February 25, 2001 - Hong Kong Tour
Mackenzie and her daddy, playing with the camera. Katherine Pound and Phil Haas from Littleton, CO.  We missed putting this couple in last nights web posting.  I think they avoided us so they could look refreshed.

 

Today is Sunday.  We started the day off by having a great breakfast at the Garden Cafe.  Mackenzie made lots of friends in the restaurant,  the wait staff brought her balloons and candy.  I tell you this little girl is a friendship magnet, everywhere we go she charms all the people.  We had Dim Sum for lunch and went on a tour of Hong Kong today.  HK is very beautiful, it is hilly with lots of winding roads.  The weather was cool today about 50-60 degrees and drizzly.  We started the city tour by shopping at the Stanley Market, I bought a picture and some postcards.  Mackenzie had a good time petting some little flea infested puppy (thanks daddy), now I have to watch her for fleas!  Then we visited a fishing village, many people live on their boats.  We saw a floating "roach coach" (a boat selling ready food to the fisherman).  Mackenzie had a blast on the boat.  Then it was off to the Aberdeen Jewelry factory, I bought two pearl necklaces (I'll tell you how much you later Auntie Karen - you never really set a price limit) and some earrings.  I wasn't the only one who didn't make it out of the place without purchasing something - right Katherine Pound?   We finished the tour at Victoria Peak, the view of HK was spectacular, of course we ran out of film so I don't have pictures.  Once again Miss Mackenzie worked her charms and left Shooters (a restaurant) with a balloon, we now have two in the hotel room.  Our little princess crashed on the ride home, what a day.  Matthew, our CCAI representative was a great guide.

Pushing away from the dock of the  fishing village. View of floating restaurant.

More of floating restaurant. Kim Rasmussen filming our boat ride, he ended up getting fish guts on his pants, no not really!

More of the fishing village.  It looked like an old abandoned boat yard, there were tons and tons of boats.  I still have not been able to find a toy boat for Josh.  I'll keep looking Josh.  I miss you and Kalynne.

More boats. More of the back of Kim's head.

You can see the plants on the house boats.  Matthew told us he has seen animals (livestock) being raised on the boats.  He also said these people would never leave their boats they like living on the water.

Doesn't this look like a child who is fascinated by life!  She had so much fun today.  Notice her blue lips - suckers! HK consists primarily of three islands - mainland HK, Kowloon, and New Territories.  Since its return to the PR of China in 1997 not much has changed.  It is very expensive to live in HK, I think Matthew said it was about $1,000 USD or HK dollars (I forget which) per square foot, so most people live in very small apartments.

Mackenzie got to steer the boat, doesn't she look thrilled!

 

February 26, 2001 - Travel Day
We checked out of the Shangri-La today and waited for Matthew to escort us to Shenzhen, where we boarded the plane to Nanchang. Here we are at the Shenzhen Airport.

Mackenzie and Nataya had a good time together today. We made it to Nanchang about 5:00pm.  It is rainy and cold here.  Here we are in the hotel lobby getting room keys and last minute instructions from James.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Rao Fang Fang our new baby.  We received our baby first.  She has a bit of a cold and lots of layers.  She is holding the toy we sent for her many weeks ago.  She is from Shangrao and was born April 5, 2000.

Mackenzie doesn't know what to think about her little sister.  We named her Madeline.

 

Mackenzie and Madeline on the bed shortly after she was placed on my arms.  Mackenzie wanted to hold her, it only lasted a few minutes then Madeline started to cry.  Madeline had on a blue snow jacket, three sweaters and three pairs of pants (crotch less).  Her hair is coarse and lots of it.  Once we got all the clothes off her she is very tiny.  The few chinese words we know seem to help.  She cries off and on.

 

Don't we all look alike?

Madeline clung to me right away.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Rao Ying Ying being placed in her mothers arms, Katherine Pound.  Ying Ying was born April 17, 2000 and she is from Shangrao.

Ying Ying is now called Sandrine Pound Haas.  Don't they look comfortable already?  According to Katherine Sandrine loved the stacking cups.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Laura and Randy, I don't know the Chinese name of their baby yet, but she is from YuGan.  She looks like she has lots of layers on also.  I understand there was some confusion with the Guay baby, I'll find out tomorrow.

How cute, the baby seems a little shy of the camera but none the less a cutie pie.  Look at mom she is just thrilled.

 

The Guay Family.

Hi this is Laura & Randy writing.  The confusion was with the second update picture; we received the right referral picture & baby but the updated photo was not of Sara; cute as she was, she was Rachel.  Susan & Kim got our updated photo of Sara.  All's well and it took less than 2 minutes to figure out what happened!  (phew). 

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Yue, Ying Jie with her new mom and dad, she is from YuGan with a February 15, 2000 birthday.

Her American name is Marissa Jie Pinto.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Nataya's new little sister.  I will find out more tommorrow.  Since we received the babies at about 8:00pm and did paperwork at 9:30 we didn't have much time to talk.

The Stepleton Family.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Rao Xing Xing born April 10, 2000 from Shangroa.  Her new Mom is Elizabeth Stieg.

Xing Xing's new name is  Anne RaoXingXing Stieg.  Pictured with Elizabeth and Anne is Aunt Jennifer (I think).  Please forgive me if some of my facts are off it is about 3:00am and we are trying to post the web page as soon a possible for the folks back home.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

The Lovejoy-Schell Family.  Grandma Lovejoy seems very pleased and so does dad and mom.  Their baby is Rao Bin Bin from Shangrao born April 15, 2000.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

The first glance at each other.

The family playing on the bed.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

This is Yue, Chun Xiu from YuGan born February 5, 2000.  Susan looks delighted with her new baby.

