to Guangzhou airport by 11:30 a.m. Our guide, Bob, really took great care of us. He walked us in to ensure all our bags were checked all the way through to Dallas and walked us to security. We were aboard Japan Airlines at 2 p.m. and had a really good flight thanks to the crew. The JAL staff made sure we had the best seats and constantly checked on us to make sure Rachel and Elizabeth were having a good flight. That was so nice. In fact, we found our Japan overnighter nice altogether. We spent one night at the Hilton Narita and enjoyed the rest before our BIG Saturday flight back to Dallas.

After a 8 a.m. breakfast, we were aboard a really crowded morning shuttle to Tokyo-Narita Airport. Wow, I knew Japan was expensive...but two meals in Japan was one week in China. Ha ha. After walking a good mile through Narita terminals, we arrived to gate 77 where we enjoyed a short break. They had a play area for kiddos. We were the first to board and had almost the entire middle row on aisle 22. The plane departed at 11:30 Saturday local time. Our flight of 12 hours officially began...

As much as we could, we prepared ourselves for a tough trip knowing that Rachel loves to sleep on her back. So, suffice it to say we were holding our beautiful but fussy Rachel XiaoMei the entire way. And, since she's a daddy's girl, Randy was a trooper. But thankfully knowing we were officially going home, made each passing hour that much closer.

Have Passport Will Travel

Today we completed our last task! We had out US Consulate appointment in downtown at 3:00. We waited for a very short while and were soon sworn in by a US Consulate officer. He, himself, has adopted twice from China so it was nice to receive his sincerest congratulations. Not any pomp and circumstance, just a formality. But we're celebrating! Since no cameras were allowed, we took a quick snapshot of Rachel as soon as we returned to our hotel room. She's holding her Chinese passport and seated next to her packet of documents that will assure her of US Citizenship status once we land in Dallas.

Tonight we shared our last dinner with the Pophams at the local Lucy's restaurant. We had ice cream at the local deli. Elizabeth had coconut. I had ginger, and Randy & Rachel had mango. Yummy.

We're all packed and ready to board our flight to Tokyo tomorrow, Friday. We will spend one night in Tokyo. We fly Saturday to Dallas. That means we arrive DFW Airport at Terminal D on American Airlines fight #176 at 9:05 a.m. Saturday, May 24 Dallas time! Pray for our flight...Miss Rachel XiaoMei does not like to sit still any longer and that 13-hour flight is making us somewhat anxious! :o)

To quote Elizabeth: "Tomorrow's the big day! It's going to be short, right?"

A side note and prayer: We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of 5-year old Marie, daughter to Steven Curtis & Mary Best Chapman. It was their own stories of adoption from China that God used them to bring us here. Please pray for this darling family as they grieve. Lots of Love and Hugs from China.

Red Couch Wednesday

The tradition here in Guangzhou for adoptive families is to get the classic photo of the kiddos sitting on a famous red couch at the popular local hotel, The White Swan. If you were to even Google the White Swan red couch you might see over 3,000 hits. We strolled over about 11:30 this morning with our little girls dressed in traditional Chinese dresses. James, Amy, and Marossi joined us as this has been a journey together, so it's really important to get the girls together.

Not that it promises smiles for the camera! Rachel did NOT enjoy having to sit still on a foreign couch. So we got better shots with her prancing around the floor. Elizabeth joined in by posing in her own choice of dress and shoes. She's looking forward to wearing them to her last day of school, too. It was a sweet time that we are very glad we did. It's a double scrapbook entry for sure.

This morning at 10:30, our adoption guide, Bob, phoned to confirm all of our documents are in good order for our US Consulate appointment tomorrow, Thursday. This is yet another milestone, the official "green light" for our final formalities! Tomorrow at 2:45 we will depart for the consulate. This can be a long process because after our appointment is the swearing-in cremony where Rachel XiaoMei begins her US Citizenship!

We spent the remainder of the day having lunch from a local deli and finishing up shopping errands. Randy and the girls went for another walk. And we finished downloading the boys performance at church; it looked GREAT. Super job Noah and Simon! Thanks to everyone who said hello via Allicam, too. We're ready to start packing tomorrow~

Umbrella Included

Now we know why our hotel rooms come with complimentary umbrellas. Rain has finally arrived Guangzhou. It's the rainy season anyway, but we sure haven't seen a drop until yesterday. Today it really came down...the day I decided to get all the last errands complete, of course. Randy enjoyed a day in with the girls as I walked to and fro on the island. And since Rachel isn't crazy about her hairbands, I actually grabbed one for myself! After the third time of drying my hair, I welcomed hairband status.

We got a GREAT surprise this morning. Simon and Noah were in our church's children's choir production on Sunday, and Noah had a speaking part. We missed it being here. But in our email inbox this morning, we received a link from Mike Barnett of the entire show plus "Allicam" Interviews with our friends! Elizabeth liked watching her friends sing, too. As her friends sang, Elizabeth sang and acted out the moves, too. Sweet. Thanks Mike, I just put on mascara when we launched it! :o) Noah, Simon you looked great! Thank you for sending us messages! And thanks Alli for reporting LIVE!

Rachel has REALLY come along. People told us "just wait until you have her a week." They were right. She is acting like our little girl with giggles, unlimited crawling, great appetite, playful, and actually beginning to walk. Have we mentioned her shoes yet? She LOVES putting on shoes. Hers and ours. :o)

And the bath is a SUCCESS! Randy really worked with her by gradually introducing her to the water. By the time she was fully in, she no longer noticed and just splashed and smiled. Yeah, another milestone! She also loves to walk and often crawls to the door waiting for me to take her for a stroll.

