Happy New Year!!

It's been 2006 for almost 6 hours here in Beijing!

After a very long cold day we came back to the room and crashed at about 7:30pm. The day started with a ride to Tianemen Square and the Forbidden City.
The forcast, I thought, was for 35-40 degree weather, I therefore wasn't as
concerned about having as many layers as I thought I would need if it had been below freezing, big mistake, I don't know what the actual temperature was but I should have worn my long johns and been sure everyone had many layers and and warmer socks on. It was cold!

The hardest part was the Forbidden City. It is an amazing place with an incredible history and we got some great pictures but after walking for 2hours in the cold, we were ready to go home for the day.
They kept us going though, the pearl factory was next, we were glad it was indoors. I wasn't planning on buying anything in Beijing but having the opportunity to shop without a baby won over, and we decided to purchase some strands of pink pearls which we had made into little bracelets for all the little girls in our family. I got some black pearl earrings for myself. I think they were ok prices.

Next stop lunch, everything was very good. They served a variety of dishes family style on a huge lazy susan. It was very strange though our plates were the size of a tea saucer so you just eat a little at a time, and most of us used chop sticks.

After that it was back out into the cold to the Summer Palace. The tour wasn't nearly as long as the Forbidden City so it wasn't too bad. It was a beautiful place. The Summer Palace was built so that the emperor could have a place to come on vacations where he could enjoy views of various places from all over China which were built to scale on these grounds. There is a huge manmade lake which was frozen over, people were walking out on the ice and many were iceskating in the distance. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of it because all our batteries were dead. Many in our group did though so I am sure they will share.

We then went to the silk factory/museum/store. They showed us how the silk is extracted from the cocoons of the silk worm, and how they use the twin cocoons for the manufacture of quilts. We then again had the opportunity to buy :-) I bought 3 silk girl's dresses.

Because it was New Years Eve they gave us our Peking Duck dinner last night instead of tonight. I wish I had some pictures of this place it was pretty cool. As we were having dinner it still seemed unreal that we were actually in China for the purpose of bringing home Ruth. All this touring was great and will become a wonderful expereince with many memories, but we are anxious to get to Gaungzhou and meet our little girls.

I haven't been able to view the blog and can't seem to get the pictures to line up so forgive the randomness of it all. We ThankGod for all of you it's such a blessing to know you are all watching us and praying for us!! speaking of prayer, Anna has a cough that doesn't seem to be acompanied by a fever but please pray it doesn't get any worse and that all of us would be spared from any sickness. Thanks!


Here are some pictures of Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City:

Beijing and we didn't Bust

My computer says it is 10:07 am but my china time watch says 11:11pm...

We just got in and being the computer junkies we are we hooked up the laptop before unpacking :-)

Looking back it wasn't too bad but it has been long! The flight from Detroit to Tokyo was 14 hours, And it was never dark we were following the sun. They fed us often but it was tough on us all, my legs were cramping pretty bad by the end of that flight. I think we all were able to catch a few z's.

A highlight of the long flight that helped to make the time go by was talking with a Chinese man from Beijing who was on the way back from America. He had just given his life to Christ while in Texas and was very excited about it. Wayne talked with him for hours on and off about the bible and his conversion, we were playing musical chairs quite abit so Ryan, Wayne and I all got to talk to him. Please pray for him as he was communist before he left China and he is going back as a new creation, pray his faith will not waver. He met lots of christians while in America who he obviously grew very fond of, and we were able to share the sovereigngraceministries website with him so he can continue to hear good preaching.

The next flight didn't start off real well, they singled out Ryan to search, and was she thourough! He happened to be carrying my bag and his back pack, she opened every bottle of lotion looked through every pocket, we were the last on that plane, I was tempted to cojplain but it all worked out, and that flight turned out to be the best, Praise God!

They had personal movie screens for every seat, and I was so tired by then I really slept.
We have a busy day tomorrow so I won't say much more, but here are a few pictures of new friends from our travel group and some of the airports we were in today.
















This is the Detroit Airport they have an indoor train that we hope to have a chance to ride on the way home.








Bill and Tiffaney Shields in Detroit, We'll be with them alot the next couple of weeks. Our babies are from the same province but not the same orphanage.







Brandon and Steve Scarbel from NC, on the way to Tokyo.
They made it Lori;-)

Carrie and Dennis Crossen the other half of the NC crew.

12 hours to go

We are ready to go...this is it signing off till we get to Beijing, if there is any way possible I will post before we get there, just cause it will give me something to do.

Love you all, Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!!

Martha

Count Down to Take Off

24 hours and we will be on our way to the airport for the first leg of our journey to China.
The packing is done, the house is almost clean and our bills are paid :-)

Pippin the puppy is going to our friends this morning(God Bless them) doesn't he look sad?

Gertie will be staying home enjoying a break from Pippin! Uncle Mike will be home with Gertie.
Doesn't she look happy?


I will be running some last minute errands, Wayne will be collecting our Travelers Checks, etc...

I had a dream last night that we had Ruth we were in China, she was holding a bottle by herself and just looking at us, I think she was laying on a bean bag chair similar to the one Pippin is on in the picture. She looked different than her referral pictures.

We been dreaming and waiting and thinking about this so long it is hard to beleive it is truly about to happen. I find myself with a mixture of gleeful anticipation and anxious dread, what are we getting ourselves into?? but what a joy to have a little one!! The age she is has always been my favorite age to be around, they are oh so cute and need you oh so much. It is a good age to adopt because she will need us and that will help encourage our attachment to one another.

