Nearing a close...

Hello sweet readers!!!

I have just cut/pasted the entire blog (piece by piece... eek!) into a photo scrapbook online through something called Blurb. It was really one of the main purposes of this blog to begin with! Kate will have a record of our seeking her out, God putting all the pieces together, and her coming home. As I went back through the entries, I realize how completely LONG WINDED I am... sorry about that! You are/were all so sweet to read! Our older two girls each have an old-fashioned scrapbook of my pregnancies with them... so this will sort of be the more technological version of that!!! So this will be sort of the "last entry" in that book...

I'm not sure if I'll keep blogging - I'm thinking so... just probably on a different blog address. I chose the address "I set you apart" from a verse early one morning when I first started the blog. Kate is certainly set apart... God set her apart for great things! We pray she knows Jesus as her Lord and Savior and that her life glorifies Him. Her gender and/or cleft lip/palate set her apart in China... and let her dear parents to courageously leave her on the orphanage steps on the day she was born (it is illegal there to put your child up for adoption, so they were really caring to do that ... they risked being caught in order to leave her in a place they were sure she'd be found as soon as possible). They could have left her in many other places where she would never be found ... we are just so hugely grateful for their act of sacrifice in giving us their baby. I can't imagine the heartache and pain of doing that - and never knowing your little one's future... so that the child would have a better life... wow, it just astonishes me. I was rocking little Kate tonight before bed and I was just overcome with thankfulness to her mom/parents. Wow. We pray for them too. What an odd connection to have to people you will never meet on earth!

Anyway, I got side-tracked (this is why my entires are so LONG! Eek!)... so even though Kate has been "set apart" in so many awesome ways, she is now together with us... she is no longer apart from us. So I feel like we need to start a new blog with a different address! Every time I see this address I grimace a bit - it is just not ringing as true anymore ; ) This is one part of her and our story for sure - but there is another part! God "puts the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6) and that is what He has done with sweet little Kate. She is still set apart for great things and in neat ways... but she is set TOGETHER with her family now ; )

So when (if?) we start a new blog (I'm dragging my feet until I think of a catchy title!) I will post the address on this blog. It will be exciting in other ways I'm sure... but it will not be quite the crazy adventure of adopting (unless God leads us there again!). It will be more of a "normal" family-ish blog. So you may not want to read it! That is totally fine! I've really enjoyed blogging - just a great way to sort of journal my thoughts! Would be just as cathartic if no one even read it at all! But of course I love all the sweet comments and encouragement too ; ) And the photo book thing has been neat. I may try to blog in the future and keep turning each year into a book or something. So anyway, thank you for reading, praying, and loving us through all these months (and years!). We love you and are so very thankful for the amazing community of family and friends the Lord has blessed us with. So goodbye for now!

Merry Christmas ; )

love, liz (for the whole wessel crew ... ; )

ps. here is our "christmas card" this year... the digital version at least! I've had all sorts of embarrassing technical difficulties with them this year... the biggest being a slight envelope size debacle ... so in case they never get sent, here you go!!! (photo taken by katie cochran, cool zigzags and writing done by someone on etsy recommended by katie cochran... thanks katie!!! i should have had you print and mail them too! it would have certainly gone smoother!! haha ; )

A good verse to close with ...

Isaiah 9:6 -

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Jesse Tree Project...

Ok, this is really not a crafty blog... but I just thought I'd post this in case it helps anyone. I was trying to find a good project to do with the girls that would incorporate Jesus more into Christmas... and my friend Paula told me about these Jesse Tree things. The idea is that you get a small-ish tree and each day leading up to Christmas you read a scripture and put an ornament on the tree that has to do with that scripture. You start with creation and go up until Jesus is born on Christmas. They are really cool! You can buy really creative kits on Etsy, let kids color ornaments each day, buy your own, whatever. We'll probably buy a few and make the rest. Then over the years (if we like this) we will complete the collection and have a real ornament for each day - and hopefully the kids will remember the ornaments from year to year and create some fun family memories that center around Jesus! All Jesse tree reading plans and ornament and passage choices are different. I couldn't really figure it out... so I just figured I'd make one to go along with our Jesus storybook Bible. And then I went ahead and finished out December and did a couple additional readings from Jesus' life, Paul's journey, and revelations... So, for what it's worth, here's what I came up with. Please feel free to print out and use and pass around. It's nothing special (well, the word of God is WAY special, but you know what I mean... I just typed it out... you're basically reading the whole Jesus storybook Bible minus a few of the stories! Below is the plan, then a supply list, then a bookmark... just in case you want to try it! We're gonna start tomorrow ; ))

Jesse Tree Readings and ornaments from “The Jesus Storybook Bible”

Dec 1 – Get out your little tree. Read “The Story and the Song” – p. 12

Dec 2 – Creation, p. 18, put ornament on tree (world or light)

Dec 3 – The Fall, p. 28, ornament – snake or fruit, also put on a tissue and band-aid, b/c adam and eve were sad… and sadness and pain entered the world

Dec 4 – Noah’s Ark, p. 38, ornament – ark, boat, rainbow, or pair of animals

Dec 5 – Tower of Babel, p. 48, ornament – ladder

Dec 6 – Promise to Abraham, p. 56, ornament – star, night

Dec 7 – catch up day! Or review, ask children what their favorite story has been

Dec 8 – Abraham and Isaac, p. 62, ornament – ram

Dec 9 – Leah, p. 70, add ring

Dec 10 – Jacob and coat, p. 76, ornament - coat

Dec 11 – Moses and burning bush, p. 84, ornament – bush, fire, twig, or leaf

Dec 12 – Red Sea, p. 93, ornament - water

Dec 13 – 10 Commandments, p. 100, ornament - bible, tablets

Dec 14 – catch up day! Or review, ask children what their favorite story has been

