Super Friends

Our super friends John and Carole came to visit Jinnae. Rick, John, Carole and I have taken many trips together and have stayed in many places. We have stayed in beautiful condos, nice hotels and tents.

When John saw Jinnae's referral picture he gave her the nickname, Skeeter. He said her hair looks like mine (Vicki) when I get up in the morning and come out of my tent. Jinnae likes her nickname and even responded to it once. We'll see how much she likes the name when she is older!

More Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins

Jinnae had fun meeting her Uncle Jason, Aunt Crystal, Uncle Jerome, Aunt Nadia, and cousins Michael, Olivia and Joe. Jinnae says, I am thankful to have such a big and loving family.

Jinnae's First Time at the Zoo

Jinnae, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sally, Mama and lots of cousins had a great day at the zoo!

Visit to MCS

Today Jinnae and I visited my work. The staff, students, and parents were very excited to meet her. The students enjoyed the gifts Jinnae brought them from China. They are the characters for the 2008 Olympics in China. The characters names are BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing and NiNi. Their names mean Beijing Welcomes You. Look for the characters during the Olympics. We both had a nice time. Jinnae was worn out from all the attention. She fell asleep the second I put her in her car seat.

Life continues to be a dream.

Sunday's Friends

On Sunday, my close friend, Shelby, her husband, Marc, and their six children came over to visit. We had pizza and smores for lunch. We then sang Praise songs, Rick gave a Bible lesson, and we went for a super short walk. Marc is from California, so he thought the fifty five degree weather with wind was just too cold! Jinnae agreed with him. Jinnae doesn't care for the weather on this side of the equator!

Later in the afternoon, our neighbor and her granddaughter came to visit and then in the evening our friend, Kristi, and her daughter came to visit.

It was a great day!

Saturday's Friends

On Saturday, some of my friends from work came over to meet Jinnae. We had a great visit and everyone enjoyed a smore. We have a mini smore maker which works out nice for all Jinnae's friends who come to visit. Jinnae loved all the attention! When she was put down for a second while everyone started to roast their marshmallows she started to cry because she got used to being held. So, Aunt Missa (she is dating my brother) put her on the counter to enjoy the action. It was a fun afternoon.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

Today Jinnae and I went to visit Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. They are 86 and 87 years old. They were so happy to meet Jinnae. Great Grandpa said, Hi sweetheart, how are you? Great Grandma said, that's the most words he has said all day! :)

Jinnae also met her Aunt Janis and her cousins Tammy and Heather.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Gerst. Jinnae was very spoiled today. Grandma and Grandpa gave her lots of treats and let her do whatever she wanted.

She had a lot of fun.

Adjusting to the time change

China is twelve hours ahead of us here in the United States. We did not have a problem adjusting to the time change when we were there, but we have had a difficult time now that we are back. We have worked hard to keep Jinnae up during the day the past three days. We entertained her a lot to keep her eyes from falling asleep.

Our hard work paid off, she slept for 10 hours last night. Yay! Hopefully, this pattern continues. Rick is also sleeping very well now.

I on the other hand, have not adjusted very well. I stay up until midnight feeling exhausted thinking for sure I will sleep the whole night. Then, I wake up at 3:00 am with tons of energy. It's crazy! I know I cannot live on only three hours of sleep a night for long. Hopefully, by the end of the week, my body will have adjusted.

Life is good, we love Jinnae so much. We have enjoyed becoming parents.

Pray for China

As many of you know, China suffered a devastating earthquake on Monday. Please pray for the families who have lost loved ones.
Our agency does have a few orphanages in the affected region. The good news is that the children are safe but the buildings have suffered much damage.
Our agency continues to keep us updated as more information comes in. We are so sad about this natural disaster.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love you, Mama.

Love,

Jinnae

First day for Jinnae in Allendale

Jinnae woke up at 7:00 am in a good mood. She ate breakfast and played. She went down for her morning nap from 9:00-10:00 am. Then, her Aunt Rhonda and cousins came to visit. Jinnae loved meeting them.
We then went shopping for a while. When we returned, Jinnae relaxed in her special, pink chair.
Jinnae loves her chair and knows already that she is the princess in this house!

Day 16 - Coming Home to America!

It was awesome meeting our beautiful daughter, Jinnae, and becoming parents in China. We love her so much! Also, taking in everything we could from her culture was fun and exciting.
The flight home was very long yet very good. There was no turbulence and Jinnae did well. Jinnae was the only baby on the plane and received much positive attention. All of the flight attendants came to visit her and told us how cute she was. This was a big plane, so it was about 10 attendants! We also were able to change to better seats with more leg room right behind first class. That was nice. The attendants brought Jinnae snacks, juice, water, blankets, extra pillows, a bassinet, whatever she wanted. She was quite spoiled.
Everything wasn't exactly perfect though as Jinnae did choose to have not only her first blow out diaper with us on the plane but two!! (Those of you who are parents know what I mean. It was a mess and everywhere!) The first time, we changed and cleaned her up at our seat. The second time, Rick thought we would spare those around us and changed her in the tiny airplane bathroom. He is such a great dad!
After landing and going through immigration and customs, I took Jinnae to the bathroom to pretty her up for our flight home since I knew family and friends were excited to meet her. After cleaning her up, I gave her to her dad and then went to freshen up myself. When I returned with five minutes to spare before boarding the plane, Rick handed me Jinnae and said, she had a third blow out diaper!! I couldn't believe it! I had only packed two outfits and one extra onesie in my carry on. So, Jinnae met all her family and friends at the airport in a onesie! How stylish! We have decided no more apple juice and fruit for this one for a little while.
We were overwhelmed by the greeting of family and friends at the airport. It meant a lot to us. We are so thankful.
Grandma Gerst was the first to hold Jinnae. Jinnae was excited that Grandma bought her a pinwheel to play with. She loved all the shiny colors.
We are glad to be home. Jinnae slept very well her first night with us in her new home and crib. By the time we got home from celebrating it was almost 1:00 am. Jinnae went to bed at 1:00 am and slept until 7:00 am. Rick slept well too. I didn't sleep much. I guess I haven't adjusted to the time change. I was fine all day today too. I am waiting for the jet lag to hit. I'm glad Rick is home this week as well.
Life is good. We are so happy! It is good to be home!

