| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day |
| We all slept good last night, Mackenzie and Madeline went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 8:30. Everyone else said they crashed early also, must have been the Lushan trip. Today was a slow day, all we did was verify information for the babies passports, have playtime, naps, massages, and dinner. We all went to the Lakeview Hotel again for dinner-we are getting tired of the western buffet downstairs. |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Playtime in the hotel. Those taking naps and not pictured were: Anna Schell, Tiana Stepleton, and Anne Steig. | Playtime in our room, Madeline had a good time taking all the stuff out of the nightstand. |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day |
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| This picture may not be too good but this guy gave several of us massages. We were unable to take pictures of him in action, seems some people are skittish about having their semi clothed bodies pictured on the web-oh well! |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| We are on the 21st floor of the hotel, these are pictures of the busy street below. The city never sleeps we hear traffic and firecrackers all night long. It is funny because we can still hear people talking on the streets below even though we are high up. | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Having dinner at the Lakeview Hotel, western fare, some of us had steaks and German food. Guess what Phil ate, spaghetti again! Phil is truly the expert of pizza and spaghetti-poor guy I hope there is food he likes in Guangzhou, or he may NEVER eat pizza and spaghetti again as long as he lives! Hey Phil thanks for the Clif bars they may come in handy-now we know why our luggage was overweight (4 dozen of these!). | |
| March 05, 2001 - Lazy/Play Day | |
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| Our
table was trashed again. Madeline is so refined-she likes to crawl
on tables. Stay tuned, we are going to have a long day tomorrow and
may not post pictures. Our flight to Guangzhou leaves Nanchang at
about 9:00 pm, so by the time we get checked into the White Swan it may be
late. It will all depend on how we travel with two little
ones. The simple two hour outings have been trying. Carrie
keep it to two of course you probably already know that. I may
really have to think about the third!
PS-Everyone on this end is sure enjoying the comments you leave. Every day they stop by for updates from the other world. |
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| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 |
| We got the babies passports today at 10:00, we are done with Nanchang on to Guangzhou. We took group photos in the hotel (or tried anyway). We will be checking out of the hotel and going to the airport by 7:00. Although our time in Nanchang was long it sure was nice not to have to change cities so often like when we adopted Mackenzie. However I think we are all ready for a change because this change means we will be heading home soon. We are all still in fairly good health, some are coming down with colds-due to stress most likely. |
| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 | |
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| Group 255-seated l to r: Madeline, Anna, Tiana, Sara, Rachel, Sandrine, Anne. On top of the couch-Marissa and mom. | |
| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 | |
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| Group 255 parents and babies. | Phil Haas, next we will show him how to turn the camera on and Grandma Lovejoy. |
| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 | |
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| Nataya Stepleton. | James with Elizabeth and Anne Steig. |
| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 | |
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| Our last dinner at the Jin Feng hotel, what will Phil do without his pizza/spaghetti fix. This English couple has a few more days until they can leave Nanchang. My hat goes off to them-they did all the travel arrangements by themselves! This is their second daughter Ester. | |
| March 06, 2001 - Passport Day & Travel Day 3 | |
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| Notice all the beer on the tables? | |
| March 07, 2001 - Physical Day |
| My very deepest apologies to the folks back home for not posting the web for a few days, we were exhausted. James took us to the airport at 7:00 pm on March 6. Our flight to Guangzhou did not leave Nanchang until 11:00pm we arrived at the White Swan at 1:00 am. You know what they say God has a way of paying you back for laughing at others misfortunes. Hey Phil where were you when Madeline threw up all over me just as they announced we could board the plane to Guangzhou. Yes my baby apparently was not feeling to good and decided to toss her cookies all over me. I borrowed an extra pair of cloths from Martha Lovejoy and Dan gave me his shirt (fortunately he was wearing his coat). Finally we boarded the plane. We did luck out and got to sit in business class since we were the last on the plane and I think they felt sorry for us. The minute we sat down Madeline threw up again! So we got to sit on the plane for the entire time smelling sour and wet. Madeline and Mackenzie slept most of the flight-thank God. Alice and Maggie (CCAI reps) met us at the airport and guided us to the hotel. When we were in line to check in Madeline started with the dry heaves-no not again, phew she didn't throw up but it was close. We started the next day at 7:00am to get prepared for the babies physicals and visa pictures. |
