Exactly 1 Week Later - July 26th. (Final posting)

Note from Darlene: Well we made it home safe and sound. The trip was uneventful and Kaylee was her normal perfect little self. We sure was surprised when were met at the gate by family member's! We have such a wonderful family to drag themselves and their children to the airport at 11:00 PM to greet us and to welcome the newest family member home with ballons and a glow worm doll. Kaylee got a kick out of and kissed it all the way home; we love you all very much!! Our family also got a kick out of all of our luggage and had to take pictures while on lookers laughed!LOL There was some bad storm's in our area knocking the power out for most of the day but was on by the time we got home. My Mom, Aunt Linda and daughter had cleaned my house, stocked the fridge, made a "welcome home" banner and had ballons ever where. Did I mention we have the greatest family?

Kaylee is waking up at 3:00 AM but will usually go back to sleep within 1 hour. She loves to play during the day. Keith had to go back to work on Monday and she walked around the house looking into every room calling for her "Da Da." She gets very excited when he walks in the door and runs to greet him with kisses. You can't ask for a better greeting than that!

We have taken Kaylee out to the family farm to pick peaches and to visit. She loves peaches! In fact...I don't think Kaylee has met a food that she doesn't like except for tomatoes. She is a very healthy eater and it shows in her chubby little chipmunk cheeks! My most favorite thing she does right now, is out of the blue she will run up to me, look me in the eyes and tell me "I wuv u!" Melts my heart like butter every time!! She is like a sponge and is just soaking everything up.

Thanks to everyone for sharing in our journey and we hope you enjoyed our enteries into Kaylee's blog. Thanks for all your prayers, well wishes and God bless you all! :o)

Wednesday July 19th.

Note from Darlene: As suspected we ended up buying a total of 3 “BIG” suitcases to haul all of our newly acquired belongings home. Oh well…when in China…SHOP!! Lol

We went to the US Consulate today for the swearing in. Basisly we swore (or affirmed) that all the information and documents we provided for the adoption were true by raising our right hand and repeating after the guy in charge. We also collected Kaylee’s Chinese passport and Visa to enter the USA. Once we pass through customs in San Francisco and the customs officer stamps her passport, Kaylee officially becomes our daughter and a citizen of the United States of America. We will get her American Passport, birth certificate and social security number right away. (Keith, Per the speech there is only one Embasy in a country, usually in the capital city. The "Consulate" is like satelite embasy's in the other large cities, but effectivly it is the same thing.)

We head for Hong Kong tomorrow and don’t know if we’ll have Internet access or not so this could be the last entry until we arrive home. We are staying at “Disney’s Hollywood Hotel” in Hong Kong this time; we thought it might be fun for Kaylee. On Friday we board a plane to come home. It’s been a wonderful trip, nothing but positive things to say about our daughter’s homeland; it’s truly been amazing! I hope we can return when Kaylee is old enough to understand and to appreciate her culture.

By the way, Keith wanted to make sure and have me mention that if you’re coming to Guangzhou, bring a license plate from an automobile in your home state. Lucy’s has them plastered all over the walls of their restaraunt. :o)

Tuesday July 18th.

Note from Darlene: Another free day. We started with breakfast and then all of us took an early morning nap. I think everything finally caught up with me today; I’m feeling a little sluggish. The rain has stopped (knock on wood) and there was a wonderful breeze from the Pearl River as we strolled along it this morning. It sure did help with the heat. I would describe the heat as what one might experience in a tropical rain forest or jungle. It doesn’t take very long for your clothes to be soaking wet and clinging to your body…UGH! That’s the worst I can say about Guangzhou…the rest has been a wonderful experience and I find myself feeling sad to have to be leaving in 2 days.

Good thing we have another passenger for the ride home, we have to buy one (probably two) more suitcases to haul all our treasures home in. Keith made sure that we got Kaylee a lot of items from her homeland so that she will hopefully know someday that we treasure her heritage.

We stopped at a park and I got out the bubbles. The local children were shy at first but with the approval of their parents they started having such a good time trying to catch them and it made Kaylee giggle. It’s the little things in life that make it great!!
Tomorrow is our last day in Mainland China and we will travel to the US Consulate for the Visa ceremony and swearing in then we’re heading to Hong Kong

Keith... I added some pictures. A typical market store. The ship that is not quite here yet. A statue of the changing women of china. There are neat statues like this all over.

Monday July 17th

Note from Darlene: Free day. Took another crazy taxi drive through Guangzhou. We toured the Six Ban Yan Temple and while we were there a monk blessed Kaylee. Not that we believe in any other God, it just seemed fitting since this is her homeland. She will know that the only Lord we serve is our heavenly Father. Inside the main temple were three huge golden Buda’s. Incense was burned everywhere and the smell of sandalwood hung heavily in the air. We found it quite mystical.

