It is 5:37 am and we are leaving the room to meet our guide in the lobby!!!
We are so excited to be coming home and seeing all of you.
This has been a very very long time away from the ones you love.
See you all soon!!!
Landing in Columbus at 6:27 pm on Jan. 2nd.
We are off!!!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!
Hello Everyone!!!
Happy New Year to you all!!!!
It was a very quiet New Year's Eve here, although everyone here celebrates Christmas no one celebrates the New Year until Jan. 26th for the Chinese New Year.
We are truly missing being there counting down for the ball to drop.
We are boarding a plane here in 20 hours.....leaves ground at 8:30 am here which will be 7:30 pm on 1/01 for you in Ohio area. Then 23 hours later we will see you all with tears rolling, I am sure. Asher is never going to understand all that love.
Happy 2009!!!!!
Sydney added, she can't wait to be home!!!
Happy New Year to you all!!!!
It was a very quiet New Year's Eve here, although everyone here celebrates Christmas no one celebrates the New Year until Jan. 26th for the Chinese New Year.
We are truly missing being there counting down for the ball to drop.
We are boarding a plane here in 20 hours.....leaves ground at 8:30 am here which will be 7:30 pm on 1/01 for you in Ohio area. Then 23 hours later we will see you all with tears rolling, I am sure. Asher is never going to understand all that love.
Happy 2009!!!!!
Sydney added, she can't wait to be home!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Funny Story
I don't have much to tell of our events of the day because we didn't actually go to the consulate but our guide did for us and said that all of our papers were approved and that we swear in and take the oath with Asher tomorrow morning at 9:30 am....which means that we will be taking the oath for him to be an American citizen and once we touch ground in Detroit, Michigan (which is our first touch down in America) he will officially be an American.
But anyway, besides that being our final hurdle to the paperwork here being very good news....I have a really funny story for you that happened the other day I thought would be fun to share with you all.
As you all are probably aware, the Chinese folk here are all very fit and active from getting lots of exercise and eating mostly pasta, rice, and vegetables....so keep that in mind.
OK, we are out shopping the other day and we visit this one small mom and pop type shop that sells many children's clothing and memorabilia. The lady there is very nice and asks us many questions trying to warm us up to her to buy something (which worked) and Sydney spots this feathery thing that the man at the shop was making. Happens to be a homemade hacky sack. The people here love this type of hacky sak game. So, Sydney asks her how to do it and she gladly teaches Sydney then heres the punch line.....goes over and pats Keith on the belly and says this exercise keeps us from getting the happy Buddha. I was cracking up so hard that I had tears in my eyes. Then she showed me some little statues of the happy Buddha in her shop with these huge bellies and a huge smile on its face. Too funny. Anyway you can all tease Keith about that when we get back and need I remind you all.....only 2 more sleeps after we retire this evening which is upon us now...almost 9 pm. Good night, love you all.
I attached a couple new photos we took today of the four kids together with their "Made in China" shirts on....too cute.
But anyway, besides that being our final hurdle to the paperwork here being very good news....I have a really funny story for you that happened the other day I thought would be fun to share with you all.
As you all are probably aware, the Chinese folk here are all very fit and active from getting lots of exercise and eating mostly pasta, rice, and vegetables....so keep that in mind.
OK, we are out shopping the other day and we visit this one small mom and pop type shop that sells many children's clothing and memorabilia. The lady there is very nice and asks us many questions trying to warm us up to her to buy something (which worked) and Sydney spots this feathery thing that the man at the shop was making. Happens to be a homemade hacky sack. The people here love this type of hacky sak game. So, Sydney asks her how to do it and she gladly teaches Sydney then heres the punch line.....goes over and pats Keith on the belly and says this exercise keeps us from getting the happy Buddha. I was cracking up so hard that I had tears in my eyes. Then she showed me some little statues of the happy Buddha in her shop with these huge bellies and a huge smile on its face. Too funny. Anyway you can all tease Keith about that when we get back and need I remind you all.....only 2 more sleeps after we retire this evening which is upon us now...almost 9 pm. Good night, love you all.
I attached a couple new photos we took today of the four kids together with their "Made in China" shirts on....too cute.
