Catching Up!

From Kayden:
We've been kind of lazy of posting lately, but we're posting now. A few days ago we went shopping with the group and went to the Chen Family temple. Yesterday was a free day, so we went to the Island. On the Island we took Kenzie's senior pix and did a little shopping. The weather was really good, and I finally got to wear shorts.  I'm very happy about that. We ate at Lucy's, and I finally know what my parents are talking about when they say Lucy's is very good. Yesterday was a very exciting day. Today my parents went to the Consulate. Now we are trying to go swimming.


From Kenzie: 
We have been very busy the past few days. We've gone to the pearl market, Chen family temple, Shamian Island and shopped, and had our consulate appointment. It has been very fun. The weather has been pretty great as well. Although, it's  not warm enough to swim. Yesterday we took my senior pictures! My mom did a great job! I am having a blast but i'm ready to get back home and have a normal routine.

Flying to Guangzhou

From Kenzie: 
Yesterday was a very long day. We got up early and packed our bags to head to Guangzhou. The day before we left. dad had his first Starbucks frappe. He thought it was going to be warm coffee but then he realized it wasn't and he didn't want it. He tried it anyway and me and Kayden stared at him and said "well? Do you like it?" He said it wasn't something he would get again. Then yesterday before the flight he bought another one. Wow, such a white boy.
 I thought it was funny how all of the adoptive families were placed at the back of the plane all together. I couldn't tell if there were kids crying or not because I was smart and brought headphones. Kohlby loved looking out the window. He got so excited when we took off. We landed in Guangzhou at 6:00 p.m. We were all so exhausted. We came to the hotel and go settled in. It is beautiful and my favorite part of our room is the view. Kohlby likes it too. We didn't get to sleep until around 10 or 11 I think. I'm not really sure because I almost passed out at McDonalds. The beds are way softer at this hotel. I slept very good and got to sleep in until 9:00 this morning so I am very happy about that! Today my mom went to Kohlby's medical appointments while Kayden, Dad, and I held down the fort at the hotel. We are now getting ready to go to a mexican restaurant with the other familes. Haha.. mexican food.. In China.. Anyway, i'm interested yet also scared to see how the food tastes. Wish me luck.. 

From Kayden: 
We didn't  post yesterday so here it goes...........We flew to Guangzhou.....I can tell you it was interesting. The people in charge of the plane seating put all of the families in the back...together. Kenzie however brought headphones so she was all happy about that while I had to listen to all the babies cry because they didn't like flying. Kohlby was happy about flying.......until we were actually in the air. Luckily I wasn't sitting by him. I was sitting in front of an adorable little girl though....sadly she was kicking my seat the entire flight. 
 Once we landed in Guangzhou we got to have an hour drive to the hotel. We finally got to the hotel around 8ish. We were tired and hungry so we went to McDonald's. Ordering wasn't hard, the hard part was trying to stay awake long enough to get and eat the food. Trying to eat is hard enough with Kohlby but with everyone about to crash at the table and Kohlby having a fit was just plain horrible! We finally we went to bed around 11 because we talked to another family. 
 This morning my dad kept trying to wake us up to go eat but it didn't work so my mom,dad and Kohlby went to breakfast without me and Kenzie. The good part was that I got to sleep in till 9 so hey it all worked out! And we still ate so yeah for me!!!! Kohlby and my mom went to his medical thingie so me my dad and Kenzie went to get some stuff........we made a long walk that we didn't even have to make. My dad thought that the store was one way and Kenzie thought it was another way. My dad was right..........but we passed the store, didn't know it, and walked like half a mile to another tiny little smelly store we didn't even have to go to! Well now everyone is waking up from nap time and getting ready to go to some mexican restaurant. You won't find many mexican places in China so I'm kinda scared of how this will turn out! Hope it goes well!!! 

I Wonder...

       From Kayden,
         Today we went to Kohlby's orphanage. We had to be down in the lobby by 9, and 9 for me is too early. Anyways, we went down to breakfast like usual, (they have my noodles again!! :) ). The drive to the orphanage was supposed to be 1 hour but since traffic was very good we got there in 45 minutes. 
Mr. Yan who is the one who manages all the adoptions gave us a little tour. There were several buildings and playgrounds, there was also a soccer field and track. As I walked past a closed in area I saw that some kids were planting trees, I thought that was amazing. We went to different rooms where Kohlby was probably in before he went to his foster family. After we went to all the rooms we went to meet his foster family. There was a woman in a yellow coat who was his foster mom, then there was another woman and her son. I guess they lived very closed to each  other so the boy and Kohlby were close. Once we got outside to meet them Kohlby's face kinda lit up almost, it was kinda sad. He recognized them right when he saw them and went straight for them, same was for the family. After a little bit of visiting, the foster mom got out a bright red bag and gave him a package of food in each hand and then gave him three crackers at one time.  While she was feeding him she was saying "You have to watch what  he eats." I don't know about you, but I think this is hilarious! Once it was time to go, the foster mom finally gave him to us, and we started to walk away but she came running back and took Kohlby out of my mom's arms and followed us. We finally got him back into our arms and she did the same thing! After about 5 to 10 minutes we got him back again we started to walk away and my mom said "Goodness is she going to do it again." Thankfully she tried but we didn't let her so she just hugged him. Our guide had to do something with another kid so we played on the playground for a bit. After we got into the car to go back to the hotel right when we were so close to the hotel he crashed and was asleep for 2 and a half hours. 

