Day 3 with Ruthie!!

So today was a very eventful day! Ruthie has come out of her shell a little more, well a whole lot more! She is so playful with us and she loves to tease!! It amazes me at how well she is warming up to us. I know, I know.....God had this the whole time!! He knew exactly what he was doing when he placed her in our life!! I thank Him constantly all day everyday for this journey and for our precious Ruthie!! I have learned that her eyes tell it all!! I can tell just by looking at her eyes whether she is happy, sad or tired. How did I do that in just 3 days??? Well, I am her Mom after all. :) Take a look at these sweet eyes and tell me what you think!! :)

We visited the Police Station in Guangzhou today to apply for Ruthie's visa and passport. They both should be ready soon. That was a quick process and we headed to the toy store!! The stores that are in the community of Guangzhou are tiny. You can walk in turn completely around and see everything in the store. It is about the size of my walk in closet. These stores are downstairs from apartments. They are also the apartments that I mentioned a few posts ago. They hang their clothes out to dry on clothes lines. There are lots of people on bicycles and in cars. There are no STOP signs! So, the driving makes me a nervous wreck. When you want to cross the street, you better go! It kinda reminds me of Frogger, the drivers have the right away or so they think. At first I thought it was road rage but it is not, that is just the way they drive.  So here are a few pics of the streets of Guangzhou. 

The above two pictures are of CSC Mood Restaurant. It is a higher end restaurant in Guangzhou that is a "hot pot" restaurant. The food was fabulous! Basically what "hot pot" means from what we were told was that most Chinese homes have a lazy susan in the middle of the table and they place all the food on that table, then turn it around to share the different dishes. The food was fantastic. It reminded the kids of Stixx, however, instead of spending $150.00 at Stixx we spent $15.00 for a huge amount of food!! :) See below....

Ruthie loved it!!! She is so independent and loves to feed herself. After feeding herself, she put her bowl on top of her plate, then placed her bottle in her bowl. She then proceeded to clean the table. We just sat there and watched her! It was absolutely amazing!! What a precious angel!!

So, this is what I couldn't wait to share with you all! We went to Trust Mart which is owned by Walmart. They still sell the Greater Value items, only in Chinese.
Check out these pictures!!

Some of them grossed me out, but Steve and Carson were in heaven! Steve took the photographs and I was trying to keep Ruthie from pulling everything off the shelves! Love love love that girl!!!

I will post more later. We are about to leave for breakfast then head to the Chen Clan Academy. Check it out! It is going to be so cool!!

Chen Clan Academy, also known as Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, was built as a college in 1888. Chen Clan Academy was designated as the Guangdong Museum of Folk Art in 1959. With its typical magnificent architecture features, the academy is honored as the representative of Cantonese architectures and folk arts. 

http://www.chinatourguide.com/guangzhou/chen_clan_academy.html

Blessings & Love!!

Julie

Day 2 in Guangzhou

So, Ruthie Grace Sidan Boyd is legally ours!! We completed the paperwork today at the Civil Affairs office with two interviews. So thankful! Ruthie has been an angel!! She has only cried a few times - change diaper, wipe nose, you know the typical!! She is all smiles and loves to play!! Here are a few pics of her playing!!

She loves her brother and sister!! The bond that is forming between the three of them is amazing to watch! All smiles!! It just makes my heart smile and happy tears flow knowing that God had this planned all along! Love my three kiddos!! 

Steve and I both have complete faith in God and knew that he would make it possible to bring Ruthie home. We just didn't realize how our journey was going to turn out especially not being able to speak the language. God showed up and showed out!! We have the best guide ever and also another couple with us has been so much help!!! Our sweet guide has helped us with everything from grocery shopping to making copies of paperwork to holding and loving on our babies!! She is fabulous!! We love her so much!!  A picture of Rebecca and Ruthie is below!! :) 

I was not sure how I would like the food here in China........I love it!! We have been so blessed to be traveling with a family that lived in Guangzhou for 4 years. They have been a huge blessing to us! They have shown us some fabulous Chinese restaurants that are super cheap and the food is out of this world! We will definitely know how to use chop sticks by the end of this trip for sure!! God knew what he was doing by allowing us to travel with The Williams family in China! Such a sweet and loving family!! 

