Emma Grace

My DiDi is coming home soon!!!!

2010-04-06T21:52:00.000-06:00

Well, Emma's little brother (aka DiDi), will be coming home soon. We got our Travel Approval from China and will be leaving on May 4th. We are going a day earlier before we meet our travel group in Beijing, to visit New Hope Foundation, where Joshua has been last 2 years. He will have been sent back to his home orphange (unfortunately) before we go to China, so we won't see him at New Hope when we visit.

Emma is excited for Joshua to come home, so far, but doesn't really understand what is about to happen. So we keep talking to her about Joshua and how we will go to get him, while she helps Grandma take care of our dog sadie while we are gone.

Four weeks from today we will be on our way to China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR.....YEAR OF THE TIGER!!!!

2010-02-22T21:33:00.003-07:00

Here is our little Tiger at the IFCA (Idaho Families with Children form Asia) Chinese New Year Party.

We have started getting involved with these great activities. Emma is not real sure of all the other kids yet, but we hope as she grows older she will appreciate it more and more. This particular event had 2-3 times as many people as the Fall Moon Festival had. This was our first CNY activity with the group, they had Panda Express cater the meal. YUMMY!!!!

Part of the entertainment was a martial arts demonstration, must of the participants were actually children and wife of one of the instructors. All of the kids (2 girls and a boy) were junior Black Belts, and wife also a black belt in their style of martial arts.

Mommy was impressed with the show, and Emma was practicing her 'Martial Arts' face.

The same group also performed a dragon dance for us. VERY Impressive!!!

The dance had drums through out the dance. Reminded me of the opening ceremonies at last years Olympics in Beijing.

Had more pictures but these were the best when they were mostly standing still, had the wrong camera for tonight. Will know better next year.

They also had a dragon parade where all the kids who wanted too, (not Emma though) got under the dragon and paraded around the halls of the school walking over bubble wrap simulateing firecrackers.

Our little tiger was ready to go home after a fun Chinese New Year Party.

Here are some more of Emma since Thanksgiving....kind of Long....

2010-02-21T22:30:00.004-07:00

THANKSGIVING

Emma Hosted her first Thanksgiving at her house this year, she invited all of the Lunds and Steiners this year.

Emma was telling Great Grandma Olsen about what all she had been busy cooking.

Pop-Pop wanted to know when turkey dinner was going to be.

Emma, Pop-Pop, and Auntie Heather, Grandma L and Kabrie waiting for the feasting to begin.

Looks like Pop-Pop finally got his fill of Turkey, or he is just showing us what it is like to be retired.

Just a cute picture of Emma (of course she is always cute).

CHRISTMAS TIME!!!

Helping Decorate the tree this year.

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emma's Premiere in the Church Christmas Program

Lining up the crew to sing.

It is always funny when somebody elses kid gets caught doing something funny (sorry Slaters).

BUT...........

It is just as funny when............

Your own child decides to show the whole church her 'Pull Ups'

and then realizes...........Uh Oh, did I....just do what I think I did?

-CHRISTMAS EVE-

Emma opened lots of presents between all of the families, here are just a few of the pictures.

Reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' with Daddy, Thanks Grandma L for the nice book.

Mommy says if we put out cookies and milk some guy called Santa will come and eat them and leave me some presents too............

HHMMMM.................

Mommy was right, he did come last night!!!!!!!!!!!

and he ate all the cookies and drank all the milk.........

Sadie, "ya and I didn't eat those cookies, Emma"........

More Christmas at Pop-Pop & Grandma S's New House

Pop-Pop's train is the best!!!!

Family together again for Christmas at the new House.

Santa's newest Helper.

Giving Hugs to Great Grandma Olsen..........

and Great Grandpa O.

We missed having Jenn's Brother and Wife at The Grandparent Steiner's, but we met up with them at our house before Grandma and Grandpa L had to go home.

The big girl cousins

Grandma L, Emma, Kaebrie, and Kyson.

Kabrie and Kyson also got a 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' book from Grandma and Grandpa L.

New Cabbage Patch Dolls for the Girls.

FIESTA BOWL BABBBEEEEEE........

GO BSUUUUUUUUUUUUU..................

HANG IN THERE... WE ARE ALMOST DONE,

WINTER CARNIVAL, AND

CHINESE NEW YEAR NEXT........

In front of the PANCAKES House.

First one down the slide.....the sculputers said please break it in......we don't want it too fast.

A little faster.....but it slows down near the bottom.

Nicest Bear I've ever stood by.

Nicest Bear I've ever sat on.

Emma didn't know the theme for Winter Carnival this year was from the movie Up. She thought the falls on the right was Paradise Falls from the movie.

Emma also thought that the dog was'Dug' from 'Up', too. But was worried the Dinosaur had Dug by the tail.

Waiting for the parade to start.........

After the parade ended.

Emma stood near the start of the parade, and probably had two more times the amount of beads around her neck, that wouldn't fit.

Grandma L and Emma.

STAY TUNED FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR POST.

Emma Updates...................

2009-11-06T17:23:00.005-07:00

OK so we have been busy with lots of different things (more Adoption paperwork, etc) last several months and have been getting alot of heat from Emma's peeps about not updating her site so...............

.............here are some Summer to Present Highlights.

We spent 4th of July at Grandma and Grandpa's in McCall.

We also went camping once with our friends the Wursts, Stillmans, and Kimballs.

Emma had lots of fun playing in the dirt

Stillmans also brought baby Timothy with them on his very first camping trip.

Emma Helped Grandpa and Daddy build a new deck and Grandpa L's House

Emma also found out that Grandpa L got a new lawn mower this summer and tried and tried to get Grandpa to let her mow the lawn for him.

Emma helped Mommy bake some Almond cookies for the Harvest Moon Festival party with the Idaho FCA (families with children from asia).

Emma is holding her paper lantern she helped make at the Harvest Moon Festival party at Eagle Island state park.

Emma made some new friends at the Moon Festival all from China.

Emma and Mommy joined in the Lantern Parade with all the boys and girls at the Moon Festival.

There was a line after the parade for some CANDY!!!!!!

Mommy got me some new winter duds for when it gets cold out. My mittens have Abby Cadabby on them.

Grandma bought me and my cousin Kabrie new "ESB" (BSU) Jackets.

WOW............that's the biggest pumpkin, I have ever seen!!!!!!!!

at the "Pancakes" House in McCall.

One of My favorite places in McCall at the beach front park that has a water fountain.

I get to see lots of wildlife up at Grandma's in McCall. I call this one "Foxy"

I wanted to dress up as RaggedyAnn for Halloween, Daddy thought I should be a Rapper

But, Mommy found me a .....................

A Snow White Dress, and Grandma loaned me her Crown.

Here is my new cousin KYSON.

Here we are, all the Cuz's

OHHH.....THIS IS SO EXCITING, WE ARE AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH!!!!!! aka: The Berry Ranch

Pigs

And Sheep

and Cows

and Chickens

and Tractors

But, I REALLY DON'T Like that guy Sitting next to Daddy!!!!

Me and Mommy are so beautiful!!!

I'm getting ready for the Church Harvest Party...........

Here are my cousins, Taylor Swift, Pirate Lauren, and me Snow White.

This is my buddy Buzz Lightyear aka: Noah Davis

Emma And Noah went Trick or Treating

Well these are the latest updates..........we should be good for a while now, right? We will try to be better and update around thanksgiving.

