Grace’s maiden flight brings her and her family to the White Swan Hotel. She did very well on her first plane trip. Our flight was approximately one hour and she slept, imagine that?! Our strategy was; a small dose of Benadryl, a bottle of formula on take off, and plenty of “reading material”. Once all of her needs were met, she resigned herself to a nap for the duration. Upon arrival in Guangzhou, we were reunited with Lily (oh lilylilylily) and then transported to the White Swan Hotel. It is as nice as everyone before us has described. Our rooms are elegant, although smaller than the one at the Lake Side Hotel. We will adjust! Our view over the Pearl River is very colorful, especially at night. The boats and buildings are outlined in bright neon lights. It’s fun to watch all the colors rollin’ down the river. We are looking forward to exploring ShaMian Island tomorrow.
Grace will be eight months old tomorrow! Everyday she shows more personality. She is very responsive to touch. When we brush her hair she gets a dreamy eyed look about her. Though when tired, it is very evident that she seeks her “comfort zone” on my left shoulder. When sleepy time comes, she starts to chant, aye yai yai, aye yayaiyai…sing it to yourself and some of you may recognize the tune that we now sing with her. …Buffalo Soldier (Bob Marley). So now we have Jack singing ‘Smoke on the Water” and Grace singing reggae! She fits right in to this family already.
Grace has had her bath, a bottle, and reggae’d (oh the spell check doesn’t like that one!) herself to sleep in my arms while I dictated today’s journal to Mom. Signing off for now.
Love
Sarah, Don and Grace
Candie(Gram) and Kevin
Grace loves her Cousin Kevin
Grace reading the airline safety card
Strike a pose at the White Swan lobby
August 20 -- 1st Day In Guangzhou
This morning we visited the Chen Clan Temple here in Guangzhou. It was built in the 1890s and has nine halls and six courtyards. It is now the largest, best preserved, and decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province. The decoration combines woodcarving, brick carving, stone carving, clay sculpture, ash sculpture, brass and iron foundry, grotto, paintings, and other art forms. While viewing the temple we got to see many artworks, silk weaving, statues (Story of Ah Q) and fascinating craftsmanship. All of the trees, plants, and different shades of color that are present in the temple mesmerized Grace.
Afterwards we went to the Porcelain and Jade Store, which is very nice and elegant. There are lots of bone carvings, jade, porcelain, and woodcarvings. Mommy and Daddy picked out an elegant rooster jade for Grace because she was born in the Year of the Rooster. A lot of the salespeople encourage us to buy something, and will follow you around to assist us if we found something we liked. While at the Porcelain and Jade store Mommy and Daddy met a young couple from Wichita, KS. The wife grew up in Roeland Park, KS and went to Shawnee Mission North. That made for interesting conversation because Daddy grew up in Overland Park, KS and went to Shawnee Mission West – a rival high school. We had lots to talk about. We also met a couple staying in the White Swan that lives down the road from us maybe five minutes away. We will be able to keep in touch and our girls will see each other to play with.
We walked around the local ShaMian Island shops to see what was available, and bought a few pair of squeaky shoes for Grace. Ran into “Jordan” (owner of “Jordan’s” shop) while walking around and was invited to his shop for a free gift for Grace. Jordan wrote her English name in Pinyin and to the side translated the meaning of each character. For dinner we went to “Lucy’s Bar & Café” for, since it has been the topic of every journal we read from others who have visited. Everything that has been said is true – good food, friendly hosts, and very affordable prices. Got to see the “Las Vegas” style light and music show that occurs along the Pearl River walkway every night at 8:00 pm. Imagine walking down Las Vegas Boulevard and seeing all the synchronized lights and music dancing in the sky.
Don, Sarah, & Grace
Candie-Gram & Kevin
Adoption Barbie's for Grace
Welcome to Sarah's new world
Entry to Chen Clan Academy
August 21 -- Physical Examination Day
Today we took Grace to the Medical Clinic for her physical examination. She now weighs 16 lbs, her height is 27”, head measurement is 44 cm, and ENT was normal. She had lots of fun with the ear exam as the doctor was using a rattle for her right ear, and a toy electronic keyboard for the other ear. The doctor would shake the rattle and Grace would turn right, then immediately the doctor would play music on the keyboard and Grace swings her head in the opposite direction. This went on for a few minutes back and forth. Then the doctor checked her throat with a tongue suppressor and eyes with a small light. Through all this Grace was a true champion, not one time did she cry or get upset. After this another doctor checked her body and limbs for any abnormalities. Once complete the doctors said she is healthy, and we are finished with her exam.
We came back to the hotel to complete paperwork for the American Embassy. Lily (our coordinator) was very helpful, as we did not know how to fill out this portion of the paperwork. Tomorrow Lily will take all the paperwork to the American Embassy and call us at 12:00 noon to let us know if everything is complete. If so, then we are free for the remainder of the day. Our actual Oath Taking appointment day will be this Wednesday at 4:00 pm. Once Lily left we put Grace down for a nap while CandieGram and Kevin walked around the hotel.
About 3:30 Grace woke up just in time for a fresh bottle. Mom and Dad thought it would be a good idea to ask CandieGram to watch Grace so that we could go down and get something to eat. Kevin and Candiegram took Grace to the pool while we ate, then we would join them after we finished eating. Kevin told us that Grace got all excited when she got near the waterfall in her floating zebra. When we got to the pool Grace was floating in the water with CandieGram and Kevin was making her laugh by blowing bubbles. When Mom and Dad got into the pool Grace got so excited that she started kicking her legs and laughing. Mommy took Grace over to the waterfall with CandieGram and Kevin so that Daddy could take a picture. Again Grace got so excited to be near the waterfall. We noticed Grace starting to yawn, so we knew it was a good time for her short nap. Well going to sign off for now, but to all our friends and family we want to send our love.