Homemade noodles!! Fabulous!!

So, we are starting day 3 today!! Applying for Ruthie's passport today!! Will update with more pics later!! 

Blessings and love!!

Julie

Ruthie is finally in our arms!!

What a journey to Ruthie!! We finally have her in our arms! So today was our "Gotcha Day"!! When we walked in the Civil Affairs Office, we walked past the room where she was and she was standing there looking around. It just melted my heart!! She was wearing an outfit that I sent to her through our sweet social worker a few months back. They had to stitch the shorts up because they were too big! She is a petite little girl. However, she eats like her brother does. One thing after another!! She loves french fries! Oh and can feed herself!! The cleft lip/palate does not phase her one bit. If she likes it, she wants it! When her nanny placed her in my arms, we sat down and I opened her diaper bag and pulled out some rice cakes. I thought she was going to jump out of my arms to get them!! She grabbed them after I opened the package and ate every bite of it!!
The minute she was placed in my arms, she never cried or whimpered (much), but she gave us "her look"! Cutting those almond eyes at us just melted my heart again and made me laugh! She had no problem going to her daddy, brother or sister! Arms up and get me!! :) We are so blessed and we owe it all to Him!! We have received the greatest gift of all!!

We are so lucky to have Ruthie in our lives!! What a blessing she will be to our family and many many more!! 

After we left the Civil Affairs office and got back to the hotel room, we introduced Ruthie to all of her toys! She loved them and is so smart! Her Nanny said that she is "tough like boy", "very smart" and "love to eat". She fits right in!! Oh the joy of having toys spilled all over the floor again!! Lovin' it!! The below pictures say it all!! 

So thankful that God chose us to be her Forever Family!! We have quite the journey ahead of us, but we can do it through Him!! God bless you all and thank you so much for praying for us!! 

Blessings & Love,

Julie 

We finally made it to Guangzhou!!

Oh what a journey to Guangzhou!! On Friday morning at 3:30 a.m. we woke up and headed to the Birmingham International Airport. My parents followed us there and took this picture of us. Our last family of 4 picture! When we return little Ruthie will be in the middle!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!! :)

Our flight to Chicago was fun! It was Steve and the kids first flight! They really enjoyed it and everyone traveled well!! When we arrived in Chicago we had a few hours to rest and to explore the airport. We ate pizza at 8:00 a.m.!! Then we had Chicago style hotdogs for lunch!! Yum!! We knew that our next flight was a long one!!! 

So, we finally got on our flight to Hong Kong. It was really neat, we were able to watch movies! The kids loved it!! We were able to sleep for a while, eat on the plane and watch the screen that showed where we were located in the sky!! They enjoyed knowing where we were on the map. :) The food and service was fabulous on United!!! 

So, when we arrived in Hong Kong, 17 hours later, we arrived an hour late. So, that put us behind and we missed our last flight to Guangzhou. Our luggage was lost, so we had to stick around Hong Kong a little longer to wait on our luggage and decide whether or not we wanted to take a train, plane or automobile!! :) We sat there and just watched everyone grab their luggage and continue on their journey. Our luggage finally came all by itself and no one else was around. So, then we decided to take a shuttle bus to Guangzhou. That added another 2 hours to our trip. Boo!! Imagine taking a shuttle bus for another 2 to 2 1/2 hours with no one like yourself and no one that speaks the same language!! I prayed and asked God to give us all the strength to get through this change in plans and additional 2 hours of traveling. Ugh!! He gave me the peace that I needed and I continued to pray for the next few hours and asked  God to please reveal what he wants me to learn from the detour that we are on. While on the interstate, we were able to see these apartment looking buildings. Every apartment looked really, really worn down and they had clothes lines with clothes hanging on them outside their doors. We also passed a few places that people were sleeping on the steps with absolutely nothing with them except what they had on their bodies. I just didn't understand at all!! While this is all different to us and a huge learning experience, it finally dawned on me. God was trying to remind us was that he is in control and when something happens, he is going to take care of us. What he was also trying to tell us was that we came to China to pick up our daughter and rescue one of his children. When we thought our luggage was gone, Ruthie comes to us with nothing. When we were confused and felt helpless because no one understood what we were trying to say(most of what we were saying), Ruthie is going to feel that way when she first comes to us. She is going to feel like her world that she has always known is gone and now she is with these people that look nothing like her and sound really funny. The anxiety that I felt when we missed our flight and had to reschedule something else on our own was not comfortable to me at all. That is exactly what Ruthie will feel when she comes into our arms tomorrow. Last night God wrapped his arms around us, led us and guided us! When we travel to the Civil Affairs office tomorrow, we are going to wrap our arms around Ruthie, pray for her and just love her unconditionally just like God does for us!!! I love love love God's story's and how he opens our hearts and eyes to him to realize that he is still in control!! It excites me to know that we get the joy and He gets the GLORY!!! Praise Him!!! 