That is often a concern when adopting especially when they have been in an orphanage with many caretakers, they haven't learned to make attachments to one or two people and may have to start from the beginning with us. This may mean digressing to lots of holding while feeding at an age when they are usually becoming more independent. It is important also that we limit her care and holding to only the immediate family so she can make her attachments with us.

I hope to add more pictures to our posts as we get closer to China, we are looking forward to meeting those in our travel group. Alot of them will be on the long flight from Detroit to Tokyo.

We'd love to hear from you all so please post comments.
Martha

Our Travel Intinerary and Prayer List

December 29th – January 12th

Thursday, Dec. 29 Depart for China
Flight: NW 1401 at 9:24am

Friday, Dec. 30 Arrive in Beijing
Flight: NW 11 at 9:15pm

Saturday, Dec. 31 Beijing Sight-Seeing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden
City, & Summer Palace (Lunch & Dinner Included)

Sunday, Jan 1 Church service & Great Wall (Lunch & Beijing Duck
Dinner Included)

Monday, Jan 2 Morning flight to Guangzhou

Tuesday, Jan 3 Meet Ruth Kay ChenNi!

January 4-8 Paperwork, Sight-seeing, Shopping & Downtime

Monday, Jan. 9 Ruth Kay’s Medical Exam.
Filling out Consulate Forms

Tuesday, Jan 10 Consulate Appointment at 9:00am

Wednesday, Jan 11 Pick up Ruth Kay’s Visa at 4:00pm

Thursday, Jan 12 Depart from Guangzhou
Flight: NW 10 at 8:30am


Someone who has been there and done that put together this prayer list for us

1. Safety as they travel.
2. Good Health - Many people get sick when they travel and eat different foods. They will also be going to very cold weather, but still want to be outside touring the sights of China (such as the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tinneman Square, etc.). Also, many of the babies are sick with colds, coughs and ear infections, so pray for good health for Ruth, too. Pray that any medicines they may need would be readily available.
3. Paperwork - Pray that the paperwork required in China to complete their adoption would go smoothly with no glitches, as well as the paperwork to get Ruth's visa to allow her into the US.
4. Bonding - Pray that Ruth would bond quickly to Wayne and Martha. Many babies are scared initally, so also pray for sustaining grace and peace during this adjustment period.
5. Home - That their dogs left at home would be well cared for and that no problems would arise while Wayne and Martha are half way around the world.( she originally had children in there but they are coming with us) We are leaving our two dogs though in two different places so we do hope their caretakers will not get weary...
6. Return - That Ruth would do well on the 24-hour trek home on the long plane trip. The first week home is the most physically draining part of the adoption journey. Pray that "re-entry" would not be too difficult. Wayne and Martha will be exhausted when they return and their body clocks will be 1/2 day off (opposite of US time). They will make themselves adjust back to US time out of necessity to care for their family, work, etc., but Ruth will be wanting to sleep during the day and be awake at night. So on top of being exhausted from their trip, there can be many sleepness nights as well. So pray that Ruth will quickly transition to US time.
7. Ruth - Pray that God will be preparing Ruth's heart for the family that He created her for; that she will feel her family's love for her and will feel secure with them; and that she will learn of her heavenly Father's love for her through them.

Merry Chirstmas!!

At our Christmas service on Christmas Eve we celebrated the birth of Jesus and His gift of salvation to us! It was an incredible reminder of His goodness towards us not just through the planned events of the evening(which were wonderful in themselves) but through fellowship with our dearest friends on earth.

And now we are 3 days away from hoping on a plane to China. I have a list a mile long and am slowly but surely working through it. Our washing machine broke last week, so it will be off to the laundry mat tomorrow to get all the laundry done so I can finish packing. I'm so close...

We had a wonderful Christmas Day, I am blessed by wonderful children who were all very grateful for everything they got. They are a treasure to me, and we can't wait to add Ruth to the bunch.

I will post our intenerary in a separate post.
~Martha

I'm Ready

I could finish packing tonight and leave tomorrow. We got our last Hep AB shots, got my hair cut, I don't have anything left to do, well except the laundry but that will be there always right?

Ah but Christmas, we still have Christmas, and while that day is usually the pinnacle of the season this year it is different. We won't forget the true meaning of Christmas, how God humbled himself to come to earth in the form of an infant to conquer sin and death by bearing the penalty of our sin upon himself, that is something we remember every day, and especially at Christmas as it is a time of extra celebration of this fact. This year however, we do have something other than the one day of celebration with presents and meals and time with family to look forward to.

China: where Ruth is waiting for us, more accurately where we are waiting to go. Ruth has no expectation of being united with a new family, all she has ever known and probably expects to know are her present surroundings, with the familiar routine of bottles and naps and playtimes and diaper changes. We have been praying though that some how in that one year old mind and heart God is preparing her for change...and preparing her heart to one day receive the good news of Christmas. The gospel message.

So this year Christmas has a different feel, it won't end with a meal at my sisters, that is just the beginning of our celebration, because 4 days later we'll be on a plane to China to bring Ruth into our family and one day into God's family.
Martha

Ruth Kay

Here she is the little girl we've been working for 16 months to bring home. In less than a month we'll have her home at last

Going to China

We are in the process of packing for China, buying for Christmas, cleaning the house, packing for China...
We are the Mason's and we are going to China to pick up our little girl, Ruth Kay ChenNi,
you can read about our journey to this point at www.findingruth.com

We can't think of a better Christmas present or a better way to start the year 2006. We leave on December, 29th 2005 and will return January 12th, 2006

This is the place to come to watch our journey...