Hi to all-it's Hoyle and Doris. I thought the pictures are a perfect update of our children. Bailey is just a great sister. Little Ellie entertains all of us--altho she has not been cross or crabby she will NOT sleep. Gretchen suspected something amiss--so--Yes, Ear infection and sinus infection--So, medicine started tonight and she will really be a goer now--with some sleep. Ellie has learned so much in the 14 days her family has been with her. She crawled yesterday--has started putting things in her mouth ( not food) and will pull up. Our days here are very precious and each day is a thrill. The little 4 year old neighbor came over and said, "I think she looks like she was born in China!!" Yep, she sure does. Friday at the end of the school day she will be a visitor in Bailey's classroom. Thank you one and all for the thoughts and kindesses and concern you each have shown for this big project that our children have taken on. We are very proud of them. Hoyle and Doris

There is no place like home!! We arrived safely in Boise on Saturday the 17th. It was a LONG day, but we made it. Bailey and Ellie were perfect travelers (much better than the adults they were traveling with!) and there were about 30 people that met us at the airport to welcome us home. It was fantastic to be back on American soil. We are all settling in nicely. Ellie is crawling around and pulling herself up. She is an incredible little girl and we couldn't be more happy to have her as a daughter. Bailey is also doing very well with the transition, she will go back to school tomorrow and get back in the groove of things. As for Steve and I, we walked around in a blur for a couple of days but the jet lag is slowly disappearing. My parents are here for a few days to help out, so that has been great!
Thanks to all that followed along. We felt your love from half way around the world. I will update periodically, so check back!
Love,
Gretchen
P.S. Pictured are the other couples that traveled with us. Notice the large woman in the swimsuit, she is obviously not Chinese. This was Bailey's favorite sculpture because the crotch of the suit was not visible! Lovely!!!!!

Hello from Guangzhou! we are having TERRIBLE luck with the internet, so that is why you haven't heard from the merry travelers. We are having a wonderful time here. we flew here Tuesday night and got to this motel late. We had chicken quesadillas and enchiladdas for dinner- mexican food never tasted so good!!! Wednesday Ellie had her medical exam. She weighs 16 pounds and can hear and see. So, Life is good! We visited a pearl market and mall yesterday. Very, very crowded! Everyone is getting ready for the Chinese New Year. It must truly be a huge celebration. Beautiful decorations everywhere. This city is so tropical. It reminds me a lot of Hawaii. Bailey was the only person swimming outside yesterday as it was very overcast and about 75 degrees. She had a blast! this motel is incredible. It willl be hard to adjust back home. They turn down your covers and place chocolates on the pillow. And there are probably 100 choices of food included in the breakfast buffet. I told Bailey not to get used to that, it will be Cheerios very soon. AFriday afternoon we go to the consulate for the swearing in ceremony then we leave for Beijing. Beijing to Sanfransisco, to Los Angeles to Boise on Saturday. LONG DAY!!! Happy Valentines Day! Give each other a hug from us! No pictures today- could not get them downloaded. we will post hopefully tomorrow night from Beijing. If you don't hear from us, we are still scheduled to land in Boise at 7 p.m. On Saturday. Hope to see you at the airport.

Love,
Gretchen

Today we toured the temple of Lord Bao. He was born over 1000 years ago in the city of Hefei and was very popular with the common people. He was a real humanitarin and very fair. To this day, his distant relatives come to the temple on his birthday every year to honor him. He saved many from the guillotine (pictured). He had two wives and two children. The wax museum that portrayed some of their llife together was incredible. Very, very fascinating! On the way to the temple, we passed a few signs to keep off the grass. (double click on picture to see what the signs said- to funny!) this is where we also saw the three legged monkey on a leash.


We did a little walking tour and found the Football Restraunt. Outside of that was where that meat was hanging. Lunch anyone? The Budweiser Bar was right next to it.

Also pictured is Ellie's friend Sadie. Sadie is one day older than Ellie, but she is quite a bit bigger. You can tell how bundled she is, it was probably 50 today so she was plenty warm. sadie's new home is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania which is the home of the little league world series.

Alea is 18 month old and she was napping today so she missed the tour. She will live just outside of Washington DC. Alea's mom is from Indonesia and her dad is Cuba. we hope to get the girls together for many pictures now that Sadie and Alea are feeling better.

We are all feeling good, except becoming a little homesick. Bailey has had cabin fever the last couple of days, so Steve took her to the park today and they played ball and blew bubbles. It seemed to make the aternoon better for her. We leave for Guangzhou tomorrw and we are excited! It will be in the high 80's there so we can't wait. we leave here at 4 and should arrive there around 6. We will stay in the White Swan hotel. (google it- it is quite amazing!)

