Our Journey with An Zhen

Good morning everyone. We are about to go to sleep for the last time in China. We leave our hotel at 7:00 am tomorrow morning, which will be 6:00 pm on Wednesday for you in Corinth. We've said goodbye to our friends here and are ready for Our journey with An Zhen to her new home.

The girls are asleep and i'm just sitting here thinking about the last two plus weeks. It's been amazing, crazy, sad, funny, scary, beautiful and much more. We are truly blessed as a family. God has given us An Zhen. Let me just say before you meet her that she's a firecracker. This girl has loads of personality. She's usually smiling and talking to everyone. All i'm saying is just get ready. You never have to wonder what's going on with her. She will tell you right away, but most of the time it's in Chinese. One word that you might want to know is bia. It sounds like she is saying beer with a New Jersey accent. It means don't want. The first few days we had her she was saying that to me. i figured out after a while that she was talking about me. Now we're to the stage that she loves her daddy and daddy knows it. So now when she says it about me i know it's just temporary and i tell her to shut up. Just kidding. This girl blesses my heart. i know she will yours too.

i just want everyone to know that we have been encouraged so much by your comments. They have lifted our spirits many times and also have helped us to remember that we have not been alone on this journey. Thank you so much for being there for us. We love you all. We'll see you soon. We're coming home.

Yum Yum. i love rice!

The Pearl Market & Ice Cream

Today we went to the Pearl Market. Lots of stores specializing in pearls. Lots of pearls. Also, there were two malls that were huge. It's hard to describe the atmosphere here. All i can say is, it's not like in America. One thing is that there is a lot more people per square inch here.

We ate at a McDonalds again today. It was great. i needed a break from rice & noodles. i reeeaaally needed a break.


Also, An Zhen had ice cream tonight. We think it's her first time to ever have it. She really liked it. i thought she might. It's so awesome to see your children enjoying something or having fun, especially when it's the first time. We had a good day, but we're ready to come home. One more full day in China.

Pearl Market

Here's An Zhen & her best friend Maya Li Taylor.

Here's our group with our babies

Clean Bill of Health

Good evening everyone, we are just chillin right now in the room, it's 9:00 PM...today was another full day. To start with, this morning, Clifton and An Zhen had their first breakfast date while mom rested. She did not cry for me at all. This is a big step for her. She has come a long way since last Monday.... and daddy is real excited! We had our first peaceful meal tonight too..she sat in her own chair and ate lots and lots of chicken congee with her own spoon.

This morning she had her physical exam that is required before we leave for America and she got a clean bill of health. Her developmental delays/muscle tension seemed to be gone. This is an answered prayer. We had one question for him about a scar on her arm and were concerned about what happened but he said this was just from her Chinese vaccination ..they tend to look this way. An Zhen loved the doctors and spoke to them in Chinese grinning from ear to ear.

This afternoon all of the children in our group got a picture made on the famous "red Sofa" here in the White Swan hotel. Guangzhou is where all of the adoptive parents have to come in China before going before the US Consulate.. so traditionally they all get their picture made on the red sofa...hopefully we can add a picture of this for you to see..An Zhen and some of her friends wore their traditional Chinese dresses. Looking at all the babies on the couch together gave me cold chills...we finally made it after all the waiting!

There are 2 other children in our group from her own orphange in Anyong City. Hopefully we can stay in touch over the years. We received some film today from that orphange of her earlier days and can't wait to get this developed.

Now, just 2 more full days and then Thurs. we leave for home..Clifton and I have been singing the song "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord...over and over today...she loves it...especially the guitar licks that we add in there. Thank you for keeping up with us on the blog, thank you Bubba for creating this blog and for everyone's prayers....

And as for you eager grandmothers...you have your work cut out for you...and I need some help!..can't wait to see you! Love, Rozanne

An Zhen & Mommy

Guangzhou Day 2 - i think

We've done so many things and been to so many places that we're beginning to loose track. Don't get me wrong, we are having a blast and wouldn't trade one second. God is blessing us beyond measure. We're not the same people who began this journey 2 1/2 years ago. God has brought us from a hope to a treasure. This little girl An Zhen blesses us more and more each day. Words cannot describe the joy in our hearts.

We've enjoyed activities such as putting all the toilet paper in the toilet, pouring all of our stuff in the floor and having a desperate need to put our hands on everything in sight. She's actually in the process of cleaning the carpet with a towel right now. She thinks it dirty, because it's not slick like the tile. Never thought of that.

You dream and try to imagine what it's going to be like, but it never comes close to reality. The reality of the ups and downs and all the things that you share together. How can you know someones personality before you meet them? You really can't. You stare at your daughter's picture for hours and think you know what it's going to be like when you first meet, when you hold her for the first time. You play it all out in your mind. It's not how i imagined, but it's amazing. It's a day by day journey, building a relationship. i wouldn't have it any other way. And then one day she finally wraps her arms around your neck and calls you daddy. Words cannot describe.

