What we've been up to

Hello everyone - We've been busy! Here is the post I started last night, but after uploading the video it was a bit late. So enjoy our recent highlights -

On Thursday, our good friends Lisa, Kaitlyn, & AJ stopped over with gifts for Hope. Here is the outfit...this shot is for you guys. Thank you so much. It fits great! We thought Hope could model for you. She's practicing her runway walk in this pic. Not sure about the open mouth, but hey, maybe that's part of her "signature" moves. :) P.S. - She loves the ball popper too. She's still figuring it all out. So far, she likes to try to stand up with it, which in turn causes the whole thing to topple over. If she successfully gets up though, then she likes to reach down into the tube for the balls. She's not much into chasing them all over the living room. I guess for now, that is a job for Mom and Dad.

Friday afternoon was great! Hope's Great Aunt Karla, Great Uncle Jim, and cousin Bobby stopped by to meet her. They were on their way to the metro area for a baseball tournament and were able to visit on the way by. Ella (the pooch) was TOTALLY spoiled by Bobby and they all thought Hope was pretty sweet. As it turned out, the ball games for the evening were rained out, so some of the family was able to meet for dinner. We had a great time and Hope has loved meeting more of her new forever family. Everyone is so special. So here are a few pictures of Hope's 1st time coloring at the restaurant. You can see the progression: (1) YEAH! COOL! CRAYONS! - (2) I can do it MOM! - (3) Hmmm...How about a quick taste while nobody's watching.



Saturday was a pretty low key day, just us. The three of us did a little running around but that is about it.

Sunday started with church. Hope met a few more members of Gethsemane. She is doing so great with everyone. She clings to me (which is a good sign - we want that right now attachment-wise), but she will smile and wave. We're very proud.

After church, Hope got to meet one of our best friends (Keri, that's you) and some of her family. We heard from a little birdie that she was in town, so we stopped by for a quick moment before lunch. Hope also discovered the sand box there and we were near meltdown when it was time to leave. We all survived though, and it was great to see Keri. Our visits are few and far between and we miss her. Sorry I don't have photos here. I think Keri's mom has a couple I'll have to track down.



After our nap then, more of our dearest friends were in town. Tricia, Brad, and Lauren stopped over to meet Hope and the girls spent some time splashing around in the pool. Why does everyone have to live so far away? Can't everyone just move back to Baldwin so we could see each other more often? I know, I'm a bit selfish, but think about it...PLEASE? :) Here are the bathing beauties. Please disregard the lady in the white shirt. She had to keep the beauty on the right from sliding under water.

Sunday night we were spoiled with dinner from Uncle Brian and Aunt Tami. AND, guess what! The brought dessert, too. MMMMMMMMM! Hope had her first taste of ice cream. Check her out! (P.S. - never mind Ella getting a bit scolded in the end. It is tough for her to stay away when there's food around.)



Here is Ella who is looking cool and refreshed after getting in the way of the ice cream hose down.

And here is the diva on her cell phone while driving - post ice cream and all clean. We had a great evening. Thanks guys!


It is hard to believe that we met our daughter 3 weeks ago today. We just love her so much. I hope you're all enjoying the photos and video. We are amazed every day by the things that Hope is accomplishing and by her resiliancy. She is been through so much, not just over these past few weeks, but during her entire first year. She is incredible and we are so blessed to have her home. Her smile and laughter brighten our days and we are just so thankful for her light in our lives.

Thank You

I don't know if I dare post without new pictures, but here goes...

I was able to spend some time last night and this morning going through the posts from Ron while we were in China and was able to catch up reading all of the comments and e-mails I missed. I just have to thank everyone so much for all of the encouragement and prayers you have given us. We have so many incredible people in our lives and all three of us are so blessed by you all. Thank you!!!! I am completely in awe.

I can't believe that we've been home for a week and 2 days already. Hope is doing so great. We have moments of frustration, but that is part of normal parenthood, right? (Though I'm sure our parents had a totally frustration-free time of raising their children, right, Mark?) ;)

Hope has taken some great big giant steps toward building her comfort and security with her Dad. Ron is SO patient and gentle about nudging Hope's curiosity and as I type now, they are snuggling and she is sort of in and out of napping. It is beautiful.

