The Sky Beneath My Feet

I had the chance to do some reading in China. On the airplane, in the hotel room during quiet time and at night when we forgot to borrow a DVD from our travel com padres. I had several new books loaded up on my Kindle for the occasion. A little Agatha Christie (Murder on the Orient Express), Kate Morton (The House at Riverton) and the newest Lisa Samson release (The Sky Beneath my Feet). Each book totally different from the other, all worth the read. 

The Lisa Samson book I received as part of Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze program. They send me books in exchange for honest reviews. So, here is my review on The Sky Beneath My Feet:

The basic story line from the Book Sneeze description is this: Beth's husband won't be joining the family on vacation at the beach this year. He's not even joining them in the house. Instead, Rick has holed up alone in the backyard shed. Nobody knows exactly what he's up to. Maybe he's immersing himself in prayer. Maybe he's lost his mind. Maybe he's even the modern-day prophet or the saint the neighborhood artist imagines him to be. But while "St. Rick" waits for an epiphany, Beth will have to figure out what to do with herself and their teenage sons, possibly for the rest of her life. 

I have read a few of Lisa Samson's novels before and I gotta say, I'm a fan. I used to read a lot of "Christian fiction." I don't so much anymore because a lot of what I read was somewhat cheesy when it came to relating the faith-based aspects of the book. There would always be a "conversion" scene at the end, and while I am a big fan of conversion scenes in real life, in the books I read so many of them sounded way too cliche. (I know there are many Christian fiction books out there that don't do this, I just wasn't finding them.)

I don't think "cliche" when I read Lisa's work. Her characters and their faith were real and relateable. The story kept my attention and challenged me. (I love it when a novel tells a good story and makes me think, big plus!) Bottom line, The Sky Beneath My Feet is a well-written story of how God became real to one of His children. In my opinion, it was definitely worth the read. 

***DISCLOSURE NOTICE: A free copy of this book was supplied to me for the purpose of review by publisher. No monetary exchange was given. All comments and wording in this review are purely my own. 

Settling in

I should have pictures.

But since we have returned home, the camera has not been getting much use.

Shame on me, I know.

You will just have to take my word for it.

Our transitions continue to move along in a relatively smooth sort of fashion. Zak is kinda the rock star of the family right now. Except when he periodically bites or hits, but even then, they are quick to forgive.

Our table looks a lot fuller. He's just one small boy, but since he came, when I look around our table at dinner time I can't help think that there are A LOT of kids sitting there.

We are slowly making our way out into the world. Home, however, is his comfort zone as it should be.

The jet lag is slowly disappearing and we have been well taken care of by friends and family. Meals have been delivered on a regular basis, something I am thankful for and also (if I'm being honest) feel a little guilty receiving.

We are morphing into our new normal and it feels good.

I am extremely thankful.
God is good.

Good to Be Home

Home.

We are home and adjusting; trying to move out of the foggy-brain of jet lag into our new normal.

Or at least I am. While the twins have been up around 4 -5 each morning, they hit their days hard, full of energy until I make them go to bed at 8 where they promptly fall asleep in 2 minutes flat.

I have spent my last few nights keeping a detailed record of the rest of my families sleep patterns.

Zak's bed is currently a pack-n-play in our room, where he has been sleeping relatively well. Except when he's not from around 12 - 2 each night. Thankfully he doesn't cry when he's awake. He talks to himself and makes noises with his lips. It would be really cute except that it takes place from 12 - 2 each night.

He seems to be adjusting smoothly to our life. We have been taking it easy. Keeping errands to the bare minimum. Hanging out at home, getting to know each other.

It's been good.

Good to be home. Good to be feeling out our new normal. Good to be together again as a family.

More Pictures, Less Words

Mostly pictures tonight. It's been a long, fun day and I am tired.

Our last few days have been filled with many "traditional" Chinese adoption moments.

At the White Swan, the following photos would have been called the "red couch" pictures. This hotel has no red couch, but the crying kids all dressed up look the same on the brown sofa as they would have on the red.

(our group minus the three ZZ dads who were all in their rooms sick)

(the kids)

(us minus Kory who is feeling much better and so far, 

no one else shows any signs of sickness, thanks so much for praying!!)

Wednesday we headed to the pearl market. The boys have gotten many requests for pictures on this trip. And while they are mostly good sports about it, I don't think they will miss their celebrity status when they get home. 

This morning we finally had our Consulate Appointment. The LAST thing on our adoption checklist. Tomorrow Zak's Visa comes and we start our journey home. 

And right after we got back from our CA, we headed out to the GZ Safari Park with our travel companions and friends. For all you adoptive families heading to China. We HIGHLY recommend it. The boys loved it. We loved it. That is all I am going to say. The pictures can do the rest of the talking for me.

My last goodnight from GZ. 

Time on the Island

I have been surrounded by boys for 2 weeks now. Yesterday, it was my turn to pick what we were going to do. 

AKA, it was time to go shopping. 

If you ask my boys, they will tell you it was BORING! 

A little boredom never hurt anyone. 

We took a taxi with another family from our group (a couple who has been with us since Zhengzhou and we have really enjoyed hanging out with!) and hit Shamain Island, home of the famous White Swan hotel (currently under construction) where we spent many hours wandering on our first adoption trip. 