Thank you for all of the comments! we check the blog frequently to see who has checked in.

See you soon!
Gretchen

Good Evening from Hefei, China! We have had a terrific day as we are now officially done with our paperwork. For two hours this morning, we finished the last of it. It is a great feeling to FINALLY be done with all of it! Now we just hope that the American consulate agrees with all of it. we will find out on Friday!

We were going to go to a temple this morning, but our guide thought it was to cold for the babies to be outside, so we will try again tomorrow. So, instead we went and played at the park. Bailey and Steve rented a little boat and strolled around the river. Bailey had a wonderful time! It was a beautiful afternoon and there were lots of people out and about. Many locals stop us and say "lucky girl" to Ellie. I beleive that we are the lucky ones! She is some an awesome baby, her little smile and laugh light up the room.

For those of you who are looking for a different career, may I suggest attatching a portable cotton candy maker to your bike and hang out at the park. Actually,mom, I think it would be an excellent job for you! You have to like to talk and make friends. The whole time the lady was making the cotton candy, she was chatting with us. She didn't know a lick of English but just kept on visiting and smiling. It was great! There is not much profit, as she charged us 12 American cents.

Double click on the green sign that is on the garbage can. The chinese tranlation is actually Fruit Leather Suitcase. we are not sure what it means, but it was hilarious!

we tried duck and pork intestines for lunch today. (just a tiny bit, when in China do as the Chinese!) For dinner we had instant oatmeal (that we brought from home) and peanut butter and french bread. Just needed a little comfort food. After eating in the same restraunt for almost a week it was a nice change! we have tried the Chinese beer and it is actully very good.

We our having a lot of trouble with the internet right now so I need to stop for today.

Hope your weekend is good!
Love,
Gretchen

We have had another great day! The trip to the museum was interesting. There was no heat, but great sites. There were many small artifacts that were in the tombs of noble birth.

Words of wisdom....when in China do not dial 55 for room service. That is what we dialed and an hour and a half later Steve went looking for our food. There is a BIT of a language barrier but with the help of Filmore (karioke singer who speaks very good English) our food was delivered 20 minutes later. This morning we discovered that we did not call room service, but housekeeping! The funny part is after Steve placed the order the maid came and looked puzzled so she left. We now know the correct nuber, but it has provided us with a laugh all day.

Chinese workers pick an American name so the foreigners can pronounce it. So there are lots of Michaels (after Michael Jordan)Janes, Stevens, Grace, but we are not sure why Filmore was picked! Filmore's job at the motel is to teach the emoplyees English. His night job is entertainment in the bar. His singing is really good- Gordie, he even sang an Eagles tune. we thought of you!!!

After the museum, guide Jane and I got of the travel bus and went shopping for smaller clothes for Ellie. That was a fun experience. She snapped her fingers and the workers came running over. Within 7 minutes, I had 5 outfits and 2 pairs of socks. Jane and I were going to walk back to the hotel, but she spied a cab and took off running trying to catch it. I ran to catch up and we hopped in the cabbie as he was pulling away from the curb. The others came home on the bus and the driver missed the hotel so he turns the bus around in the middle of the road having to back up blocking four lanes of traffic. Insane!

Ellie has had another fantastic day. She slept really well last night and wakes up smiling and giggling. She is a great growler and hair puller. Bailey really appreciates that!

Steve, Melinda and I spend most of our time laughing about all of the crazy experiences we have had here. And it takes all of us to keep Ellie from rolling off the bed. she acts like a sumo wrestler and is all over the place.

Steve and Bailey tried either squid or octopus this morning. (we were not sure which one it was) The breakfast buffet offers a wide variety of food from baked beans to fried tomatoes, to rice krispies. A little something for everyone!

Love to all-
Gretchen





This afternoon we all went to a museum of the history of the Anhui province. We were there around a hour. After that we all went to a park to walk around and breath in the Hefei air. It is so rough you can feel it going in. Here is a shot of the wonderful world of split pants (after diapers and during potty training). I also took a couple of pix's of some animals strung on strings above a restraunt.. The first is some sort of bird or animal the other is some fish(fuzzy).

Steve

Good News- we found a McDonalds! A cheeseburger never tasted so good. Actually, tastes like home. We weny back to the super market today and walked around for a couple of hours. It is great to get out of the motel for a few hours. we have not been in a taxi today, so it wasn't as adventurous as yesterday. As you can see by some of the pictures the traffic is crazy. You can understand why I was a nervous nelly when there was a man chasing down the taxi in the middle of the street!

