Catholic Church and a Taxi Ride

Well we got really brave today and the four of us went out on our own. It's Sunday so we took a cab to a Catholic Church. It was marked on the city map from the hotel-it just said Catholic Church. We didn't know if it was a historic site of an old church or an actual active church with Mass. We found a beautiful old church under renovation so it must be actually operating. Unfortunately we could not go in because of the renovation. There was a Catholic Book Store with hours posted- not open today but looked like it was current. We were so surprised how the building looked- as you can see by the pictures it has an old European type architecture. Very beautiful. We could not find a cornerstone with the year it was built. Wish we could have found out more but there was not an English speaking person to be found. The city where we are is not so international like Beijing. Just being out in public causes everyone to look at us then add to that we have a Chinese child with us who is speaking Mandarin Chinese and we cannot. It's quite a spectacle. Wish we had a movie about the whole thing. It's really quite an experience. Just so you can get a sense for driving and traffic in the city we are attaching a video that John took from the front seat of the taxi. It is unbelievable. This is a normal trip in the car around the city.

Funny Clare Picture

This is a funny picture of Clare(no, that's not how the bathing suit is supposed to be, she has the top on her bottom.).

Our Chinese Friends

Free time pictures and activities

Sorry we have not put any more pictures on until now. We have been doing lots of roaming around and snapping pictures- we just hadn't updated the blog.
Things are going great. Clare has quite a little personality. Very strong willed and independent and really quite a character. If she wants to do something without our help, she lets us know in no uncertain terms! She reads us the riot act, as they say. Of course we don't know what she is saying.
At some point every day she has a meltdown because she wants something and we can't understand her. We call Dennis our coordinator and he has helped us work through it. It's got to be frustrating for her to be voicing her needs and not have us understand. We are saying simple things in English and repeating them so she can start to learn some works. Today she learned Peanut Butter- we had it for lunch and she loved it. We don't know if she's ever had it before or not.
Here are some pictures of things we've done the last couple days. Yesterday we went to a park and rented a junker tandem bike. It was a big hit with the kids. We are with two other families who have adopted 6 yr. old boys. They are quite the characters.

Clare at the Pool

Here are a few pictures from the pool, Dad just couldn't wait to get her going in the water.

More About Clare

Hi everybody this is Jack again. I'm just writing this to tell you some more about Clare. Well lets start with this, she LOVES to be naked and running around everywhere. It is really funny when she does because she is always playing some pretend game on the phone and stuff. Like I said in my other post, she loves to eat snacks, and just generally eat. Another thing that you probably had no idea about is that she loves to watch Chinese soap operas. To look at her face when she is watching, you can tell she is really into it. Well, that's about all of Clare. Ohhhh ya she also loves to watch me and my dad swim.

News from Jack

Hi everybody this is Jack again. Today we went to the Imperial palace and Clare had a very good time. Most of the time she wanted me and my dad to hold her. We saw some very, very ancient stuff. She had a moment where she said, "Yao sha nia", which means, "I need to go pee" right when we were in the middle of walking through the palace. That turned out to be pretty funny because there are no bathrooms there. So our coordinator took her behind an ancient lion statue, held her up, and let her pee. On the way back on the bus, she crashed. She just instantly, out of nowhere, layed down on my mom's lap and, BAM, she was asleep. Well over all like I said it was a very fun time for me and Clare.

Free Day in Shenyang

We were supposed to sightsee today but it was raining this morning so we are hanging out at the hotel. Wow it's going to be a long week staying in at a hotel and trying to pass the time. We went to the fitness area and played ping pong- or table tennis as they call it here in China.
We needed our coordinator to come to our room this morning to help translate for us. Clare decided to be naked today and not get dressed. She was emphatic about something but we didn't know what it was since it was all in Chinese. After some interpretation from Dennis our coordinator she decided to go ahead and get dressed.
We were showing Clare our picture book from home and Dennis was explaining to her in Chinese what we were saying about each picture. When she saw a picture of our cats she told him she does not like cats, she is afraid of them because they bite. Oh boy, Jack has his work cut out for him.
We are attaching various pictures we've taken. There is no doubt she has really taken to Daddy or Ba-Ba as she calls him in Chinese.

Hi to 5th Grade at St. Mary's

Hi to all at 5th grade! This is Jack. I have got my sister as you can see on this blog, and she is soooooo much fun!!!!!! But we all really know she looooooves to eat snacks. She has only cried once when we got her, but now she is not shy one bit and she is running alllll over the hotel. She also likes to shop. Just letting you know I could not of made it without your supports and blessings. THANK YOU 5th GRADE!!!!!

We are a Family of Four!

Hello all! I did a couple of posts yesterday and found out today they haven't showed up so let me try again.
It been fast and furious since arriving in Shenyang on Sunday afternoon. We flew here from Beijing- about an hour flight so not bad.
Monday was the big day. We met Clare at 9:00 am at Civil Affairs Office here in Shenyang. The orphange director brought her. She was very shy and tentative at first but warmed up after a bit. She immediately took to Jack- calling him guh-guh which is big brother in Chinese. There was lots of paperwork signing and then we came back to the hotel and went to the play room. Jack was such an awesome help. We couldn't have done it without him.
On Tuesday morning we did all kinds of stops to sign furhter paperwork. We had to go to numerous official offices to get things notarized, etc. We were totally clueless as everything was in Chinese. Jack wore shorts and caused quite a stir among the Chines people- they were all stopping and pointing and asking our guide about his shorts. It is the custom here to bundle kids up- and I do mean bundle. When we got Clare back to the hotel yesterday and changed her clothes she had three layers on including a pair of very thick wool long underwear. The high yesterday was probably about 58 or 59 degrees. Seems like she would have been roasting! No wonder everyone was staring at Jack in his shorts.

I am attaching some pictures from yesterday and today. Keep us in your prayers. There is some stress involved in staying at a hotel with a 4 yr. old who does not speak English. Wow, we are quite busy. Thank goodness Jack is here.

We'll post again soon.

Love Lynda, John and Jack and his new little sister Clare.