1 Year Anniversary for Emma's "Gotcha Day"

2009-07-13T19:25:00.005-06:00

WOW, it has been 1Whole year, 52 Weeks, 365 Days, since we received Emma in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. We spent our one year anniversary in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Salt Lake City Marriott City Center Hotel, Eating "Chinese" Food at PF Changs, and Seeing Emma's Chinese Hand Dr, Doctor Wang at the Shriners Hospital. How Chinese could we get than that?????

EMMA July 13, 2008

EMMA July 13, 2009

We were just trying to remember all of Emma's stats when we got her (we have them written down somewhere). She was 19 lbs and around 30" tall. She is 30+ lbs now and 36" tall. She counts to 20, says her ABC's and talks all the time. We are so proud of our little girl. She loves her Mommy (now) and Daddy (probably mommy more than daddy now), and WE love her so much more now, than even before we went to pick her up in China. GOD HAS BLESSED US IMMEASURABLY WITH HAVING EMMA AS OUR DAUGHTER!!!!!!

Oh and her doctor at Shriners said we don't have to come back for another year. WOOHOO!!!! We have had more than enough road trips to Utah last six months.

Memorial Day Weekend in McCall/Payette Lake

2009-05-25T21:59:00.001-06:00

Overlooking Payette Lake in McCall on Memorial Day Weekend 2009. We spent 4 Days with Grandma and Grandpa Lund. They enjoyed having Emma and her mom and dad up for the weekend.

There is still snow on Brundage Mtn in the background, and Grandpa Lund heard of some people a couple of days ago hiking to the top to ski down on 4+ feet of snow still.

It was a bright and shiny Friday morning and nice and warm too.

The city of McCall just finished remodeling a water front park. It looks very nice and is waiting for the crowds to come enjoy it.

More McCall Pictures

2009-05-25T21:55:00.000-06:00

Emma and Grandpa

Emma and Grandma

Mommy found this new tricycle at a yard sale for $5 bucks. THANKS MOM!!!!!

I like it, its FUN!!!!!!

More Fun in McCall

2009-05-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

Faster Grandpa, FASTER!!!!!

Me and My Dad havin Fun.

UH OHHH, Dad and I had too much Fun?!?!?!?!?!!

EMMA'S 2ND BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-25T21:40:00.001-06:00

Yes we have not been very good on keeping up on the blogging for Emma, and it HAS been almost a month since her birthday, sooooooo .................Here are several posts with pictures of Emma and her various celebrations.

Emma was a little excited about her birthday cake and #2 birthday candle

"What do we do with this now???????????????"

OOHHHHH...................I think I am going to like this birthday thing.

YES I DO, YES I DO!!!!!!!!

Emma Opening Gifts from Mom & Dad

2009-05-25T21:31:00.001-06:00

Emma was exicted to see Birthday Gifts from Mom and Dad

The agony of waiting is excrutiating, "Hurry up Mommy, it can't take that long to wash your hands."

Emma was not wanting to share her gifts with Daddy.

C'mon Mommmmmmm. Hurry Up!!!!

Emma's 1st Birthday Party

2009-05-25T21:06:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures taken earlier in the month at Emma's first birthday party with us at home. We had friends and family out to dinner for pizza and salad to celebrate Emma's 2nd Birthday.

Her friend Noah, (below) gave Emma the Mr. Potato Head, one of her favorites!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Steiner, and Auntie Pam, Uncle Wayne, Cousin Rachel and Cousin Lauren gave Emma her first ever Kitchen. It took Daddy several hours to put it together, but Emma cooks something up for us almost every day.

Emma liked the bags and wrapping paper just as much as the gifts that came in them.

Enjoying unwrapping her gifts!!!!

Family and Friends at Emma's Party

2009-05-25T21:01:00.000-06:00

Great Grandma Olsen and Emma Chatting. There are 89 years between Emma and Great Grandma.

Emma's Cousins

Emma's "Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eric" mom & dad to Noah

Grandpa and Grandma Steiner

Emma's Trip to Salt Lake City for Surgery

2009-03-16T18:47:00.001-06:00

Well some people knew about Emma's surgery in Salt Lake City and some of you may have not. We apologize for those of you, who we weren't able to tell. But we were accepted at the Shriner's hospital in Salt Lake City for surgery on her hand to hopefully make it more functional. So we loaded up the car on Sunday and took another trip to Salt Lake for the surgery Monday morning.

Here is Emma with her steering wheel driving (us crazy) to Salt Lake City Utah.

Emma is wondering why it is taking so long to get to SLC Utah.

Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet, Are we there yet..................................

Shriner's Hospital parking lot overlooking Salt Lake City at 0545 am Monday Morning.

Emma was lucky to be the first little girl to have her surgery Monday morning. Emma's In/Out patient room at 0600.

' WHAT ARE MY PARENTS GETTING ME INTO? '

Emma's Surgery - cont'd

2009-03-16T17:13:00.004-06:00

While Emma was in surgery for about an hour and a half. Emma's mom and I went and ate down in the cafeteria. It wasn't bad for what we had to pay for it, except the salsa Jenn put on her hash browns lit our mouths on fire. HOTTTTTT!!!!!!!

We walked around the hospital and wanted to take some pictures. The hospital is small and pretty fancy.
This is the front entrance to the hospital .

These statues of children were out front, it really reminded us of all the statues on Shamain Island in Gaungzhou, China.

This statue was to the left of the main entrance, with the cafeteria off in the distance.

After an hour an twenty five minutes we got a page on one of those restaurant style pagers, and that was our signal that her surgery was done, we were supposed to meet the doctor in her room, which we were already in. So the doctor came and talked to us saying everything went just fine and that they would bring her back to the room in a while.

Emma back in the room after surgery with a new blue blanket, stuffed birdie, pink wrapped hand and red light on her right finger, and wanting to see her mommy and daddy. She wanted to be held and cuddled but had to stay in her crib for a little longer.

Emma and Mommy after her surgery.

More Pictures after Surgery

2009-03-16T16:22:00.001-06:00

After several cups of juice and some apple jacks cereal, the nurse found a wagon and sent us to the cafeteria to get some lunch for Emma. She ate some chicken and mac and cheese, and drank some apple juice . After lunch we went for a tour around the play area.

We also toured around the floor rooms and met a little Mexican girl and her mom. We stopped as the little girl waved to Emma. She started jabbering away to Emma in Spanish. Emma just sat there and stared. The mom started interpreting for us, so we just smiled and waved to her. She was a little cutie.

Emma waiting for her nurse to come and discharge her.

These monsters were waiting for all of the patients entering the operating room. (interesting place for the monsters to be placed, luckily Emma was feeling the Valium the nurse gave her by this point. ) ( the picture was after the surgery.)

All went well for Emma and her mom and dad. We were at the hospital before 0600 am and left by 100 PM. Emma is back to normal, and can't wait for her last appointment in 4 weeks, for a follow up.

We were very impressed with the hospital and all they did for Emma. We haven't seen her hand yet and won' t until we come back or have to replace her bandages, but we were very pleased at all the care from all the doctors and nurses.

We will head back to Nampa tomorrow after a GOOD night of sleep.

WHEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUNNY THINGS EMMA IS NOW SAYING.