It was a lovely day and the island has a really fun atmosphere. We hit the shops, bartered a little and made a few purchases to take home. 

There are statues all over the island. The boys decided they wanted to take their picture with one depicting the evolution of women in China. 

We made sure to get Zak's by the line of children. If you follow China adoption blogs, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

We ended the day at Lucy's. We ate many, many meals at  Lucy's when we adopted Suhn. It brought back such good memories to be back again. The boys' loved it. They have told me they want to eat there every night for the rest of the trip. 

Probably not going to happen, but I'm glad they liked it.

Prayer Request: Kory woke up early this morning sick. We are hoping it is something he ate, but another dad in our travel group woke up with similar symptoms. Please pray if it is a bug, the rest of stay healthy and that he recovers quickly.

Zak continues to do well. He has been testing us a little, seeing what he can get away with. He has had a couple stand offs with his Baba that Baba has won. It is a good sign, showing he is comfortable with us. 

Today we were at a small park in our hotel, a women who spoke Chinese and English asked him how old he was. He told her six. I wonder if he was joking (like his brother Sean has been known to do) or if he really thinks he is six. Time will tell. 

All in all, he continues to do really well, he is a happy little boy. Can't wait for you all to meet him!!

A Walk in the Park

Yesterday we said good-bye to Zhengzhou and hello to Guangzhou. Our flight was smooth and on time. The Zak-man was excited to fly, his first time on an airplane. When we took off he was glued to the window and was handing out big smiles. He did great.

Even though we still have 6 days in China, home feels close. We are in the final stretch and thankful to be at this point in our journey. Our guide informed us there is a Starbucks, Papa Johns, Subway and McDonald's all close to our hotel. We cheered. It is nice to be in a place that feels a little more like home. Guangzhou has more of a western feel and our hotel is filled with adopting families and other internationals making us feel like less of a minority.

The breakfast buffet was bustling this morning. The pancakes and french toast disappearing almost as fast as the chef could make them. The boys still managed to get their fill and gave the hotel breakfast two thumbs up.

There are two parks close to our hotel. And when I say park, I don't mean of the playground variety. The parks are large and the paths are winding. Filled with trees, bridges, beautiful landscape and amusement parks. They are beautiful.

The locals were busy playing all sorts of games, from ping pong to a type of hacky sack, to cards to badminton. It had a community feel, and while the boys complained of too much walking and Zak almost fell asleep in his stroller, I loved the meandering.

We walked for about an hour and only covered half of one park. We did let the boys go on one ride to rest their feet a bit. Plus, when we asked Zak if he wanted to ride the train, the smile he gave us was impossible to refuse.

Our walk through the park felt like an authentic glimpse of life in China, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed the time. Watching people of all ages interact, play, and watch us. There is another park on the other side of our hotel that is probably just as big.  We'll let the boys recover a bit before we cover that one.

The remainder of our day will include preparing paperwork for Zak's visa and a dinner out with our travel group. 

We are glad to be in Guangzhou, one day closer to home.

The Twins in China

When we decided to take the twins to China, we had two main reasons.

One, we wanted to expand their horizons and expose them to a new culture. Two, we hoped it would help Zak's transition to have his big brothers around.

It was a good move.

Despite the fact that we are going to have to put them through a "screen" detox when we get home. It has been so fun to have them around. I know Zak would agree.

He is already imitating them. He calls for them, loudly, using the Chinese word for big brother. He laughs at them and in general loves having them around.

And they have been great with their newest little brother. It has been really sweet to see them looking out for him. They love to sit by him at meals and pushing him in the stroller when we go out.  

Despite their wishes, they have not been able to play on the Leapster or Ipad ALL day. Among other things, I have been making them journal a little everyday. I thought I'd share a few of their thoughts/observations on our trip so far:

"I am excited for China because I will get to see Zak and because I will try new food."

"The food is great so far. I like the pancakes. I don't really like the toast." 

"There are thousands of China flags in China and hardly any in the US that I have seen."

"We got Zak today. He started crying. He stopped soon."

"The plane ride was awesome. I watched a lot of movies." 

"Today we got Zak. I had fun. This will be a blast. I think he felt sad and worried." 

"Today we officially adopted Zak. Also we came to an orphanage where Zak and Suhn were. It was sad." 

"I think Zak is happy. He is cute. He's also tough."

"The food was good. I liked the toast. I didn't like the waffles." 

I also can add that they don't like the prawn flavored chips that Zak's nannies sent with him; Zak on the other hand loves them. 

Zak continues to do really well. He grieves the hardest before nap time and bedtime. He cried pretty hard before his nap today. But when he wakes up, he is all smiles, ready to play. 

We are eating dinner with our travel group again tonight and then we fly to Guangzhou tomorrow morning. We will not be sad to leave. One step closer to home and normal life, or at least our new normal. I know there will be hard days of transition ahead and we will take them one at a time. 

We are missing our kiddos back home and are so ready to be together again as a family. 

Again thanks for all your comments, love, support and prayers. 

Hopefully the next time you hear from me, we will be breathing the fresh air of Guangzhou. :)