Travel Journal - Day 8

A Day in the Country and Porcelain Shopping

Today we woke up to a happier baby than yesterday!! It is amazing to see how each day she comes out of her shell more and more! Let me just say that she is beautiful (I know I have said that before!) and to see her reach her little arms out to us for comfort just melts our hearts!! I want to start this journal entry out by telling you a little more about Taya first. Today she really took a step in trusting us as her parents. She is trusting us enough to go to grandma and grandpa for brief cuddles and easily moves between Dana and I without fussing. Today at lunch we saw a girl that we weren’t used to. She ate a TON of sticky rice and was comically opening her mouth and chomping down on it. She just couldn’t get enough of it. As she was eating all of this food she was actually in grandpa’s arms!! She was giggling, moving ALL over the place, and just wouldn’t stop smiling! The table was absolutely empty in front of her because she was demonstrating the art of throwing things in all directions!! That was so much fun for us all to see!! Then it was grandmas turn, and we found out she likes to lay on her stomach on your legs and then twist over and belly laugh. We just couldn’t believe the little girl we were seeing. Praise the Lord!! She is unable to walk, and will scoot up to us easily on her bottom. She will grab our hands and pull herself up on her own. She was the only baby that didn’t come with shoes on, and we didn’t bring any because of not knowing the size. We have shopped for them and can’t find any that fit her tiny feet that have support to help her practice her walking. We just found out that another family has a pair of shoes that are too small for their daughter, so we are going to give them a try tonight. I have heard that Guangzhou, our next stop, has loads of shoes, so it won’t be long!! We started out our morning again with a huge breakfast buffet, then headed to the bus to see what life was ultimately like for our daughters their first year of life, and what it would have been like had they stayed in China. It was a very eye opening experience to say the least, and many mothers and fathers were in tears just thinking what their daughters lives were like before they were untied with their forever families. The houses have no windows, and there are many family members that live in one place. The rooms are dirt floors or cement, with many houses having no doors. Everything is tidy, but dirty, and you can tell that they work hard for what they have. The people of this little village all came to their doors as we walked down the street, with many of them smiling and and saying "hi". The people seemed happy and content in their homes and one woman and her daughter and child opened up their home for us to see. That is one picture that we will include with this journal. To them their living is normal, to us it is sheer poverty. To add to the day it was raining/drizzling the whole time, with mud and puddles everywhere. We are so thankful for the home we live in. After this we went to a porcelain shop that our guide said was a good place to get quality porcelain for a good price. The porcelain is absolutely beautiful, and many purchases were made to Dana approval!! ( : Then we headed to lunch (already mentioned) and back to the hotel for naps and down time. Tonight we just need to meet with our guide Sherry to go over Notary information and then pack our bags for our last leg of our journey- Guangzhou. We all are looking forward to getting there. We have a passport appointment in the morning, and then need to be in the lobby at 2:00 to get to our 4:00 flight. We need to start thinking about supper. We just found out that about 5 men from our group braved heading out in a taxi to a McDonalds to pick up food for the family, and it was quite a memorable experience!! I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but the traffic here is horrible, and the driving is CRAZY!! Our bus driver drives on both sides of the road, and keeps driving at oncoming cars almost like that car game stupid people play called "chicken". The bus has won every time, but most of the time us parents just close our eyes and pray we make it to our destination safe! Bicyclers are everywhere and it is not uncommon for our driver to be right on the tail of a biker going about 5-10 miles and hour!! Dana has filming of this, so we will be able to show Dustin and Jonah. Well, we are off to supper. Don’t think it will be McDonalds though! ( :

Amy and Dana

Dustin and Jonah: I will keep trying to call you even if there are times we try and you aren’t home. Sometimes it is more difficult, but we will keep at it! Dustin, you are the one that we really haven’t talked to. I know you are busy, and cheer on those SWC volleyball players. Jonah, I got an email from Sue and she said they absolutely loved having you stay with them. Sounds like you will be using the movie passes sometime this week. Skate hard and we’ll see you soon! We love you boys TONS and can’t wait to get home! Mom and Dad