Yes, I know.  We have not updated the website in ages.  The excuses are endless, but in short…we took too many pictures and movies for our computer to handle, so it froze and wouldn’t process anything until we started purging things.  Don’t worry, we didn’t get rid of any memories.  Instead, we backed up most of our files and then started freeing up the space on our computer.  This has been a long and tedious task, but we are getting somewhere with it.

In the meantime, the little one is sitting on my lap as I write this post.  She is absolutely beautiful, and so amazing, and yet quite squirmy.  So, I cannot write much more.  She is, without a doubt, definitely the best thing that has ever happened to us.  We are truly blessed.  Oh, she is trying to type. 

A message from Lili…

“jnjn  k,,khb jgfvcxedexzcbm  m , ,…….,kl k   bv vvccfqqw3eewqgh.”

So, since what everyone wants to see are more pictures of Liliana, I have posted what I can.  We hope you enjoy.  Now, we are off to the Consulate to finalize the adoption!

Daddy cuddling little Liliana.

Liliana making a handprint for her finalization papers.

Liliana’s adoption papers with her handprint.

Daddy’s first diaper change.  Don’t you just love the duct tape?

Liliana playing in the morning.

Liliana sucking her fingers on the way to the Buddhist Temple.

Jerry, Bailey and Liliana at the Buddhist Temple.

Jerry, Bailey, Travis, and Liliana at the Buddhist Temple.

Mommy and Liliana at the lake.

A very happy lady at the Buddhist Temple.

Daddy carrying Liliana in the carrier.

Jerry dancing at the Miao village…he really knows how to boogy!

Miao villager.

Liliana and her friend Jinji in their province of Guizhou.

“Well Papa Bruce, I sure do like beef jerky!”

Liliana’s first plane ride.  She sure is a trooper!

Liliana looking the plane window.

Liliana looking out the window.  We are just awed by this sweet, beautiful, little face.

Liliana is a great eater!  “I said that I wanted more rice!!!”

Striking a pose for mommy.

“Awe mom…not another picture!”

Liliana playing with mommy before bed.

Just look at these precious little feet!

Travis, Nana “Shoo”, and Liliana setting off to go shopping at the Jade and Pearl market.

Liliana laughing on the bus with Nana Schu.

Liliana posing for her first Visa picture.  Don’t you just love her hair?

Liliana’s final visa photo…just love the wild hair!

Doesn’t she look gorgeous in her purple dress?

“Just hangin’ with my friend on the Red Couch.”

Daddy and Liliana.  A tender moment.

Patty and Liliana in front of the waterfall in the White Swan Hotel.

Nana and Papa Franz and Liliana in front of the waterfall.

Nana Franz holding Liliana who is sporting a fancy little hat.

We are finally a family…

Well, we hope that these photos help to pacify the interests of all our family and friends far away.  Sorry again for not updating for a while.  We are leaving China tonight on a long flight home.  Look for updates soon…

After all of the e-mails and posts asking us if everything is Ok…yes it is.  The internet connection here is sketchy at best, and half the time it times out on us.  Frequently, when we start writing, we lose our connection.  So, I’m sorry that I have not been able to post until now.  Life out here is wonderful! 

After much anticipation, I would like to present our beautiful little Liliana Yuhuan!

Because I cannot rely on the internet at this time, I am not going to write a huge post about the day.  For now, all I will say is that it was very emotional, but also more than we could have ever expected.  Needless to say, she was the most amazing birthday present anyone could ever hope for.  When things settle down, I will fill you in on all the extra stuff.  But since I know that so many of you are just waiting to see pictures of our little Liliana, here they are.  So, without further ado…

Liliana Yuhuan

Self-portrait of the day…

Liliana’s Foster mother saying a very tearful goodbye (She loves Lili very much).

Daddy holding his daughter for the first time. 

The first look at a smile on her sweet - yet wet and sweaty- face.

Meeting Nana & Papa Franz for the first time.

Nana Schuler and Liliana discuss the finer points of life.

My Nanas’ hands (Nana Schuler and Nana Franz).

