One Less

We have been home a little over 24 hours; if Maren could speak, I think she would agree that she has had a great first day at home. 

We started the trip home on Wednesday morning (US time) via a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.  Maren was quite unhappy for about 45 minutes.  Another adoptive family mentioned their child had a hard time, as well.  We wonder if the packing up and leaving the hotel confused her.  We then flew from Hong Kong to Tokyo, and we made our connection (we only had 1 hour between flights).  This leg of the trip was a 4 hour flight.  We then flew from Tokyo to Detroit which was 12 hours. The flight was extremely rough (the flight stewardess told us the captain had warned them about it being a rough ride due to storms), and we were unable to get up to walk around much.  Once in Detroit, we went through immigration where Maren became a U.S. citizen.  We then flew from Detroit to St. Louis. We know that you all were interceding in prayer for these flights, as Maren did very well. We packed several toys for her, but typical toddler-style guess what she had the most entertainment value: the plastic coffee cups, plastic spoon, and packaged butter (from the meal trays).  She used them to "cook" with a lot of her time. 

We arrived in St. Louis around 6PM.  Our other 3 children, Michelle's parents, Michelle's cousin and her husband and son, Michelle's aunt, and 2 friends met us at the airport: waving U.S. flags and welcome Maren signs.  We were overwhelmed with God's goodness, grace, and faithfulness to us during the time of greeting.  Some friends of Michelle's twin sister (and us) brought our van to the airport (and nonetheless, to our suprise, had it cleaned inside and out!).  Maren had her first ride in a carseat (in China, there are no carseats and no seatbelts); she had sad eyes, whimpered, and pulled on the straps for the majority of the trip.  We felt bad for her as we know it had to be confusing for her. On the way home, we kept thanking God for completing this journey to being a forever Boatman family.  It seemed surreal to have our entire family together finally. We know He protected us and kept each detail of the trip running smoothly.

When we got home last night, we had breakfast waiting for us for this morning: cinnamon rolls, donuts, milk, and juice (a good friend brought these in for us).  We showed Maren her home, and she began playing with her siblings immediately.  I think she decided pretty quickly that older siblings are a blast!  She was smiling and laughing with them as they played together. She woke up 3 times whimpering and crying in the night; however, she woke this morning with a smile.  She has played with her siblings, met her neighbor friends, and enjoyed time with cousins today.  We went to Walmart and Sams to restock our shelves.  She rode in the shopping cart the last half of the trip and seemed to enjoy the shopping trip. Tonight some of our family came over with ice cream treats.

Multiple times the past 24 hours of being home we have thought how amazing God's sovereignty and grace is in our lives. In the adoption arena, we have often heard family's mention the phrase "one less," meaning there is one less orphan in this world today (the adoption day). As of August 2nd, there is "one less." Maren is a picture example of God's adoption of us as children of His.  His choosing her to be "one less" orphan in order to enrich and bless our lives along with Him ordaining that even us, as her parents, were born into the lives we were, is speaking into our hearts: His mercy abounds.

We do not even have adequate words to express the closing of this portion of our journey.  We are overflowing with gratitude to God for faithfully seeing Maren and us through this until she is home at last.  We thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support along the way: we knew throughout this journey that prayer requests and praises were being brought before our Father. 

We're home!!!

God has done an amazing job....we will try to post tomorrow, but wanted everyone to know we are safe at home as a family of six!

Last Night in Guangzhou

This morning we (us and 2 other families with our agency) took a bus to the U.S. Consulate for Maren's visa processing and an oath-taking ceremony. We arrived at a very large building which had lots of people and lots of activity going on (do you notice a pattern?).  We had to go through security, and then wait in a small room with about 10 other adoptive families.  Then someone came over the microphone: told us to all stand up, raise our right hand, and repeat after her as part of the oath taking ceremony.  Then each family had to come up and speak with someone while they processed some of our paperwork.  They did not end up asking us any questions as we had been told to be prepared for.  We were beyond relieved when it was over: NO more meetings, NO more appointments, and NO more MASS chaos! 

This afternoon after Maren's nap, we went down to a garden-like area at our hotel to get a few photos (see below).  This evening, our agency took us on a river cruise. They ordered Papa Johns Pizza for us, which we took on the boat.  It was a perfect ending to our last night here: it was quite peaceful, calm music playing in the background, and quietly riding. Maren loved it: she squealed with delight with each boat we saw and when she saw pretty lights.

We have started packing up our stuff.  We wait until Maren's visa is done at 4:30 or 5:00PM.  Then ride to the train station; the train leaves at 6:00PM. We should arrive in Hong Kong around 8:00PM and check-in to our hotel.  We then have to be at the airport around 5:30 AM the next morning. Please pray for our safety, all transportation to be on schedule so as not to delay our trip home, and for Maren to be able to tolerate these next 48 hours of travel.  We are so thankful for the many prayers that continue to be answered during our amazing journey to bring Maren home. 

Monday with Maren

Yesterday we finished out the afternoon with swimming at the hotel pool (it is an outdoor pool...sort of on a rooftop). We then walked to a restaurant our agency had recommended, and then walked through a pretty park (most of the parks in China are more landscaping and not playground equipment as we are used to seeing).

