Christmas 2008

It is hard to believe but Christmas is over again for another year! Of course there was added excitement in our house with our newest addition. Julianna was right in the midst and enjoyed every minute of opening her presents. She now has several dollies all her own and a very large fluffy pink bear which is a favorite. Cookie making with Nana was great fun! You only had to show her once and she knew exactly what to do. We have all enjoyed watching as she grows a little more each day and fits into the mix. She absolutely loves music! She has quite the groove! Her brothers are enjoying their role and she holds a special place in all their hearts already.

Reading to the fluffy pink bear!!

A Few Pictures From Home

The little helper, she could teach her older brothers a thing or two!!!!

She enjoys driving the car, especially if older brothers push and then spin the back around.

The dog and cat waiting for a snack!

The cat and Julianna are definitely doing better.

The marker missed the paper!

Saturday Already!

Time is certainly flying! It is so hard to believe we have been home a week already. It has of course been very busy with Christmas, getting back to school, van to the garage, and watching Julianna learn and interact as if she has always been here. My mother remarked a day or so ago that it just seems like she has always been here. She is the biggest toad in the puddle! The boys love to make her laugh and games of tag and tickling are quite common. We put the tree up yesterday and got the lights on and she thinks that is pretty cool. It was interesting to me to say out loud that we were doing this to celebrate the birth of Jesus and know that in all of her four years she had never heard this. By next year I'm sure it will be just amazing at how far she has come. She is such a happy child and so obedient. Very little seems to upset her and she is very easy to please. The issue with the dog and cat has become a non issue. She loves them both and pets them readily. The cat seems to be more interesting, but he is quieter. It only took her a couple of hours to warm up to Grampie and Nana and I'm sure when they leave she will wonder why. Will post some new pictures soon.

Two Weeks

It is so hard to believe but Julianna has been with us 2 weeks already. Time has a way of just disappearing on you. We are settling in at home, some of us are actually on Edmonton time. What a relief to have people sleep at night. It has been a few days of recovery. Zachary arrived home sick and Mitchell followed soon after. Hopefully, tomorrow everyone will be back to good health and we can concentrate on preparing for Christmas. Oh, still so much to do. My parents arrive tonight from Nova Scotia. Jacob and Mitchell are excited that they will be here for the school concert. Always nice to have people in the audience other than parents and sometimes only one of those. Stephen headed back to Fort McMurray on Sunday and will be home again on Saturday or Sunday coming. Then he'll be home for the Christmas break until Jan. 5th.

Julianna continues to learn new things each day. The newest skill is winking, with both eyes of course, but she only had to see me do it once and she gave it a try. As I type she is sitting on my lap moving her fingers on the table copying me. She parrots everything, all a good sign of that little brain of hers on overdrive. She also loves to sing, Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star seem to be favorites. You can't understand many words but she does put a syllable in for each word and holds the tune and timing pretty well. She is very lovable and asks to be picked up. She loves books and I had the privilege of reading Dr. Suess' Foot book on the way home 5 times in a row.

Here are some more pics!!

These pictures are from the Lama Temple in Beijing which we visited the second day we were there. A very quiet place given all the people there. Not sure how I overlooked them.

People come to burn incense. There are many stores just before you reach the temple selling many different kinds.

Sculpture decorating the roof of one of the buildings.

There were many statues of Buddha in different buildings at the temple.

This statue of Buddha is made out one piece of solid sandalwood. It is 18 metres high above the ground and there are 8 metres of it underground. It is according to Guiness the largest in the world.

More Pics From the Trip

Here are some of pictures that didn't get posted. These first few are from the going away party they held Wednesday night. The candle you see in the second had a huge flame and then the little candles come down and it plays Happy Birthday for a very long time. Someone mentioned that they had taken one home and given it as a gift 10 hours later it was still going and the people ended up breaking it to get it to turn off.

Chinese dance of masks. The man changed masks at least 20 times. They came down out of the top of his headdress and seemed to appear as if by magic.

These next pictures are from an acrobat show we went to on Tuesday night. The boys say this was a highlight. I was actually lucky to get these ones. We were told by the guide no flash but it was no pictures period. I got in trouble twice taking these. The performers ranged anywhere from about 10 to 18. Some of the acts were amazing.




Boys and Julianna in the garden at the Forbidden City. The stone structures behind them and in the picture back a day or so ago are made out of hundreds of pieces put together. Missing Summer Palace pictures.
This is one of about 10000 different pictures painted inside the longest covered corridor in the world. 793 metres.

