Regression?

"First, I thank God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world." Romans 1:8
How appropriate to read this morning as I think if all these families in China and all our families at home! I thank God for all of you!

Today, like every other day, starts out very early! Cash crawled in bed with me as Mark, Lizzy and Jian ( the earliest riser) set out to get STARBUCKS!! Yep, Starbucks in China!
After breakfast, we were scheduled for a 9am tour of Gangzhou Six Banyan Pagoda. We toured the ancient Pagoda, which was very beautiful, colorful, and filled with gorgeous vegetation. Of course, it was very hot! I am not a sweater, but I felt it drip all the way down my back. It reminded me of my wedding day 41 years ago, the hottest day of the year in a church with no air conditioning!! HOT!! HOT!! REALLY HOT! We did a stop to do a little "shopping"! Just a little. Probably was a good thing it was so hot, cause it was too hot to shop!!!

Our little 'bull in a China closet' needed to get out before he broke something! It was a china store!! But, little Jian, seems to have a shoe fetish!! The ones he came in barely fit, so Lizzy found something for him in Zhengzhou in Walmart! Yep, a Walmart in China! So, now that we are in the china shop in Guangzhou, he spots a shelf of shoes and his daddy couldn't resist him! Now he is working on his shoe fetish!

A meltdown of a couple of our babies on the way back to the hotel  (including Jian) made us think we were regressing, but not really! He gets more playful with Cash everyday! He has no fear, so he takes off quickly! He actually loves his stroller (new concept) so much so that when he was walking with Lizzy, and Mark let Hollywood Jenna use it, he went off!!! MELTDOWN!!!

Every opportunity Cash gets to make a 'purchase', he asks to buy something for his GIRLFRIEND at home named Jenna! Told me he loved her more than me and that he was going to marry her! He bought her earrings, a picture with her name in Chinese on it, a bracelet and a PROMISE ring!!!!! He keeps talking about her, so I asked him what he loved so much about her and he said she was pretty!!!! Well, I said that is just not good enough! So he said she was sweet. Even though he said there were 2 other boys who she liked, he thought he would just seal the deal with this PROMISE ring! Really?!?!!

We all had to meet in the lobby for family pictures at 4:30 just before dinner. This is the funny thing! ALL the babies and all the babies siblings dressed in traditional Chinese attire with the exception of Jian!! He wore an all-American football jersey!!! The kid is Americanized! He ate pasta for dinner! I will send pics so you can see all these families.

We met a women today who had 4 girls with her all dressed alike! She adopted 2 of them on this trip and has 2 more at home with the dad! She was a quiet, demure woman! I would have been pulling my hair out!!! Again, all these kids have some kind of special need, even if very small! God bless her!!!

We met a man in the elevator and he has 6...4 adopted!

This is such a huge undertaking! I probably say that with each blog, but it is! None of this process is easy! You are pretty much in your hotel room more than half the time. The kids get bored easily and Jian ONLY LIKES IT OUTSIDE, although I think since he and  Cash have started to rough house, it's a little better. You can go on the tours and walk the streets but it is summer HOT here!  Did I say it was HOT here?? Tomorrow is the trip to the consulate to get SWORN IN!!!! You can't bring anything with you! No cameras, no purses, no phones, no anything but a diaper for your baby! I VOLUNTEERED to stay behind with Cash and the 2 other Bradford kids!  We are going to the pool!

It is comforting to be in it together! This is an incredible group! A much larger group of parents and babies came in yesterday and it is amazing what a difference a week makes in the whole bonding process! You could see the frustration on their faces and worse, you could hear it!!

Here is what I love the best about being here in China....every night I get to hear Jian sing himself to sleep! It is the sweetest sound!

Continue to please pray for these families. Please pray for my niece, Elizabeth Ida, my heart is with her!!!

All our families and babies

Cash drinking apple juice but he says it looks like beer!

Chinese art class in the pagoda

Cash and his new buddy Connor

Cash and Mark at the pagoda

How cute is he???!!!!

Gaga and the boys

                                   Jian is signing 'clean up', but I never saw any clean up going on!

                                               Hollywood Jenna taking a turn in Jian's stroller!!

                                                                    Brotherly LOVE!

                                             STINKER! STEALING CHINESE MONEY!!!

                                                            Perfect moment captured!!

Impromptu kiss for Daddy & I caught it on camera! 

Lahive Family minus Jian.. he was with Josh (quietly!)

                                                      That would be McDonald's french fries!!