Keith… I climbed to the top of the temple. The steps and doorways get smaller as you went higher. Fairly scary at the top looking over the flimsy railing. I’d hate to be the roofer. Then roamed around the island and did some more shopping. Kaylee was wonderful and sat or slept in her stroller. Never grabbing at things or fussing to get out. She is quite the little angel...
On our Island I snapped a picture of a Chinese Bride. We have seen several get their wedding pictures here.
Also, In spite of what you may have heard, there is no flooding going on here. A little rain maybe, but no flooding.
There is a reproduction of old sailing ship due to port here in a few days. An exact copy of the “Gotheborg” from Sweden is on its way. Sweden’s King and Queen are coming to see it. It is retracing its ill-fated journey from 1745. On the original trip, which took 2+ years, it made it within sight of its homeport, then hit a rock and sank. You can read more at http://www.gotheborg.com/project/index.shtml

Sunday July 16th.

Note from Darlene: It is still raining, a huge break from the heat we have experienced since we have arrived. After breakfast we went to the Christian Chapel of Guangdong on Shamain Island. The service was very interesting; they sang and had the sermon in both Chinese and English. Kaylee was very well behaved (as normal) and it was a great experience for Keith and I. We thanked God in prayer for our new daughter and the wonderful experience of visiting our daughter’s homeland. There was a mix of Chinese and American families. A little Chinese boy who sat behind us gave Kaylee a Chinese cookie and Chinese fruit. We gave him some American animal crackers.

We went shopping afterwards and then for a dip in the pool. For anyone interesed, my husband has turned into a "shop-a-holic"...so unlike him!! Kaylee loves to go swimming and is pretty much fearless when she is in our arms. We had dinner at a restaurant right across from our hotel called, "2nd Avenue." The three of us split a dinner of lobster thermadore and pasta with shrimp & vegtables. We have been eating very well here for half the price (if not less) that it would cost us back home. All the Chinese people ask us where Kaylee is from and when we tell them Shantou they tell us that all the Shantou ladies have beautiful skin and that Kaylee has the desired shape of eye's by the women here. They said she will have many boyfriends, her Daddy just growled at this comment. They also wanted to see pic's of our other children and when we showed them they thought Tiffany and Alyssa were American movie stars and that Ray must surely be an American football star! LOL. Note from Keith.... It's not me who is sporting Prada sandals, Gucci purses, and a Rolex watch... Keith

Saturday 15th.

Note from Darlene: It pretty much poured down rain all day today. That didn’t stop the 3 of us though! We went shopping around the Island in the morning. Then we met our guide, Mary along with Jane, Bert & Elizabeth and headed to the toy market. They had some neat stuff but we settled on a basket of plastic food and dishes for Kaylee. She has been serving us imaginary food on the little plastic plates and tea in the little cups ever since. Quite delicious! LOL

After the toy market we all went to the largest McDonalds in Guangzhou. Kaylee had her first happy meal, Keith had a Big Mac and I had some sort of sandwich that resembled a gyro. It was all very tasty and Keith said his sandwich tasted the same as back home.

After a nap we went to dinner at a place called the “Locomotive Restaurant.” It was an upper scale restaurant and was actually a train dining car. We ordered a dinner for 2, which started with escargot and rabbit pate’. It was very good and Kaylee like the rabbit. Then they served us a steak made of beef and some red wine called, “The Great Wall.” It was one of the best wines I’ve ever had. They then served us pizza with ham and pineapple. We were so stuffed after that, that we said no thank you to the ice cream and coffee. Kaylee had her first strawberry shake (that we know of) and finished every bit of it!

We then jogged to our hotel in the pouring rain with Kaylee giggling the whole way. She had a warm bubble bath, a warm bottle of formula afterwards and went right to sleep. We have no idea what we did right to be blessed with this little angel but we thank God daily.

Friday July 14th.

Note from Darlene:
First and foremost…”HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!” Man, do we have a great birthday present for you this year…a new grand daughter!! :o)

We ran into the couple with the sick baby this afternoon. The doctor at the White Swan hotel put her on antibiotics and she is receiving breathing treatments for bronchitis and tonsillitis. He also gave them something to bring down her fever. Her color was so much better, Keith and I were so relieved to know that she was ok. Her parents said that the doctor at the White Swan was very nice and personable; they were very pleased with the care their daughter received.

We all went shopping today, sight seeing on the island and swimming in the afternoon. When Kaylee is tired she will whimper and big crocodile tears will roll down her face. It breaks my heart to see this so we quickly wrap up what ever we’re doing and head back to the hotel. She likes a warm bottle of formula at naptime/bedtime; it puts her right to sleep.

Did I mention that we have the perfect baby? She likes to imitate what I do; especially yawning…she is soooooooo funny!! We are going to a temple tomorrow and the toy market…I’ll never get Keith out of the toy market…sigh.

My brother told me something that I always remembered when I would feel my confidence wavering about adopting a child and starting all over again. He told me right after I finished the 2005 Hawaiian Marathon that if I could participate and finish a full 26.2 mile marathon at the age of 45 that I could certainly raise another child! The marathon was grueling; Kaylee is such a sweet and loving child that she makes it easy.