Thank You Mary

There is a Chinese Proverb that reads:
"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." - Chinese Proverb
I believe this. I really do. Mary came into my life unexpectedly. I just did a search for Jane's orphanage and came across this wonderful lady. Mary, is the mother of 4 biological children who adopted Lexi last year from the same orphanage that Jane was in. I emailed her and had the opportunity to meet her and her wonderful family in September when Dave and I went to Arizona for a conference. We are connected. You just know when you have a connection to someone. It makes me realize yet again that we are all the same inside. It doesn't matter where we live, what color our skin is, what shape our eyes are, whether  we speak the same language or not. We all feel, we all care, we all love. We say our girls are cousins. They are from the same place. They will be forever connected. Mary and Lexi are very important to me. Mary is the one who posted my pictures and blog posts everyday while I was in China. I am very grateful. Thank you so much Mary. Visit soon!

                                                  Mary and Lexi

                                                          Lexi

Bonnie

Welcome to your new home Jane!

                                                             Welcome Jane.

A tea party awaits!

                                                             Home at last!

                                                  Meeting Nina

Meeting my dear friend and welcome decorator Vera.

Do you all know how long I have been waiting to have a tea party!!

                                             Meeting Poppy Brentnall

Meeting Nanny Brentnall

                                            My dear friend and welcome decorator Val.

                                                                  Auntie Vera

                                                            Mommy's girl

                                            Checking out her nursery

                    

My dearest friends Vera and Val.

Friday evening Jane arrived home. What a feeling! Finally, our little girl was home. A family, a new life.  We had quite the welcome when we arrived. Nanny and Poppy Brentnall were here. They had a big banner on our garage door that read WELCOME  HOME WELCOME HOME. My dear friends, Vera Avery and Val Maidment had decorated the entire front enterance. Big pink balloons hung on the front door, beautiful wooden blocks that said WELCOME JANE, hung over the door, a bottle of champage and a panda ornament sat in my urn, little rocks with the words KISSES HAPPY and SMILE surrounded it. Colorful banner was strung from the overhang and the best part of all was, there was a tea party waiting for us.
We were all very very tired and so happy to be home.

Welcome Home Jane

We arrived  in at St. John`s airport at about 1 am on Friday morning. Jane was a wonderful traveller, as were all the boys. No problems at all. I was very thankful when we touched down in St. John`s.
Jane had quite the welcoming committee, my mom, two sisters, two brother in laws, and my brother. My brother Kenneth had a big beautiful panda bear for her. My dear friend Cathy Aitken was there with her husband Dana. Dana was actually on our flight with us. My cousin, Des, and his wife Diane were also on the flight. It was so nice to see everyone and so good to be back.

Meeting Nanny Brophy

Now we have to get those 12 checked bags!

After we got all our things it was off to Aunt Cathy`s for the night. Thanks to all my family for being there. That means so much.

Bonnie

Tiananmen Square/ Forbidden City/ Good bye China Party.

Well, It is almost time to go back home. Back to real life as Jack said today. Life will be different as we knew it. We have a busy toddler now. I have to childproof the house again, bottles of milk in the middle of the night, poopie diapers and car seats. We also have the daughter we longed for, the sister we have waited for, the wish has been granted , the dream has been fulfilled. This has been a very long and difficult process, but I can honestly say that I only now feel my family unit is complete.
Jane has been very easy to bond with, very easy to love. She has a very sweet personality with a little attitude attached. She is amazing! I am so thankful for her. I know how blessed I am. I have 5 marvelous kids. I am so proud of the boys. They have opened their arms and their hearts to this little girl. They truely adore her.
Today we went to Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. It was a lot of walking for the boys. For us, it was just amazing being there. This really has been the trip of a lifetime. Here are some pictures of our day.

Forbidden City

Incense burner in Forbidden City. Used during special occasions.

Throne in Forbidden City

Tiananmen Square

Imperial Garden description below.

See Below

Now, a little more shopping and then our goodbye party. The party was great. Yulin from Family Outreach had a magic show, we had great Chinese food, Yulin gave all the children scrolls with their names in Chinese, even the boys. It was a great evening.

 Mommy is tired!




                                            
 

Some of the other families.

There you go. Now off to pack.
Bonnie

Silk, Pearls, and Acrobats!

Ok...I am ready! Where are we going?

This morning started at the silk factory. Here, I acquired a new appreciation for silk. It is unbelievable what goes into the makings of a real silk product.

Dave and Jane heading in.

Silk starts like this.

Grows into this.

Spins itself into this silk cocoon. The bug is killed on the inside with high temperatures and the cocoon is our silk scarfs!

Here, the thread is being removed from the cocoon. Notice the cocoons in the rt hand corner.

Jacob and John got to demonstrate how strong the fibre was.

We were very impressed with the whole thing. So impressed that we walked away with a duvet, pillows, quillow , dresses, shoes and trinkets. The silk factory was a hit!

After the silk factory we all went to the Pearl Market. Besides being a pearl market, there were floors and floors of everything from trinkets to shoes to purses, you name it! Those of us interested in getting pearls were brought to the 4th floor. Here you could choose your own pearls and clasp and they would string them while you wait. One of the lady’s in our group had been there before , bought pearls and had them appraised at home at 3 x the value. They were beautiful. I couldn’t hold back. I am not a jewellery girl but I just couldn’t resist. I got 2 beautiful sets for Jane, one pink and one white.

Lunch at the Pearl Market.

After that it was back to the hotel for Dave and all his kiddies. A new friend, Janee, and I decided to stay at the market for another hour to do a little more shopping, then we headed back in a taxi. We all went to an amazing acrobat show that night. No pictures allowed. Another lovely day!

Jane is crawling all over the place, walking with her brothers help, saying ma ma, da da, be be and babbling like crazy. When Chinese ladies try to hold her now, she shakes her head no no and reaches for me. She is waving bye bye today too. Livening up more and more everyday.

Bonnie