2009-02-24T21:16:00.004-07:00

WATCH OUT !!!! - we respond no you watch out.
then she says - NO, NO, NO, NO YOU WATCH OUT !!!!
GAYLA STILLMAN
DONALD'S - aka McDONALD'S, any time we drive by the golden arches
DINOSAUR
TAILS - aka pig tails
FLY - tails bouncing up & down
BLEFF YOU
PEEZ - please
SADIE !!!!
SADIE HEEL!!!! - and pulls on her collar, of course Sadie just stands there.
SADIE SIT!!!!
ELMO FEET - wants her slippers on
HI HELLO
GOOD MORNING I AM FINE - after we say good morning, she doesn't wait for us to ask how she is doing anymore.
UP, UP, UP, UP
DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
SOCCER, SOCCER
1, 2, (skips 3), 4 - thanks uncle wayne
A B D, A B D, A B D - she wants us to sing ABC song
MOMMY!!!!
DADDY!!!!
MOOMIEEEE, DAADDDIEE, WHERE ARE YOU.
I UV L YOU - I love you
BINKO - wants us to sing Bingo song
HAPPY TO YOU, HAPPY TO YOU - singing Happy Birthday to you
HOT COFFEE
HOT COCOA
SHOES SHOES SHOES - anytime she thinks somebody is leaving the house.
AUNT PAM AUNT PAM AUNT PAM - when Jenn leaves for work and Emma & Eric are staying home. She went to Aunt Pam's several times last couple of weeks while Eric had some Sprinkler conferences to attend.

2009-02-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

I'M READY FOR MY VALENTINES DAY DATE WITH YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOULD YOU BE MY VALENTINE??????

Emma Updates

2009-01-14T20:09:00.004-07:00

It has been sometime since we have posted about Emma on the blog. With the holidays over and traveling done for a few weeks, thought we better update the blog site.

The Holidays were great with Emma and family gatherings. We had two different Christmas celebrations with Jenn's family and later with Eric's family. Both were fun and enjoyable, especially with having Emma home.

We recently, on Sunday/Monday, had a quick trip to Salt Lake City and to the Shriner's Hospital. Emma had an appointment with a hand specialist at the hospital to evaluate and xray her hand. She had been accepted to see a doctor there several months ago in Garden City at an eval clinic hosted by the local Shriners. We were not sure what the doctor would say about her hand, we were just hopeful that something could be done to make her hand more functional for her. The surgeon (who was also Chinese) said she could deepen the webbing in between what are Emma's fingers on here right hand. So on March 16th we will drive to SLC again and Emma will have an outpatient surgery on her hand. We will probably stay in SLC another night so Emma can recover better and get some rest before spending another six hours traveling.

We have always known about the Shriners, but never fully understood what they do, until know. They provide many different care/services for children from 0-18 years of age, all free of charge. So we figured that even if they could not do anything for Emma's hand now, they might later on and she would at least be in their system.

So for now that is the newest for the Steiner family. We will probably put somemore updates in the next few weeks. We have an upcoming court appointment in Canyon County (don't know when yet) to officially (in the eyes of Idaho) adopt Emma. Even though she is officially ours, it is a formallity that we have to go through in order to get a state issued birth certificate and social security number for Emma (even though she is an official US citizen) More Hoops to jump through. We are also planning on going to go to McCall the end of the month for Winter Carnival (Emma's first).

Emma's First Christmas Decorations & Presents

2008-12-18T15:53:00.003-07:00

Emma has told us repeatedly that she likes Christmas Lights.

Whenever we were out with Emma after dark since Thanksgiving, she seems to find every house that is decked out with Christmas Lights she repeats over and over again, "Li Li Li Li Li Li Li. " So we felt obligated to put out our lights, which we haven't done for a few years.

She also loves the lights on the Christmas tree. She gets really excited when we go over and turn them on. She likes to touch them as you can see. So far she has left the rest of the decorations on tree alone.

Our friends the Murphy's and their adopted Chinese daughters Lilly, Lydia, and Laci sent Emma her first Christmas present. Luckily for Emma, Nita wrote on the front to open it right away. Emma says "Thank You" Nita!!

NEW LOOK TO WEB BLOG

2008-12-07T21:27:00.003-07:00

Well the new camera that we bought had a defective part in the lens and we had to send it in for some warranty work. We noticed the problem of course on Halloween and then was still being fixed during the Turkey Holiday. We finally got it back and are able to post more pictures again. Luckily we got it back before Christmas. Oh, and I guess we have a new look to the web blog too.

Free Day at the Zoo for Emma and her Cousins!!

2008-12-07T21:05:00.002-07:00

The Penguins were a big hit with all the cousins.

Emma was disappointed that she could not slide down the long neck of the giraffe like Rachel and Lauren.

One of Emma's favorites were the tigers, even though they were being lazy.

Free Day at the Zoo for Emma and her Cousins!! part2

2008-12-07T20:46:00.002-07:00

Just a bunch of monkeys, lookinng at the monkeys

Rachel and Lauren standing in front of the new Africa Exhibit

Emma likes the new entrance to the Africa Exhibit

Just being Emma

2008-10-19T20:58:00.001-06:00

Emma got a new winter coat. She usually doesn't
like wearing a hat, but she can't reach it to take it off. HeHeHe.

Sometimes we can get a picture of her with a hat on,
only when she thinks she is being funny.

Sneaking a drink from Grandpa L's coffee cup.

Emma and her Mama saying prayers for the day.

Fall In Idaho

2008-10-19T20:38:00.000-06:00

Our Maple Trees have grown alot in the past
5 years and have turned a bright red this year.

Emma and Jennifer enjoying the Sunday afternoon
with temperatures in the mid to upper 60's.

Emma took Mama to the rasberry ranch on Saturday and
got this small pumpkin to take home.

After a Nap......................

2008-09-30T22:09:00.001-06:00

Emma just woke up from a nap and wasn't quite awake yet

I'm waking up now and Mama put my hair pretty in.

OK I'm awake now

Ummm........ I would like this photo session to end. I would like outta the cage, I mean crib. And a nice snack would be nice..................please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-30T21:59:00.000-06:00

Emma and Kaebrie Hanging out!

2008-09-30T21:53:00.000-06:00

Cousin Kaebrie came over to spend a few hours with Emma last Saturday

Kaebrie found Emma's cookie jar and piggy bank

Girl talk in the bedroom

2008-09-22T20:10:00.000-06:00

Here's my Piggy Bank Mama

This is my Remote

All right I want that remote back!!

New Pictures of Emma

2008-09-22T19:50:00.001-06:00

How Bout some Smiles Emma?

Cheesy Smiles for the Camera

Emma

2008-09-06T21:43:00.002-06:00

Sorry, no new pictures right now. Emma is too fast when the camera comes out, and we haven't updated our camera yet.
But Emma has learned a few new words this week, and we taught her some cute things that we borrowed from her good friend Noah Davis. Noah's dad taught him to "have a good attitude" which means he gives a big smile whether or not he is happy or mad. Guess it helps him get out of his bad noods faster. Well Emma caught on to the same "good attitude." Noah also likes to fold his hands when praying. We have always held hand at meal times to pray with her, but she would never close her eyes, and soon as we say amen she would drop her hands and want to eat. Well at dinner tonight we were playing around with her after eating and got her to fold her hands to pray. Emma will also close her eyes when she folds her hands to pray. But in a second or two into praying she barely opens her eyes and starts lookinf around, but doesn't fully open them. It is pretty cute. She has also learned "hot." After several weeks of warning her the oven and stove is hot. Eric was taking something out of the oven and thed blast of hot came with it. Emma was watching nearby and started saying"hottt."
So that is whats new with Emma.

More Emma in McCall

2008-09-01T21:12:00.000-06:00

Emma found some flowers at Grandma L's house

Emma likes to ride on Baba's shoulders and Sadie loves to ride in the truck.