Monday, December 29, 2008
We're still here
Hello to you all.
I haven't been on here to write anything new for a couple days....I apologize because I know that many of you are trying to stay up with our events through this blog.
It seems as if we have been doing the same routine the last couple days without any new details to post.
Yesterday we went to the Museum of Natural History which showed the history of bone sculptures, pearls, jade, scroll paintings, stone stamps, fine thread embroidery tapestry, and straw fans. It was a nice setting with a lovely garden and beautiful roof lines.
We also visited the Six Banyan Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. We went as tourists though. We were a group of four families and when we went in we told our guide that we were just visiting and we not interested in participating in any of the rituals. There were probably a hundred people there worshipping their idols. Our guide said that many of the families that come like to have the Chinese children blessed by the monks that reside there. It was pretty cool to see that two other couples followed in their faith such as us with turning down the blessing by the Buddhist monks. One of the couples went through the ritual and the others of us stood outside praying for them. It was quite a unique place....very serene and beautiful. I was under the impression that there was one Buddhist idol....but after this tour we discovered that there are several Buddhist idols, one for happiness, one for rain, one for wealth, one for blessed pregnancy, then there were three large ones that stood probably 30 feet tall that were for past present and future....so that was a bit of an education. There were others too but I can't remember what all they are.
Then we got to eat lunch again at MCDONALD'S...you would have thought Sydney was on cloud 9.
Today, we went with one other couple to the pearl market and shopping mall again......just to get out of the room. We found a Chinese to English Telletubby video set that Asher was just crazy over that we had to buy because we learned before we came that his favorite thing on TV to watch is the wonderful telletubbies. He was so excited and was showing everyone.....there was another little 4 year old girl with us that was upset because they only had one set and there wasn't another for her so they must be very popular in China.
After we returned our whole group went to the White Swan Hotel to get our infamous "Red Couch" photos. The children were all dressed up in the little formal traditional Chinese outfits and looked so cute....I am a little partial, but Asher was just a handsome site. I was able to get several photos (attached above) plus one at his finest with his finger up his nose....too funny.
It is Monday night here about 6:30.....we usually go to bed at about 9:00 so almost another sleep down and when we wake up we will only have 3 more sleeps left......OH, we can not wait to see you all and give you all big hugs and kisses. We love you all so much!! Thanks for being there for us.
I haven't been on here to write anything new for a couple days....I apologize because I know that many of you are trying to stay up with our events through this blog.
It seems as if we have been doing the same routine the last couple days without any new details to post.
Yesterday we went to the Museum of Natural History which showed the history of bone sculptures, pearls, jade, scroll paintings, stone stamps, fine thread embroidery tapestry, and straw fans. It was a nice setting with a lovely garden and beautiful roof lines.
We also visited the Six Banyan Temple, which is a Buddhist temple. We went as tourists though. We were a group of four families and when we went in we told our guide that we were just visiting and we not interested in participating in any of the rituals. There were probably a hundred people there worshipping their idols. Our guide said that many of the families that come like to have the Chinese children blessed by the monks that reside there. It was pretty cool to see that two other couples followed in their faith such as us with turning down the blessing by the Buddhist monks. One of the couples went through the ritual and the others of us stood outside praying for them. It was quite a unique place....very serene and beautiful. I was under the impression that there was one Buddhist idol....but after this tour we discovered that there are several Buddhist idols, one for happiness, one for rain, one for wealth, one for blessed pregnancy, then there were three large ones that stood probably 30 feet tall that were for past present and future....so that was a bit of an education. There were others too but I can't remember what all they are.
Then we got to eat lunch again at MCDONALD'S...you would have thought Sydney was on cloud 9.
Today, we went with one other couple to the pearl market and shopping mall again......just to get out of the room. We found a Chinese to English Telletubby video set that Asher was just crazy over that we had to buy because we learned before we came that his favorite thing on TV to watch is the wonderful telletubbies. He was so excited and was showing everyone.....there was another little 4 year old girl with us that was upset because they only had one set and there wasn't another for her so they must be very popular in China.
