|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
May 15, 2005 – We have been travelling a long time and we are really beat but we are in the hotel and the agency is getting YuQi and bringing her to a government office where we will be picking her up.
May 17, 2005 (morning update) – This has been the most frustrating time with the Hotel computers. Not one of the hotels that we have stayed at have english computers and no one really speaks english. Chris has no idea what got sent or what didn't. We are guessing that you got pictures of our day with YuQi. She is such a sweet little girl. I'm sure she is scared out of her mind but she hids it well. Anyway here is our story. On sunday we just arrived in Nanchang and had hardly any time in the Hotel Gloria when our driver and interputer were here to get us. We were so nervous and scared and excited all at once. The ride to the government building was very quick and as we walked up the stairs and walked around the corner "there she was" sitting on the chair waiting for us. It was one of the most amazing monents of my life. I've only had three like it. Two of course when my beautiful babies were born and the other when the Lord reached out and touched me. She was so unsure as to what to do or what to say. Then she said Mommy and Daddy and we just melted. We had a great night togeather. We had a big supper and than went swimming for her first time . She had a ball except for the almost drowning part that is. Could you see us explaining that one!!!(SUNDAY) In the morning we got up and went to finialize everything. We had to put our red thumb prints on all the Documents and let me tell you when she put her little hand print (in agreement that we would be her parents) on that sheet I lost it!!! I guess at first I was a little disappointed that we didn't get that "gotcha moment" but everyone's experence is different and that moment will be in our minds forever. We had a great day shopping for all kinds of things for her. And of course a new suitcase. As the evening went on and we walked a few blocks away from the hotel for supper she got really quiet, no supper for her, and by the time we got back to the hotel she was crying and we were lost as to how to comfort her. (She has no english - maybe a few words) but as God is faithful the phone rang and it was Yulin. They had a good talk and then she was OK. She was missing her friends and her bed. At bed time she said good night mommy and daddy and went to sleep.MONDAY So today its Tuesday and we are all up and showered and ready for breakfast. Mary (our guide and life saver) is coming at 9 to take us to a temple somewhere and when we get back we will try to send pictures and some script. I just have to say that God is so amazing in all this. He loves us so much that he would take us half way around the world to bring this little girl home. Please PRAY for YUQI. I can see her hitting a wall soon and she needs all the comfort from God that he can give. And we all know how amazing that can be. Anyway Love you all Norma May 17, 2005 (evening update) – Today we went to the Tengwang Temple. It was very beautiful . YuQi decided today that chris was her buddy and mom was out of the picture. She wouldn't hold my hand and she would'nt let his go of chris'. Chris got sick about half way through our day trip so he went back to the hotel. Yuqi , mary and I went for lunch."Love that chinese food" When we got back to the room we had a hard time for about an hour or so because YuQi got very upset and cried alot. It really rips your heart out when you can't understand what she is saying. We got turned around after a while and went to the pool for a swim. We met some kids to play with and life was good again. You should have seen her .She looked at this little boy and said "What is your name?" I nearly fell in the pool. Kids are so intelligent. She had a few people ask her that question and that was it. Chris finally climbed out of bed at supper time so we went to the hotel restaurant for some good old Canadian Food. Things are great tonight so we are smooth sailing til tomorrow when we start all over again. We tried to send pictures but messed up and now the camera is low on batts. Sorry. We hope we can have something for you tomorrow. Love the Browns May 18, 2005 – Hi everyone, Today was a great day for us here although YuQi had a moment of sadness where she was sobbing by herself. It is hard for us because we really dont know the situation that she left. We found out today that the orphanage that she was in had 400 girls and no boys and most of the children were handicaped. some with no hands and some with no feet. There are some small children here for her to play with so that is really good. Today we went shopping and I went nuts on dvd tapes. We got 36 DVD's for less than 23.00 us unbelievable. The people are amazing and they all look at us like we are from another planet never mind half way around the world. This is a really eye opening enviroment. But it sure makes you appreciate your own bed, my bed is like a glass coffee table and i am not joking. Any way we only have one more day in Nanchang and then we will be flying to Bejing for a week before coming home. Tomorrow we will be completing the rest of the paper work and that will be it. If I could close with a scripture from John 13 34 "a new commandment I give you, that you love one another,even as I have loved you,that you also love one another....................... we love you all chris and norma