This is a marble boat at the lake's edge. Betcha it wouldn't float.

WE ARE HOME!!!

I tried this from the Vancouver Airport but for some reason it just wouldn't post. WE ARE HOME and much relieved to be sleeping in our own beds tonight. The flight home was really uneventful and Julianna travelled like a seasoned pro. Our trip through the immigration office went very smoothly and now we just have to apply for Julianna's SIN and healthcare card in her new name and then we can apply for her Canadian citizenship. She is sleeping now after deciding she doesn't like the cat. Their relationship may take some work. We now wonder what will happen when we introduce the dog. The dog may have to make short appearances. We arrived home to frigidly cold weather -27 degrees with the windchill and its supposed to be colder tomorrow. We won't be going very far it will definitely be a recovery day. I will take some time this weekend and post a bunch of pictures taken throughout the trip but I just didn't have the time to post.

Forbidden City and Tinanamen Square

It is now Wednesday and today was a bit cooler. A few flakes of snow were flying around as we finished our tour. This was the day for the Forbidden City and Tinanamen Square. The square itself is huge and soldiers still roam around as throngs of people make their way to the Forbidden City. Forbidden of course because only the royal family was allowed inside. No commoners allowed. The square is almost a kilometer long and 550 metres wide. Under Chairman Mao's picture is the first gate to the Forbidden City. There are 2 courtyards before you actually get to the city. The city itself has 9999 1/2 rooms. Supposedly if you stayed a night in each room it would take 27 years. The architecture itself is very unique and the buildings are designed to create numerous courtyards. In one of the very large courtyards the original stones have been left, dating them back 600years. One the interesting facts the guide told us was that the emperor was so afraid of someone tunneling in that the stones are actually 15 layers thick. The garden is made of very neat stone structures and some of the trees are 300 years old. It must be incredible in the spring. Walking through the Square. Pots of water left around to be used in case of fire, also older stones with grass.

300 year old trees

Full Day!

Today was very busy, we had to be up by 6:30 to be able to leave the hotel by 8:00 to head for Julianna's medical. The medical itself went quite smoothly and she did a great job cooperating. Nothing too evasive but still good response to strangers touching her. Then back we came and had a little over an hour before we headed back out again for the tour of the Summer Palace and silk factory. The Summer Palace is beautiful even this time of year when the lake beside it is frozen enough to walk on. Can't imagine how beautiful the grounds must be in the spring when everything is green. The silk factory was interesting but we were all pretty tired by then and it was kinda hard to pay attention. However, we did get Julianna 2 very pretty chinese dresses. Those were a definite must on the shopping list. Tomorrow is shopping day at the market. Supposedly the market has absolutely everything. It should be interesting. My pictures downloaded into the computer and then decided to disappear on me. As soon as I find them I will post them.

The Great Wall

Today was the day we headed to the Great Wall and also stopped at the jade factory. The work they do to create sculptures and jewellery is just amazing. The guide gave us lesson in the history of jade the 30 different colors and different grades. Jade is the stone of luck and brings wonderful things to your life.


The Great Wall was just that "Great!" It has been the highlight on the touristy end of things. We had a good day for it and travelled up the harder side a certain distance and then came back and went up the supposedly easier side. The boys were quite impressed and the structure itself is really unbelievable.







Tomorrow we head to the Summer Palace.

More Pictures

Well, we are back in Beijing and connected again. Julianna''s first trip on an airplane went really well. We had a little issue with the seatbelt but with a little bribery she put it on. She continues to babble away although we don't understand much. There are only a few words we can make out, ma ma, ba ba, flower believe or not and she does seem to know the word NO! This afternoon we went to the Beijing Zoo and saw the panda bears. It was a little nippy and in the middle Julianna fell asleep and needed to be carried. Our muscles will be really large by the time we get home. She doesn't really like the carrier, it was fine at first and then the next time we tried to use it she wailed. Hopefully, she try again she is a little heavy to carry around too long. The day she liked the carrier.
View from the hotel window.

Boys on the exercise equipment in the park across the street from the hotel.
The day before we left Guangzhou we went to visit the orphanage. It was a really good experience and was good to meet Julianna's caregivers and know that she had been well taken care of. She got to hand out suckers to her friends at the playschool.
Group shot with one of the Julianna's caregivers in front of the orphanage sign.
Our hotel in Guangzhou.
My favorite picture!

Here are some of the pictures I promised. Finally something clicked!! These are from Monday, the day we met TianFeng.