This morning, Maren slept in. She has been sleeping well during the night. After breakfast and skyping our family, we took a taxi to Shamien Island. We walked around and did some bargaining with the local vendors. We used a friend's baby bjorn carrier, and Maren enjoyed her time. We ate lunch at a Subway (we were so excited...it tasted just like it does in the U.S.). We returned back to the hotel for Maren's nap. This evening we ate at our hotel (Maren is not fond of much American style food, so we ate at a Chinese restaurant), and then have spent some nice time playing in the hotel room (beach ball, books, and bubbles).  We are looking forward to Maren being able to play in a larger space than the hotel room. I wonder if she thinks she is going to grow up in a hotel room since the first 10 days with us are in a hotel! 

We are eager to get home and introduce Maren to her brothers and sister.  We are blessed to have caring family members who are taking great care of Mora, Bryce, and Bennett while we are in China.  They are having a wonderful time seeing family and friends.  We attached a photo of Mora, Bryce, and Bennett acting like pirates at a restaurant celebrating their great-grandparents anniversary.

Sunday in Guangzhou

Last night we went to Shamien Island (not really an island as we would think).  This area caters to adoptive families (as many of our appointments are located there. We enjoyed walking around, and we ate at a Thai restaurant (other adoptive families recommended it).  Maren enjoyed walking around and people watching.

This morning our adoption agency had a tour planned at a Pearl Market and Jade Market.  China is known for these two stones.  Basically, you go in and there are hundreds of tiny shops within a multiple-story building.  You bargain/negotiate a price: for instance, we purchased Maren a jade bracelet for her high school graduation (I know this is thinking ahead, but who knows when we will be back and we had read about this from other adoptive parents how their children enjoy gifts from their native home as they grow up) and we ended up getting it over half off the original price they gave.  Honestly, it would be stressful to have to do this for every purchase we made in America (it makes me appreciate being able to go into a store and buy the item without a lot of ordeal surrounding the purchase).  After the markets, we had McDonalds (not the same menu as in US) for lunch and Maren is resting now.

Interesting tidbit: we asked our agency if there was a church we might attend this morning.  He said there was a Christian church and Catholic church (we assumed there were none); however, he said they could not take us there.  Furthermore the services would be in Chinese.

We are getting anxious to see Mora, Bryce, and Bennett (though we hear they are doing well) and to return home as a family unit.

First Airplane Ride

We made it...we are in Guangzhou. Our flight was delayed by 2 hours last night, so we did not get into our hotel until midnight.  Maren did a great job of waiting at the airport for 4 hours...she loved watching the planes taxi around the airport.  She would point at them and squeal with delight (over and over...like each one she saw was the first).  Different story when riding in one: poor baby cried/screamed the first 1 and 1/2 hours of the plane ride.  She is not fond of being confined to a small space. *Please start praying for next Thursday's flights: 14+ hours of flying).

We just got back from her medical exam.  It seems to be more of a formality to say "yes" this child has special medical needs.  She had to go to 3 different stations.  They were not real kid-friendly; she cried/screamed (big praise: she did allow us to console her, so she was able to soothe in just a few minutes unlike her usual 30+ minutes of crying at a time).  She only has one more "appointment"...the consulate on Tuesday.  She has endured so much the past 5 days. 

We have been told this city has more people who speak English.  Already, this city does not seem near as chaotic and crowded as the last two (for which we are very grateful). This afternoon we have a meeting with our adoption agency to get all of our paperwork completed for the Visa process next week.  Other than this meeting, we plan to take it easy after a rugged past 24 hours.

We do not have many photos of the past 24 hours...this one is taken at the medical exam after she had calmed down, but was still not happy about the situation.

A Day of Firsts

Today was a day of firsts for Maren: her first ice cream and her first boat ride (she LOVED the ice cream and most of the boat ride).  Our guide took us the South Park/Lake this morning. It was a very large park with beautiful flowers, walkways, bridges, and a lake.  You could rent a little boat (it went very slow, was quiet, and peaceful) and drive around the lake, so Danial drove us around.  Maren loved the first 3/4 of the ride, and then became quite distraught over a snack package. She has been inconsolable multiple times today; however, we know she is trying to cope with this big change. She also woke up in the night with, we assume, a night terror. She was inconsolable and was not really awake as she was crying and screaming.  It is heartbreaking to see her so distraught and unable to accept our affection at times.  She is being incredibly resilient when we think of how this week looks so different than anything she has known. This afternoon and evening we have been keeping it low key here in the hotel room (quiet music, lights down low, we ate in our room - peanut butter/crackers for dad and mom and Maren loved the mac and cheese - stuff we packed in our suitcase for nights when she was not up to going out, bubbles - which she loves).

Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Guangzhou; a 4 hour flight.  Please pray for this trip: her being able to sense peace and calmness from us and her willingness for consoling. We should arrive into Guangzhou around 9PM, so a late night getting to our hotel. The following morning (Sat here), Maren will have a medical exam. 

God is working through this journey in great and mighty ways. Honestly, we have had so many times of being in awe of His wonder, majesty, and sovereignty. We have all stayed healthy. We have been treated so well by the people of China. We have a great guide. Maren is doing amazingly well with us. Mora, Bryce, and Bennett are doing well (we have been Skyping with them 1-2 times a day; praise that Skype is working here), and we have wonderful family who are lovingly watching them. We have had safety everywhere we have been. The whole journey is beyond our comprehension, and we feel so privileged to be here on this journey.