Daddy is pleased with his little princess, whose name is Rachel Chunxiu Rasmussen.

 

February 26, 2001 - Baby Day!!!!!

 

The Rasmussen Family.  Tomorrow we register and notarize the adoptions with the authorities and then we get to relax and bond with our babies.  There is not much to do in Nanchang so we may be limited to posting only baby pictures, no more interesting sites, I'm sure that will be ok for the families back home.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
Our China Dolls having a bottle.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!

In the afternoon we notarized the adoptions.  This did not take long.  Our work is done, now we wait for the  passports to be issued.  In the meantime we just enjoy being families. 

We registered the adoptions in the morning.  This process took several hours.  We had interviews with the officials then gave up all our money.  It sure is nice to get rid of all that cash.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
So far Dan and I have been first in all the processes. Everyone else waiting their turn.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
The Geist's. Kim and Susan checking their information.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
The Guay's waiting patiently. The Stepelton's.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
Martha and George. Phil and Katherine.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
More Phil and Katherine.  Phil is a funny guy, he always has a little pun.

It has not taken long for Madeline to blossom.  She is very very active.  She can stand with help and is very close to crawling.  She is talking up a storm and laughing.  Here Madeline is standing up and just laughing.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
Her two front teeth are unusually large for her size.  She is very tiny.  I think Madeline has bigger feet than Mackenzie did because one pair of shoes I brought (that Mackenzie wore) are too small. Madeline is also very flexible, she does the splits, look out Jimmi and Carisa.  I think her legs turn around in a full circle, like the dolls.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!
More smiles and laughs.

Mackenzie is getting used to her little sister.  There are times she is very sweet and then there are times!!!!  This afternoon Mackenzie tried to ride Madeline like she does her big kitty.  It is really funny, Mackenzie likes to lay on Madeline.

 

February 27, 2001 - Adoption/Registration Day!!!!!

Madeline is a little wiggle worm.  It is very difficult to change her diapers, she flops over like one of those weeble wobble things. We had to call housekeeping for a full bed change because I was not fast enough with the diaper, Madeline went wee wee all over my bed.

Mackenzie having a snack.  I'm glad we brought all the food we did, it sure comes in handy for the little snacker.  She is so funny, every time we open the room door a bell goes off, so she runs over to the phone and answers it by saying "Hello - what time is it".

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!

Today was a free day, our business is done and we are just awaiting the babies passports.  We started our day with breakfast at the Western buffet restaurant.  We dined with the Haas-Pound family, Phil paid, thanks Phil.  James our CCAI representative arranged for the us to talk to the orphanage people.  We were able to ask questions and hopefully get some information about our babies.  The caretakers picked up Madeline to hold and her, I wish I'd had a camera, the look my little Madeline gave me just before she started crying brought tears to my eyes, it was one of fear.  I think she thought I was giving her back.  Once I held her again she clung so tight to me and would not look at the Chinese women.  The women said they were vary happy to see the babies with happy families but they were sad because the babies didn't want anything to do with them after the cared for them for at least 10 months of their lives.  It is just amazing how a few days can change a babies perspective.

After our naps we all went shopping.  We bought formula, diapers, snacks, and clothes.  We were quite a sight to the locals who have not seen alot of Westerners.  We were stared at and followed throughout the entire store.  After our purchases we met at the Kentucky Fried Chicken place and once again gave everyone some entertainment.  It was kind of funny, we all felt like a bunch of zoo animals.  There were hordes of people gathered outside looking and smiling at us.  Some ventured in to get a closer look.

When we got back to the hotel James arranged for a doctor to look at the babies for us.  Most had skin issues such as eczema (?) and colds.  The doctor in some cases recommended some treatments, which we will get tomorrow.  James is the best ever!  Madeline has a pretty good cold, congested chest and eczema.   We are looking at the guestbook to see your comments, everyone here is delighted that you are leaving your comments so they can read, so keep it up.  A note to my family, since it is costing us at least thirty dollars to post the web every day we are not calling back home, so I hope you understand.  If you have emergencies the phone numbers are on the itineraries I left with everyone, we are currently staying in Nanchang at the Jin Feng Hotel until 3/6/2001.  I haven't heard that any of the parents are suffering from any ailments, so far so good.  Mackenzie is holding out well except for sibling rivalry once in a while.  The food at the hotel so far has been good, not as good as Hong Kong but lots better that last trip.  I've only had to eat one can of potted meat so far and that was only because we didn't have time to go to the restaurant.  Tomorrow James is taking is on a walking tour of Nanchang, so we should have more exciting pictures.

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!
Shangrao Orphanage-Zhu Li Ying, Director (seated), Kong Dong Mei, nurse/caretaker, Huang Lin, nurse/caretaker.  I don't know who the guy is maybe a husband.  James Jin CCAI representative.  Everyone I've talked to has said he is wonderful and you know what he is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!
Phil Haas is spoiling Mackenzie with Dove bars.  I must admit they are good.

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!
Our little China dolls playing on the bed.  Madeline is so funny she spent about an hour just laughing at nothing!  My little Mackenzie is beginning to feel like Josh now.  Dan and I are trying our best to let her know she is not being replaced but there is only so much we can do because we also have to spend time with Madeline.  We try to give her little tasks to help out, sometimes she does will others so so.  This is good practice because once we get home there will be other demands on our time that will take us away from them sometimes.

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!
Don't they look like little angels?

 

February 28, 2001 - Lazy Day!!!!!
I tried to get pictures of others tonight but I think everyone retired early.  I lucked into getting Elizabeth and Jennifer and baby Anne as they returned home.

This page was last updated on February 25, 2012.