Our Gotcha Day is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. While you guys are sleeping at 1:00 a.m., we will be getting loving from our sweet daughter! Until another update.....God bless you all!!

Blessings and Love,

Julie

P.S. Here are some pics of what we see from our hotel room and some of the kids.

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!!

On Monday, we received the call that we received our TA, travel approval, from China!!! We were told that we should received our CA, consulate appointment, within a few days. Well, yesterday, we got the email that WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!!! Hallelujah!! Our Gotcha Day is August 13th!!! That is in 12 days!!! Our consulate appointment will be on August 21 and we will head home on August 22!!! Sooner than we thought! PTL! Just a few more sleeps before we head to China to pick up our daughter, Ruthie Grace!! 
I will post more information as soon as I receive our itinerary from Lifeline. Please continue to follow our journey to China as I will be blogging and posting pictures while we are in China, especially Gotcha Day!! 


Blessings & Love,
Julie

Lifeline Travel Meeting!! Getting Closer......

I have finally gotten a chance to write about the travel meeting that I
attended on Friday. Unfortunately, Steve was unable to attend because of
issues at work. :( None the less, the notes I took explained everything to
him, Carson and Hailey. Boy are they excited now!! :)

Basically, we went over the itinerary of the trip. Some folks have asked me
why we have to stay 2 weeks and if it is necessary. I don't believe 2 weeks
is long enough. My thoughts are that in Ruthie's eyes, these strange people
are about to come and take her from all she has ever known for 18 months
and get on a big plane and come back to where no one looks like her and
doesn't sound like her. That would be hard on anyone. Please pray for her
transition.

If I bore you, I apologize, but some of asked how our 2 week stay would be.
So, during the 2 weeks of our stay below is basically what we will be
doing. We will not know for sure until we get our confirmation of dates
from China.