While he was asleep I was thinking of what my orphanage was like since my parents never got to go there. It also got me thinking if I was in a better orphanage would that change who I am now or what I was like. If I was in a foster family would that maybe change anything about me today. But I guess that everything happens for a reason and that's the way God wants it. But he is now awake and ready to go! 
 Tomorrow we have to fly again. ( I hate flying :(  ). But we do fly to Guangzhou where it is warm!!   I get to wear shorts!! 

From Kenzie:
 Today we went to the orphanage. Last time I came to China I didn't get to go to the orphanage so this was new for me. The orphanage was different than I had imagined it to be. It was actually a pretty nice facility. All of the children were so happy to see us. They smiled really big and waved. I'm pretty sure they were laughing at us trying to say hello in Chinese. It warmed my heart to see how much the teachers and workers there were so sweet and loving. Although the kids looked so happy, it broke my heart to think that they didn't have a real family. Some of them may never get one. I saw quite a few older kids as well. Kids that looked like they were soon going to age out. That broke my heart more than anything. I can't imagine being in their shoes. It makes me even more thankful for my loving family and the life that the Lord has given me, and hopeful that maybe some day they will get a loving family of their own. 

Being Adventurous

From Kenzie:
 Yesterday was a very busy day which is why we didn't blog. By the time we got back to the hotel from everything we were tired as can be. Yesterday we finalized the adoption. In order to do this, we went to 4 different places and spent about an hour at each one. When we finally got back we decided to go swimming since we now had our bathing suits. We were so tired we could barley swim. Oh and if you ever plan to come to China and swim, be sure to close your eyes as you are walking through the dressing room..... It's not that the showers don't have curtains, it's just that they don't like to use them... After we swam we went straight to our rooms and crashed.
 Today we did the normal morning routine, then went to a museum. The museum was pretty neat. We got to see a bunch of old stuff. That's pretty much what a museum is... Old stuff.. Something I thought was funny was that there were a bunch of ancient pillows in the museum and they were rocks. I see a theme here. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what I sleep on every night. I think Kohlby is starting to warm up to me. I let him ride on my shoulders as we walked through wal-mart, and he helped me carry the diapers! We get quite a bit of down time today and I'm so thankful for it, and I am very excited to go to the orphanage tomorrow!

From Kayden:
 Yesterday we didn't do this so  this is going to be a two day thing. Yesterday we went to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize the adoption. After that we went to the Provincial Notary Office to apply for the adoption notary certificates. Then in the afternoon we went to the Public Security Bureau to apply for Kohlby's passport. It took forever to finish there, most of the time we were standing in a hallway or small room waiting. After we finished doing everything we went back to the hotel to swim. We finally had all of our luggage so we went swimming. Walking through the locker room was very interesting..........like Kenzie said, close your eyes and if you don't be very careful where you look........oh and just FYI, watch where you step everywhere. If it looks wet don't step in or on it. Swimming was tiring and I was already exhausted from earlier so we got back to the room and crashed immediately.
 Today we went to a museum. At first I didn't want to go, but it wasn't that bad. There were three floors, on the third floor there was a crystal ball, if you look through the ball you could  see a little section on the first floor.  In one of the pictures above there's a man, in Chinese legends it's to be believed  that he created the world. There were many exhibits, in one there was a "pillow". Oh my goodness are we lucky! In another exhibit it was about some of the women. A lot of the women were very plump, our guide told us that in that time being plump was good and I guess that it was attractive. I wish that was true now! There were many more things but too many to type right now. When we were supposed to go back to  the hotel, we went to wal-mart instead. I guess it's better than walking all the way. Before we went to wal-mart we ate at Burger King. I tell you it was good. We finally went back to the hotel and now we are sitting here eating Chinese versions of Pringles chips.
I can tell you that I'm excited for tomorrow. We get to go to the orphanage and I get to take a bunch of pictures!!!!  

Happy Tears!