Dec 15 – Joshua and Jericho, p. 108, add army man or trumpet

Dec 16 – David and Goliath – p. 122, add stone, shield, or weapon

Dec 17 – David, Good Shepherd, songwriter, p. 130, ornament – drum, harp

Dec 18 – catch up day! Or review, ask children what their favorite story has been

Dec 19 – Isaiah – p. 145, ornament – cross, shepherd, letter

Dec 20 – Daniel, p. 152, add lion

Dec 21 – Jonah, p. 160, add fish

Dec 22 – catch up day! Or review, ask children what their favorite story has been

Dec 23 – Get ready, p. 170, add party streamer or something festive

Dec 24 – Read Christmas Eve – p. 176, add baby Jesus ornament

Dec 25 – Read Shepherds and Kings p. 184 &  p. 192, add kings to tree

Dec 26 – Jesus baptized & prayer, p. 200 & 222, add shell

Dec 27 – Sermon on the Mount & feeding 5,000, p. 228 & 244, add flower, bird or bread

Dec 28 – Crucifixion and Resurection, p. 302 & 310, add cross, take off snake/fruit

Dec 29 – Paul – p. 334, take off the ten commandments, jesus abolished the “rules”

Dec 30 – Revelation – p. 342, take off band-aid, tissue, sprinkle tree with glitter or tinsel

Dec 31 – p. 351, ask what kids learned from God this yr, if they want to say yes to Jesus

Supply List

(any ornaments you don’t have or can’t find, just have your kids color on Christmas gift tags and hang those ; ) … also, when it has two options on a line item, like “snake or fruit,” just get one…

-“The Jesus Storybook Bible” by Sally Lloyd-Jones

-set of mostly blank paper gift tags to hang for any missing ornaments

-tree for ornaments – can be small tree or hang on your larger tree – whatever

-world or light

-snake or fruit, also put on a

-tissue

-band-aid

-boat, rainbow, or pair of animals

-ladder

-star or night

-ram

-ring

-coat

-bush, twig, leaf, fire

-water

-bible, tablets

-army man or trumpet

-stone, shield, or weapon

-drum, harp

-cross, shepherd, letter

-lion

-fish

-party streamer or something festive

-baby Jesus ornament

-kings

-shell

-flower, bird or bread

-cross

-glitter/tinsel

BOOKMARK: (print out and cut ; )

JESSE TREE with

“Jesus Storybook Bible”

Date – pages to read, ornament

Dec 1 – Get out tree. p. 12

Dec 2 – p. 18, world or light

Dec 3 –p. 28,  snake or fruit,

tissue & band-aid (pain enters)

Dec 4 – 38, boat, rainbow, animals

Dec 5 – p. 48, ladder

Dec 6 – p. 56, star, night

Dec 7 – catch up day!

Dec 8 – p. 62, ram

Dec 9 – p. 70, ring

Dec 10 –p. 76, coat

Dec 11 –p. 84, bush, fire, twig

Dec 12 – p. 93, water

Dec 13 –p. 100, bible, tablets

Dec 14 – catch up day!

Dec 15 –p. 108, army man, trumpet

Dec 16 –p. 122, stone, weapon

Dec 17 –p. 130, drum, harp

Dec 18 – catch up day!

Dec 19 – p. 145, cross, shepherd, letter

Dec 20 – p. 152, lion

Dec 21 – p. 160, fish

Dec 22 – catch up day!

Dec 23 – p. 170, party something

Dec 24 –p. 176, baby Jesus

Dec 25 – p. 184 &  p. 192, kings

Dec 26 –p. 200 & 222, shell

Dec 27–p. 228&244, flower,bird,bread

Dec 28–p. 302&310, cross, take off snake

Dec 29 – p. 334, take off 10 commands

Dec 30 – p. 342, take off band-aid, tissue

sprinkle tree with glitter or tinsel

Dec 31 – p. 351, say yes to Jesus?

Pictures and Videos ; )

Here are some pictures and videos!

Below: Kate taking her bottle, Molly draped over couch watching TV (just thought that was cute!), Kate playing on her little tip toes at the kitchen (look at those cute little legs!!!)...

Anne and Molly making a cake (it was gluten free and didn't turn out too well! that's ok, the fun was in making it for sure!), all three girls in their outfits from our sweet friend Chris, Molly's little fanny sticking out of her "hide and seek" spot, both girls making gingerbread houses at a precious friend's birthday party...

Kate can eject DVDs from the DVD player... eek! James with all three in the grocery cart ; ) Anne and Molly taping Anne's picture on the fridge - I just thought it was hilarious how much tape they used!!! oops! I should have been more involved in that process for sure! Our first dinner out as a family of FIVE (big Rosie's of course ; ) and the girls playing with chalk...

Just some random videos from my phone... Anne swinging from the swing...

Kate doing some sign language! She won't really be able to talk much until after her palate is repaired so I taught her "more" ... that's the only sign we've learned but maybe we'll do some additional signs one of these days ;)

The next two are just of Kate clapping/dancing to music (sorry, it's my singing which isn't great!) but she sways and bobs and claps... it's a hoot!