Emma is learning that remote controls are the key to the television

1st Trip to McCall for Emma

2008-09-01T20:53:00.001-06:00

Mama and Emma going to the Pancake House

Waiting for Breakfast at the Pancake House

Emma with G & G Lund and Jenn

Mama, Baba, and Emma near the Payette River

And More Emma

2008-08-23T21:56:00.001-06:00

Emma with #1 Mama

Pretty in Pink
(or any other color for that matter.)

I just can't wait to see whats for dinner.

More of Emma

2008-08-23T21:36:00.003-06:00

Oh, I don't think you just took my picture.

Emma decided to smile for this picture.

Emma just being cute.

I'm really not eating the flowers, just some puffs.

2008-08-23T21:21:00.001-06:00

I would like something to drink please.

Emma is showing off some of her new Sign Language.

Seriously now, I'm not showing off. You taught
me the Sign Language, I'm just being cute and
using what you taught me.

This is one of my many good features.

Posing with my #1 Baba (thats Chinese for Daddy)

I look so good in my hair pretty, don't you think?

2008-08-23T21:10:00.000-06:00

2008-08-21T20:55:00.003-06:00

OK we've been home for almost 4 weeks now and everyone is doing great. Emma has adjusted to our new home very well. It has taken Emma a while to get used to our 100 lb. yellow lab, but she now will go out her way to give her a few pats on the head or just pet her.

Her favorite thing besides her mama and baba are flowers. It doesn't seem to matter whether she sees pictures of flowers, fake flowers, or real ones, she starts saying "flo-flo, flo-flo, flo-flo." We noticed while we were in Lanzhou that every time we walked by a certain building that had many flowers in front she would stop there if she was walking and examine them very intently. Luckily we have marigolds, roses, and other flowers planted in our front and back yards.

Emma is saying quite a few other words now like: thank you, hello, bye bye, mama, baba, woof woof (for dog or any other animal). She is working on "your welcome," but hasn't quite got it down yet. Emma has also learned some sign language for: please, more, all done/all gone, eat, and drink. Unfortunately for mama and baba, she likes to use "eat" all the time. She will grab our fingers, walk us to the kitchen, wants to be picked up, and then points to her mouth.

Emma always wakes happy in the morning and greets us with a smile. We both can ask for kisses from Emma and she will gladly give them to us. She is still sleeping from around 8 at night to 7 or 8 in the morning. She has been cutting some more teeth lately and had one night that she woke up and kept us up for several hours until we could lay her back down again.

We are planning to take Emma to church this upcoming Sunday. So we are hoping all goes well for her appearance. Everyone at church has asked at least two - three times now, "when are you bringing Emma." We feel she is doing well enough with us now, that we can start breaking her in around bigger groups. So this will be our first big adventure with Emma since we have been home, besides going to the doctor.

Well I better post some new pictures of Emma. She really doesn't like getting her picture taken. So we have quite a few pictures that we think are going to be the cutest, but she either turns to fast or changes position before we can snap the shot. But here a few of the better ones we have been able to get.

Blogger is not cooperating right now. We will try to post some pictures later.

WE ARE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-26T21:28:00.003-06:00

After being up 31 hours straight, we are home, not unpacked, our bags didn't not make it on our plane to Boise from Seattle. Oh well, they are being delivered later tonight. Emma's in her new bed and we are heading there shortly. Will post more when we are somewhat back to normal.

Thanks to everyone and their prayers.

Eric, Jenn, and Emma

Good-Bye China, Hello Idaho

2008-07-25T08:10:00.003-06:00

We leave Beijing early in the morning 8:20 AM about 6:20 PM your time, and arrive home 5:20 PM your time.
This will be the last post until we arrive back home.

Emma finally had a major meltdown tonight at dinner. We think she was just really tired, we hope. We went back to motel but she would not go to bed until 8:00 tonight.
Hope all goes good tomorrow on the planes and transfers.

See you all soon.
Eric, Jenn, Emma, Evelyn

In and Around Shamain Island.

2008-07-24T23:04:00.005-06:00

Where we have been staying the last week is an "island." It is a man made island because water surrounds it. It is very colonial in style, and has many statues with children displayed playing, running, etc.... Many of the locals go and play games, sing, exercise, and do Tai Chi. We saw the gentlemen below, but just standing there, completely still like statues. I guess they were praying or meditating.
Here are some of the statues on the island.

Eric, showing them really how to use the abacus.

Evelyn, negotiating her next shopping purchase.

Jenn wants to know how to get to the mall.

Many courtyards where people gather.

Very tropical, and hot and humid. Have we said how hot and humid it is here?
Something was lost in the translation, I think.

River Boat Dinner Cruise

2008-07-24T21:51:00.006-06:00

Front row view from second floor of the river boat.

Majority of the people on the second floor were from our CCAI Agency. The rest were Chinese people enjoying the cruise too. Although we did not enjoy their cultural habits of cutting in line at the dinner buffet. Seemed like we were going no where in line, because we would wait for the person ahead of you to get what they wanted, and then somebody else would sneak in there to have some too.

Looking in from the outside.

Views of the river and land from the boat.

This boat was very similar to the one we were riding on.

Night time on the pearl river is pretty spectacular.

This area is where we spent a lot of time walking at night when it is cooler.

The White swan Hotel is in the background.

One building kept flashing Olympic mascots on it. Now if we were here for the Olympics we would know the names of the mascots (our guides would be disappointed in us,) but we could call them Emma for now.

Replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, maybe?!?!

Part of the precious Cargo on board.

Evelyn has been one of the most important parts of the cargo on board, that has helped us all throughout our trip, and has taken many of the photos.

Our Last Day in Guangzhou

2008-07-24T20:58:00.000-06:00

It is Friday AM here, yes this is our last full day in Guangzhou, we just have one last appointment at the US consulate to take the oath that we will not abandon her. Later on this afternoon we will start packing (we bought an extra suitcase for Emma to use), one last shopping trip, and then be ready to leave our suitcases outsides our room at 5:00 AM Saturday morning. Our flight leaves Guangzhou around 8:20 AM. We fly to Beijing then Seattle, and onto Boise. Sorry for the short post. Not much else going on here in China for us. I will add some pictures to our blog when we get back home. For some reason we have been cut off from posting to blogger from China. We can see the site but cannot access the sign on page to post anymore. Thanks to my sister Pam for posting the last couple of posts for us. We can't wait to be home and see everybody as we can. We will be slowly phasing Emma in to our routine and Family and friends, so she doesn't get overwhelmed. And of course the jet lag will be hard on all of us as the return trip is the worst, so we have been told. Thanks again to everyone and your e-mails and posts to the site. We love you all and will see you in a few days.
Eric, Jenn, Emma, and Evelyn

Blog Troubles

2008-07-23T09:16:00.003-06:00

Hello from Auntie Pam!

Eric and Jenn are having trouble accessing their blog right now.
They have lots of good pictures from around the island and a dinner cruise on the Pearl River that they are anxious to show everyone.

Eric will keep trying to post. So just keep on checking back :) !

Visa and Exam Day

2008-07-21T07:17:00.004-06:00

Our Day started out today with breakfast as usual and Emma actually sat on Mama's lap while she fed her. We are making progress everyday with getting closer and closer to Jenn. She still has flickers of oh, Mama's too close, but fewer and fewer.

We had visa pictures first thing this morning and physical exams all for the immigration process. Luckily we were the first group of families at the clinic , because when we left an hour later, there were three -four times as many families waiting to be seen by the exam doctors.

Emma was poked and prodded,measured and weighed, and eyes, ears, and nose checked.