An Zhen and the Pearl River

Completing a sculpture. She's very talented.

Hide and seek in the park

Guangzhou Arrival

Hey everybody. We made it to Guangzhou. This place is really cool. We're at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island, which is on the Pearl River. It's beautiful here. We're really close to Hong Kong.

It has been a long day getting here. We're all tired again, so we went to our room and have been resting since we arrived. An Zhen did great on the flight today. We were worried that she would get upset, not being able to move around, but she was fine. She is usually on the move all the time. Thanks for your prayers.

Tommorow we will be doing things on the island and we may go on a tour of a famous Buddhist Temple. A little Crosswind face 2 face excersion, if you get my drift.

Monday, An Zhen has her medical exam, which is a requirement for the adoption. Later we do work on her Visa application, so that we can bring her home.

Also, i just wanted to talk a little about An Zhen. We get to know her a little better each day and she get's to know us a little better too. As you know relationships take time. She has had a hard time with the seperation from her foster mom. She has been confused and we can tell she has been missing her. Our relationship with her is growing into a beautiful thing. We can see that she is beginning to trust us and that makes us so happy. She is such a special person. We've been telling her about everyone and how much all of you love her. She is such a loving person and she shares very well. Rozanne and i have joked about her already being a Crosswinder at heart.

She's beginning to understand a little English. i told her to take a bite of her bread stick and she showed me that she already had one.

It's bedtime, so mommy is getting her ready.

Whaaat aaa Weeek

Whew! What a long week. It seems it won't end. We are missing everyone from home. We can't wait for An Zhen to meet our family & friends.

We went to the zoo today. It was so much fun. An Zhen greeted everyone as they passed by & started every conversation in Chinese. It helped us to see just how well she knows the lanquage. She is very smart. Have we mentioned that yet? We will have to learn more Mandarin & have already learned some to communicate with her.

We want anyone reading our blog, that may be feeling called to adopt a child internationally, to please feel free to contact us with any help you might need. It would be our pleasure to assist in any way that we can. We have kept all of our information from the 2 1/2 year journey. It has been worth the wait. We are so blessed! We started this journey, because we wanted to help a little one find a home & we also wanted a little girl. God has called us all to reach out to the fatherless. It may not be thru adoption, but it just might. We have been so blessed already waking up to this smile every morning. She is truly a gift from God. We thank him with all our hearts for allowing us to receive this precious gift.

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou and will have more paperwork & interviews next week. Guangzhou is close to Hong Kong. We should have the weekend off and start everything on Monday morning. It seems like we've been in China a month. i have honestly lost track of the days.

Rozanne began this blog posting and i started working on it somewhere in the 3rd or 4th paragraph. She had to get An Zhen to sleep. By the way, Rozanne is an awesome mom. You probably have already suspected that much, but i thought i would remind you.

Please continue to pray for us coming home. An Zhen is very active. It's hard for her to stay in one place very long.....the flight home will be 14 hours, not to mention that we have a 2 hour flight before and a 2 hour flight after. So pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase don't stop praying just yet. We hope you continue to share this journey even after we arrive home.

An Zhen - day four

Today has been a great day. An Zhen is really beginning to bond with her mom & dad. She calls me daddy now. Wow. My heart skips a beat when she says it. Take a look at the pictures we captured today. i hope everyone enjoys them.

A little chilly today.

Sleeping baby. It's peaceful now, but not when she finds out it's nap time.

Get ready Papaw. An Zhen loves watermelon.

Paddle boat ride in the park.

Great Coca Cola advertisement.

She's starting early. Jackson needs to teach her about the hand ball rule.

Zhengzhou is in the Henan Province. Henan has just started offering children for adoption. This city is not accustomed to Americans. We are probably the only white folk in town. People are always looking at us, like what's the deal with these Americans with Chinese babies. People even take pictures of us when we're walking down the street. And that's another subject. There's more people on bicycles and mopeds than there are people walking. There not out for a leisurely ride. They're going or coming from work or wherever. Young & old, college students & business men & women, all going somewhere with much urgency. It's a little dangerous if you don't watch where your going. They all ride on the sidewalk. It's pure craziness.

We hope you are all doing good. We miss everyone and will see you soon.

Zhengzhou with An Zhen

Mommy & An Zhen on a crazy taxi ride. It's difficult to give
a description of traffic in China. Nothing like the USA.

Brushing our teeth.

A fun ride. This ride played songs in Chinese with music
from Jingle Bells & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

An Zhen & mom in the lobby.

In front of the hotel.

Look at my baby. Trying on mommy's sunglasses.