Molly singing a version of the bumblebee song that Mrs. Mary taught her ; )

Molly singing the "buckle up" song that my mom taught us as kids...

and a little Jingle Bells... ; )

Ok, that's all for now! hope everyone is doing great! The Extreme Makeover Home Edition was on last night! If you missed it, here's the link to the page (it is the Zdroj family episode ; ) James and his team are toward the end of the first hour: http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition

Take care!

a little bit of JOY!

Sorry I've been writing so little! Not sure that anyone is still reading... it's certainly more exciting to read when we are traveling the globe! Hehe... but for any still reading, here's an update!

Kate is just a little treasure! She is so happy and playful and JOYful. There are definitely a few tears now at then... but really, she is a very easy baby! She sleeps through the night, takes a great nap, plays well independently and with her sisters, eats well, etc. It's not like having a newborn ... it's been MUCH easier. When you pick her up, she gets SO excited! She beams and laughs and kicks her little legs and gets so excited! It just melts our hearts - just for someone to be THAT excited to be with you! We are reading too much into this (it's probably that she just likes to be held!) but she just seems excited to have a family and be loved. It is SO SWEET!

Molly ... oh, my sweet little Molly! Stuck right in the middle ; ) My mom thinks that a cute title for a children's book would be "Molly in the Middle" ... and my mom is an amazing writer and artist, so maybe one day she'll write it! Anyway, she has moments when she really loves little Kate and moments when she isn't sure about the whole thing! Which is totally normal of course. She always thinks Kate is after her toys - Kate just looks in her direction and Molly screams "HE IS TAKING MY TOY!" (Note the "he"... we're working on this, but it is a hoot! Molly never says she about anyone - and lately she is mostly talking about Kate, so it's "he took his bow out!" and "he pushed me!"). And Kate has gotten really good at hiding her toys behind her head when she sees Molly approaching. It's a hoot!!!!  Now is the time that my mom (back to my mom) would tell you about how I reacted to my little sister (19 months younger)... at one point... well, I rolled her under a dresser and told Mom she was "all gone." Well, she was asleep, so she really was "all gone" for HOURS. It turned into a bit of a panic... Dad came home from work, grandparents came over the search the house, etc. It must have been quite a scene! And my 19-ish-month old self had forgotten where she was so I was no help ; ) I just kept saying "she had to go!" Anyway, we're super tight now - and I'm so thankful for my sister! So we know that Molly and Kate will be the best of buds. Molly does think Kate is very cute. She keeps saying, "Kate is just a tiny wittle fing!" (tiny little thing). But if you think of sweet Molly, you can pray for her as she adjusts. Hers is certainly the hardest adjustment! She went from being Mama's little baby to a big girl... and that's tough!!! ;)

Anne is doing great - she loves Kate and Kate loves her. Anne has been playing like she is Kate's mom, then her sister, then the baby-sitter, etc. Kate was getting upset by the toy bottles that Anne kept giving her today. Kate kept turning them over and shaking them and looking puzzled at why there was no real liquid in them ; ) Anne and Molly both love to pretend they are going to China to pick up a baby (which is where they think babies come from these days ; ) and they also like to pretend to be babies too - so cute. We get them sippy cups of milk and rock them and give them extra love ; )

James and I are doing well too - we are really enjoying this season. It's so nice to finally have Kate home! It feels like we can relax and just breath a sigh of relief and thankfulness. Things will pick up soon I'm sure - Kate's surgery got moved to January 7! So that will be a little crazy ; ) Also, if you like "Extreme Home Makeover," James' company donated a fire truck and the show will air Monday, Dec 3 at 7 pm central time... we are hoping they get some good air time! Should be a neat show!

Ok, that's about it on our end. I'd post pictures but I'm doing some sort of new thing with dropbox so they are all on dropbox and not my computer... I haven't got it quite figured out yet but when my sister comes for Christmas, she has promised to help me and my long-time photo storage issues ; ) Have a joyful holiday season!!!!

Pediatrician and the mall ; )

Friends and Family! Thank you for all the sweet calls/texts/emails! I'm so sorry I've been so bad at responding. Three kids is more than two... haha ... and adjusting has been crazier than I thought! Most times I have no idea where my phone is, yesterday I thought it was Friday for most of the day, we're sleeping like 4 hours/night... eek! I guess switching your days/nights completely twice in 2 weeks is a bit harder than we'd anticipated! Hehe. We'll get there! My mom is here so that's been a big help and fun! And of course all of you have helped in so many ways. Thank you! We plan to rejoin civilization very soon! Hehe.

Since I can't seem to get it together enough to call you back and give you the in-person updates that are the best... the blog seems to be the best way to just let you know what is going on! Sorry for how impersonal this is! But better than nothing and completely having no access to the outside world I guess, right??? ; ))

Yesterday I took Kate to see our great pediatrician, Dr. Laue. He checked her out and she FREAKED out, which he thought was a great sign of her emotional and physical health! She got a flu shot too. He will wait to give her regular vaccines until we get back the labs saying which vaccines she has immunity to already... so we go back in a month. Then we came back and picked up my mom and the two big girls and headed to the mall to the play area and to chick fil a. These poor girls needed an outing! We saw Santa, and mom wanted them to get a pic with him. It was hilarious! Kate would have NONE of Santa. When we got home and evaluated the picture, Molly announced "Here's our picture with Jesus!" which was hilarious... we need to do some teaching on Christmas/Jesus/Santa apparently. It is all very confusing to them!!! Sweet girls ; ) One we believe in from childhood and we ask him for things and someday find out isn't real... and the other we don't believe in right away ... but He can actually give us all things- peace and joy and life! Interesting contrast when you think about it!