First giggles with biggest sister Kenzie

 Beautiful picture (taken by Kayden)

From Kenzie:
 This morning we woke up bright and early, which wasn't hard since we still have jet lag, and had breakfast as usual. The only difference about today was that we would be getting Kohlby! After breakfast we went back to the room and gathered Kohlby's toys and treats, and got everything ready. Shortly after that we went to the Civil Affairs Office where 25 families would be receiving their beautiful kids. Everyone was so anxious, nervous, and excited. The room kept getting more packed by the minute. There were already kids in the room as people kept coming in. Sitting beside me was a foster parent holding a beautiful little girl. I couldn't stop looking at that little girl. Although she had an oxygen tube taped on her face, she was just so beautiful, so tiny, so precious. After we had been there for awhile, a big buss drove up and people started piling in that small room. A little girl tugs on her moms shirt and says "mommy shes here!" Her mom looks in my direction and starts crying and walks over to that little girl. At that moment I lost it. I was overcome with joy. I'm not really sure why I couldn't stop crying. The funny thing is that I thought I would be the one who would hold it together. All I can say is that God moved in that little room. Not only would that little girl have a loving family to care for her, but she would one day hear about his endless love for her. I dried my tears and tried to hold them back as we continued to wait for Kohlby to arrive. Finally another bus drives up full of kids. We stood by the door waiting. Kohlby was the last one to enter the room and my mom picked him up without a fuss. We brought him back to the room and got him all hyped up on sugar, because you know everything is more fun that way. We chased him around the room, tossed him in the air, and played peek-a-boo. He wore himself out and now won't wake up. So, I guess we did my mom and dad a favor. I can tell he is going to bring so much joy to peoples lives just with his amazing smile. I am so excited to see what God does in his life and what he will do the rest of the time we are here.

From Kayden,
 I woke up this morning and was all excited but I didn't know why. I went into my parents' room and then remembered, we get Kohlby today!!! :)  Even though it was 6:00 am I was wide awake, sort of. We went down to breakfast like normal and after that we went back to the hotel to wait. Waiting seemed like forever even though it was probably only 30 minutes. We finally left the hotel and went to the Civil Affairs Office and we waited for all the kids and parents to get there. As we waited we saw a little boy who we had thought was Kohlby, he sadly wasn't. Soon many more children and parents came into that tiny little room. There was a bunch of cute little babies and  people in that room. There were two little girls in the room, one looked like she had a special  need almost similar to Kennah's but i don't know. Then the other little girl had braces on her legs like Kasidi. I was just looking around then I saw Kenzie start to cry, I don't know why but I started  to cry myself. I guess it was just the Kenzie started crying and the Lord was working in so many ways to so many people all in one tiny little room. After we got him and played with him in the office we went back to the hotel. My parents had to do some paper work so we played with him in the lobby, he is  a stubborn little toot. Trying to get him to the room was insane, he was having a little baby fit. Well we went to get food and when we came back he was sound asleep in my mom's lap. He just woke up and now is gettin' in the bath. Just like before he is still just as much of a toot as when I fist saw him! I can't wait for tomorrow!!

A Day in the Park

Walking in traffic :/

From Kayden,
  Well after a delicious breakfast (they sadly took away my noodles today) we went to a park. I honestly think the park would have been a lot prettier if we went in spring but, it was still very pretty. 
I can tell you walking to the park was so scary! We had to walk along side the cars,and even when you walk on the side walk people are so close to you and every one is on a bike or electric scooters.  
While we were walking through the park we stopped to see this man make sugar figures. it was really cool, he made a bunch of figures and sold them. We had KFC for dinner. it was the most AMAZING meal i have had for a few days! Can't wait to see where we go next!

From Kenzie:
 Today we went to a park. Before we went I made sure to eat a big breakfast, not knowing if I would get another good meal during the day. The park was beautiful. I enjoyed every last bit of it. After the park we went back to the hotel and laid there for hours since there was nothing else we could do. I was so bored, so anxious to get outside and explore, look around, and buy weird Chinese candy. We couldn't go out because the only pants that my mom and I had were wet because we finally got a chance to wash them. All I had was shorts and it was cold outside. My dad and I walked quite a distance in the cold weather to KFC. I was longing for some good, greasy, americanish food. I was so desperate that I walked with my dad in shorts and a hoodie. Man did I get a lot of looks. We finished the whole tub of KFC and I didn't regret any of it. Shortly after we finished supper, two out of our four pieces of luggage arrived at our door. Finally! Clean clothes and makeup and shampoo that smells good and soap that isn't brown! We open the luggage and come to find out, none of my stuff was in it. What a disappointment.  Although I don't have clean, nice looking clothes, at least tomorrow is the day we get Kohlby! Even if I look like a hobo i'm still very excited!