The other part of my morning has been a little tearful. We were given some CD's with pictures of Hope from her orphanage and from the Grace & Hope for Children (organization that sponsored Hope's foster care). I just finally had a few moments to look through the photos and they are so priceless. We can see a bit of Yulin (city of her orphanage and foster care), her foster parents and grandparents, and a small glimpse of what she looked like before we met. There aren't many early pictures, but a few. It is so clear that she was loved cared for very well. Another blessing! OH WOW - it was emotional to see her through those photos. I think I may have to put them away for another day.

After lunch we're headed out to pick up our computer. Remember our technical difficulties in China? YUP - new hard drive needed and nothing retrievable. Which leads me to a request...Our laptop had our up-to-date address book on it. So, I'm sorry to be a pain, but when you have time could you please e-mail us (br.heut@gmail.com or at our home address) with current contact information (address, phone, and e-mail address). We'll update our computer address book in the office and then print a hard copy. AH, the lessons we've learned.

Thanks everyone. Have a great day!

Beth

Photos

Good evening everyone. I'm not going to take a lot of time tonight. I just wanted to share a couple of cute shots from the past couple of days.

Some of you are wondering about how the relationship is going with Ella. TRUE LOVE! ;)

Another true love = WATERMELON!

And, we've decided that we need to self feed, so here is our morning oatmeal today.


(We had a quick bath after breakfast.)

Also - here are a couple more of her just being cute this afternoon. I love the pose on the first one and YEAH I just love that little skirt on her. For the next shot...nope, still not sure why we're riding backward again, but who cares! Check out that smile.



Night everyone. Hope fell asleep early this evening in the stroller so I'm sure she'll be up again soon. Gotta run, but loving it. :)

OUCH!

I wasn't going to post so late 'cuz we all need to get to bed but HOLY COW!...what an afternoon/evening we've had. So, we were supposed to have Hope's Dr. appt. at 4:20 and we got in pretty quickly. Guess what time we left. OK - I'll just tell you...almost 8:00. Our little girl sat in her diaper wrapped in a blanket at the clinic for almost 4 hours. She was such a trooper. I can't believe how brave she is. With everything she has been through in these past two weeks since we've known her, she is doing so well. We got in and Hope was weighed and measured right away so off came all the clothes. She is currently 17 lbs./13 oz. and 29 in. Compared with her medical appt. in China, she's lost a bit of weight and gotten taller. Hmm. Then, we were ushered to another room where we talked with a nurse (not our Dr.'s regular nurse) who didn't know us or anything about our adoption. It was a bit frustrating trying to communicate with her and answer her questions. Then, YEA...our Dr. came in a visited with us. We really like him and it is wonderful that he also has an a daughter from China and he's been back to China several times to set up clinics in orphanages. His experience is invaluable and we are so comfortable with our little girl in his care. Basically he said she's doing great. His exact words were, "She's perfect." Well, OF COURSE! ;) We talked a bit about some possible food allergies and some skin sensitivities and we'll work on that for this month before our next appointment. Finally came the part we'd been dreading. Blood work and a trip to the lab were next on the agenda. I think holding my little girl down while she was SCREAMING in terror and the tech was trying to find a good vein is about the most traumatic experience I may have ever had. We had four adults holding Hope and had one tech try for a vein in each arm before deciding that she needed to get another person to come and have a look. That person successfully found a vein and leeched out 2 big vials of blood. They were hoping for three, but Hope's vein gave up the flow, so I am now praying that they don't put her through that again because they didn't get enough. OOOOOOHHHHHHHH that was so hard for this new mommy. When it was over I was able to scoop her up and wrap her in her blanket right away. She calmed down, but I just felt terrible. It didn't help that we had walked over to the lab, then the tech struggled with figuring out what supplies she'd need and finally ushered us back over the the area where our first appt. took place and in the mean time, Hope fell asleep. So, she woke up to all of us hovering over her while she laid on the cold table covered with that wonderful comfortable paper. Poor thing. After the whole blood draw experience, we went back over to the lab because we were supposed to get some more supplies to collect a couple of samples. Again, the tech was a little confused about what was needed. She made a couple of phone calls and guess what...we had to walk back over to our favorite unit (again the original appt. location) to meet with a different nurse for some instructions and then hold our baby girl down again for a Tb test. I can't believe what she went through. She was so, so brave today. The last time, when we were waiting for the final test, we were in the room alone again for something like a 1/2 hour and I finally took Hope out into the hall looking for anyone to come get it done so we could get out of there. Our Dr. saw us and couldn't believe we were still there. So, I guess all you need to do is get a Dr.'s attention, because the nurse reappeared in a matter of minutes and we finished up. We quickly ran to Target for some supplies and we are now home with our strong little angel asleep in her crib. I cried as I rocked her tonight. I just didn't want to put her down. She is strong and beautiful and amazing and brave and incredible and ....