Here are some pictures from the day. Katie Taylor had brought some gingerbread cookie decorating supplies and my mom helped Anne with hers! Mom is an artist ; ) Hehe. What a fun project! And there are the girls with Santa, another of them before lunch in the food court, and the last of Kate in a cute turkey shirt that Kristi Wells (happy birthday, Kristi!) made for Molly a couple years ago. So fun to use it for our next little turkey! And a fun video of everyone feeding Kate ; )

Even though we are a tad dazed and confused, we are having a blast. Three little girls is just heaven and we are loving it. Sweet little blessings!

Doctor's Appointments

Yesterday James and I took little Kate to Nashville for some doctor's appointments. First she went to the International Adoption Clinic at Vandy to be evaluated. The doctor there was so nice and we learned a lot from her! She was very helpful and spent a loooooong time with us! She ordered lots of routine labs to check for the various things they check for in these kiddos. Then we had an appointment with the occupational therapist - and she said that Kate was doing great for being in an orphanage for 15 months! She said if she had evaluated a 15 month old who is doing the things Kate is doing but hadn't been in an orphanage, she would still not recommend any therapy (does that sentence make sense?) ... so basically, Kate is doing well with fine and gross motor stuff for now! Woo-hoo!

Then we went to see Dr. Kelly, the plastic surgeon. He was very informative and seemed extremely skilled and knowledgeable. Kate will have her palate repaired in the next few months (his first opening is in February... but we may go sooner if there is a cancellation). She'll spend a week in the hospital at Vanderbilt. Then at age 4, they will do repairs on her nose and lip (and ear) if needed. She has one ear that is missing some folds so it's bigger than the other ear - he says this is from positioning in utero and is not a big deal. Then at age 7-8 she'd have a surgery to reinforce her palate and they'll take some bone from her hip and put it in her palate. So that's the plan! Every little one is different so some can end up needing more/fewer surgeries, but that is the general course of action for cleft lips/palates. He was very impressed with Kate's lip and said the surgeon in China did an excellent job.

Then we ran into Qdoba for some take-out on our way back to Huntsville. And we run into a good friend of ours who is a grown-up and had bilateral cleft lip/palate just like Kate. He and his wife are dear friends of ours and his wife was one of my roommates when I lived in Nashville. She and I went to nursing school together. They have 2 sons and one had a cleft lip - and they used Dr. Kelly and had recommended him to us. So it was CRAZY to run into him of ALL people! Nashville is a big place! So we really felt like the Lord was affirming our decision to go to Nashville to see the doctors... we had gone back and forth because there are great doctors and there's a great international adoption clinic in Birmingham... which is 30 minutes closer to us than Nashville (which is a full 2 hours away) ... and we had used the Bham clinic for our travel meds and advice ... but we have both lived in Nashville and we know the city so much better! In nursing school I even got to do a rotation in the International Adoption Clinic at Vandy, so that was neat to go back there. All those years ago I had felt drawn to international adoption... and to be on the other side as a parent was really cool! We have family in Nashville and the surgeon and the clinic see patients on the same day of the week (in Bham we would have to go down and spend the night because the surgeon and the clinic have office hours on different days)... so anyway, we prayed about it and weighed the options and chose Vandy for now. So it was really neat to see Luke and feel the Lord giving us a little encouraging nudge that He was right there with us.

Today we take Kate to our pediatrician for her 15 month check up. Poor little girl is doing great with all the poking and prodding! She gets MAD but she calms down quickly ; ) She's a feisty little thing! Which is actually good - the doc was telling us that some of these kids don't show emotion when they are hurt/sad/angry because they are accustomed to having no one respond. So it is good that she gets upset I guess! Sweet girl ; )

My mom is here visiting which is a huge help! And our SWEET friends are spoiling us beyond belief with amazing dinners and bfasts and lunches and everything else. You are all such talented cooks and we're going to keep having children at this rate!!! Hehe ; ) Will you keep bringing food? hehe ; ) It's been awesome! We feel so blessed ; ))

We are still trying to get on a normal sleep schedule... Kate is still asleep this morning and it's 5 am... so that is great! Maybe she's getting there! I'm still waking up super early... but falling asleep at like 7 pm - so I need to try to stay awake longer! James is sleeping off and on and being such a servant to the rest of us! He is great with the kids and the biggest help ever. He goes to work today for the first time in a few weeks, so you can pray for him! It will be very overwhelming to be so behind.

We had a GREAT sermon on marriage this weekend ... thanks, Ross! I think it has inspired James to serve me (which he really was already doing an amazing job of - I really need to step it up now!) ... we were really moved by it. It's not online yet but should be soon... it would be the one from 11/11 -but the others are great too if you want to listen! Here's the link:

http://myrivertree.org/media.php?pageID=17

Paula sent me this great link if you have a couple minutes. So cute:

http://littlehoffman.blogspot.com/2012/11/orphan-sunday-2012.html

Orphan Sunday was 2 Sundays ago - while we were in China and took Kate to church for the first time. So crazy. Then this was the daily promise a couple days ago... love it!

Kate is doing all sorts of tricks. Here are some (with a cheerio stuck to her chin... ; )

She plays peek-a-boo, waves, claps, blows kisses, crawls, walks while holding furniture, and bobs to music... Anne and Molly are loving teaching her tricks! Ok, I think that's all for now. Take care, everyone!

Last days in China, travel, and HOME!!!!

Hello sweet friends and family!