Here she was being weighed, and the grand total was..............................22 lbs. She weighs three more lbs than the last report we had gotten before we came to get her. We weren't told much more info other than that and guessed everything was normal or they would have told us.

While Jenn went to our guides room at the White Swan Hotel, Emma and Eric went swimming on the 10th floor of our hotel. Emma did fine much to my surprise. I didn't think she would like getting in the water, because of our bathing experiences.

We went to a local cafe for some Chinese style American food. My in-laws John and Evelyn know a former pastor at their home church that has spent some time teaching English to University students in Guangzhou. He recommended "Lucy's Cafe," and had brought an Idaho License plate back to them to display. There were many other plates from other states and locations all over the restaurant.

All over Shamain Island (where we are staying, along the pearl river) are statues of different figures, we saw this one as Jenn likes pug dogs, and had to pose with Emma on him. Also in the background is a stroller that Emma now decide she was ok with. Baba is sure happy with her decision to ride in the stroller now. Actually his back is happiest of all.

Not as much happening tomorrow. We are taking a trip to a Pearl Market, for a lesson in pearls, and probably another opportunity to buy some for Emma, for when she is older.

Thanks again for all of the emails and posts. We can't wait to get back home.

Eric, Jenn Emma, and Evelyn.

Tour and Red couch day.

2008-07-20T07:41:00.006-06:00

This will be more of photo journal today, of a tour we took and the rest of the special day in Guangzhou.

China has a lot of interesting culture and history to it. The above is a 17 story tall Buddhist Pagoda at a Buddhist Temple. I say it is interesting just because it is that, and because of our different Christian beliefs. We could have had Emma blessed by a monk but chose not to.

We took this picture just to save a snap shot of what some of the people in China worship. Many Chinese were here offering there prayers and burning incense to three of these 30ft tall 10 ton figures. They left offerings of oranges, apples, flowers, Coca Cola, Bottled water and 20 Bags of rice, etc..............(were many of the things we saw left for them.)

These next pictures are of our next stop called the Chen Family Temple. It was very ornate as seen in these pictures. This probably one of the only family temples left standing in Guangzhou. It was one of the biggest and ornate.

There were many detailed and artistic carvings made from wood, ivory, bone, and jade. There was also many embroidered pictures that we were not able to take pictures of because it was thought that the colors would fade from the flash photography. The carving above was out of ivory, though now outlawed to carve from ivory.

One of many different ornate fans.

Emma after a refreshing drink of water, Ahhhhh!

We are staying at the Victory Hotel in Guangzhou, but many families that adopt from China stay at a Hotel Called the White Swan. These pictures are at the White Swan, with an indoor water fall and pond.

Grandma Evelyn, Eric, and Emma in front of the water fall at the White Swan.

One of several ornate Jade carving at the White Swan.

Cousin Lauren, your not the only one that can do tricks with your eyes.

Red couch pictures in silk dresses and or outfits are a tradition for adopted children before they leave China. We were lucky to get this picture of Emma before she knew what was going on.

Here is one of our groups represented by CCAI children. Emma was tired and hungry at this point in the early evening (and probably a little mad for being left alone with all of her adopted friends.

Mom and Dad with Emma on the red couch.

This is the pearl river outside the White Swan Hotel it is the third biggest river in China. Almost all of the buildings along the river are lit up at night.

Well that was our day. Tomorrow is more paper work and applications for visas and a medical exam for all the children, and also a free afternoon. Maybe swimming on the 10th floor of our hotel, naps, or shopping.

Eric, Jenn, Emma and Evelyn.

Guangzhou and Pictures

2008-07-19T04:40:00.004-06:00

This was the Legend Hotel where we stayed in Lanzhou.

Here is the Victory Hotel in Guangzhou. Very nice accomodations.

Here is our plane waiting for us in Lanzhou. We had a transfer in Xian (not sure what province right now, I'll have to find out) They made us get off the plane get new boarding passes, wait for 30 minutes and re-board. They gave us back our old boarding passes before getting back on the plane?!?!?!?!???!??!!??!?!?!?

Emma's first plane ride. She did great!!! Not a peep at all going up or down on two legs of the flight.

A look out the window going over mountins through China. China is actually a very mountainous country for the most part.

Looking out onto the courtyard below our rooms on the 5th floor. We will take more pictures later of the hotel and post them. There is a pool on the 10th floor as well. It should come in handy as it is very, very, very humid and hot here.

Made to Guangzhou!!

2008-07-19T01:38:00.003-06:00

We arrived in Guangzhou (guang joe). Emma did great on the plane. She has been suprisingly perky for being up early and only two small naps. (must have been power naps) Our room is very nice and a/c that works. Emma is opening up more and more, she has flickers of silliness and has a funny side and a serious side. We are also finding out how badly our house is not going to be baby (toddler) proof. Both Jenn and I think that she is really advanced for her age or she is older than reported. She imitates more and more. She can wrinkle her nose, raise her eye brows up and down......... We ordered papa johns to the room, ,its here so better go and eat it.

Free Day #4

2008-07-18T07:08:00.003-06:00

Emma really likes noodles, and spicy ones too. She just finished helping Baba eat spaghetti for dinner.

Here we are sitting out in front of the bookstore after shopping. The Chines are very curious and watch us everywhere we go. One lady made sure Emma was keeping her thumb out of her mouth during our picture.

Emma with Wendy our guide. Emma was looking at her Baba off to the side because he let Wendy hold her.

Emma loved walking around the front hotel lobby. The last few days she would go out on her own and get going a little fast and slip on the marble floors, luckily she did not cry each time she went down.
Picture from our 18th floor elevator lobby.

We had our last full day in Lanzhou today, and were looking forward to going to Guangzhou tomorrow. As we have heard lots of people say, we are ready to come home already. Guangzhou will be a nice change, however the temperature is nothing to look forward to. Temperatures range in mid to upper 90's but the humidity is supposedly high and make s it feel like 100+.

Our guide told us to have our luggage outside our doors at 5:00 Am to be picked up and loaded into the van, and we have to have ourselves down to the lobby at 5:30. We have approximately a 1+ hour ride to the airport, and then a 3 1/2 hour plane ride.

We went to a bookstore today and bought some english/chinese picture books, a tour guide book of Gansu province and a music CD of Chinese children's music. We played it before nap time and Emma sure seemed to know some of the songs. One in particular, we were able to catch the chinese phrase "wo ai ni" which is chinese for "I love you" and she actually said it after it was sung in the song. We tell her wo ai ni all the time anyway. After her nap Jenn went over to Evelyn's room for a few minute and Emma said "MaMa" twice in a loud voice after Jenn left. Good sign.

We got Emma's Chinese passport today, which is what we have been hanging around in Lanzhou for. When we get to Guangzhou we will start the next round of paperwork for Emma to be able to enter the USA. We will be there another week while that paper work gets finalized and then be on our way home.

I will finish up and post next from Guangzhou. Thanks again for all the posts and e-mails, we appreciate hearing from everyone.

Eric, Jenn, Emma, and Evelyn

Free Day #3,another Lanzhou Park

2008-07-17T07:52:00.005-06:00

We found a group of Kindergarten aged children in the park we were at today, they were so cute.

Some stranded cars in the murky waters.

Another part of the park and pond

There is a petting zoo?!?!? inside the park, with bunnies, top cage were some squirrels, and two goats and a deer in the background.

Picture of water feeding the man made ponds.

Local vendors selling all kinds of different produce near the park.

Another view of the park and pond. On the farthest end there were men fishing. The pond had a net fence near a bridge, I'm guessing to keep the fish at the far end because nobody was fishing anywhere else.