We just love our little girl and are so thankful to God for his plan to bless our lives with her presence.

Thanks for letting me vent tonight. I promise that my next post will be much more positive.

- Sweet Dreams -

We're Doing Great

Hello everyone - Mom here with a little update on the angel herself...Miss Hope. She is running the show around here and seems to enjoy it a bit. We finally had our first good night sleep since we've been home. Hope fell asleep last night during her little lotion massage after her bath at about 8:30. I know it is tough to put PJ's on a wiggly child, but one who is sound asleep isn't so simple either. So, then she slept until about 1:00 this morning, woke, had a change and bottle, and was asleep again until Ron woke up at 5:00. I'm so happy! Now she's actually dozing again. I'm sure she has some catching up on zzzz's to do as well. I wonder how long this nap will last.

So, we're home and having a great time. We've been pretty busy with family and we even went to church on Father's Day. Proud Papa wanted to show off a bit I think. Here are a couple of photos with Daddy and his girls enjoying his first Father's Day morning. Ron is such a great Dad. He has so much patience. Hope is warming up to him more and more. You should have seen how excited she was when he got home from work yesterday afternoon. She practically ran down the stairs (with me holding her hands of course).



We had a great weekend. The reception homecoming at the airport was so fun though Hope was a little overwhelmed. She doesn't quite understand all these people who love her so much. She is so lucky. Every day we see a bit more of her personality. She is STUBBORN and likes to be in charge, but she is also a soft and gentle girl who seems to be loving life and her new discoveries everyday. Speaking of new discoveries...check out the pool from Auntie Andria and Uncle Mark. This was a hit. We only went swimming once in China and Hope loved it so I'm thinking this gift will be well used this summer.



Another new discovery...the "horsie!" Hope got this birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa Perry. They hunted it down for her after they saw the photo of her on the horse at the Civil Affairs Office in Nanning. She loves it! She'll get the idea of riding facing forward sometime soon I think. ;)

Finally, here are a couple of other photos from last night. We were playing with Aunt Tami and Uncle Brian and Hope was showing off her shades from our good friends Chris and Cheryl. She is just too cute. She was so funny with the glasses. She didn't really want to leave them on, but she would lean into whoever was holding them until they were on her face, then she'd take them off again. It was a great game. :)



Thanks for all the phone calls and welcome home messages everyone. Ron and I are so happy to be back (we're especially thankful for our own bed). We're planning now for a couple of days with just the three of us. Hope is going to the Dr. this afternoon for her "once over" and probably a few shots so we're spending the day just playing and making sure she knows we love her so when the pokes come later she won't hate us for too long. Then tomorrow will just be us again. We are trying to really make a strong attachment with Hope so she knows Mommy and Daddy as her primary care-givers. We've done a lot of reading and have been to seminars that helped us learn about the importance of early attachment. So, if we are limiting visits or asking for a little alone time with Hope for now, please understand and be patient with us. We'll be making the rounds soon.

Have a great week everyone. Enjoy the pix. Here are a couple more of her just being cute. ;)



Love - B,R, & H

Hope's favorite toy.

Here is Google video of Hope. Enjoy.

Making adjustments

This morning has been a little tough. All of us are short on sleep. The night before we left China Beth and I were up late packing bags then had a 4:00 am wake up call on the 14th of June. Baggage was picked up at 4:38am then we left for the airport at 5:30 am.