“Papa Franz, he might be OK”.

“To all my fans out there…yes, I still have my poofy hair!”

“See, I really do smile!”

Daddy feeding Liliana for the first time.

Self-portrait of the day…

Ahhhh, luxury.  Today, instead of the usual up and moving by 8:30 AM, we only had to be ready today at nine o’clock.  Today’s itinerary consisted of two events: orientation, and a tour of central Beijing.

Orientation is the meeting wherein we are changed from giddy tourists into panicky pre-parents.  Our Holt representative, a funny Brit called Les, walked us through aspects of China and Chinese adoption, and then briefed us on what to expect in the next few days ahead: the baby hand-off, the documentation and passport process, the works.  Among the details, when tomorrow we first meet Lili, we will have the unexpected honor of meeting her foster mom, since it is she who will be bringing little Lili to our hotel room. 

We’re so excited at the chance to meet the woman who has cared for Lili during her first seven months, and to thank her for giving us our little wild-haired, big-eyed beautiful Chinese daughter.  We’re also very anxious about this first meeting for all the same reasons: Lili is giving up the only mom she’s ever known for her new, strange smelling, funny talking, blue-eyed parents, while her foster mom is giving up the gorgeous little child she’s come to call Mei Mei, or little sister.  Its going to be an emotional meeting, one at which no eye is going to be dry.

The first half of the orientation ended with a pop quiz: one by one, Les projected a single new picture of the soon-to-be American daughters, challenging families to find their child based on only their referral pictures.  One by one, pictures of beautiful little girls appeared on the screen; one by one, the entire audience of adoptive parents oohed and aahed the precious children; and one by one, parents sheepishly announced that they didn’t know whose child it was.
 

Execpt for Lili.  The minute her picture popped on the screen, Travis said “That’s Lili” and Bailey said “That’s mine!” and in fact several other families shouted “That’s Bailey’s.”  Not even eight months old, and she’s already famous.  (Famous among tens, at least!)
 

The highlight of orientation, though, was the red book.  As the pop quiz ended and parents began to wonder about the new picture of their kid, Les handed to each family an ornately embroidered, red silk book.  Inside our book, on the first page, was a picture of China superimposed with a picture of each of the children we had just seen, a wonderful “group portrait” of all of our new daughters.
 

But the second page took our breath away: four new pictures of Lili!  Four new pictures of our little ladybug, dressed warmly in a yellow sweater and knitted jumper, standing (standing!) in her crib or playing with a toy.  Bailey was so excited to see the new pictures that she literally bounced around the hallway, squealing “I got new pictures! I got new pictures!” with unbridled glee.
 

The third page included an updated personality profile, indicating her feeding preferences (soy milk, apple sauce, and bananas), favorite activities (playing with toys, watching TV commercials, and listening to music), and how to comfort her when she cries (hold her tight).  No problem there.  It also says that she’s shy and sometimes scared of strangers, and that her foster mother calls her by the pet name of Mei Mei.
 

After the red book, we reassembled for a concluding orientation meeting and lunch, but that was more or less immaterial: parents simply shared red books with each other, sharing the joy of meeting their daughters again, if only in pictures and words.
 

With euphoria in the air, our group piled onto a tour bus to visit two last sites of Beijing.  The first was the Temple of Heaven, which many locals view as the true symbol of Beijing.  The Temple complex itself, a sprawling tree-line park punctuated with Ming and Ching dynasty buildings, is the place to go to see Chinese citizen practicing martial arts in the quads, playing musical instruments and singing Chinese songs, knitting and talking and enjoying the history of their home.  The central feature of the grounds is the Temple itself, a circular, three-tiered building peainted in reds and greens, decorated with dragons and phoenixes gilded in gold.  The massive building, several stories tall and several hundred feet in diameter, stands atop a three-tiered circular platform, carved from marble and decorated with dragon water spouts and banisters depicting the rising phoenix.
 