Play area of swings, and different playground equipment for children.

On the bridge crossing the water, it is hard to see but there was a zip line behind us. We saw two people riding it. There was also a paintball area that we unknowingly walked into. Luckily thee was nobody playing at the time.

Not much to post about today, we went to dept store tonight after dinner to get some more snacks for next couple of days. We walk to a book store tomorrow. Hopefully we can find some music CD's and books for Emma. She loves music (and the little toy player that Grandma Steiner bought for her, she plays it all the time) and books. So good night for now. We will get ready to leave Lanzhou tomorrow for Gaungzhou on Saturday morning at 5:30 am.

Eric, Jenn, Emma & Evelyn

Hi from Jenn

2008-07-17T01:44:00.002-06:00

Greetings to everyone!! Thank you for all the great emails, prayers and thoughts! Eric has been doing all the great posts/pictures etc since he much better at the computer stuff then I am! I am just wanting to post a personal message to you all since I have deeply appreciated all the personal emails and encouragement! Emma is soooooo cute and each day we see more and more of her sweet, witty personality! She loves to imiatate me and Eric and she actually walked over to me from Eric and smiled. She still will not let me hold her or pick her up etc, Luckily, she has made a strong connection w/ Eric! Again, just wanted to say thanks, It has gotten much warmer here today and humid! As a group, we walked to another local park and really enjoyed seeing the local people i.e. the grandparents with the young children, people of all ages doing Tai chi or some other form of exercise, people fishing in very merky water, the amusement style rides and activities etc. Our definition of a lake differs greatly from the Chinese' definition. Everything here is a lake which here in China their lakes are man made ponds! Eric will post pictures and more details later this evening! Thanks again and God Bless, Jenn, Eric and Emma :)

Free Day #2 in Lanzhou (lawnjoe)

2008-07-16T08:21:00.003-06:00

We are getting more and more smiles and giggles from our Emma.

These were in a bucket near some fish tanks at the restaurant we ate at tonight. (hmmm?!?!?! What did our guide order for us tonight?)

Group picture at Lanzhou University with our new friend/tour guide.

Man made lake in University square, Eric was told that there was a tomb inside the pagoda in the picture. (8,000 students attend here.)

A couple of boys fishing with a net in the university lake.

Short post tonight..........

Emma doesn't like going to bed or napping, took longer to get he to bed tonight. We went to the Gansu provincial museum today and toured the building. We had bottled water that brought with us and Jenn had to swallow some of it before we could enter with it. They also didn't allow us in with our backpack, because of the metal rod in the back used for towing it with the roller on the bottom. Our guide Wendy talked them into letting us have it for the baby. The Lanzhou University is a block away from our hotel, so we walked there tonight after dinner with the Dorroh's and a kind Graduate Student came and talked to us and showed us around. We attracted crowds again as there are not many Americans in the City, especially with Chinese babies. Almost everyone asks if they are Chinese.

We will be walking to a bookstore tomorrow and maybe back to the department store, as Eric has not experienced it yet.

Eric, Jenn, Emma & Evelyn

Free Day #1 and trip to the Yellow river and Park

2008-07-15T07:39:00.005-06:00

At the park, all these ladies said that Emma was very beautiful and very lucky girl. They all wanted to hold her.

We were walking outside the hotel tonight to tire Emma out (She is starting to show some of her personality, probably from her older foster brother.)

She also knows how to blow raspberries.

The Yellow River is Behind us (2nd largest in China) .
Here we are with the Cynthia, Joy, and Craig Dorroh. We are travel group #1385
This is one of the modes of traveling down the Yellow river, can you guess what they are?
This is part of the entrance to the park we visited today. The horse is famous in Gansu, and the original was found many years ago. We will learn more about it tomorrow at a museum.
Newest Employee at E&J Sprinkler. I need to start them and train them young.

We went to see the Yellow River today, and saw lots of tourists there enjoying the sites and hype for the 2008 Olympics. Of course we were the only caucasion people, so we were quite the attraction ourselves. We had lots of pictures taken of us and the babies and took lots of our own. There were also people exercising, playing music, and singing songs. Emma really likes music and starts rocking back and forth when she hears something familiar.

We spent some time at a park walking around enjoying some of the smoggy, sunny day. Lanzhou has 3 million people (small according to our guide,) and lots of "industry" chemical plants, mining, factories, and some kind of memory chip/computer plant. We all have dry scratchy throats. Mainly retired people, tourists, all watching us and us watching them. There was also some group of younger 20 something doing team building exercise. There was two lines of them with their hands grasped across each other. The leader and another member was standing above them and he would push the other off into the hands of the others and they would surf the person to the end of the line.

Emma is slowly opening up and letting Jenn get closer and closer. We decided that she would be the only one to feed her while she sits with Eric. So far so good and she will let Jenn touch her without crying. She does much better and expresses her self more when we are out and about. So we have a new strategy for attaching. She does have a hard time waking up after a nap or bedtime, and seeing that we are still around, but will slowly open up.

Better get ready for bed, and will post more tomorrow.

The raft above was made from sheep skins.

Eric, Jenn, Emma, and Evelyn

Thanks for all the e-mails, and posts.

Lanzhou / Gotcha Day!!!!!!!!

2008-07-14T07:10:00.007-06:00

Do I look a little tired here.

Emma and her new Mama and Baba (Chinese for Dad)

Emma not exactly happy right now.

Emma and Mama back in our Hotel Room.

OK.........It looks like we are able to post from Lanzhou?!?!?!?!??! We made it here to Lanzhou and on the way to the hotel from the airport our new guide Wendy Wang, said you know your daughters will be here this afternoon right? I think you could have seen 5 jaws drop on the Craig & Cynthia, and Evelyn (Jenn's Mom) and our faces. Somebody said, I thought it was supposed to be tommorrow. Wendy said.........oh no, the orphanage director and nanies are on their down right now, it takes 4 hours to drive here. I know we were all stunned!!!!!!

Well, when we arrived in Lanzhou we had about an hour before the girls were supposed to show up. We scrambled to our rooms and started to get ready. Luckliy, Wendy called our room and said they were late. so we had some extra time to sit and worry. We ended up going down stairs in the lobby to look around and change some money. We were looking for a WiFi connection on the third floor area when either Jenn or Evelyn saw some people with to toddlers walk in. I didn't see them and we couldn't see them by the time they walked closer into the Lobby. We debated about whether or not that was them because they were ahead of schedule then what Wnedy said they would arrive. I said we should go back to the room and call Wendy to say we were back in our room and would wait for her call. She said give her five minutes and she would call back to come down to her room. ?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!??! Why? Wendy said they had just walked in!!!!!!!

Well long story short we went down to the room first where everybody was at and found Emma and Joy. Emma was walking around near the beds and Joy was standing holding onto the sides. She was not sure of us of coarse and really didn't want to come to us. The nannies, guide and O director coaxed her towards us and she finally went to Eric. One of the male Orphange workers told our rep that she likes males better than females. Poor Jenn Ithought, ok we will work it out. I picked up Can Xiao (Emma) and felt her bottom was all soft and felt like skin. I looked down and sure enough she was wearing her split pants. (They don't wear underwear or diapers in China to speed up the potty training process). The Dorroh's showed and picked up their daughter and got aquainted. We were able to ask questions of the orphange workers through our interpreter, about the girls and their schedules, habits, etc.