Thursday - Leave U.S
Friday - skip a day (China is a day ahead of U.S.)
Saturday - arrive in Hong Kong, get on a train for 2 1/2 more hours and
head to Guangzhou
Sunday - rest and get ready for the remainder of the 2 weeks and of course
like any other vacation, visit Wal-Mart!
Monday - Gotcha Day - We will receive Ruthie Grace Sidan Boyd. We will pick
her up from the Civil Affairs office. Basically, imagine a big room with
lots of chairs (doctor's office) and waiting for someone to call your name.
We will walk over to the red curtain and will be handed Ruthie Grace by her
Nanny and the orphanage director. We will have about an hour to spend with
her and the Nanny, ask questions and get answers about Ruthie. We will
spend the remainder of the day with her without a guide. We will probably
stay in the hotel to get to know her, play and then go to dinner.
Tuesday - We will go back to the Civil Affairs office and complete some
more paperwork
Wednesday - sight seeing, shopping. Apparently in Guangzhou there are lots
of shops (tea, electronic, jewelry and furniture stores). Lots of places to
eat. The one thing that they told us was that we shouldn't eat anything on
a stick!! :) We will be going to the Guangzhou Zoo and Botantical Gardens.
The zoo apparently is a very nice zoo and has lots of animals, including a
dalmation dog and squirrel! :) That seems funny to us, but I am sure that
they rarely see them. A new friend of mine is currently in Guangzhou
picking up her little girl. She took lots of pictures of the animals and
they look well taken care of. The panda and white tiger are beautiful!!
Thursday - another day of sight seeing and shopping
Friday - We will be traveling 4 hours to visit Ruthie's orphanage, Maoming
Orphanage. Our guide will drive a "limo" a.k.a. van for us. All 5 of us
will be traveling with her. This will be a bitter sweet visit for us. I am
anxious to see what she has known for the past 18 months, her nanny, her
friends and where she laid her pretty head every night. I am forever
grateful for her parents for making the decision to not parent her so that
she would be given to a good family to be taken care of and loved!  We will
be able to meet her friends and have pictures made with them and just see
their everyday life. After the orphanage visit, we will then go to her drop
off spot. This spot will be where she was abandoned when she was 2 days old
last February. She was dropped off under a pavilion in a box in the
freezing cold near a hospital. As it saddens my heart, I know Jesus wrapped
her with his warm arms!! :) As you may be thinking, "Why would you do that
to her?" "Why would you want to go back to where she was abandoned?"  The
day will come when Ruthie will ask her dad and I all about her past. I want
to be able to tell her everything and be completely honest with her. I want
her to know it all. I know she will appreciate the loving family and home
she will grow to love dearly. I want her to also know that her parents are
not bad people, they just wanted better for her. So yes, this will be a
very emotional day.
Saturday - Medical visit. Ruthie will have her last medical check-up in
China.
Sunday - sight seeing and shopping
Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday - will be our final Consulate Appointment.
This is where everything becomes final. We sign lots of paperwork and
finally pick up her passport to travel back to the United States!!  Other
days I am sure sightseeing and resting for our trip home.

We will be staying at The Garden Hotel and it is very nice! Our guide will
be helping us with translations, exchanging money with the bank in our
lobby of the hotel and many many other things. She will be my best friend
for 2 weeks!! There is a nice swimming pool and apparently it is mandatory
to wear swim caps! Ha! You really don't want to know what Steve had to say
about that!! It had something to do with a speedo! Not sure! :) Other than
the itinerary we discussed bonding and post adoption visits. Lifeline will
be a part of our family for the next 5 years. They will come and visit a
few weeks after we come home and continue to come and visit for 5 years to
come. Lifeline has been fabulous! They not only have a "J-O-B" to do, but
they love our family and others as well. They pray with us and they guide
us correctly. They pray for us to get everything back as soon as possible.
They have held our children. They have loved on them and told them that
they will be united with their forever family soon!!
Getting Ruthie will be like having a newborn in so many ways! We will
basically be starting over as she would as a newborn to get her comfortable
in her new home and surroundings. We know it is not going to be easy, but
we know we can get through it!! There will be good days and bad days, but
through it all, she is getting exactly what she needs!! PTL!! I am sure her
personality will reflect it all soon!!

I can't believe that it is almost time! She will be with her forever family
soon and will be loved so very much!! We pray that we will receive travel
approval this week and then our consulate appointment at the beginning of
next week. As soon as we get that information, then we will book our
flights. They say that typically you travel 2 weeks after you receive your
TA!! We have all prayed for this day to come and it will be here soon!!

Please pray for her mom and her nanny. As I know that her mom has no idea
what Ruthie is about to endure this or even cares, but just maybe the
prayers will open her heart and eyes to Jesus!! It is all because of her
that Ruthie is alive and has brought so many blessings upon us all!!
Ruthie's Nanny is one of the most admired ladies in the world to me right
now. She loves, care for, feeds, nurtures and plays with Ruthie! I just
pray that Ruthie will look at me as she does her Nanny. I will do the same
and I will make that promise to her. I can't wait to meet her to give her a
big hug and tell her thank you for taking care of our daughter. We made a
promise to God to let him guide us on this journey to bring Ruthie home and
give her a better life. We never thought that Ruthie's journey would better
our lives like it has today!

As soon as I get travel dates, they will go out immediately!!

Blessings & Love,

Julie