We are HOME!!!! It's SO nice to be home!!! This is a long post because I hadn't posted in a few days - so if you don't have time for the whole thing, just watch this amazing video that our friend Katie made for us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xmt3KgM_zI&feature=youtu.be

It was SO special to arrive home to the Huntsville airport and have so many of you there to welcome Kate home!!! We feel that she is your baby too - you have prayed for her and loved her for all this time just as we have! And your prayers have really carried us through. What a special morning!!! Thank you SO much, Katie - that video is fabulous and so special to us!!!

Ok, so for those of you with more time... here are pictures and videos from the last few days of our trip and our transition home... I have a little Kate in my lap so if there are stray letters and such, you'll know why! She loves the computer ; )) It's so much easier to post these blogs from home! In China, we had to use a VPN and it was just lots more steps to get each picture and video posted. We have such an amazing country... I take for granted things like internet usage abilities, clean water, great hospitals, clean streets, good sewage systems, etc... back back to the subject...  ;)

Tuesday was our last full day in China. First we had our consulate appointment. That's really what the whole trip hinges on. The reason we went to China when we did was because of that consulate appointment on November 6. The last thing you wait for in the adoption process is that appointment - and once they give it to you, you book your trip for the week before. Two other families from our group (Hulls and Pettersons) had their appointment at the same time. We all went together in a big bus - that was home we got around in Guangzhou mostly. Our guides arrange all that! They were so organized and helpful. We couldn't take cameras into the consulate, so that's why we don't have any pictures to share. But basically, you all get there - 12 families in all per appointment time (the rest were from other agencies). You sit in a room sort of like our DPS with windows to talk to tellers. First, the American lady who runs the consulate talked to us and said how excited they were to see our faces after looking at our paperwork for so long. She was so nice. She told us more about the process and how our little ones would become citizens and what exactly to do at the airport, etc. Then she had us all stand and take an oath. So cool! Then they called each family up individually to sign papers and such. Then we headed back to the hotel! Our consulate appointment ran a little late so we ended up missing the bus heading to shopping with the rest of our group because we really needed to give Kate a bottle. But it was actually perfect because we got some more time with our friends Ginger and Greg and their boys! We walked back to the Mexican restaurant and ate lunch. They were SO nice to make the trip to Guangzhou with their boys... it really made the last week fly by and it was such great fellowship. Thanks, guys... we love you!!! 

After lunch we took a taxi to meet the rest of our group who was shopping at Shamina Island. We were there for about an hour and it was perfect to grab a few last gifts and such! This was the only place I had to use a "squatty potty" - i.e. hole in the floor! It's traditionally how Chinese bathrooms are set up - but the hotels and many places have western (regular in our minds) toilets. So I had Kate in the sling and had to squat to potty. Phew, it was a crazy balancing act and I'm glad I didn't fall in the potty! We all needed a shower when we got back... but again, at least we didn't fall in ; ) hehe... Anyway, soon after we got there (maybe 3 pm) we got a call from one of our guides saying that the lady who helped us at the consulate had forgot to have us sign one document... so we needed to sign that before the close of business if we still wanted to leave for America the next day! Eek! So they said they would need to take the entire group back to the consulate because that would be the quickest way. So when the group met at 3:30 to reload on the bus and head to the hotel, they found out about our little issue and were soooooo nice to happily ride along on that adventure. It added almost an hour to the bus ride and they all had lots of children with them, so we were so grateful for their kindness!! It totally wasn't our fault about the form, but still we felt really bad! So we got there right in time - maybe 4:30 pm - and they rushed us inside. The same lady who helped us met us in a special area so we wouldn't have to go back through security and metal detectors and such. We signed the paper and we were off! Phew! We just prayed they would still be able to process Kate's visa so we could leave the next day!!! Thankfully, they did complete her visa and our guide brought it to us with the rest of the group's visas the next day (weds) at 4 pm. Thank you, Lord!!!

Below is a picture of us in front of the hotel (behind us is the fountain and street in front of the hotel, you can't actually see the hotel in this pic ; ). Then a picture after shopping when we were waiting for the bus (Kate loved that lollipop!). Below that is a picture of her asleep at lunch, then one of us with Ginger, then another shopping pic (the girl in the orange coat is a model! they are doing a photo shoot! super cool!)

Speaking of, now I know that ALL parents think their children are beautiful and smart (rightfully so!) but for Kate's sake, I'm going to take a minute and talk about how pretty she is for a minute! Now, I know you all think so too! I personally think Chinese people are all beautiful! They just are! But the Chinese people over and over and over and over again would come up to us and say "oh, how beautiful she is! Those big eyes! That fair skin!" To them, the bigger and rounder your eyes are, the more beautiful you are. And they like lighter skin (I have way darker skin than most Chinese - I'm Lebanese ; ) but they just love light skin and big eyes for some reason. So by Chinese standards, apparently she is a beauty! They would all ask what province she came from and go on and on about it with our guide. The province, Jiangxi, is actually known for beautiful women. So anyway, just a side note. It was just pretty remarkable how everyone would say the same thing to us about her! By the way, the Chinese people are so kind. Not just because they say our child is pretty! Ha! But for lots of reasons!

Here's a video of Kate in her crib at the hotel in Guangzhou. She gets so excited to see us and claps her hands! She did it yesterday too when I went to get her for the day - she just beamed and clapped her little hands! She was so excited!!! She thinks we're good parents - she doesn't know how crazy we are yet!!! No one tell her please ;)) Hehe...

Cute video of her and James playing...

At the hotel she would walk from one thing to another by holding on to things... since home, she has actually taken a few unassisted steps! So exciting! She gets so proud of herself (with good reason!).

