Playing together in China

December 12th Update

What an adventure... Rick hiked the steepest part of the Great Wall with Paul on his back.  The only casualty was his thigh muscles and a little chaffing.  Oh, and more than a few comments from the other climbers... of course they were in Chinese so we assume they were something like" what a good Daddy to bring his son up the wall."  Of course, it really was probably something like, " Crazy man."  I hiked up as well.  We made it about 2/3 rds of the way up and the steepnest and wind made us go back down. It was awesome.  We have an amazing tour guide -- he has taken us to many more places than we asked.  So far we have seen the Great Wall, Ming's Tombs, the Secret Place, the Lama Temple with the worldest largest gold Buddha, the Art Zone, the Chinese Acrobats, the Beijing Zoo and so much more!! What a great way to get ready for Joseph -- now we have orientation this morning.  We found out we are the only family here.  The others left on Saturday.  We will meet them Friday in Guangzhou.  Today we go to the Forbidden Palace and Tiannimen Square.  Tomorrow is Gotcha Day! We drive for about 40 minutes and get Joseph and then drive about three hours to the Capital city of Heibei where we spend the next day and fly out on Friday morning to Guangzhou to do our American paperwork.  Paul is very excited... Rick and I are wondering how the parents, aunts and uncles did it... just adding one child after another:)))  It is now starting to seem real.  Paul is telling everyone what he is going to teach Joseph -- I going to teach Joseph a lot of stuff -- Matt (his friend)  will help.  So, we are in the final countdown!!  We will let you know how it goes tomorrow!! Love, ARP

December 10th Update

Dec 10th a.m.

We arrived safely in Beijing an hour ago and are currently relaxing at the hotel.  We left for LA on Wednesday morning.  Alaska Airlines waived our over weight bag fee! Whew... one bag was 70 pounds -- love Pasco Alaska staff!  So we arrived in LA at 5:45.  We spent a lovely evening with the Gallaghers in LosAngeles, though Ann missed Marianne.  We spent the day repacking our suitcases to meet the weight requirements and then had a nice breakfast with Frankie, walked on the beach with Ellen Z. another of Ann's awesome friend/family people and she fixed us dinner and then we were off to the airport at 6:30pm on Thursday night.  Our flight left an hour late but we got into Guangzhou and changed planes on time -- to head back north to Beijing.  We arrived in Beijing at 4:30 pm PST Friday.   Which is noon on Saturday in Beijing.  Quite the day.  Paul is an awesome traveler.. we went to put on the DVD for the last hour into Guangzhou -- he had been in the plane for 13 hours or more and the security check person forgot to turn off the power on the DVD player!! Paul took it in stride and read a book and played with his trains...  Happy to be in Beijing... got update on Joseph.. he is now 30 inches tall, only two inches shorter than Paul.  We are off to walk around and then have Peking Duck in Peking:))  Early to bed tonight and then we are off to the Great wall and the jade market tomorrow.  Love to everyone and thanks for the prayers.  ARP

Everything To Me (Music Video) - Adoption Videos - Adoptive Families

Everything To Me (Music Video) - Adoption Videos - Adoptive Families

Joseph it has been 16 months:)) Almost there...

The Grand Canyon

Joseph... we are almost there!

Off to China next Wednesday!!

Paul in front of Karin's Court Chinese restaurant in Dallas, TX.  He wanted Chinese for lunch.  We ate there twice.  Yummy!! Dim Sum, Shumai, mmm....  6,000 miles later we are home.  The doctor's visit went fine... some new sensitivities and some old ones gone.  Blood work back next week.  Yikes.  Just hard to hear how I need to cut back and be more rested:))  Yeah, with a four year old and a two and half year old on the way:).  Looks like China over Christmas... can't wait.  Thanks, Dad!!

Wow ... A year already

I'm back and feel as if the past year has flown by.  When someone had asked me how being married was going and how did I feel as a married woman vs as a single woman -- all of five years ago, I had to pause and really think.  I love being married and being married to Rick, it's just that it was totally different.  So, without much thought I said that "I had greatly underestimated the degree of change."  Well, almost two years after adopting Paul and about to go back to China and adopt Joseph I know that I am again, "greatly underestimating the degree of change!"  Does knowing this help... perhaps.  We are not nearly as wound up about the travel, will Joseph transition, will Paul deal with it okay, etc, but we are curious how having the second child will change things.  We can listen to stories, we have watched our siblings, been the siblings when three others were brought home or in Rick's case four others -- I had five older siblings.  We know it will be sooooo different, but.... how much?  Will I be able to truly embrace my role as Mommy as I take on even more work at home? or will I be chafing to get out of the house and work? I really look to Mother Mary and her example of sacrifice and grace and pray for her guidance and patience with me.  I have found this summer so much easier than last... yes, someone can teach the night classes, someone else can sit in the pro shop on Friday mornings and I can work with sport psychology clients on my time table.  I know part of this is because being in Pasco we have so many options for babysitters:))) Thanks you guys.  I truly love being home with Paul and going to storytime -- as long as the little girl doesn't bonk him in the head with a block!  My right knee may need orthoscopic surgery to find the source of the fluid build up... the bones and everything else look great.  Going to the Dr. in Dallas next week for a tune up!! Hopefully, then I can start to lose weight:)))  Love my family and I am just blathering for now... Paul is taking a nap!