So after having about four hours of sleep the night before we hopped on a jet plane and were in the air around 9:15am China time. We arrived in Minneapolis around 8:30 pm which doesn't sound bad, but keep in mind there is a 13 hour time difference.

Jet lag plus sleep depravation equals tired crabby people. were doing our best though.

Making adjustments

ron

The red couch

The red couch is a very popular photo spot at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. So Beth and I headed down a little before our group photo and shot a few of our own. Thought some of you would like to see Hope in a silk dress.

Click on the photo link to go see the photo album.

The Red Chair

I have added a couple of photos of the birthday girls, all the new additions and all the young people that were traveling.

ron

Final Day

Hello to all - it is Beth this time. We have only about 10 minutes here so I'll do my best. Hope is amazing. We are doing great. I am so sorry about the lack of posts since we've been in Guangzhou. We are so busy here. The food is great. I'm feeling much better. I've been on the Cipro weight loss plan since Nanning, so it is nice now to be able to eat a bit. Hope is showing us more and more personality every day. She is such a sweet girl, but HEAD STRONG! She always seems to know what she doesn't want. Ron is also doing great. You'll have to ask him about his massage when we get back. As it stands right now, we are having a wake-up call at 4:00 tomorrow morning and we'll be on our way home. We can't wait to see you all and to have Hope meet you. Our flights should all be as scheduled. We'll have a LONG day of travel. Please pray for us to have safe travels and that Hope does well with it all. She really doesn't like to be confined so it should be interesting to have her on our lap for 20 hours. She likes her freedom and prefers to fall asleep in the crib rather than in our arms. Wish us luck.

We love you! Signing off from Guangzhou. Next stop...HOME!

Beth, Ron, & Hope

The White Swan

Hi all sorry for not posting right away when we arrived in Guangzhou. We have been very busy. Some of the recent highlights are that Hope has been ok with sitting in a high chair which has made mealtimes much easier. the following day she decided it would be ok to ride in the stroller which has made Beth happy. Best of all Hope and daddy had some play time while mommy pretended to sleep. what a wonderful time.

the photos really tell the best story so that is what I've been trying to keep loading.

What a cute dress from Grandma and Grandpa Perry.

our flight went well no big surprises. Snacks to eat helped with the pressure changes on take off and landing.

White Swan Hotel is beautiful. the room is huge and has a great view, if it weren't for the rainy season.

Ron had a 90 minute foot massage tonight which was great. at a cost of 68 yuan. with the exchange rate that amounts to a little under ten bucks. WOW.. Beth is on the schedule for tomorrow i think.

Tomorrow is visa photo for Hope and a medical exam so that she can go home with us. after that i think we will do some more shopping. lots of little shops to go to.

it is late and we have an early start in the morning. I tried to load pictures and this computer isn't helping or something is blocked. maybe we can borrow some time on one of the other families computers and try again. just four days to go,

Ron

Hello from Mom -

Hi everyone - this is my first time at the computer since we left Beijing. Hope is at my feet and we're borrowing some time on the laptop across the hall. Ron and I are having a pretty incredible experience. Who would have thought that when we started filling out paperwork two years ago, we were going to be matched with a daughter so perfect. She is just a joy! We are figuring out many things together. Hope is very much a Mommy's girl but is now tolerating some closeness from Daddy. He can even be on the bed playing together now. I can't leave the room at all though. I won't take a lot of time now, I just wanted to say "hello" and thank you all for the great comments and prayers. Ron has been printing out everything in the business center for me to read everyday. It is so special to have words from home.

About Hope -
-She is smiling more and more
-She has 8 teeth (has cut the most recent two since we've had her).
-She is in mostly 9 month clothes, but not for much longer.
-She is also in size 3 shoes and diapers now.
-She is totally experimenting with her voice and different sounds - more competition for cousin Mitchell in church. :)
-She sucks on her right thumb and index finger.
OK - it is way past nap time right now so gotta run. We love you! We are headed to Guangzhou tomorrow. Wish us luck on the flight.

Love and prayers - Beth

thursday one week till we're home

Hi all,

we have been doing a lot of learning and bonding. it is now ok most of the time for daddy to be near mommy and Hope. daddy's best close time is play time or when eating food.