Ok, below the top left picture is of us with one of our guides, Rebecca. She was great! To the right she is explaining to some of our group which documents to give which airport official and such. The bottom left picture is of me and Kate with our other guide, Miko. She and I are only 4 days apart it turns out! Just crazy to hear a bit of her life story and compare it to mine... same age, born at the same time worlds apart... such different lives now. She has one child (16 month old boy) and she can't have anymore (one child policy). She works - in China, it is very rare for a mom to get to stay home - they just can't make ends meet on one salary. So she is up early and home late working. She is super happy about it and loves her life and didn't say anything but positive things about it - but it's just interesting to me. Again, we are so blessed. We were there for election day, which was pretty crazy. James pointed out that on the large spectrum of world governments, though many of us have firm positions on whether we are republicans or democrats, the US political parties are relatively very similar to one another compared to the other world governments. I don't know much about politics so I won't delve too deep for fear of revealing too much of my ignorance... but that really seemed true when we were over there. We are just thankful to be Americans and pray that our country continues for our children to experience the same freedoms and benefits. So not that you shouldn't be upset if your candidate didn't win, because that is totally valid and right and we may have done the same thing (I'm not going to say who we voted for...), but I just wanted to throw that out for what it's worth!

Ok, back to the pictures. I said before that we were blessed to be able to travel in first class for those long flights over the ocean. Thank you Meme and Coco (our moms) for making that happen! Most families don't do that - they are in economy - which is great too. But let me just say that if you have miles and are able to bump up to first class, it is well worth it. For one thing, you spend a lot of time in airports between flights. Since it's such a far journey, many times you wait hours and hours and hours for the next flight because they may only send one per day with that route. And then sometimes you have quick layovers! But for those long ones, having the first class ticket means you can go in the airport first class lounge areas. I'd never been in those before but they are all SO NICE! We even showered at one! SO NICE! They all have free food and drinks, comfy chairs, and lots of other neat things. The bottom middle pic is of us at one of those eating ; ) And the bottom right is of us right before boarding the plane headed for the US!

Ok, the plane we flew on (James would know the plane type and all that, but he's asleep so maybe he can add it later for those of you who are interested!) but it had like 500 people on it! It was two story! It's a new plane (which sort of freaked me out - reminded me of the titanic for some reason, but we made it, so that's all that matters!). It goes from Guangzhou to LA. For those of you making this trip to adopt, tell your travel agent about this flight! Most families had no idea and were taking buses/trains to Hong Kong to fly out of there. But it is SO nice to fly straight out of Guangzhou and cut out part of the trip! So check on that. We had never seen a line this long to get on a plane before. It was amazing! That is a LOT of people on a plane! James took a video:

Ok, another plug for first class: your bags always come out at baggage claim first! It's so cool! And the cool things you get at your seat are just neat. They occupied me for at least an hour on both those long flights. They give you toiletry bags with fancy things inside, ear plugs, face masks, perfume, toothbrushes & paste, lotions, etc. They give you slippers and even pajamas! Many of the Chinese people change into the pajamas to keep their clothes clean and nice. Now, I can't remember if I've said this before, but China is HOT. The people must always be cold because the heat is on everywhere, and the plane was HOT. But that has nothing to do with first class! We were so glad to get to the US and feel some A/C. Usually I'm cold everywhere I go, but it was nice!

Ok, here are some videos of us when we got to the US before we got off the plane - and then one of us walking Kate off the plane - I think that's the moment she becomes a US citizen! Super cool! James had the foresight to capture that on video! YEA! He was a great travel partner for a zillion reasons!

Ok, each of our seats on the plane had a little cubby by our feet so that when the seat lays flat and you sleep, you have more room because your feet go in that cubby. Well, it was the perfect little spot for Kate to sleep! It worked great! They will also bring you a bassinet (in economy class too) so request that if that works better for you! And the pic on the top right is of the first class in our cabin - almost the whole top story of the plane was business/first class (is that the same thing?). The pictures on the bottom are in LA at the airport - Kate's first Mac n Cheese, sitting with her daddy, and family pic before boarding the plane for Atlanta ; )

Sweet little Kate... she bobs to the right and left with her little shoulders when you sing or when she wants you to sing!

I think these are in the Atlanta lounge... just some more videos so you can see Kate in action!

Ok, here is the immigration place at the airport where we turned in Kate's adoption documents to immigrate to the US! So cool! The guard who helped us has her same birthday - very cool! Then there's Kate eating her first oatmeal in the US! And James gets good pics of the flight path that comes on the screen in front of your seat on the plane. Here's one of our plane almost to LA! And on the bottom is a pic of happy Kate... then a pic of when our plane flew over Huntsville on it's way to Atlanta... we were right over home! Just a few hours away from being there!

Here is Kate playing with James ; ) And Paula had sent me these two pics on the top center and right - she put us up on her church's prayer wall! So cool! And then there's a picture of a sign Henry was making - so sweet ; ) We love you, Claunches! Bottom right is a picture of me eating at Qdoba in Atlanta at 7 am - right when they opened. James (so sweet) had looked at the Atlanta airport maps while we were still in China and called and found out when they opened and was so excited that I could get some on the way through (I love that place!) so fun ; ) Then the pic on the bottom left is of some Vietnam vets ... the plane that would take us from Atlanta to Huntsville had actually just come from Huntsville - I guess it just goes back and forth. So getting off the plane were 11 Vietnam veterans from Huntsville on their way to Vietnam! The Vietnamese government has a program that brings them back for a visit. Special that on the trip when Kate became a US citizen, these guys were there - who fought for the freedoms she will now experience. Very cool. Thanks for serving, guys.

