Fun For Today

Okay, because I am terribly sentimental and I can't bring myself to take this to Goodwill ... I'm having a little give-a-way today. This was one of the last items I purchased in China for little Emma. The night before we left we headed out to spend the remaining RMB we had. We had gone in a store had I hadn't shopped in the whole two weeks we were there because they were a little more expensive than the other shops. I had picked out several things and was getting ready to pay when I spotted this jacket and thought it was adorable. I didn't have enough for what I had already decided on as well as the jacket, so I was trying to figure out what to put back. Oh, I need to add ... bargaining is not my cup-o-tea.. The attempts I had made at bargaining were terrible. Anyway, the sweet little clerk just waved her hand at me in a no-no way, put the jacket on top and told me I could just have it! Two weeks of not being able to negotiate then my one time at not even trying, she negotiated for me. Go figure.

Anyway, it needs a new home because it was too small for Rebecca.

It' a size 4.

To enter ... tell me your favorite bible verse and why. Does it sustain you in times of trial? Does it make your heart smile every time you read it? Is it what you hold on to when there's nothing else left to hang on to?

I'll start with mine, it's out of Samuel "For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him.". It's my favorite because each of my beautiful children are direct answers to prayers. Each one was prayed for, each one now here with us. God is Good!

The winner will be chosen Sunday night by Miss Emma herself.

(Chinese New Year - 2007)

Memories, Oh Sweet Memories

Have I ever mentioned how much I love surprises? And friendships? And sweet memories? All three of those came together yesterday in an email that popped up in my inbox. A very sweet friend who I met online, yes I know - it seems I meet a lot of friends online - through the adoption process of waiting for Rebecca sent me this sweet picture.

It absolutely made my day and sent my mind flying back a year ago to our trip to China. Brian and I climbed quite a bit of the area of the Great Wall we visited on our first trip to China but on the second trip it was so cold and poor little Emma, her little short legs just didn't work well on those steps because they are so uneven so we stayed pretty close to where we were all to meet back up. Ryan was 7 on our first trip and he did climb higher than us but he went higher with another couple that was in our group. This time though, he was just about to turn 11 and well, an 11 year old just doesn't think he needs to be with his parents as much as a 7 year old does. He took off with some of the other kids from our group. It seemed like they were gone absolutely forever but I'm sure that's because I just wasn't sure about him being so far away from us - especially since we were so far from home! But he was in good hands, Kathie's son (the one on the left) was with them. The other young man in the picture (in the middle) lives very close to us, probably less than 10 miles yet we met in Beijing, China.

Thank you Kathie for pictures you sent me - they made my day! All of the pictures I have of them climbing are taken from far away!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday tonight on our last night in Guangzhou. It's hard to believe my baby boy is now 11 years old. Where in the world have the years gone?!

He invited a couple of his buddies from our travel group and we went and celebrated with ice cream. After we were about settled in for bed, the hotel delivered a cake and fruit basket. What a surprise!

Well, off to bed for the now hyped up Hunter clan ... we have a 4 a.m. wake up call. We're all dreading that long flight home but we are looking forward to being back in our own beds!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN! I LOVE YOU!!! I'll never forget you coming into our lives in Ft Worth, TX 11 years ago. A lot has changed since then, but my love for you is still the same!

Red Sofa Photo Op

One of the traditions with each travel group is to have the children's pictures taken on the red sofa's at the White Swan hotel. We stayed there with our last trip but this time we are staying at the Victory Hotel which is just down the street.

Tradition held though and we all dressed up our children and walked down to the White Swan to have their pictures taken.

Everyone was bragging on the girls and how cute they looked and you could tell it was just making Rebecca's day and she was smiling and trying to hug and play with Emma. But Emma had just gotten up from a nap and really wasn't in a mood for such frivolity. Thankfully she was in a better mood by the time we got to our destination.

Brian is missing from this one, he has been more than slightly under the weather.

She's laughing not crying!

Rebecca loves her brother already!
Feeling like the most blessed mother in the world!
Sibling Cuteness!

Medical Exam

Too cute to not share :-)



Sorry for the 50 posts today, but we are heading out tomorrow with a 4:30 a.m. wake up call and checking out at 5:30 and I have a whole list of things I wanted to blog about. I made my list, now checking it twice :-)

Rebecca had her medical exam on our first full day in Guangzhou. Same exact place that we took Emma for hers three years ago. Same procedure, the doctors pretty much just looked in their ears, nose and throat, checked their heart rate and the nurses weighed them with the babies being weighed on the little thing you lay on and the big kids on a more traditional type scale. The hearing test is basically a little toy piano type thing.

Meat Bread

One of the best things about having Susan as our guide in Xian is that for one it is her hometown and the other, that girl knows good food! She took us to several of her favorite places, some of which are what seemed to be like little hole in the wall type places ... which just so happens to be the kind of places we like to find back home. I wrote about the noodles place in the muslim market the other day, but the place we kept going back to was one that sold what she called "meat bread". Oh my goodness, good stuff! We all loved it, parents and kids alike.

Crib Time

The girls cracked us up the other day when the both got into the crib to play! They played for quite a while, just giggling and playing - it was too cute.

Guangzhou Zoo

Not much to say about the zoo but we did enjoy walking around and enjoying the Florida type weather. The one funny thing though is that one exhibit was nothing but a dog, too funny. So instead of a bunch of words, how about some pix today:

Our guide Alison, another angel from heaven. For our church friends, you may remember that she came one Sunday with us a couple of years ago. A truly amazing lady!






Alison with Emma. Alison was brand new with our agency when we adopted Emma so I know she has a special place in her heart for her very first group.







Rebecca didn't warm up too easily to Alison ... until Alison offered her some ice cream and then all of a sudden she was her long lost best buddy! Brent, Angie and Paul ... that's the secret to winning her over, food - especially sweets! Just like her mama :-)