After we returned our whole group went to the White Swan Hotel to get our infamous "Red Couch" photos. The children were all dressed up in the little formal traditional Chinese outfits and looked so cute....I am a little partial, but Asher was just a handsome site. I was able to get several photos (attached above) plus one at his finest with his finger up his nose....too funny.
It is Monday night here about 6:30.....we usually go to bed at about 9:00 so almost another sleep down and when we wake up we will only have 3 more sleeps left......OH, we can not wait to see you all and give you all big hugs and kisses. We love you all so much!! Thanks for being there for us.
Friday, December 26, 2008
A change of scenery
Good morning to you all in the good ole USA!!!
We are getting ready for bed right now and after tonight only have six more sleeps until we board that jet plane bound for home. Oh, how sweet the sound.
Today we met with our guide and she took us to this wonderful huge park that has a huge kids play area, a beautiful lake, gorgeous flowers everywhere, and loads of people. There had to be a few hundred people gathered in different areas doing their morning exercises....Thai chi, sword dancing, fan Thai chi, hacky sack, badmitton, dancing, and singing. It was truly a site. Most all the people there were older retirees either on their own or caring for their grandchildren. It is custom here that the grandparents care for the children while the parents work to support the family. It was very beautiful to see how dedicated they are to commune with each other every morning. There were many people that were eager to greet us and tell us that they thought we were great for helping to care for the children of China. It was heart warming, we tried to explain that our hearts were filled to be given the privilege and that the children were just as much of a blessing to us as we were to them.
We spent quite some time at the park playing with the children....they were so happy to be let loose to run. We have been in an atmosphere since we received Asher where there have been several cars and alot of other people, so the open space in the children's area was great. There were only about 5 other kids on the playground, the others were in the adult areas. Asher and Sydney ran and ran and ran. I don't think they were on one piece of equipment for more than 1 minute at a time....they covered some major ground. We were able to get some pretty cute pictures.
After the park, we were taken for the biggest treat ever!!!! McDonald's, first time since we left the USA. It had never tasted so good. The hamburgers tasted like actual hamburgers and the french fries like fries.....it was so totally awesome!!! Asher did pretty good with his meal.
For dinner we visited a Thai restaurant where they serve the chickens head right on the plate with your dinner....yeah, nice right. Well Keith and Asher were in their glory. I actually had to pack up and wait for Keith to meet me a few minutes later because I could just not stomach it anymore. I think I have had my fill of exotic food for the rest of my lifetime.
Today was perfect weather. Just out right beautiful. We had a wonderful day together.
Thank you all for hanging in here with us and sending us your comments. We look forward to getting them everyday. If you would like to send us any private emails to fill us in on any new info please feel free at shelley.baum@yahoo.com We would really enjoy being caught up on the happenings at home. Love you all and talk to you soon. God Bless!!
We are getting ready for bed right now and after tonight only have six more sleeps until we board that jet plane bound for home. Oh, how sweet the sound.
Today we met with our guide and she took us to this wonderful huge park that has a huge kids play area, a beautiful lake, gorgeous flowers everywhere, and loads of people. There had to be a few hundred people gathered in different areas doing their morning exercises....Thai chi, sword dancing, fan Thai chi, hacky sack, badmitton, dancing, and singing. It was truly a site. Most all the people there were older retirees either on their own or caring for their grandchildren. It is custom here that the grandparents care for the children while the parents work to support the family. It was very beautiful to see how dedicated they are to commune with each other every morning. There were many people that were eager to greet us and tell us that they thought we were great for helping to care for the children of China. It was heart warming, we tried to explain that our hearts were filled to be given the privilege and that the children were just as much of a blessing to us as we were to them.
We spent quite some time at the park playing with the children....they were so happy to be let loose to run. We have been in an atmosphere since we received Asher where there have been several cars and alot of other people, so the open space in the children's area was great. There were only about 5 other kids on the playground, the others were in the adult areas. Asher and Sydney ran and ran and ran. I don't think they were on one piece of equipment for more than 1 minute at a time....they covered some major ground. We were able to get some pretty cute pictures.
After the park, we were taken for the biggest treat ever!!!! McDonald's, first time since we left the USA. It had never tasted so good. The hamburgers tasted like actual hamburgers and the french fries like fries.....it was so totally awesome!!! Asher did pretty good with his meal.