Tomorrow we are going to a museum and then out for an authentic chinese meal. Some of our tours have been postponed because the other two babies have congestion and they were seen by a chinese doctor who was close to 100 years old. The retirement benefits must be lacking here in China! Our guide, Jane, is very nice. But, insists that the girls are bundled in many layers. Here is her rule: if babies sneeze or cough once, then it is one layer. two coughs two layers, etc. So, the babies that have been coughing and sneezing are real warm.

Ellie has had an amazing day. She is babbling, grinning, giggling and acting like a one year old. we think that she might be crawling by the time we get back. She is incredibly active and vocal. She can also throw a great temper tantrum. she fits great in the family! We love her so much and can hardly believe this dream has finally come true.

At Christmas time, I sent a care package to Ellie at her orpahange. I included a disposable camera hoping that her nannies would take pictures and return the camera to us. My wish came true- the camera was returned and we can't wait to get the pictures developed. Our guide is from this province and has been to the orphanage many times. She says it is very clean and the director is a good one. He is very concerned about the welfare of the children and runs a tight ship. The nannies there have to be certified in CPR and first aid. There are not many children in the orphanage as there is not a lot of money to house many. There are only 10 babies in the place, with 2 nannies during the day and a different two at night. we feel so blessed about the care she received the first 11 months of her life.

Chinese New Year starts on February 18th. It is a huge festival where most places are closed for a week or two. There have been fireworks every night since we have been here. We were going to visit a kindergarten but school is out all of February for their winter break.

Have a great day and we will post more tomorrow.
Love,
Gretchen

LIONS AND TIGERS AND TAXIS OH MY!!!!!

Today has been fun filled starting with Bailey and I venturing out by ourselves to one crazy experience trying to flag down a taxi. Just us two girls ventured out. We feel very safe here as people are always smiling and willing to help. Anyway, the traffic is undescribable and here comes this van right at us honking. They appeared to be security guards (or at least played the part) and they are unrolling their windows. Of course, I think we are going to be arrested for crossing the street when we weren't supposed to. Oh no, that is not the case at all. One starts screaming out the window "Oh BYOOTIFULLL Girl" I wave back and he yells, "no, not you, the young one". It was so funny. But, it freaked Bailey out enough that we hurried back to the motel. So now when we go out she thinks her dad needs to be with her. Go figure-

This afternoon it was raining and we decided to get out of the room and go to a super market so our guide writes a note to the bellman to get us a taxi with the directions on it. We get to the market fine. (four stories with the first one being a mall and the grocery store at the top. Luckily you just hold onto your cart while going up the escaltor. The fish department was interesting. Live fish that people were picking out and handling then throwing bak in the tank, eels, turtles and toads. The smell was horrible- more than I could stand. (worse than the smell of lutefish- you Norweigions know what I am talking about!) we decide to come back to the motel and an english speaking worker tells us where to stand to get a taxi.. remember that it is RAINING. We go to the designated spot, and the wait begings. A man feels sorry for us so he giave Bailey is umbrella. steve is desprately trying to flag down a taxi but they were all full. Another man who spoke a little bit of English tells us that he will help us get one and he walks out in the middle of the street with busses, cars, bikes, fruit and vegetable carts, and mopeds alll zooming by. I could not beleive my eyes!! He doesn't have any luck so he sends his friend up the street to try and find an empty taxi. (you must remember that it is still raining.) Now his friend is out in the middle of the road as people are honking and swerving to avoid hitting him. The first helper started chasing after a taxi. then someone tells us we are not standing in the right spot, so we move and the helper comes with us. He happens to have a cell phone so he called our guide and steve talked to her on the phone. She was on the other side of the city, so she couldn;t help us and tells him to wait another half and hour! By this time Bailey is about ready to have a melt down because she is wet and cold and hungry. just then, the friend up the street literally stopped a taxi by chasing after it and the taxi comes to where we are. I have never been so releived in my whole life. Our shoes and coats were soaking wet. So after 45 minutes we got a taxi and the helpers would accept no money. If it weren't for them we would still be there. Mass chaos is the only word I can use to describe it- we have laughed about the situation all afternoon. And we are so thankful to the two men that helped us. And to think that Ellie missed it all because she was asleep on my shoulder. She had a snow suit on and a blanet over the top of her so she was the only dry one. quite a day!

Everyone is doing great. We are seeing more of Ellie's personality each day. She is so cute we can hardly stand it! She has 4 teeth on the bottom, 2 on top and 2 more are coming through.

Until tomorrow-
Gretchen

Here are a few photos outside of our hotel room this morning, a little fog, mostly smog!!! The other couple are from out front tonight , the first shot is a lady sweeping the street with 3 cars going by and 1 scooter. The other ones show the street that is right out the front door, with lots of traffic, cars scooters, bikes and walkers.