May 19, 2005 – Today we flew from Nanchang to Beijing. It was a 2 hour flight. YuQi was great and it was the first time that she was ever on an airplane. We saw so much in the province that we left. Yesterday a whole bunch of people gathered around us on the sreet they were amazed at these two caucasien people with this small child from China and one woman gestured for me to pick up her boy which I did. Well she wanted me to take him also as she knew that it was good. We were feeling a bit crowded i have to say. YuQi is bonding with Norma and I fine and It is something that all of us have to adjust to but for now she is having the time of her life. When we got her last week she had only the shoes on her feet and the clothes on her back so we were pretty shocked. The next day the orphanage came by with shoe box full of everything that she owned. She was happy to see that because there were some photos in the box that she cherishes alot. It is hard to believe that nine years of your life ar summed up in a shoe box.............. we all have a lot to learn........so i say this to all my children reciting from psalm114:14 May The Lord make you increase both you and your children, may you be blessed by the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. I'm sending and addition to chris's e-mail becouse there are a few things I would like to add. Today was our best day yet. We finally slept in past 6:45 and we were up and dressed for breakfast with bells on. We decided to be adventurous today and get off the beaten path. We walked up the street to the walking street and instead of going right we went left. Boy did we meat some wonderfully odd people and had the time of our trip. We shopped and window shopped and all the way Yuqi was skipping and singing and being a happy kid. We had alot of people crowding around us at times wondering why this child was with us and when we showed them the card saying "this is our adopted daughter" they were very happy for the most part. We had one women give chris her baby and walk away saying bye bye and in case you are wondering we gave him back . One old lady stopped us and looked at Yuqi and pointed to us and put her hand on ther chest and patted herself and said the most wonderful thing to us . We dont really know what it was but from her eyes anyone would have known what she was saying.THANK YOU . We had lunch at the K.F,C. and headed back to the Hotel. We watched a movie and later yuqi asked if we could go to the pool (Her favorate hangout) . We met a great lady from toronto who was adopting a baby at the pool several times so we invited her to come to supper with us and we celebrated our last night in Nanchang. I have to say we had a great time and the best part of the night was when Yuqi came up to chris and I after the meal and kissed us both on the face and said thank you mommy and daddy. Boy those moments are great. We are so missing our girls and wish with every passing day that they were here with us. May 20, 2005 – I hope that these pictures will say a thousand words. We have been really moved in the last week and it sure has been an amazing journey here in China. Norma and YuQi are doing some well needed shopping for clothes for her and we are all at this amazing hotel inBeijing. The best I have ever seen. The ironic thing is that just outside the front door of the building thereare people just diving on you with pans in their hands looking for money. It breaks my heart. Lots of love Chris and Norma Behold children are a gift from the Lord: How blessed is the man whose Quiver is full of them. Psalm 127 I'm sending and addition to chris's e-mail becouse there are a few things I would like to add. Today we got up early so we could be at the airport at 7 oclock. Yuqi loved the plane ride. Had the time of her life. She was so happy today because we were going to Beijing and she would meet her old friend Yulin. They have had a great day catching up and Yuqi asked her 101 questions about what things are going to be like living with us. Would we send her back if she was bad? Would we make her stand for 4 hours in the corner if she did something wrong? She asked why we did'nt want a baby?She also asked about school and all that kind of stuff. She is really looking forward to school. We are so glad to be back with the group. We all went out for supper and had lots of fun. These guys are amazing people . They all have their own stories but they are all the same. Tomorrow we get to go sight seeing and shopping so that should be good. Talk to you all tomorrow. We love you all. The Browns
May 21, 2005 – Hi everyone, Today we had a great day!!! We love Beijing. We are so glad to be back with group. Today we went to the zoo and the kids loved the Panda bears and the monkeys. We had lunch in a restaurant at the zoo and the food was great (there is always too much) after we left there we went to the Summer Palace. What a beautiful place. Chris got more great pictures and he will add them tomorrow. It is very expensive to use the internet at the business center at the hotel. When we got back we were all starving so we went across the streat to this food court. This place has the best food from all over Asia. Yuqi had another great day and we enjoyed each other alot. She is an amazing child. She has had to endure so much in the short time on this earth and yet she copes so well. She plays with all the children and yells mommy look.or daddy look. She is always looking around to see if we are watching and that we are there. We just love her so much. We love you all too. Keep praying for us The browns May 22, 2005 – Well today we stood at the Great Wall of China and were in awe. It certianly is one of the wonders of the world. We had a great day today. The weather was warm about 31 and the skies were blue. We started out our day at the Jade factory where they make all those jade ornaments and statues. What a sight. The craftmanship is amazing. Than we went to the wall. I couldn't walk to high up but it the view from the place was wonderful and the mountians ......we had fun bartering with the village people there but couldnt get over their pushiness. Yuqi had another good day. She played with the other children and lunch was fun to because all the kids sat together. We had pizza fron Pizza hut. Chris isnt doing to well with the Hot chinese food so pizza was a nice change Chris is going to send some pictures. May 23, 2005 – Today we got up early (on the only day everyone could have slept in ) and went to the medical that all the children have to pass before they can come to Canada. Yuqi is in Perfect health except for her left eye.We found out that the sight in her left eye is 20/400 which is almost blind. She has two problems 1. a lazy eye . It should have been corrected when she was small but wasn't 2. is that she has a scare on her cornea which resulted from a trama to the eye or a chemical burn. She fears that we will not want her. We tried to reassure her and we hope that she understands. This afternoon we will go to an indoor market. It should be fun. She is so afraid to come to Canada because she sayes she cant understand what we are saying. Please pray for peace and contempment for her. Love you all The Browns PS Thankyou for all your guest book entries. I cry every time I read them.