For dinner we visited a Thai restaurant where they serve the chickens head right on the plate with your dinner....yeah, nice right. Well Keith and Asher were in their glory. I actually had to pack up and wait for Keith to meet me a few minutes later because I could just not stomach it anymore. I think I have had my fill of exotic food for the rest of my lifetime.
Today was perfect weather. Just out right beautiful. We had a wonderful day together.
Thank you all for hanging in here with us and sending us your comments. We look forward to getting them everyday. If you would like to send us any private emails to fill us in on any new info please feel free at shelley.baum@yahoo.com We would really enjoy being caught up on the happenings at home. Love you all and talk to you soon. God Bless!!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Mary knew
Tonight we celebrated Christmas with our China family. The hotel was nice enough to comp. us a party room to gather, share scripture, pray, and eat pizza!!!! Yeah, pizza!!!
God has blessed us with the most amazing group of people. We have several Christians in our group which is so needed and appreciated. We all gathered, sang a few Christmas carols, shared prayer requests, prayed over each other, read the scripture for the birth of Christ, built a manger scene with the kids (pictures attached), and laughed at the kids who can't understand a thing we are doing. They totally don't understand prayer. Asher actually will come up to you and basically smack you in the face such as saying wake up you crazy people. I hope that we can show him the love of God and the power of prayer soon.
This evening was so perfect for lifting our spirits as a whole. Just shows you how important it is to gather frequently with other Christians to give each other love and support. We really needed that medicine today.
Asher has been pretty good today. It seems his love and trust is growing for each of us alot today. His tantrums were very little today, which is pleasing. He is trying to learn some English with very little encouragement. He repeats just about everything we say and we catch him using some of the words at appropriate timing. He even is saying thank you with out having to be told all the time now.....what accomplishment! He and Sydney are getting along much better. She wants to love on him all the time and he tries to torment her a little but she takes it in stride and just kisses the top of his head all the time in understanding. She is the best!!! Tonight before bed time and after baths....he was very eager for her to come out of the bathroom after her shower and he laid on the floor outside of the bathroom trying to peek under the door at her just laughing, finally she was peeking under the door at him too which he thought was hysterical. She would stick her fingers under the door at him to touch his fingers too, this went on for about 20 minutes and was quite a site (pictures attached). After they were finished, she sat on the bed and he told her a bunch of things that no one could understand and she puckered up to kiss him and he actually kissed her back, WAY COOL that is the first kiss he has been open to giving any of us. I was so thrilled and wanted to get a picture that I asked her to try again and sure enough he was willing and I got a picture, priceless.....I would say the relationship trust and growth has hit a milestone today which was a true Christmas gift.
I sit here reflecting over our evening while he is sleeping and Keith and Sydney have found the English version of Santa Claus 3 aon TV and I see big progress and have a much better feeling and peace than I even imagined could be possible yesterday. I am so thankful for that and I know that God felt my anxiety and fear and has set me at ease with delivering a good day for us all.
As I mentioned earlier, we shared the Christmas story from the Bible with our group this evening and I was so touched to try to relate what Mary must have felt when Gabriel came to her to announce that God had found favor in her and that she was expecting and for her not to be afraid. Trying to focus on what Mary must have felt at that moment, I couldn't help but to have tears in my eyes thinking of how God has chosen us to care and love for another one of his children. It is written that Mary was scared and I too have been scared and unsure of the outcome and the road ahead. It is written that Mary was shocked and I too have been shocked by what I imagined would be and the reality of what is, and even more so by how I can see things becoming in the future, for the good of course. It is written that Mary was trusting and I too am trusting that God knows all much better than we and that he will take care of everything. It is written that Mary was obedient and I too think that I have been obedient in showing the purest form of faith by following the scripture to care for the orphans. It is also written that Mary gave herself to God's will and I too at this time give our family and this roller coaster that we are on over the God and I have faith that he will deliver us. Although, I realize that not all the road is straight and easy going. We are bound to be tested so that we can prove our love and trust to God, which we so modestly do not deserve but are so blessed to receive. God has entrusted us with such a precious gift and today we have seen that we will be filled with love for one another and step by step will build a solid foundation to be able to deliver this precious child back to His kingdom some day. Today I realize that there is a light in what seemed like such a dark tunnel yesterday. And, I retire to bed with a peaceful head and a happy heart for the love of my family, our bigger family, our friends, and this moment. God Bless you all and Merry Christmas for what is the beginning of your day and the ending of ours....one less day until we see you all again. Good Night. XOXO.