Hope seems to be getting more comfortable with mommy. we are getting better at sitting on the bed or floor when mommy needs to brush teeth, fix hair or do whatever she needs. mommy now has a helper whenever she goes to the bathroom. i know she isn't crazy about that idea, but we are all making adjustments.

Hope seems to have a very soft and sweet personality. at least that is what we have seen so far. we have been using signs along with diaper changes, food, play and anything else we can think of. not much response yet, but I'm sure it won't take long. we have also been hearing a wide range of cries. we have heard the scream as i'm sure the two rooms next us have heard. this one also came out at the restaurant we ate at yesterday when mommy needed to use the rest room and daddy and Hope sat outside the stall. not being able to see mommy was a bad experience and everyone in the room outside and maybe the entire restaurant heard about it. she also has a real soft and gentle cry which makes you want to hold her and make everything better. she is the perfect child for us.

Today we went to a Buddhist temple up on a hill in the city of Nanning. interesting to see and Hope had a blessing from a monk. the way we see it there is one God and many different ways to praise him.

Monks and Fish pond

later we went to see a fish pond 2 RMB for fish food. good cheep fun. There were a lot of carp in the fish pond and they sure like being fed.

near the pond was a spot with a zip line and the big balls people could stand in to play out on the pond. good for a bunch of laughs.

dinner was also provided on the tour for today. it was quite a spread. Hope let me hold her while we ate. well, she was asleep, but she still didn't object and I'll take that as a step in the right direction. with being new parents and trips or appointments every day, today we sent out laundry again. With high temps and high humidity it would be impossible for us to keep up with laundry. Beth and Hope are taking a little nap then maybe we can go to the park and play.

field trip to the countryside

sorry i didn't write much yesterday, we had kind of a challengeing day. Hope has latched on to Beth pretty well and that is good. at the same time it makes ron a little sad. yes i do know that this is a temporary thing, still a little heart wrenching. today has been going much better. Hope has been able to look at me without instantly crying. I am pretty sure she has not seen green eyes before now. the mustache and beard can't help much either. any way the big excitement before we left for the trip was the first bm which is a big refief to all of us if you know what i mean. No picture available for that.

we loaded the bus and headed to the country side. i have some gps locations but not readily available. e-mail if interested. beautiful green hills and big moutian peaks poaking up through.

One of the newest families in town

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allow me to introduce the Heutmakers. as you know yesterday was gotcha day. today Hope officially joined our family through adoption.


We had a good night. After bath time there was a short snuggle and then off to sleep in the crib. Up at 1:30 for a little bottle and snuggle then back to sleep. Wake up time was at 5:30 a good nights sleep with all of the changes that have taken place.

Morning started the process over again with getting reacquainted. Only thing is that Hope discovered that wants mommy more for now. Daddy is ok especially when giving food. When giving food it is ok to be close and touch otherwise not so good. I know that she can't resist my charm forever.

We traveled a short drive to the Civil Affairs building to finalize the adoption. Hope traveled well and really enjoyed playing with the other children.

Civil Affairs

She seemed to have a great time on the rocking animal.

When we finished at the civil Affairs building promising to love and care for as our child, we went to see the notory for one more interview. luckily I was able to recall the year we were married. Short and sweet but hot and sticky also.

Back at the hotel now Hope had a bath and is now napping I think. I should go back and see how they are doing so I think I will. Bye

Gotcha Day

Hi all, We have hada wonderful day. Tension was pertty light from breakfast through the beginning of paper work session. Durring the paperwork session they gave us an updated report of our children. Upon opening the packet we were shocked at the picture and how much she has changed. After paperwork we walked to the shopping center in 90 degree heat and very humid. I won't put a link in but if you google Nanning, China weather you will get a feel for our weather. Shopping was fun and prices were cheep. You could tell everyone was getting excited/nervous. The wait was getting to us and the room was starting to feel small. Beth and I decided to go down to the lobby and wait. Guess we weren't the only ones, most of the families were already in the lobby.

The bus loaded up and we were on our way to the Civil Affairs building.