The grounds also include a number of smaller temple buildings.  One of these consists of two square buildings and a circular temple enclosed in a tall elliptical wall.  The outer wall is in fact an “echo wall,” at which folks standing at one end of complex can talk and have their voice carried by echo to the complete other side of the complex.
 

If the Temple of Heaven is the symbol of Beijing, then Tienamen Square is symbole of China itself.  The Square is just that: a massive square block of tiled walkway arranged around patriotic symbols of the New China.  Flanked on all sides of the square are official buildings – the state museum, the head of government – while inside the square itself are massive monuments to Mao Tse-Tung (?) and the People’s Revolution – massive statues of Chairman Mao flanked by Chinese workers; the Chairman’s mausoleum, a massive stone obelisk declaring China’s longevity.
 

We arrived as the sun was setting low in the sky with the haze of fog and smog thick around us.  The effect was other-worldly: a massive plaza receeding into mist, with the hint of the massive statues or obelisk or government buildings rising on the horizon.  As we circumnavigated the plaza, the sun set, and one by one floodlights and spotlights activated, illuminating the plaza in a warm gold glow.  Just as dusk descended, thousands of Chinese citizens appears as if from nowhere into the plaza to watch the lighting of the monuments in general and the massive portrait of Chairman Mao at the extreme northern end of the complex in particular.  Although we are unfamiliar with the particulars of Chinese history, completely ignorant of the Chinese language, and frightenly naïve in the way of Chinese custom, it was clear to us standing in Tienamen Square at dusk that the Chinese are deeply proud of their past and forward looking to the future.  As it reads on the Chinese characters next to Mao’s portrait, Longevity: China forever.
 

To conclude the evening, we returned to the hotel and quickly packed our belongings for tomorrow’s flight to the Guizhou province, and set out for a final night in Beijing.  We wondered down Snack Street, a massive culinary street fair specializing in anything edible – staples like beef and fish together with the more exotic (and downright disgusting) choices: cockroaches, scorpians, sparrows, sea horses, snake, squid, you name it.  We also ambled through the pedestrian shopping district, moving alternatively from massive plazas flanked by designer department stores to tiny alleys lined with red lanterns and street vendors peddling postcards, jade trinkets, Chinese masks, and bootleg Rolexes.
 

At last we returned to the hotel, exhausted physically but energized emotionally and spiritually.  Soon we’ll pull up the covers and try to sleep, knowing that we’ll be with Lili in less than twenty-four hours.
 

We can’t wait!

We just finished up with the official Holt orientation.  Toward the end, everyone in the group received some updated photos of their little girls.  Being the proud parents that we are, we definitely had to share them all with you.  You can click on any of the photos to see a full-size image.  Don’t you just love that hair!?!?!?!

Gotta go, off to the Temple of Heaven.  More later…

Self-portrait of the day… 

Today we visited the Great Wall of China and the Hutong neighborhood of Beijing.  The tour group today was significantly larger than yesterday — twenty-odd folks versus just seven — and consisted of quite a gaggle of July Dragonflies.

We piled our group onto a tour bus and made our way to the Great Wall first, which is located about an hour or so north of Beijing.  Along the way, we discovered that all of Beijing driving, seemingly random and apparently (and frighteningly) chaotic to American eyes, is in fact governed by exactly three rules of the road: (1) Lane lines and traffic signals are merely suggestions, (2) If you can fit your car in that spot, do it, and (3) the biggest vehicle gets the right-of-way.  Imagine any bumper car rink and you have the general feel of Beijing traffic, only imagine it at 110 kilometers per hour.

Beijing is home to five different sections of the Great Wall, and to one of these sections we went.  The Wall itself — which the Chinese actually called the Long Wall until Western travellers upgraded its status — is a monumental thing, snaking its way up and down ragged mountain crags from horizon to horizon.  Our particular section zig-zags its way up one mountain side, passing through four “check-points,” large stone fort-like structures that break up the enormity of the Wall into sections.  The top of the wall, along which we walked, is tough terrain: alternating stretches of flat and slippery rock inclines upwards of 70 degrees and wild staircases, with skinny steps whose depth changes from a few inches to a foot-and-a-half with little rhyme or reason.  The exertion of the hike is heightend by the weather — just a few degrees above freezing with biting wind — and the surroundings, namely, the ten thousand other tourists trying to climb the same insanely inclined stretch of wall.