Day 15 - Many tours!

Today we started our day with the free breakfast here. We then jumped on a bus and went to Tiananmen Square. There were no protests today. There were many police and soldiers. After that, we went to the Forbidden City. It was interesting to see how the emperor lived. We then went to a Chinese restaurant. They served us fish. I love fish but this one did have the head and tail on it. I just ate the middle. It was good! Next, we visited the Great Wall. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was a beautiful day today and we could see for a long way at the wall. The Great Wall is 3500 miles long all together! Sometimes it is called The Great Cemetery because many people lost their lives while building it. The steps were not even. Some were normal and some were like trying to step up three steps at once. Rick and Jinnae climbed almost to the top where we were. They had to stop because Jinnae refused to go on. Just joking. :) Actually, the steps were getting steeper and Rick decided it wasn't a good idea to take Jinnae any further. Rick and Jinnae made it to the fourth watch tower out of six. I waited for them at the second watch tower which was pretty high up!

We have a new guide here in Beijing. Her name is Grace. She is very nice. We really miss our previous guide, Kelly.

On the way back to our hotel, we drove slowly through the Olympic village. It was cool!

Rick, Jinnae and I are looking forward to flying home tomorrow.

We will be arriving at the Grand Rapids airport at 8:53 pm. We will be on United Airlines Flight 664. See everyone soon!

Day 14 - Flight to Beijing

Today we had to get up very early to leave for Beijing. The city we left, Guangzhou, was having the Olympic torch come to it today. We had to miss it.

We got up at 4:30 am and left at 5:15 am. Jinnae did not appreciate being taken out of her crib so early. We got to the airport and on the plane with five minutes to spare again. We are getting good at making it at the last minute. Once again, Jinnae loved the plane ride. The flight was very smooth. On all of our flights, I think it is interesting that the two smoothest flights have had women pilots. Go women! Rick likes to remind me that on both of these flights we did not arrive at our destinations early. I'd rather have a smooth flight and be on time, rather than a bumpy one just to arrive a few minutes early. :)

We spent much of the day on a plane or in the airport. When we finally settled in our hotel here in Beijing we all took a nap. When we woke up, we took a walk through the city and found a Subway and Baskin Robbins. We had sandwiches for dinner and ice-cream for dessert. Jinnae likes mint chocolate chip ice-cream like her mom.
By the way, I ordered a ham sandwich with just pickle at Subway. I received a ham sandwich with everything but pickle! Sometimes the language barrier is difficult but it gives us good stories. Actually, I am quite amazed at the amount of English that many people here know. We continue to have people stop us on the street every day and tell us thank you for adopting Jinnae. They always ask her age and what province she is from. The babies in her province are known for being well fed. She gets a lot of jokes about her chubby cheeks. :)

In the evenings, Rick reads Jinnae either the China Daily newspaper or a book called, Living Simply. She likes it.

Tomorrow will be a big day of touring. We will visit the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Olympic stadium. We will be gone from 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. It is a good thing I am good at making bottles on the road. A thermos comes in handy. Jinnae likes her bottles warm still. That is what she is used too. I tried to cheat once and she became very angry. We'll make those changes later not while we are on the road. :)

We will be flying home on Friday. It has been a great adventure, but we are looking forward to coming home.

Day 13 - U.S Consulate

Today we went to the United States Consulate here in China. Jinnae received her visa and will become an United States citizen when we land on U.S soil in Chicago, Illinois. Yay!
Jinnae had the giggles a lot today.
We have to get up real early tomorrow and leave by 5:45 am for the airport. We should be in Beijing around noon and then get settled into a hotel there.
Please pray for a smooth flight.
We will post again from Beijing if we are able too. :)
We come home on Friday. We will be flying into the Grand Rapids airport at 8:53 pm. We have had a lot of fun but are ready to come home.
Love and miss everyone.

Day 11 and 12

Blogger was shut down for a day. They said they would be shut down until after the Olympics. So I posted on My Space yesterday. That address is myspace.com/carnationsarebeautiful. You can check that out for days 11 and 12.
Jinnae had a doctor's appointment. She is in good health and weighs 17 pounds.
I found the Made in China t-shirt for Jinnae. I thought it was funny. She wasn't so excited about it. :)
Life is good.

Day 10 - YunTai Garden

Today we visited the YunTai Garden. It was a beautiful place. There were many plants, flowers, trees, waterfalls, and streams. It was all decorated for the Olympics as well.

We had a nice stroll through the park. It was very hot. We all sat down for a treat afterwards. Rick and Jinnae had ice-cream and I had a bottle of water.

In the afternoon, we had to do about two hours worth of paperwork to get Jinnae's visa. Then, as I was holding Jinnae, she went to the bathroom on me! How it came out of the diaper, I do not know! All of a sudden a stream of water was flowing down her leg and onto my skirt. It must be the generic diapers I bought here. So, we gave her a bath and this time she was ok with it. She was laughing because I was cracking up over the situation. At least we weren't in a rush to go anywhere when it happened.

This evening we ordered Papa John's pizza for dinner. We then went shopping around the island. Shopping is different here because you can negotiate the price. Rick is good at that. :)

All in all, we had a great day!