In this picture you can see the room where the brought our babies in. On our way in Beth and I saw Hope to our left just as the door was closing. We started to get pretty emotional. I knew that was a good moment to dig out the package of tissues. Everyone took one and most myself included and I needed it. You could tell that Hope was very attached to her foster parents.


After a while Beth handed Hope to me and after a while she started to calm down. Beth knew this could happen, but I don't think it makes it any easier. Yep Hope was BaBa's little girl from the start.


The good news is that Hope is warming up to both of us now. We had bath time which was more fun for us than Hope. Mama and baby had a little snuggle and Hope went to sleep. When I left to Blog Hope was sound asleep in the crib. Think I should go get some sleeep so I am ready when she wakes up.

Good night,

Ron

p.s. I can't view the post and I will apoligize for poor grammer and misspelling. I trust all will figure out what I am trying to say.

introducing...Hope KeXuan Charlotte Heutmaker

Lots of cries and tears by all. Now as I am in Betsy and Andy's room Hope is showing signs of a possible smile. Pictures of that to come soon. We are hungry and need to go eat. Enjoy this for now.

Ron

We're ready...

We just met with Tu and filled out more necessary paperwork. We also got to see an updated photo of Hope. You won't believe it when you see her. She has grown up so much! We are going to a market now for some shopping and we'll meet our daughter at 3:30 today. Pray!

Love - B&R

We are here!

Our flight to Nanning was a little turbulant, but we arrived last night at about 6:30. Our hotel is beautiful though the beds are ROCK hard. We are able to use the business center here for about $4/hr. We'll be posting information but photos are questionable from here. We'll see if we can borrow some time on someone else's laptop. Pray for us and for Hope today as we meet her and welcome her into our family.

Love from Nanning, Guangxi

Technical Difficulties

Well everyone - after I posted last night, our computer decided enough was enough and won't even start up. So, we are down a camcorder that hasn't worked since the day we arrived, and now our laptop is out of commission. I guess some things just weren't meant to be. I'm sorry that we probably won't post daily any longer. We are hoping that we'll be able to borrow some time (as we are now) from some of our travel companions to post a photo or two from gotcha day, but other than that, we may just need to show you all our pictures when we get home. We are very upset about the trouble we're having, but at this point it is time to focus on the true reason we're here.

We love you all. Please keep sending messages to gmail. We should be able to check periodically. I just don't know when we'll be able to do much more.

Beth & Ron

Final day in Beijing (6/2/07)

We didn't pack so much into this day. It was nice to be able to determine our own schedule. We ended up working as a group to book a private tour of the Forbidden City and Tian' anmen Square.

We met for breakfast at 6:45 this morning. The buffet has been very good. They have an assortment of dry cereal and juices, fruits, breads, and a line-up of hot foods such as various sausages, potato cakes, boiled eggs, beans with tomato sauce, dim sum, ham, bacon, fried rice, made to order eggs, and congee. Some have asked us about congee. This is what most of our daughters are probably eating every day. It is sort of a soupy rice. It doesn't have much flavor at all. Most people seem to be adding sweetener. It seems like rice that has been cooked in water for a very long time so it becomes super soft and the water is very starchy.

This morning our tour left at about 8:30. Our guide today was Benny, a college English teacher by profession, and tour guide during his extra time. His English was very clear. He seemed to really have a wealth of knowledge about the places we visited. I just wish I'd have had some way to write it all down. My memory of all the details from today is pretty weak.

We began our walk at Tian' anmen Square (which means "gate of heavenly peace"). Benny talked about the circle structure of Beijing City. Originally, Beijing was built in a series of rings (4, I think) surrounded by walls. There were 9 gates to the city on the outer ring and only 4 at the center leading into the Forbidden City.



We found geocache #250 today in Tian' anmen Square at the focal monument to lost soldiers there. It was a virtual cache, so we just posed in front of the structure with gps in hand. YEA!!! #250 - IN CHINA! Also today was special as there were children standing 'at attention' in front of the monument because (if I understood correctly) yesterday was a children's holiday of some sort.

There is an official government building to the west (I think) where representatives from every province meet once every 5 years there for formal meetings. There were many questions about what happens now at these historical places. For the most part they are all being preserved as museums, but that one large building in particular is still used for some official business.

