Dec 21st

Mischief.  Orneriness.  They ooooze from these pores.  She's just as silly with us as if she'd always known us.

December 20th Ningbo and Enmei Orphanage

Skyline of Hangzhou
We were told these are farmers' houses!  Slightly different from home!

Today we made the adoption final!  Our hotel was in Hangzhou (the capital), where we finalized the adoption (first stop), and we had to travel to Ningbo to apply for Jada's passport.  On the way we picked up the orphanage assistant director who took us to lunch at a farmer's home/restaurant, then we got to visit the orphanage!  We took so many pictures, and I have many to share!  ;o)  We got to take pictures of her classmates and they allowed us to see her room, her classroom, watch a music class and take pictures on the playground!  It was very rushed because we had to get to downtown Ningbo to apply for the passport after that.  It all went very smoothly, but Jada got sick several times in the van from motion sickness.  It didn't help that she has a rotten cold with a very runny nose.  We got home very late.  It was a successful, good, and hard day.  We are still thanking God for His care and provision.

Jada Day!!! December 19th

First sight

Catch me if you can.
It took her about a half hour to warm up to us.  We basically followed her around the room until she was ready to talk to us.  There were no tears, she just wasn't sure about us.  She seems to accept and trust us already.  Playing the chase me game makes her deliriously happy.

First try with the sippy cup.  It quickly became her beloved.



Loving on Jada while she sucks down her yogurt.  The girl can put away the food.  She had gotten car sick on the way over so they quickly had given her snacks.  She left with us without even seeming concerned.  We even took a potty break before leaving the civil affairs office and she went without any fuss.  She is a tough, brave little girl.  We are amazed and thankful for how wonderfully she is adjusting!

Forbidden City, Silk Factory, and Snack street with new friends

The Forbidden City pics will have to be added later because we have those on the video camera.

Laith at breakfast...a happy man.

Pulling silk at the silk factory

Snack Street
We just took pictures and giggled a lot.  We did NOT partake.

Apparently people really eat these things.  It smells like it looks.  The sheep "parts" shocked me.

cow stomach...really
Sarah said it was a lot like chewing on a rubber band. 

Scorpions! 

The Morning Star Family Home director and her family were very gracious to us and took us to dinner, a Chinese flea market kind of place, and guided us through snack street!

More photos

Our hotel lobby in Beijing

Riley with our new friends Andrew & Sarah

The Hot Pot

(now known to us as the infamous hot pot restaurant that serves scary food)

Laith eating meat on a stick

(later to be identified as lamb, actually very good)

It was here at The Hot Pot that Riley first tasted jelly fish.  They also served us cow stomach.  We did not try that...we thought it looked like tongue because it seemed to be covered with taste buds! 

Beijing!

We're here! Today was the Great Wall!

Riley loved the wall!  He "just" wanted to go to the top!  We made it to tower number nine before calling it a day.  My legs were jello on the way down, but ole Riles was going strong.  It was very cold...literally freezing, but we stayed warm from the steep climb.

The Big Sister

Jada will have some big shoes to fill at our house! Spunk and sheer orneriness ooze from her big sister Hope. She's gonna love having a little sister. By this time next month I'm sure she will have convinced our sweet Jada into thinking she is also a puppy just like Hope is most of the time.

I love this girl. She is one energetic wire. I'm going to miss her...and her birthday. But praise God! The day after her birthday, we will be bringing her new sister home in time for her birthday party!

Amazing.



Hold on Jada baby, we're coming.