The Past Four Days

We have been home for four days now and what an experience. Today, Sunday, Grace has been with me most of the day but has allowed herself to be passed between Danielle and I with little fuss. The three prior days she has been exclusively with Danielle. Madyson is having a hard time adjusting as she has regressed some, being argumentative and not following directions. She is also over dramatic about the slightest of bumps. She just does not realize that she will always be my little princess. I know this is normal and hopefully in a week or so she will complete her adjustment.

Grace is amazing as she appears to be picking up English amazingly fast. She follows our commands so well I wonder if she has been taught some English?


Are you listening to me?












Grace's first Sabbath at church:

The Journey Home

Grace and I took this picture just before leaving for the airport in Guangzhou.











Here we are on the plane for our 13 hour plane ride.










Grace with her sister Madyson on the way home. It was Grace's first time in a car seat.








Over all Grace did well on the 13 hour plane ride but there was a time when she got tire and afraid of the darkness on the plane. The result was that she screamed bloody murder. This was a cling to mommy day and mom was exhausted so I took her and stared to carry her on the plane. A great stewardess on Cathay Pacific pulled me into the galley, closed the curtains and turned on the lights. That calmed Grace right down to my relief and I am sure the other passengers. I am not sure how long I stood in the galley rocking Grace but Danielle got to take a long needed nap during this time. The rest of trip went really well and no one gave us dirty looks for the screaming session earlier in the flight.

Day 13 - The Long Road Home

Today we head home. All of the other families from our travel group have already left. We will be dragging up the rear as our non-stop flight does not leave until 11:40 PM local time. We arrive back in Los Angeles around 9:45 PM on Wednesday, Pacific Daylight Time.

The flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong was short but long enough for Grace to have a couple of melt-downs. She has a cold and I think the decent into Hong Kong caused her ears have issues. I hope she will be able to sleep most of the flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles.



Two days ago my body finally yielded to the China time zone and now we are headed back to LA. How ironic. Grace just finished a bottle and Danielle is hoping she will go to sleep but i hope she waits till flight but it is now 8:20 PM and the flight does not leave till 11:40.

Day 12 - Red Couch

Today we did our Red Couch pictures and group pictures of all of CCAI families with our travel dates. Everything is done now and families start leaving tonight and the rest of us leaves tomorrow.

Slight Name Change

Today we found out that we will still need to do a name change back home to give our little one her American name. Since we have this opportunity Danielle and I decided to keep Grace's Chinese middle name Que, pronounced "Chway" with a falling sound. As such her new name will be:

Grace Xiao-Ling Que Lovette.

Day 11 - Consulate Appointment

We left at 8:45 am to go to the US consulate. Cameras are not allowed so there are not pictures. Our friends Marty and Shannon took a picture of us in the lobby of the building. When we get that I will add it.

Basically when you clear security you sit and wait for the consulate person to give you an explanation to what is going to happen. It a simple 1, 2, 3 process:

1. Take the oath for your child. (It's not a citizenship oath but an "immigrant oath." I assume that is because our children gain instant citizenship when we get back to our US port of entry (Los Angeles).

2. Pay the Visa fee of $404

3. Interview and submit the prepared Visa paperwork to the window.

That is it and you are done.

Next we went to the "Pearl Market" which turned out to what Americans know as a indoor mall. It was definitely the place to buy Pearls for a great price and get guaranteed quality at a low price. I now have Danielle's birthday and Christmas gifts.




Tonight we are off to the Pearl River cruise dinner. It should be fun as long as we don't get motion sickness.

Day 10 - Sight Seeing - Shopping - Great Dinner

Today started with a visit to the Six Banyan Buddhist Pagoda (temple). A surreal place with the sound of the Monks chanting. While here some in the group had their babies blessed in a ceremony at the temple. Since we are Christian we did not participate. We will be have Grace dedicated to Christ when we get back to our home church.



After we got back to the White Swan we went shopping with Ann from www.RedThreadChina.com. She took us off Shamian Island to get a great deal on traditional Chinese clothing. Items that on Shamian Island would have cost us 200 to 300 Yuan only cost 60 to 80 Yuan for the same items. For roughly $170 USD we have a large bag of traditional Chinese clothing.



We had our best meal since we arrived in Guangzhou at the Japanese restaurant at the White Swan on the 3rd floor. I definitely recommend it.

Grace is doing better everyday. She is now interacting fully with both Danielle and me. She still gets in moods where she will only want to be held by one or the other but now she will continue to play with the both of us. She also will not got to anyone which is a relief. She might interact but only when she is in our arms.

Grace says....