What an amazing day it has been! In the eyes of the Chinese government, Xi Meng Jiao became Ellie MengJiao Hill. Everything is now official and we are waiting until next Tuesday for the officials to prepare passports. It was relatively painless today. Ellie had her footprints recorded and some gov. official asked us a few questions. We almost flunked the first question as we weren't sure when we got married. Steve had a completely blank look on his face. we got it figured out and went on to the next. we must have passed the quiz as they granted us our adoption certificate.

Ellie has had an awesome day! She slept pretty well last night and woke up happy this morning. She is starting to eat and drink so I think she is becoming more secure with us. Her nickname is peanut, but she is so full of energy. She loves to chatter and it is like she has always been with us. She is comfortable with all of us and enjoys being held and snuggled. Right now she is sitting on her dad's lap and they are playing go fish with Bailey. She has giggled quite a bit today, and will be crawling in no time. She can clap her hands and is very good at patty cake.

It has been rainy and overcast here today so we have basically hung out in the motel. Another rainy day scheduled for tomorrow, so we might all take a cab to a large shopping mall and see if we can find any bargains!

we are all ready to come home, but we have 10 more days left! we have been very careful with what we eat and drink, so luckily we have avoided any stomach ailments so far. we hope our luck continues!

Steve and I walked through an open market today and saw fried rat on a stick and birds with their heads still attached without feathers. It was nice that Bialey stayed with Gramma Melinda and Ellie while we were out doing the tourist thing. When she is out and about it causes quite a comotion. She is very brave about strangers coming up to her and taking her picture. It is the craziest thing I have ever seen! She asked if we could dye her hair black for the rest of the trip.

Hoping this finds everyone healthy and happy!
Good night!
Gretchen

Good evening from Hefei, Anhui!
I willtry and recap as much of today as I can... when we got to the rooms where the babies were, I recognized Ellie right away because of her hair. It is WILD!! The orphanage director was holding her and all three babies were very calm. (Our other travel mates are couples from Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.) Ellie came right to us and she looked so big! we than realized that she had four layers of clothes on, the last layer resembling a snow suit. (It was 72 degrees) She was just a pool of sweat. (The Chinese beleive that many layers of clothing will prevent sickness) One of the babies in our group is 17 months old and when her nanny passed her over to her parents, the nanny started crying and so did the baby. It was such a bittersweet feeling- I know they loved the babies so much. The nanny had to leave the room because she was so upset. This only made us realize how much they truly love these little girls and they do the best job they can with the very few resources that the orphanges have. Ellie so far has not cried, I know that she must be in total shock. She loves Bailey's hair and reaches out to try and touch it.She is VERY petitie, maybe 16 pounds. She can sit up and roll over, she can bear wight on her legs but would rather just sit and babble. She has eaten very little since we got her, but that is to be expected. She slept for a couple of hours this evening but is now up for play time.

The city where we are staying is the capital of the province. There are three million people that live here, yet they call it a rural area. Many dirt roads and lots of poverty. Friday the other couples will go and visit the orpahanage. I am going to stay at the motel with all the babies. I may regret my decision not to go, but emotionally it would kill me and I am better off not to be there. It is two hours one way on a dirt road, very poor orphanage with a well that is starting to dry up and no money for another one. They have been hauling in water for quite a while.

Today we go back to the government office for our official interview and then it is a free day to just play and giggle. (or maybe even a nap!) We will post more pictures this evening.

Thank you all for the wonderful comments. what an awesome thought to be half way around the world yet feel so much love and support from you.

P.S. In these picures Ellie has on split pants, once you are potty trained you wear these without any underwear and just go to the bathroom anywhere. Imagine Bailey's suprise when at the grocery store yesterday a little child just squated and peed. And yes, one of the pictures below is of a squatty potty. Most nice restraunts and hotels, airports, and some offices have western toilets, but the majority are squaters. The four star squatters even have toilet paper!)

I think I will try and get Ellie back to bed now.

God is great and life is great!!!!
Gretchen

TODAY @ 3PM ON FEB 7TH 2007 WE GOT ELLIE AND IT WAS A VERY EXCIING MOMENT FOR ALL OF US. WHEN WE ARRIVED AT THE CCAA IN HEFIE, THE 3 BABIES WERE ALL READY IN THE ROOM SO WE SURPRISED THEM ALL AND ENTERED WITH TEARS OF JOY. WE DID TAKE A LITTE VIDEO BUT I AM NOT TO SURE IF I CAN GET IT ON THE SITE. HERE ARE SOME PIX OF TODAYS MOMENTS.

STEVE