May 24, 2005 – Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.Set your mind on things above,Not in the things that are on earth. Collasians 3:1 Today we are reminded of how great God is ,as we look into the eyes of this beautiful little one. We are so blessed to be here. To experence her world and try to understand what makes her who she is. More and more her sweet spirit is coming out and we are able to see a glimpes of happiness. Last night we went to an amazing acrobat show. It was great to see it in person. The children in the show were truly amazing. We were sure Yuqi would love it but she didnt get a chance to watch it. When we got there we ran right into a white lady with a chinese child around 17 years old. She said her husband and her adopted her when she was 7 1/2 and they got along great. When we introduced her to yuqi the bonded right away and the young girl asked if she could sit with us through the show. They talked through the whole thing and she was able to ease all yuqi's fears about learning the language and moving to a new world. This girl told yuqi that this was a wonderful opportunity and that she should toke it and make the best of it like she did. Yuqi was flying high when we got home. She kissed us and told us that she loved us and that she was happy.We stayed up very late. Today we were all tiried and didnt get much out of shopping all day. I did get my silk for my curtians and a dress for Yuqi Well we are taking it easy tonight . Maybe a swim ,a walk to the KFC down the street and an early night to bed. Tomorrow will be The forbidden City and Tanaman Square(please excuse the spelling) another big day. Take care everyone and God bless Love yu all The Browns May 24, 2005
May 25, 2005 – Well I can hardly believe that its here. We finally leave for Vancouver in a few hours. These last few days have been wonderful as we watch Yuqi prepare herself for the trip to P.E.I. It had been so amazing to waatch Gods hand unfold in her life and we are excited at the peace he has instilled in her. Yesterday we went to the Forbidden Palace in the morning. When we left we had to walk to meet our bus. We were surrounded with beggers and handicapped people. It was the most tramadic i've seen in a long time. I just stoop there and cried. We are truly blessed and if I had forgotten it I was reminded very quickly. We had the afternoon to ourselves so we had lunch and did a little last minute shopping then in to the pool for the rest of the time. We had a goodbye supper and a little party in the evening. Yuqi recited a poem and there was a magic show . Everyone had a good time When we got back to the hotel it was late and when we finally got Yuqi setteled down to go to bed chris sat on her bed and said" Tomorrow you will start a new life Yuqi" we had no idea if she understood all of what we were saying but she looked at him and said "It's o.k. daddy, Lets go." May the Lord direct your hearts into the Love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 1Timothy 3:5 p.s. earlier in the week YuQi was unsettled and crying a long while. We were beside ourselves as to what was wrong. Finally Yulin came by and Yu Qi talked with her about what she was feeling. She told her that in her next life she wanted to be like a tree because it never moves......... We were sad that she was hurting in such a deep way and she obviously was thinking about the tree and how its roots run so deep into the ground and make it unmovable. I went to bed and read my bible and Norma and I ran across a beautifull passage of scripture from Psalm 92 that we had heard Steve Bell recite in one of his songs....................... Psalm 92:12..........The righteous will flourish like a palm tree they will grow like a ceder of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord , they will flourish in the courts of our God. It is our prayer for all our daughters that they will be like this tree! Love you everyone Chris and norma May 26, 2005 – hi all we arrived in Vancouver today at 12:30 and it was a long and tiring trip. We waited at the airport in China for 4 hours and then flew for 12 hours. We are beat. Yuqi is great and except for a few tears at the China airport she was happy as a clam. Tomorrow we will be flying to Toronto at 6 0 clock am and then to Montreal and Finally Charlottetown arriving at 11:15 pm so you can well imagine that we wont be in a hurry to see a plane for a while.... It has been really wonderfull to share our experience with all of you. We have felt your love for us all through the miles and we are so pleased to have so many friends that we didn't Know that we had and also to have you all come along for this trip and see it through to the end or should I say to the beginning of one childs new life in Canada..... Yuqi became a landed immigrant this morning so hello Canada................ see you soon and God bless you all our friends and family............... May 27, 2005 – Home at last!
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