Leaving the Wall is story in an of itself.  Last week China conducted a large international summit with African leaders.  Though officially concluded, several of the African diplomats were still in China siteseeing, and as luck would have it, some of these diplomats were visiting the Wall today as well.  On the upside, to keep the African officials safe, the Chinese army closed off an entire section of the Wall specifically for them.  Though this meant that we could walk on that section, it did mean that we were able to catch a few bits of snap-shot gold: massive stretches of well-preserve Great Wall with absolutely NO TOURISTS MILLING ABOUT.  Indeed, the entire Holt gaggle of travellers took a group photograph with miles and miles of pristeen and uninterupted Great Wall behind us.  According to our tour guide Mei, that photo is “priceless.”

On the downside however, the Chinese army closed the only tunnel through which visitors to the wall could leave in order to allow the Africans a swift departure.  In essence, this meant that several thousand tired hikers were forced to wait outside a single tunnel possibly only 10 feet wide for a half hour before allowing them to pass through it.  The one thing that several thousand tired hikers do not posses, though, is patience, and so all several thousand hikers simply rushed into the 10-foot-wide tunnel at once.  I let you do the math on that, but the end result is that (1) Bailey and I got a lot more personal with several thousand Chinese tourists that we ever expected and (2) I have a profound new understanding of the “birth” experience that makes me even happier that we’re adopting Lili.

After the wall, we had a nice group lunch, did a little shopping, and ventured into that famous Beijing traffic.  Our terminal stop was back in the heart of Beijing, a neighborhood called Hutong.  Ostensibly, the Hutong district is a tightly packed neighborhood of “courtyards,” clusters of buildings arranged around centralized open spaces.  The courtyards — all of them — are exceptionally old, uniformly gray, and and seemingly in a state of disrepair.  However, these are not Chinese slums, but are instead highly desirable plots for communal living, with each courtyard (often home to several different families) sharing common kitchens and bathrooms, working togther for the benefit of the group as a whole.  Indeed, everything about the Hutong is rich in Chinese history.  Much of the Hutong is several hundred years old, and were once home to generals and scholars of dynasties past; their grey color indicated the class of the occupants relative to the emperor and high-ranking government officials.  The courtyards are packed together, connected by a spaghetti mesh of alleyways too narrow for most cars.

Hence, to experience Hutong fully, we vacated the monster bus for a more intimate mode of conveyance: rickshaws.  Our tour group split into pairs, assembled themselves into rickshaws, which then raced single-file into the Hutong and break-neck speed.  Think of it as Mister Toad’s Wild Chinese Ride: a chain of thirteen or so orange-backed rickshaws zipping through alleyways as bemused Chinese locals watched.  The Hutong is home to many small businesses as well — local grocers, hole-in-the-wall eateries, fortune tellers and acupuncturists — and so we would race through alleys that would at one instant would be dark, lined with the ornate gate-like doors of residential courtyards, and then suddenly illuminated in the neon glow vendors and mystics. 

Deep in the heart of Hutong, our cavalcade of rickshaws stopped at a particular courtyard, were our entire group assembled in the home of Huting woman, to drink jasmine tea and share conversation in a room probably half the size of our hotel room.  She told us about the history of her home and her family, and answered our questions about Chinese holidays and schooling.  The meeting was brief — perhaps only a half-hour — but the friendliness of this woman, who brewed hot tea for 26 strangers she welcomed into her home, spoke volumes about the good nature and good heart of the people of the Hutong, and of the Chinese personality in general.  It was a touching end to a busy — but rewarding — day in Beijing.

  Here are some extra photos from the day: 1.  The Judi & Jerry at the Great Wall.  2. Travis & Bailey at the Great Wall.  3. ”These shoes are made for walking…” The shoes that climbed the Great Wall (Patty, Bailey, & Travis respectively).  4. Patty at the Great Wall.   (You can click on any photo that we post to see a larger image!).

