Home at last!!

We finally arrived home after over 24 hours in planes and airports. We are doing very well... catching up on some sleep. Yesterday, Saturday, I felt like I had been hit by a truck... I hear that's what jetlag feels like. Joshua is enjoying his sisters and brother... he holds his arms out to be picked up by them. He and Isaac haven't really played together yet... but Isaac is enjoying talking about being the big brother... I hope that will continue. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! Our trip was awesome, our kids back home did very well, and Joshua is adjusting amazingly well! Here are some pictures of Joshua's first day at home and the kids got him gifts and he enjoyed opening them... after he figured out how to! We love you and thank you for you prayers! God has been so good to us!!

Last days in China

We are finally in Guangzhou... thank God for the White Swan hotel, a little closer to home!! Here is Joshua in his traditional Chinese outfit, so cute! We got a picture of all the kids in our group on the tradional red couch. We also had a hamburger two days in a row... we have enjoyed Chinese food, but man that hamburger and fries tasted good. Joshua is doing so well... he likes his mama now and is trying to say lots of words. He communicates what he wants somehow for sure! Only two more days and we get to see you all! Please pray for a safe journey home and for those seated around us... Joshua doesn't like to be restrained in a stroller, plane seat, etc. A car seat should be interesting for sure!! We have lots of cool souvenirs for all of you... traditional outfits for Grace, Faith, and Isaac and us!! Fun pictures for sure!! We bought Grace, Faith, and Isaac shirts that say sister and brother in Chinese. Cool, huh?! This is going to be our last post until we get home! We love you guys! Hugs and kisses and drool from Joshua to Grace, Faith, and Isaac!!

Thanks for all the encouraging posts!!!

We were just able to read all of your comments... you are all so encouraging. No we were not able to visit Hope Haven... just take a picture outside of it! They have changed the rules this year because of the Olympics and all the bad publicity in Tibet... but Julie I do have some pictures of Zoie for you from Joshua's album that have her in them... I'll scan them and send them to you when I get home. Thank you everyone for keeping up with us and commenting... hopefully we can view our blog now everyday we have left! You are all such a blessing to us!!

Joshua's Birthday!!

Well Joshua's birthday started with a walk halfway around the city wall... about 3 miles... we walked from the south gate to the north gate. Oh... and he didn't walk he slept the whole way in his stroller. The picture of all three of us is in front of an emperor's chariot. Then we ate one of his favorite foods... McDonald's french fries... I'm not kidding... he won't touch a cheeseburger or nuggets but when we walk into McDonald's he points to the picture of fries and then to himself and gets really excited!!! We went to a dumpling restuarant tonight and we all really enjoyed the food. We also got a cake at a local bakery for Joshua.... as you can see the American tradition of singing happy birthday "kind of" scared him a bit. Mommy got a little choked up for the first time just realizing that we finally were here and had our little Joshua.... what can I say... I always get choked up at birthdays. Well, off to Guangzhou tomorrow.... one more step closer to home. We love you all... please continue your prayers.... especially that Joshua would get well (he has a bad cold and cough) and for safety as we begin our journey back home! Blessings! Hi Grace, Faith, and Isaac :) !!!! We love you very much!!!

Last days in Xian

Yesterday we had a free day and went to a great little Children's Park. Joshua enjoyed going down the slides and playing the drums with his friends Maylee and Quin. He followed Maylee around and wanted to do the things she was doing... I think he'll learn a lot from his older sisters and brother. He slept much better last night.... thanks for praying! He woke up but was easily consoled so that was nice. Today we went to walk on top of the city wall. It it 600 years old and has drawbridges, a moat, and four openings into the city of Xian... North, South, East, and West Gates. In the picture you can see the moat and to the left is the wall itself. Joshua also had his first taste of pizza today.... he really liked it. We ordered the cheese stuffed crust and he ate on the crust all the way back to the hotel. Grace you would like the pizza here... not much sauce. The Pizza Hut was two stories high.... about 4 times the size of our Pizza Hut at home. Well... only 1 more day in Xian.... our plane for Guangzhou leaves at 9:30am on Monday. Soon we will be home. Thanks for praying.... please continue and we'll see you soon!

Lots of pictures today... going from last to first... last night we went to the Forest of the Stone Tablets. There were literally rows and rows of ancient tablets.... mostly from Buddha and Conficious time periods and also epitaths and tombs of emperors and kings. There were sandscript tablets also and the stone carving was actually from 800-500BC. We will probably never see something so ancient again in our lives. The restuarant was a very good dumpling restuarant.... chicken, pork, shrimp, tomato, and vegetable dumplings... our favorite meal so far. Joshua's favorite food there was bean sprouts... I think he ate his weight in them. Today we went to a famous Pagoda (it was orginally used a library for Buddha's writings, but now is more of a Buddhist Temple). May I add that it made us very grateful that we worship a living God and very sad for those paying somewhat of a penance to a great man, but no longer living. Yesterday we met a Christian that helped our driver and tour guide find Hope Haven in Xian Yang so that was very cool. He and his wife knew of Hope Haven because they volunteered there and they and their daughter recognized Joshua. Today we also ate at McDonald's..... you know you're desperate when the word you use to describe a Big Mac, fries, Coke, and chocolate sundae is heavenly!!! We have pictures of Joshua eating at McDonald's with people from Hope Haven so sleeping through his first trip with us was okay.... we got him a Happy Meal and he really likes fries and is not very fond of chicken nuggets! The top picture is of Joshua and Quin, his Hope Haven brother, that the family that is traveling with us has adopted. Quin's birthday is the 24th so he and Joshua are very close in age. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain heavily so we are hoping to go to the Bampoo Village Ruins... an inside museum of an ancient city. We are very blessed to have a great tour guide.... she's a history major so we are learning a ton from her. Well... we are halfway done with our trip around the world. Looking forward to seeing you all soon! We love you Grace, Faith, and Isaac.... by the way Joshua is starting to try to say all of your names... he says hello and waves when he says bye-bye! Lots of Love!! Clayton, Angie, and Joshua

Wednesday, April 16 Joshua's birth city XingPing

This is the entrance to the lumber yard that Joshua was found the day he was born in XingPing City. It is about 20 miles northwest of Xian. It was an emotional site for me.... we just took the pictures and left. He is continuing to "come out of his shell" to say the least.... as a matter of fact I'm not sure he ever had a shell.... he seems to have no problem letting us know how he feels. He really is cute and enjoys laughing and playing!!! Also, he loves seeing big trucks and buses on the roads. Well... I think we might eat dumplings tonight near the bell tower. Tomorrow we are going to try to go to a museum that has some ancient tablet writings and we found a children's park on the map we hope to try. We love you all!!! Kisses and hugs to Grace, Faith, and Isaac