So after I think 40 hours of travel, living one day twice (which is super weird), we arrived in Huntsville! And here's the video that Katie made that I talked about earlier - thanks Katie! We have such PRECIOUS family and friends and this was the sweetest homecoming we could ever have imagined. Thank you everyone!!!! We love you! Airport homecoming video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xmt3KgM_zI&feature=youtu.be

Many people had signs for us and for baby Kate! At the airport and then the fence in front of the house was decorated (those pics to come at some point!) but here is a fun one that I think Frederick made? Of Kate's family tree! Precious.

And here are some more signs! They were all just precious. Thanks everyone. Bottom right is a picture of the beautiful flowers from Rivertree, our church family. What a treat! We love you and are blessed to worship with you! (ps. we went to a marriage sermon at Rivertree last night - it was R-rated so they did it at night to make sure no kids were there! and it was great! we left the "big" girls at home and took Kate. she slept in her bucket most of the time and it was great to hear some fun music, good teaching, worship, and see more of our church family and let them meet Kate!) Again, a reminder that we have freedom to worship... what a special country we live in. We are BLESSED to be here and be FREE - both free in Christ and free to worship Him!

Since we've been home, we've had lots of fun! We are exhausted and jet lagged and not sleeping very regular hours... we are way behind on phone calls, texts, and emails, so sorry about that! We'll get there at some point! We love you all and appreciate your love and support so much! Molly and Anne love Kate (and she LOVES them! claps when she sees them!). Molly does have some moments of weakness where she doesn't understand why I'm holding Kate and not her ("Mommy, put IT DOWN! Hold MOLLY!) and equally, Kate doesn't appreciate me holding Molly! They both like to be held - which is really so sweet! And a blessing! I will miss these days! Much of our time home has been of everyone in my lap! Which, speaking of, this is random, but a lap child in China has to buy a ticket too! The cost is 10% of the RETAIL price of the ticket (so if you used miles, they don't look at the reduced rate you paid, but the full price!) so my LAP in China cost $600 US dollars for Kate to sit in! Good heavens! So it's an expensive lap ; ) haha. But it's been sweet to hold all my babies! And then there's a picture of some of the fabulous food that people have left! We have frozen meals, breakfast items, casseroles, muffins, etc, etc. Y'all are all so wonderful! thank you!!!!! The one pictured is a very fancy gluten free meal from Carol - it said "lunches for liz" and has all sorts of fancy and super yummy food! Ak!!! Thank you, Carol! And thank you everyone else!!!! It is such a blessed to just worry about how to hold everyone and not how to feed them too! We are so blessed.

More pictures of being home, playing, eating, holding daddy's hand...

And some videos from being home...

Ok, I think that about covers it! Thanks for sticking with me in this crazy long post! We love y'all and are so thankful to be home. If I were still doing quiet times, I would post verses... but so far I'm just listening to praise music! Which is great too ; ) God is carrying us through and we know He is so faithful and so near. Thank you, Jesus, that we are home safe and sound! And that we are blessed to have such a precious community around us to help us raise these children of yours. We love you!

We are home and thank everyone for their love and prayers!!!  We will have pictures and video and a full report up shortly!  Thank you for welcoming Kate....

On our way home!!!

We are in the air from Los Angeles to Atlanta!  Kate did great on the 12 hour flight from China to LA!  Lord willing we will be in Huntsville in about 8 hours!  YAHOO!!!!!

Post by James...

Pickles the firecat and other musings.

It is our last night in Guangzhou.  We have one more night before we are home.  That will be spent somewhere over the Pacific en route to LAX.  So this kind of feels like are our last night of a long journey.

Kate is asleep.  Our good friends left this afternoon.  The room is quiet.  The lights of the city are bright and busy below, but no sound makes it into the room.  It is pretty so see it.  More so because it is our last time to see it.  It was not pretty to me last night.  I closed the curtains because the sight of it made me feel sick to my stomach because I was so homesick.  Every light and car and Chinese character reminded me that I had been away from Anne and Molly so long that I didn't know what to do, and the anxiousness of wanting all five of us together was overwhelming.   But God provided and the day passed quickly and now the city and I are spending our last night together on good terms. 

I feel very introspective tonight.  I realize when I get home, I will have 3 daughters ages 4 and under, a wife that will need more help than ever, and a job that has been neglected for weeks as this makes 21 nights out of the past 30 that I have been on the road.  I plan on being introspective again around 2019.  I don't know that I will have time before then, so I best get my thoughts out now.

Pickles.

I do not have big hands.  I am average size guy.  But a few weeks ago I was putting Anne to bed and she said that she wanted a back rub.  As I looked down rubbing her little back, I was surprised how big my hand looked.  My hand almost covers her entire miniature back.  I have big hands, I thought.

Pickles the firecat is one of my favorite books.  It helps that it is on my reading level.  If you do not have a copy, shame on you.  E-mail me and I will send you a copy.  Pickles caused a lot of trouble when he was young.  So did I.  My mother loves me, but described me in the family Christmas letter as "a slippery little fellow".  It was no accident, as she did it two years in a row.  She is my biggest fan and I love her more than words can say, I just offer that glimpse into my youth to substantiate the Pickles parallels.  There are stories I could tell, but I don't know when the statute of limitations expire so I will leave those out.  But Mrs Goodkind always looked out for Pickles.  Lord knows I have a lot of Mrs. Goodkinds in my life.  Pickles joins the fire department, as I did.  Pickles eventually goes on to be a productive member of society, as God has redeemed me to do as well.  Mrs. Goodkind tells Pickles that she always knew he would do big things, because Pickles had big paws.  This is where I wonder if Pickles had left me.  Have I done big things?  Do I have big paws?  I think my sin reveals itself in my thoughts as I confess now to you that the big things I always wanted to do were mostly centered on business accomplishments.  Just trying to do the next bigger thing.  Wanting someday people to look and say that I have done big things and that I have big paws, just like Pickles.  But I never felt like my hands, and the things they had done, were big enough.  Pickles was still just one step ahead of me.

