Luoyang Day 2 (Friday)

First we accompanied Mike to one of the foster families homes and visited with the foster kids so Mike could take the monthly pictures for New Day. Besides "Terry" (ZT) we have sponsored "Heidi" for almost 2 1/2 years and she was in the dress we had sent her last summer and it was still large. She is a little 4 year old and has a wonderful smile - it was so nice to see her and the other New Day children and the love that their foster parents have for them. The other foster children are younger and wanted to stay close to their foster mothers. It was truly a wonderful gift to be able to join Mike on his visit. Mike passed out the pictures and letters that we had received from families that had adopted New Day Luoyang children. The mothers really enjoyed looking at them and were obviously thrilled to have the pictures and the update from these children that they loved so much. ZG gave a sucker to each of the children and then we passed out the toys and socks that we had for them. We gave Heidi some extra things, including color pencils, hair bands and princess markers, as she and Terry are older then the rest, for Terry we had a soccer ball, as our last update told of his love for soccer. We had been told that ZG's foster mother wanted us to come to her home to visit so we walked to her home a block away. It was so wonderful to meet ZG's second mother, the woman that taught him to be the loving boy that he is. We gave each other a hug and then she picked ZG up and gave him many kisses - he did very well but was a little shy. As she sat holding ZG her tears came and so did mine, I could only hold her hand. The love she had for ZG was evident as was the pain that she felt when she had to say good bye to him almost 3 years ago. She told us how a few months ago she had had a dream that she had come home to find ZG playing in their living room and here he was in her home, God is good. She is a woman of great faith and when I told her that she was a gifted mother, that she had taught ZG to be so loving, she gave all credit to God. We had a wonderful visit today and tomorrow we will have lunch together.

China 2010 Days 1-2

Traveling to China (Tuesday - Wednesday)

What a very long day it's been. It began with leaving for O'Hare at about 8:30am (Tue) and boarding for a long 13 hour+ flight to Seoul, Korea - continued with a couple of hour layover - and then finally ending with another flight from Seoul to Beijing. We connected with our ride from the airport with no problem and finally made it to our hotel room by about 8:30am (Wed. Chicago time) - for a total of 24 hours traveling time. Of course it was 9:30pm here in Beijing. Alas, we get to continue our trek tomorrow morning and head for Luoyang.

LuoYang Day 1 (Thursday)

Today we made it to Luoyang. We began with an enlightening walk through the streets of Beijing and then flew to Luoyang. Here we were met by Mike (New Day) and taken to our hotel - very nice. While at the hotel Mike arranged a meeting for us tomorrow morning with ZT and with both ZG's and ZT's foster families) We're so excited. Unfortunately we found out today that ZT's orphanage is requiring that he be brought back to the orphanage on Saturday and remain there until he is brought to Zhengzhou where he will be handed over to us on Monday morning. This will likely limit some of the "early" time we had planned on spending with him. Though the thought of this saddens us, it appears that here this is standard protocol. ZG had a nice reunion with Mike and then we went out for dinner at a local joint known for their unique dumpling creations. A feast by most standards - excellent service, a private dining room, and all we could eat with plenty of left-overs - all for a grand total of less than $8 U.S. This was somewhat special for ZG, who still remembers making dumplings with his foster mother.

We are so tired right now - it's off to dreamland for us..............

we leave in the morning

We leave in the morning.

Here we are on lake Michigan it was a beautiful day.

We have our tickets!

We leave July 13th! We'll first visit ZG's foster family and ZT will officially be with us on the 19th. We'll be staying in Luoyang for 3 nights, Zhengzhou for 5 nights and Guangzhou 8 nights. Then off to Beijing for 2 nights, where we're taking AL (17) and the boys to hike the great wall. We'll be home August 4th. Our oldest S(28) will be staying with H(14), A(9) and MY(5).

Going we'll fly Chicago, Seoul to Beijing but the return is where the excitement is we fly from Beijing to Seoul, spend the night, Seoul to Honolulu, spend the night and then home to Chicago. Crazy and insane? yes (and yes we could have flown direct for $1000 more per ticket). I love my travel agent.

the bitter sweet of international adoption

I have been emailing New Day about our upcoming visit with our son ZG’s foster family and although this part fill's me with happy tears, to be able to thank the people that taught our son to love and give them the gift of being able to spend time together again. This trip will also mark the last days that our soon to be son ZT, will be with the parents that he loves and the home that he has know for 4 years. I will be shedding many tears, for the fact that we will be taking apart this family. I understand that it has to be this way, ZT could be taken from them at anytime and returned to the orphanage and his parents are too old to adopt him (I asked), so for him to have a forever family this adoption has to happen but today it is tearing my heart apart.

Happy 8th Birthday ZT!

March 10 was ZT's 8th Birthday, ZT has been with his foster family for 4 years, this is the last brithday that he will spend with them and it looks like they gave him quite a party. These are such sad and happy times for both our families.

Give Away at New Day

New Day is giving away Z's favorite ride on toy from his time with his foster family in Luoyang.