| March 07, 2001 - Physical Day | |
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| We are on the way to the clinic for the babies physicals. This is the last phase of the adoption process. | |
| March 07, 2001 - Physical Day | |
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| Madeline weighed in at 15 lbs. | She screamed bloody murder when the doctor examined her, nothing wrong with her lungs. He was a little concerned with the eczema. |
| March 07, 2001 - Physical Day | |
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| Waiting for the babies to finish up the medicals. | Can you say Hard Rock? Phil actually ate something other than pizza and spaghetti today for lunch. I must admit the hamburger and chocolate shake sure did taste good. Thank you for lunch Phil! |
| March 07, 2001 - Physical Day |
| Everyone but the Stepleton's went on the Pearl River dinner cruise tonight. It was very crowded but Mackenzie enjoyed standing up on the deck with daddy while Madeline and I enjoyed Karaoke. I was hit by the clothes police for Madeline so I put on her sweater. We are still very tired and tomorrow is the consulate appointment. We kind of fell by the wayside where pictures are concerned so you will have to wait for film development. |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day |
| We had our consulate appointment today, all went well. We do not have pictures because none are allowed at the consulate. We met up with Raymond Shang, the CCAI rep who took care of us when we adopted Mackenzie. Raymond said it was as if we were just here. Raymond invited Dan and I to lunch with Alice, this was such an honor for us. Auntie Donna-Peilei was on the menu, they taste like chicken. There was also shrimp the size of lobster, they were huge, and snakes (yuk). I went shopping while the girls took a nap, Rhonda the squeaky shoes were a hit. The halls abound with the squeak noise. I also got all sorts of discounts because I mentioned you, they still remember the crazy American who spent lots of money. Rhonda tell your dad no problem on the vase, I'd have one also if the shipping wouldn't be as much or more than the cost of the vase. This evening we took the ever famous White Swan-Red Couch pictures, enjoy. I can't tell you how cute all the babies are and all the pictures we have taken don't do them justice. |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Guay Family, Sara is the guest of honor, this picture is just darling. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Haas-Pound Family, Sandrine is the empress. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Steig Family-Anne is the little one with the pearls. Elizabeth gave all the babies a flag and gift, thank you Elizabeth. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Schell-Lovejoy Family with Anna the little princess. They still call her Bin Bin and it fits her so well, what a cool name. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Schell's with grandma Lovejoy. | Mackenzie with Nataya, best friends. |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Pound Family with little Marissa the queen of the roost. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Rasmussen Family with the guest of honor Rachel, she loves her new daddy and mommy. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Stepleton Family with Tiana the little beauty. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| The Geist Family with Madeline the guest of honor and Mackenzie. You cannot see very well but Mackenzie had a blue sucker just before pictures so her mouth is blue. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| Our China Dolls. I think Mackenzie was pinching Madeline on the back!!! | The Red couch looks small with us on it. |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| Group 255 on the Red Couch at the White Swan. | Group 255 babies with big sisters Mackenzie and Nataya. |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| While everyone else went to dinner we did room service so Dan could get pictures ready to post. We had chef salads and Pizza Hut! I've never seen Dan happier. | |
| March 08, 2001 - Interview Day | |
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| Don't we all look happy and tired. We miss all our family back home and can't wait till we get back. I have enjoyed our trip much more than in 1999, must be because we are still in good health. I can't wait to have ice cream at the airport with Josh, Benj, and Kalynne (?). | Dad and that darn camera-the best way to keep Mackenzie from drinking the water is to take a bath with her. This has been the hardest part of the trip since she loves to take a bath. Madeline was outside crying to come in, she loves the water also. I have two little fish. |