(Self Portrait of the Day)

We just arrived after a very long day out in Beijing.  What an absolutely amazing city.  But let me back up to get you up to speed…

We left Rapid City on Tuesday, and the toughest part of our day was at the security check-point in our little town.  After being searched and questioned for 45 minutes, we, and all of our belongings were finally let through.  Thankfully we had arrived 2 hours early, so we still made our flight to Salt Lake City.  Once there I overheard a few people discussing some things about China, and what I thought was adoption.  Well, low and behold, the two ladies whom I had overheard talking just happened to be from the on-line group of adoptive parents that I had joined last year.  Everyone in this group had their dossiers sent to China the same month we did, so there was always the possibility that we would meet.  Well, we did…In Salt Lake City!  They were flying to LAX to catch the very same flight that we were taking to get to China.  Our dossier group is called the July Dragonflies, and the two ladies, Susan and Tiffany have been people whom I have talk to on-line, but never met in person.  Wow, who could have believed that we would be meeting up in the US?

We flew China Southern Airlines to China.  The 15 hour flight left LAX at 11:50PM on Tuesday.  We chose to sit in the “Premium Economy” seats, which provided us a bit more room.  Good thing because with Travis being so tall, his knees always touch the seat in front of him in the “steerage” section.  We slept (or attempted to sleep) much of the flight which was good because we were already exhausted from being up all day travelling to LA.  Once in China, we had a 3 hour layover in Guangzhou before hopping in yet another plane to get to Beijing.  Although we thought we would have some good time to relax in the airport, that idea became moot because we had to make our way through customs…a 2 1/2 hour process.  Eventually we made it to Beijing and our hotel.  After eating a nice dinner, we all hit the sack early to get some good rest before a jam-packed day.

Today we headed out after a nice breakfast to the Forbidden City.  It is absolutely HUGE!!!  It is a series of large ornate courtyards that connect to ever more, ever larger, ever more ornate courtyards.  According to our tour guide, the tour normally takes about 1.5 hours.  Our tour took 3 hours, and we still were not finished with all of the places we wanted to visit, or take all of the photos we wanted to take.  Oh, there just is not enough time!  This was also the place where I had my first with Chinese toilets…or should I say holes in the ground!  You can figure out what to do from the picture.  after the Forbidden City, we headed on over to the Summer Palace.  This place is even bigger than the Firbidden City…4 times bigger!  The Palace is best described as a huge outdoor art gallery.  While there we had some memorable “tourist” photos taken…the men became emperors with concubines!  We all walked away from that experience laughing, the men walked away with huge smiles.  We finished the day by attending an amazing KungFu show.  All I can say is WOW!  I wish we could have taken pictures to share.  Tomorrow we are off to the Great Wall!  Hope everyone is doing well.  Tyler, thanks for saying “hi.”  Say hello to eveyone at school for me!

After waaaaaaaaay too many hours on flights out to China, we finally arrived safely in Beijing.  As can be imagined, we are all very tired and looking forward to getting some sleep.  I will update the blog tomorrow with more information and pictures.  Gotta go, we really need some rest…in a bed!

Sing it with us folks…

We’re leavin’ on a jet plane
Don’t know when we’ll be back again…

After two years of not-so-patiently waiting, months of frustration and delays, then a travel announcement put into hyper-drive, we can finally say that we are leaving today.  I just cannot believe that we are actually on our way to China today.  For those who are interested, I posted our itinerary under the links section to the right (or you could just click on the word itinerary if you like).  We will be traveling for about two whole days before we arrive in Beijing on Thursday. 

For those of you who have been following our journey for the past few months, yes…we will be posting updates to the site while we are in China (so you can stop the e-mail and phone calls “warning” us what will happen if we don’t!).  We would love to hear from you while we are over there, so post comments if you get a chance.  Time to go…on a jet plane…

Dearest Liliana,

We are on our way little one!  Be patient, we will be there soon.
~Love Always,   Mommy…