Skip forward to Monday night 9:30 PM ( 7:30 AM in Idaho) Emma is sleepinmg through the night eating and making dirty diapers like normal. She is not at all happy about her new Family but started to show signs of warming up to us tonight. Unfortunately, for the first day and a half she would only let hold her. She will let Jenn feed her and play with her more and more put throws a major fit if Jenn picks her up.

Our info about Emma said she loves baths, we really don't believe that right now. She cries and would not even sit down tonight. So she got wore out through the day and fell asleep while finishing off her bottle before bed.

We cleaned up the room and got ready for tommorrow as we are going to a park to let the girls enjoy some outdoor time. The sun finally was showing itself tonight before it went down so tommorrow should be a nice day for us.

For those of you interested the red dot on Emma's forehead was put their by the foster parents or nanny (not sure which) for good luck.

In Beijing

2008-07-12T03:14:00.002-06:00

Well my last post did not make it onto the web site somehow, something about the settings on the computer, oh well. We made it to Beijing and have busy (or tired) enough that we are just know catching up and or napping.

We were up almost 24 hours by the time we got to the Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing on Thursday evening. We met our guide the next morning in the lobby for our day of Touring around Beijing. We started at Tiananmen Square and saw the Famous picture of Mao and had our picture taken in front of him. There are other importnat buildings in the square, but would have to look them up in our guide book that is at home to tell you what they were. We wlaked to the Forbidden City that is just behind Tiananmen Square. It is were the Emporers held daily business, had ceremonies, weddings, banquets, ................ Again foggy on the history because of lack of sleep. Those two tours took about 3-4 hours. We had lunch at a local restaurant with many different dishes served on a lzy susan for 8-10 people at a table. We than got back on our bus and went to a Silk factory, where they showed us how silk blankets and blanket covers were made. We had an oppurtunity to buy the blankets, and or different items they had upstairs in their store. We then were taken to tour the "Hutong" which are a very old preserved part of Beijing's history where people or families live a courtyard type setting and share bathroom facilities. We were told about the history of the Hutong and visited a family where they lived. It was very interesting part of the day. Oh, and we toured this area on rickshaws.

Oh, and the weather in Beijing...............Hot and Humid!!!!!!! Our guide told us it had been raining off and on for several days and was very hot and sticky. We had also heard about how bad the air and pollution was and that was also correct. Between the weather and smog it was very heavy air to breathe.

Back to our 12 hour day on Friday.............. We next went to an Acrobatic Show. Very very entertaining. It reminded me alot of the new show "Circus of the Stars" or something like that. Lastly we went to a Peking Duck Dinner. We had had a similar dinner in Boise the Chinese New Year before this last one, so we kind of knew what to expect. We had roast duck (main attraction) and others dishes on a 4-5 lazy susan. That was pretty much our day on Friday.

Twas the night Before.........Beijing

2008-07-08T22:08:00.006-06:00

Ready to go to Beijing, China

Well we are packed and ready. Ok, Packed anyway.... We are leaving for Seattle Tacoma Airport in the morning (July 9th) from Boise around 0930. Then we will be in the airport for several hours in Seattle, and then leave for Beijing from Seattle. 12 hours on the plane. We arrive in Beijing in the afternoon on the 10th. (How did we skip a day?!?!?!)

See ya in a couple of weeks

Eric, Jenn, & Emma

TRAVEL and CONSULATE APPOINTMENTS!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-02T12:35:00.001-06:00

OK, so we haven't posted for a while. There wasn't much to post about until last Friday, and then we didn't know for sure when we could travel. We heard from our agency that we might receive our travel approval from China soon….this week or next week. Well we heard from them on Friday, that we did receive our TRAVEL APPROVAL FROM CHINA!!!!!!

It means that we can travel to China to bring Emma home, and that our agency can request a consulate appointment for us. It also means that we will probably travel to China on July 9th in less than 2 weeks!!!!!! On Tuesday (today) CCAI received our Consulate appointment which is one of the last things we need to do before leaving China. It also confirmed our travel dates of 07/09 – 07/26. Here is our travel itinerary and things we have to do along the way.

07/09 - leave for China
07/10 - Arrive in Beijing
07/11 - Tour Beijing – Great Wall, Tiananmen Square
07/12 - Tour Beijing - Forbidden City, Hutong (old neighborhood) Tour
07/13 - Leave for Lanzhou, Gansu Provence
07/14 - **Gotcha Day** - Receive Emma
07/15 - Make Adoption Final, Apply for Emma's Passport……………..
07/16 - More Paperwork, Free Time, Tours……………
07/17 - Tour Lanzhou……………
07/18 - Hang Out in China…………………
07/19 - Leave for Guangzhou / Shamain Island – Where US Consulate is.
07/20 - More Paperwork, Apply for Emma's Visa……………..
07/24 - Consulate Appointment…………………
07/25 - Consulate Oath………………
07/26 - Leave China for Emma's new HOME……Here we Come USA!!!!!

At this point we will be posting our travel and pictures from our blogsite. We might change to another site and or format that everybody can make comments or ask questions of us from. Also you can e-mail us at ejsteiner@juno.com anytime and we will be checking our e-mail too. Ready or not China, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK , if somebody can tell me how to post lists like the dates above so that they don't get all run together, let me know!!!!!!!!!!

Official Travel Visas

2008-06-21T21:58:00.001-06:00

We know have official permission to travel in China. We recieved our travel visa for our passports back on Friday afternoon. We had to actually send our passports to the Chicago Chinese Embassy for them to grant our applications for travel in China. (We are new to this international traveling.) But our passports arrived back safely and had the visas placed in our passports.

I guess it is not big news, but is just another thing that we dont have to do when we get our actual TA (travel appointments) from China. And of course, we have not gotten out TA yet. We and Craig and Cynthia Dorroh (another set of) parents going to same province, think we might hear something on Monday or Tuesday.

Still Waiting for Our TA (Travel Approval/Arrangements)

2008-06-12T21:56:00.002-06:00

We are still waiting for our Travel Approval/Arrangements from China. A group of parents from our agency ahead of us received their TA's today, and are now waiting for their CA (Consulate Appointment). CA is the very last appointment in China before we can come back home. Also we have to have CA before we can make any kind of airplane reservations. The sooner the better because the prices of airfares change at a regular pace, especially with the Olympics coming up.

Tongue Twister

2008-06-06T21:47:00.006-06:00

So far no new news. It seemed like we were learning something new every few days. But we havent heard anything since we received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance.) We had somemore paperwork to do and send to our agency. We are getting chinese visas applied for to travel in and through China.

We had to call our agency for a question about how to spell Emma's Chinese name. They said it is however we prefer to spell it. (?????) So we asked how should we spell it on the paper work? It doesn' matter was the response. Still puzzled at the answer, but anyway. In the same conversation she told us how to pronounce her chinses name too. It is not how we thought and how it looks. Can is pronounced "tsan," she said like in the end of "cats." And Xiao is pronounced "she-ow." "Tsan She-ow" Say that 10 times real fast.

Jenn sent our little daughter a care package today. She sent her a new little outfit, a little plush toy, rubber ducky, a framed pictured of Emma for her foster parents, a small photo album with pictures of us in it for Emma (with chinese labels indicating "Mama and Baba"), and a disposable camera so her foster parents can hopefully take pictures of where they live, themselves, and Emma in the meantime while we wait to travel. According to the USPS, it should be there in 6-10 business days.

We Received Our Letter Of Acceptance.