Until Anne's backrub, that is.  I never realized how big my hands were.  And I sat by her bed in the half light of the night and came to understand that biggest things I ever do may just be to love my wife and raise these girls.  I rubbed her back until she went to sleep.  I have done big things. 

The timing of that was important because the addition of a child with special needs brings demands of time and money on our family.  On the first Monday after we return, I won't be at work trying to close a bigger deal than the last.  We will be meeting with a surgeon in Nashville.  There will be a lot of those Mondays.  So as we wind down this trip and bring Kate home to Anne and Molly, it is a new sense of committment to Liz and our daughters, and it is with a realization that biggest things I ever do won't be known to anyone but them.  That is hard for someone like me with so much pride and so much greed that penetrates my soul. I want to see my name in lights and everyone to say I have done big things.  Most of you parent sacrificially without a second thought.  It comes harder to me because a lot of the time I want to be out of the house trying to do something to make more money.  But God has shown me that what I thought were big things are not big things, but the things that are big, I am perfectly equipped to do.  You see, I have big paws, just like Pickles.

My wife.

This 14 days has been a treasure.  I cannot believe she married me.  Watching she and Kate bond, watching Liz handle this entire trip with grace and strength, watching how beautiful she is, it has been time that I will never forget and always treasure.  I am reminded how far above myself I married. 

The community.

If you are reading this you have probably done something with Anne and Molly in the past 14 days.  You will never know how much the service to our family has meant.  The love that has been shown to us is indescribable.  We have only left them for the night a handful of times since we first became parents 4.5 years ago.  To leave them for 14 days - and travel to China - seemed impossible.  What a blessing you are to have loved them and prayed over them and cared for them.  Word will never express our thankfulness, and there is not enough space on the internet to document every single thing that has been done to serve us in these two weeks.  We praise God for you.

The orphanage.

I was able to visit the orphanage last week before we left Nanchang.  It was a 3 hour drive to Yiyang County.  There maybe a million people in that county - most in the central city but there is a large countryside of farming and such surrounding the city.  The orphanage director, assistant director, and the nanny were all waiting for me.  They set of firecrackers in honor of my arrival and had hung a banner on the side of the building welcoming Kate back.  Kate actually stayed at the hotel with Liz, but it was a nice gesture on their part.  It was surreal to see where Kate spent her first 15 months of life.  Really hard to describe.  We will post some pictures if you are interested at some point.  Very surreal.  I was able learn so much about her life and ask so many questions and fill in so many gaps.  It was a blessing to be there.  Some of the only toys there were ones that you brought to Kate's birthday party and we mailed to the orphanage.  Your kindness continues to bless others a half a world away.  I believe that they loved Kate and did the best they could with what they had at the orphanage.  I was glad I went.  I will see if Liz can put the pictures up - some of them are very special.  Seeing Kate's empty crib is hard to describe. 

A rose for Kate.

Some of you read the story of the rose I found this summer.  I brought it with me to China.  They showed me the steps where Kate was left the day she was born.  I left one of the petals from the rose on the steps.  It was a sweet moment.  The orphanage said she was probably born in the country to poverty stricken farmers  and they left her because they would have no way to care for her cleft lip and palate and would not have known how to feed her.  It was a major act of love for her mother to leave her where she would be found.  Sadly some people never have a mother that loved them, Kate now has two mothers that love her.  I left the rose petal for the first.  It was my way of saying Kate is okay, and we will treasure her. 

Lunch.

The orphanage director took myself, the guide, our driver, and the assistant director out to a local restaurant for lunch.  The health department rating was not in the usual place that I look for it.  I have lived on protein bars for two weeks.  I could not pull the trigger on the local fare, so I simply said I do not eat lunch.  The guide was incredulous and asked me to repeat myself like 5 times.  I just stuck to my guns and said I only eat breakfast and dinner.  That stimulated a substantial amount of conversation amongst everyone in Chinese.  She did not translate that for me.  It was awkward as heck.  I don't care.  Liz thinks it is the funniest thing that happened on the trip.  It was embarrassing and not funny at all, but I am glad I didn't eat it. 

Bios and new lingo.

We are part of a new culture here with all of these adoptive families.  We are learning the lingo.  Children that you birthed are "bios".  Liz and I have two bios and one adopted.  I fancy myself funny at times and yesterday started referring to us as having two mergers and one acquisition.  I hope you find that as funny as I do.  Reponse has been guarded here so far.  Humor is not a requirement to adopt, so some of these families slid through the home study without it. 

Kate.

Last but not least, Kate.  She rocks.  You are all going to love her.  You are a big part of her story.  Come see her.  I could tell you everything that she does in great detail, as I have watched and loved every minute of it this week, but come see for yourself when we get home.  She is just precious.

Liz will post a few more things in the days to come and then turn the blog into a memory book for Kate to have as a story of how she became a Wessel. 

We are thankful for God's love for us, His adoption of us through Jesus, and the blessing that God has brought to us through each of you.

Good night....

James for the family.