Day 2 with An Zhen

This has been a long day. We started early to finalize paperwork in Zhengzhou. We had the adoption ceremony and had to do a lot of walking. Later we went shopping for some much needed items at the Lotus Center.

Nap time. Much needed. She never stops moving. She is
going to be a handful.

Mom, dad & AZ in the hotel lobby. As you can see, our
accommodations are very nice.

Look at our beautiful baby. Later today, after she rolled on the ground, this outfit turned brown.

Taking a little break while daddy does paperwork.

An Zhen - the first day

This is between crying & happy. She is so beautiful, don't you think.

She is coming around here. i can't believe we've got her. She has got my heart turning flips. She is so precious. Words cannot describe what i'm feeling right now. She loves her mommy and will not let her out of her sight. She loves daddy, but he is more like a toy that she likes to play with only if mommy is close by.

More paperwork tomorrow morning and then shopping at the Lotus Center (like Wal-Mart) in the afternoon. i'll send more pictures soon. Please continue to pray as i try to make the transition from toy to the love of her life.

An Zhen Cornelius

Where do i begin? An Zhen is amazing. She is beautiful. She is so smart. She is already saying mommy & daddy in Mandarin. The first 30 minutes were not so pleasant. She wanted her nanny. We have been told that this probably means that she was loved and taken care of very well in her foster home. After the first 30 min. she began to warm up to us. Now she loves us. She has said so. She is laughing & giggling & playing. She loves to share and she has said thank you. -Clifton

Now my part...
An Zhen is beautiful and very healthy..she has grown a lot since the pictures we had. She was hysterically screaming and crying for the first 30 minutes..but once we walked outside she was great ...thanks to the Dora the Explorer hairbrush we brought...lots of cherios, lollipops, small cakes, and pink teddy blanket but she is crazy about the Dora hairbrush! she likes to hit Clifton on the head with it and brush my hair....i can't wait for you to see the pictures...this entire day has been incredible...i was crying when i saw the other moms getting their children and then when An Zhen came walking down the hall holding her nanny's hand...i recognized her at once...our baby!

This day is incredible!!!!

The Last Night in Beijing

Last night was our last night in Beijing. We went to the "Night Market". There were street vendor's for as far as the eye could see. There were delicacies that will make your mouth water: Tripe (stomach of many animals), sheep kidney, scorpion, beetle, grasshopper, centipede, sea urchin, worm, sea snake (a little chewy), things i've never heard of and, of course, dog but it tasted like cat to me. We had a blast. We went with our friends from Seattle, Shane & Cathy. That is the pastor that Rozanne mentioned yesterday. Shane & i grossed out Rozanne & Cathy with our little taste testing excursion. Later we went to a restaurant and they had a hard time eating anything. Shane & i just stuffed our faces with bullfrog & duck.

This morning we left for Zhengzhou and arrived here at 1:10 pm. All of us are talking about how nervous & excited we are that we get our babies in the morning. We are scheduled to get An Zhen at 10:00 am in the morning, which will be 9:00 pm on Sunday night in Corinth. Please be praying for us.

It's amazing how the daddy's are talking about their new little ones. It's so beautiful to here how much they love them and how they talk about them in such a tender way. This is not typical of a group of men to be sitting around on the verge of tears. Tears of joy, of course.

Anyway, get ready, because the next blog could very possibly have a picture of An Zhen.

Great Wall

It's us again....hope all is well at home. We are still learning about An Zhen's culture here. We've been touring the last 2 days with our adoption travel group and 2 Chinese tour guides who are sharing a wealth of info. Today we visited the Great Wall of China. It way incredible! Mountains surround you and then there is this cool brick wall in between that goes all over and around. Hopefully you can see a glimpse from the pictures we posted. We got to climb as far as we could go...but it was so steep that we did not get too far.... Down below they were giving camel rides. I thought that was kinda neat too. A little trivia: The Great wall can be seen from outer space.

We also went to a porcelin factory and jade factory. There is lots of history and Chinese beliefs tied in with this. Our Guide told us we must take home at least one piece of jade for our child. The Chinese believe that you must surround yourself with jade from beginning of life to end. We chose for her handmade jade stamp that has her English name and her Chinese name engraved on it. He engraved it right there in about 2 min. It was interesting to see how this dialect pronounces her name...different from what we had heard before. Her name means "pure", as in spotless.

We also visited the Olympics venues, The "Bird's Nest" and the "Water Cube". Check out this picture of Clifton...the entire area was transformed for the Olympics.

Tonight we are going out with Shane and Kathy our friends from Seattle. He is a church planter and is pastor of a new church in that area. They have 2 boys and are adopting a 20 mth old on Monday, like us. We are going to the Night Market ...hopefully taking a taxi instead of Rikashaw...you know that story...catch up with everyone tomorrow night.

Love, Rozanne