The other very special place at Tian' anmen Square is the monument to honor Chairman Mao. This is a place that is very recognized in pictures.

This one is for you, Brian.



I have to comment on the vendors...PUSHY vendors in this area. They are all selling postcard packets, kites, hats, tourist books, and "Mao Mao" watches. I don't understand how they all rush you at once, watch you say "no" to the first few people, and still come up and ask you to purchase the very same things. They have been a bit of a challenge for some of us. it is frustrating to have swarms of people around you ALL the time with no escape.

We have one member of our group who is certainly drawing some extra attention. Lexi = rock star. She has been touched, stared at, tugged on, hugged, offered food, posed for pictures with local children and adults, and she is still smiling. She has been such a great little traveler so far and she has handled it all with lots of inner grace. She is loved.



From Tian' anmen Square, we crossed the street through a tunnel to the Forbidden City. This area was so much larger and more extravagant that I could have imagined. We were taught a little more about fung shui and the placement of the buildings and arrangement other things inside the city. There is a manmade river called the "Golden River." There is an "Outer Golden River" that acts as a sort of moat around the city, and an "Inner Golden River" around the imperial area. The water is to act as a barrier to prevent good fortune from leaving. Surrounding mountains are to act as wind barriers to prevent good fortune from being swept away.

Ron & Andy



We've learned that almost everything is symbolic of something.
Colors for example - Gold = Royal Color; Red = Celebration; Green Jade = Happiness
Phoenix = Empress, feminine grace, beauty
Dragon = Emperor, strength, power (Also, it is interesting that in America we typically associate Dragons with breath of fire whereas in China, Dragons are associated with water).
Elephants = peace
It is all so fascinating. Where a person sleeps means something. What bridge a person was allowed represented status in ancient times. All of the animals of the Chinese zodiac represent various qualities. And so much more! It seems like everything means something.

The lions each are special as well. Apparently, in ancient times, the female was displayed with her paw on the child as she controlled the family. And, the male rested his paw on the globe, as he controlled the world. Reactions?

And another - The branch-interlocked cypresses symbolize loyal love. It is said that Puyi and Wanrong, the last emperor and empress of the Qing dynasty, had their photograph taken in front of the trees after their wedding ceremony to show that "we wish to fly in heaven, two birds with one pair of wings, and to grow together on earth, two trees with branches interlaced." (copied from a nearby sign)

Also the Forbidden City is home to our #251 geocache. We were able to leave the group for a quick rest while we took about 10 minutes (and our guide) to hunt this one down. This cache is called "Case Closed." We were to find something surrounded by 5 ft. tall glass (NOT grass as I was searching for grass for the longest time). :) Anyway, we found it with little trouble. Much thanks goes to Benny for leading us around the maze of buildings. When we arrived, we found a very large quartz crystal of some kind. I overheard another guide explaining the the Emperor wanted his Queen and all his concubines to be as pure as the crystal. Huh? OK. Like I said before...everything represents something. :)

We also were treated to a yummy surprise tonight. It is Betsy's (another expecting Mom from our group) birthday tomorrow and her very sweet husband (careful Andy, if you're reading this) bought her a cake and invited us all to surprise her before we left for the theater. OOPS - a slight backfire...as we got off the elevator to go to her room, Betsy was just coming down the hallway toward us. "Betsy, what are you doing out here?" Oh, well.

Our evening was exciting with the performance of the Chinese Acrobats. Skill! Flexibility! Focus & Determination! It was really an amazing show. I would guess that some of the youngest performers were maybe about 6 yrs. old. It was a very cool thing to see.

Before signing off tonight, I need to tell you that the Moen's have their beautiful Lily. She is absolutely precious. It sounds like it was VERY difficult to leave the orphanage with her this afternoon. She is being a very brave little girl! We are so excited for them. And, for most of us, watching their family grow today was a quick reminder of the way our lives are going to change in just a couple of days. It is really happening! :)

Tomorrow morning we fly to Nanning. We aren't really sure of our schedule for the next couple of days other than that we'll be meeting our daughters on the 4th. Please be patient, pray, and know that we'll be in touch when we can.

Love - B & R