Tonight she had her favorite chicken congee (cooked down rice-porridge), noodles, and veggies. We enjoyed another dinner with James, Amy, and Marossi. We're going to miss them soon. It's been a wonderful time spending this journey with this sweet Oklahoma family.

But we are so anxious to get home to our own family and celebrate! Three more days until we board our flight back.

Finding Rachel Finding Us

Early this morning, Monday, after a 2 1/2 hour drive south to En Ping in constant rain, we were warmly greeted by Rachel's orphanage director. The director drove out to meet us at an intersection in town. We then followed her through the back roads and dirt roads to arrive to the En Ping Social Welfare Institute (Enping SWI). What we found was a very nice place. We were greeted by all the staff including Rachel's two caretakers. Several other workers were nice enough to say hello and hold her once more. The director presented us with two handmade palmtree fans especially from Southern Guangdong. We will keep these as warm reminders of her beginning.

This orphanage was very gracious with their time. Turns out, it's not only an orphanage, it's also an elderly care center (like a nursing home). There are over 300 senior citizens on two floors with the children on the 3rd floor. Right now, they only have 6 children. We got to meet each one. We saw everything from where Rachel slept, to where she played, to meeting her "best friend". Her "best friend" is 3 years old and was wearing one of the new dresses we brought from Texas. Randy's Mom and friends from her church-building group handmade over 30 dresses and shorts for us to donate to Rachel's orphanage. The director was very pleased to show us the dresses fit perfectly and will be put to good use for many children. In all, the SWI has an outdoor feel because every room opens to a beautiful courtyard. So, it was truly a pleasant place to visit. Every worker had a smile.

The director then drove us to Rachel's "FINDING PLACE"; where as a baby she was discovered before being brought to the orphanage. On February 25, 2007 Rachel was left as the newest of newborns in an area where a kind stranger found her and was immediately cared for by the orphanage doctor. Experiencing this finding place left us with a myriad of emotions, and we are grateful for our true little miracle, because she truly is. Her finding place story is her own to share some day.

On that note, they also say it was raining that day just like today. As we returned to our room around 2:30 local time, we were startled by the emergency alarms going off countrywide. This was a somber reminder and moment of silence for last week's earthquake in Sichuan province. Thus giving us a quiet, reflective day altogether. We are thankful. We are blessed beyond measure.

An Orphanage And A Finding Place

Monday, 19 May at 7:00 a.m. we will drive for 2-hours, 100 kms, south to Rachel's orphanage. They are allowing us to visit. We now hear that they also know the place where Rachel XiaoMei was found. We get to visit that site, too. In China adoption, the finding place is very important. It is the first stepping stone from where our daughter was "born".

A very wonderful side note, one of the local store owners on our Shamian Island, Jordan, told us his father is from Rachel's same small city. He was so sentimental and gave us a lot of information on the city and its local country dialect. It was after our conversation with him on Tuesday that we decided to go. How could we not now?

We look forward on reporting on our day tomorrow. Please pray for safe journey and ample time to take it all in. :o)

Little Pearls

Today is Sunday and we spent the day thankful to the LORD for his great provision here. We toured another garden but cut the stroll short because the stairs were just too much for stroller-bound babies. The gardens here are more like preserved forests full of bamboo, lotus, enormous trees, and assorted plants and flowers. The park we toured today had the Guangzhou famed goat sculpture. Guangzhou means city of the goat. An old tale tells of a goat bringing rice in his mouth from afar to end the famine that struck this city centuries ago.

After the park, we shopped the local "Woo"-Mart again picking up assorted candies for the orphanage we will visit tomorrow, Monday. Thereafter we drove down the street to a the Mei Hua Pearl Company. It's there that we shopped for fresh-water pearls that were hand strung while we waited. It is said that Guangzhou is the province for the pearl. People fly from Beijing to shop for pearls here. I was very happy to have the opportunity to have two special sets made for Elizabeth and Rachel. When they turn 18, they will receive a matching necklace, bracelet, and earrings. I enjoyed a set too from my sweetie as an early Christmas gift. It's amazing how little you pay here for such extravagance. It really was a nice and special experience; one I was waiting for. Now I just wonder what the day will be like when we get to present them to our daughters. :o)

Since we must get up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, we'll say goodnight for now, but will post one more thing about the orphanage. Love!

Saturday In Full Bloom

Today we started our day early to get Rachel XiaoMei's physical examination done by the local doctor here. She checked out fine in all areas, although we have learned she does NOT like to be still for any exam whatsoever. Randy liked that she just clung to him. :o) She really is a Daddy's girl. She allows us both to hold her, but she sure likes her Daddy best!

After the doctor's appointment and getting visa photos for her, we drove to another downtown Guangzhou park. This time we visited a local botanical garden really festive in Olympics decoration. We toured this park for about 2 hours and shot some lovely photos. Rachel XiaoMei and Elizabeth really enjoyed it all and didn't get bored once! The park was in full bloom and full of steep slopes. The rose garden was really impressive. Rachel was most smitten with the Koi fish. Elizabeth loved the water misters!

We followed our very long and humid but really nice stroll with a true Cantonese lunch at a restaurant village on site. Rachel and Elizabeth played swords with chopsticks. Rachel let me feed her with chopsticks. She loved all the meats, veggies, and rice. Satisfied with that meal, we returned to our hotel to do some more paperwork for the consulate.

Tomorrow we visit another local park and enjoy a peaceful Sunday...complete with more shopping! This little island is dense with shops for adoptive families to enjoy.