God has blessed us with the most amazing group of people. We have several Christians in our group which is so needed and appreciated. We all gathered, sang a few Christmas carols, shared prayer requests, prayed over each other, read the scripture for the birth of Christ, built a manger scene with the kids (pictures attached), and laughed at the kids who can't understand a thing we are doing. They totally don't understand prayer. Asher actually will come up to you and basically smack you in the face such as saying wake up you crazy people. I hope that we can show him the love of God and the power of prayer soon.
This evening was so perfect for lifting our spirits as a whole. Just shows you how important it is to gather frequently with other Christians to give each other love and support. We really needed that medicine today.
Asher has been pretty good today. It seems his love and trust is growing for each of us alot today. His tantrums were very little today, which is pleasing. He is trying to learn some English with very little encouragement. He repeats just about everything we say and we catch him using some of the words at appropriate timing. He even is saying thank you with out having to be told all the time now.....what accomplishment! He and Sydney are getting along much better. She wants to love on him all the time and he tries to torment her a little but she takes it in stride and just kisses the top of his head all the time in understanding. She is the best!!! Tonight before bed time and after baths....he was very eager for her to come out of the bathroom after her shower and he laid on the floor outside of the bathroom trying to peek under the door at her just laughing, finally she was peeking under the door at him too which he thought was hysterical. She would stick her fingers under the door at him to touch his fingers too, this went on for about 20 minutes and was quite a site (pictures attached). After they were finished, she sat on the bed and he told her a bunch of things that no one could understand and she puckered up to kiss him and he actually kissed her back, WAY COOL that is the first kiss he has been open to giving any of us. I was so thrilled and wanted to get a picture that I asked her to try again and sure enough he was willing and I got a picture, priceless.....I would say the relationship trust and growth has hit a milestone today which was a true Christmas gift.
I sit here reflecting over our evening while he is sleeping and Keith and Sydney have found the English version of Santa Claus 3 aon TV and I see big progress and have a much better feeling and peace than I even imagined could be possible yesterday. I am so thankful for that and I know that God felt my anxiety and fear and has set me at ease with delivering a good day for us all.
As I mentioned earlier, we shared the Christmas story from the Bible with our group this evening and I was so touched to try to relate what Mary must have felt when Gabriel came to her to announce that God had found favor in her and that she was expecting and for her not to be afraid. Trying to focus on what Mary must have felt at that moment, I couldn't help but to have tears in my eyes thinking of how God has chosen us to care and love for another one of his children. It is written that Mary was scared and I too have been scared and unsure of the outcome and the road ahead. It is written that Mary was shocked and I too have been shocked by what I imagined would be and the reality of what is, and even more so by how I can see things becoming in the future, for the good of course. It is written that Mary was trusting and I too am trusting that God knows all much better than we and that he will take care of everything. It is written that Mary was obedient and I too think that I have been obedient in showing the purest form of faith by following the scripture to care for the orphans. It is also written that Mary gave herself to God's will and I too at this time give our family and this roller coaster that we are on over the God and I have faith that he will deliver us. Although, I realize that not all the road is straight and easy going. We are bound to be tested so that we can prove our love and trust to God, which we so modestly do not deserve but are so blessed to receive. God has entrusted us with such a precious gift and today we have seen that we will be filled with love for one another and step by step will build a solid foundation to be able to deliver this precious child back to His kingdom some day. Today I realize that there is a light in what seemed like such a dark tunnel yesterday. And, I retire to bed with a peaceful head and a happy heart for the love of my family, our bigger family, our friends, and this moment. God Bless you all and Merry Christmas for what is the beginning of your day and the ending of ours....one less day until we see you all again. Good Night. XOXO.
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