2008-05-30T17:12:00.002-06:00

Our agency has e-mailed us again with our Letter of Acceptance, and we received an overnight package from them containg the Letter for us to sign and send back to them. they also gave us a file of all the info that they had received from China about Emma in both Chinese and English. So we now have all the info for Emma that is available.
Our agency will hopefully receive our signed Letter on Monday and forward onto Beijing for us. We then wait again, for China to issue us Travel Acceptance to bring Emma home. We could actually be traveling to China anytime in the next 4-6 weeks.

NEW UPDATES FROM CHINA!!!!!!!

2008-05-27T21:29:00.006-06:00

Wow, we received an e-mail from our agency today with new pictures and some growth information from the 23rd of last week (we think). Eric was at home getting some lunch and checked the e-mails and saw one from one of the ladies at our agency. He printed out the info and pictures and hurried down to Elks rehab where Jenn was spending her day at work, and surprised her with the updated info and pictures.

We also received some Medical/Developement/ and Personality info as well:

She sat at the age of 6 months, got first tooth at the age of 8 months (8 teeth altogether), crawled at the age of 9 months, walked with adults holding her hands at the age of 12 months. She weighs approximately 19 lbs.

Personality:
Her personality is introverted (HMMM, Just like Jenn & Eric). She does not ask strangers to hold or hug her. She likes her bath.

Well we were totally surprised by the uodates, but are so glad to have it. We cant stop looking at her pictures and reading from the updates.

Our Emma Story

2008-05-22T21:03:00.002-06:00

Well, we have known for about 9 days about Emma, But China has a policy that we could not tell anyone but family until we had what is known as Pre-Approval. "PA" means that the CCAA (China Centre of Adoption Affairs) has received our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Emma and has moved of our file to their matching room.

So last Tuesday, Eric checked his messages and saw a 303 area code on his phone (which is Colorado, where our agency is located). The message said that they were "desperately needing to talk to us." He called back, and they said they had a referral for us, a little girl from Wuwei City, China in the Gansu Province. She just turned 12 months old on May 04. They wanted to know if we would like to look at her file?!?!?!? Of course Eric said yes!!!

He immediatley called Jenn at her work and told her of the news. We both decided that we would take the rest of the day off to rush home and view her pictures and files that were emailed to us. We knew alomst immediately that we would accept the referral for her and that she would have a forever family in Idaho.

She has been in foster care since she was 2 weeks old. The pictures below and all of the files we received about her are about 5-6 months old, but she was on tract for all of her milestones. We had a doctor look at her files and she said that from all the info we received that she was a healthy happy little girl.

We have obviously been waiting for Emma for a long time know, but have been anxiously waiting for the day when we could share her with the rest of our friends and family. And know we are waiting, again for the day when we can travel To Gansu Province in China and bring her back home to Nampa, Idaho. Hopefully within the next couple of months we will know more about Emma, her foster family, and when we will be able to go and bring her back home.

We ask that you will pray for, Emma, her foster family, and us as we wait to bring her home!!!

MEET: EMMA GRACE CAN XIAO STEINER

2008-05-22T19:30:00.003-06:00

HERE SHE IS

OUR BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER

Emma is in WuWei City, Gansu Province China

Emma is 12 and a half months old, born on May 04, 2007

She is living in foster care.

Another Update!!!

2008-05-01T22:31:00.002-06:00

We belong to a internet Adoption group that is a group of parents from our agency (CCAI) that are waiting for a SN Referral. Within this group (which is not representative of all the families waiting through our agency) we usually had 20 other parents waiting in front of us for a referral. The list has been updated lately and most recently today. It now shows that there are only 5 sets of parents waiting in front of us for a girl 0-30 mos old. WOOHOO!!!!!

WE ARE CLOSER TO A REFERRAL!!!!!!!

2008-04-21T21:11:00.002-06:00

Well, I didnt read my last post to know exactly what I told everyone about the changes in China. But we just had a post from our adoption agency in Colorado that they have made 36 matches for waiting parents in the last week, and THEY ARE ROUGHLY INTO JUNE OF 2007 for files with a medical conditions checklist date. We don't exactly know where that puts us, other than we have a checklist date of 06/03/07. If that is all confusing, sorry. But it is great news for us meaning that we may hear something from our agency anytime soon.

Through the new program, China will post files of children on a website that agencies can check on a daily basis, if they see a file that they have potential parents for they can lock in on those files for their families. Then the agency has 48 hours to notify the China adoption authorities that they have found a match for that file for China to take the file off the website permanently. The bad thing for us is that once our agency locks in a file for us, the 48 hour clock start ticking. This is a complex part that we have hopefully been prepared for. It is a rush for us to look at the file, have some doctors we have lined up look at the file, have the doctors give us their opinion about the medical conditions of the file, and then we have to let our agency know our decision, all within the 48 hour window.

Sorry, about the randomness of the post, we are excited, scared and always overwhelmed with our long wait. But our agency gave us a few details of the last batch of matches. Youngest match was 7 mos old. Oldest match was 6 yrs old. The most common range was 12-36 months old. Most common medical conditions included, Cleft lip and cleft palates, and some with congenital heart disease.

Well this is the newest of the information that we have so far. If we learn anything else we will post here.

Time for an Update

2008-04-04T20:07:00.001-06:00

Well, China has again added another twist and turn to our Journey to Emma. It might be a good change or it might not be so good.
In our last post our agency had been waiting on the next batch of SN children to arrive. They had informed the families that are in this program that the delay was probably due to some lay-offs of wokrers at the Chinese government adoption office. We are still not sure that it has ever arrived though.
According to our agency CCAI, china has been implementing a new computer referral process for SN children and they have been apart of the process in helping work out the bugs over the last sveral years. It sounds like that the Chinese government adoption office finally decided to start using this computer referral process in February/March. (Sorry for the long explanation.)
So now 30+ agencies now have access to this new process and all see the same children that are available for adoption through the SN program. This basically means that all of the agencies see this list and can lock a childs file for a family in there agency. There has been muc controversy over this new process, and some agencies were posting the entire list of children over the internet. And of course our agency did not want to be involved with this new progam because of the competition that would arise from it. So they had told us they would continue to make referrals the way thaey have always been doing it.
After several more weeks of the list being put out over the internet. Families from our agency (as weel as us) were starting to get worked up about CCAI (our agency) not getting involved in this program. Phone calls and e-mails were being made into the WC (waiting child/SN) dept. So our agency finally found out from China that this new referral process was going to be the way all SN children would be referred.
Well to try and make a long story shorter, Our agency has had to change the way they find and make referrals. They say over time once they figure out the changes that have been made referrals will probably start to speed up through this process.
There are downfalls to the process though. When an agency locks in a file for a child the families only have 48 hours to make a decision to adopt the child or not. The 48 hr clock starts as soon as the file is locked by the agency, ( and they can be locked in at anytime, 0-24 hours a day ). So families don't have near the time it takes to have Doctors looks at the files or process the information in the files, etc., etc., etc.
We also used to track in a somewhat normal fashion how many families were receiving referrals each month, but now we will not be able to track that info at all. Because of some other new international rules that do not allow any families to share the info of there child on the Internet group chat rooms until after the family is "pre approved"to adopt that child from China.
So we don't know anymore than we did several weeks ago. Please pray for us, and our process as we take another turn in our long wait. We appreciate it so very much!!
We will post again when we know more information>

No new News yet.

2008-03-16T21:28:00.002-06:00

Still no official word yet as to the new WC (waiting child) list for our adoption agency. We still hope that it will be soon, but no word as of yet. Short and sweet post this time

Happy Easter!

Anxiously Waiting for a New List for Our Agency

2008-03-05T19:21:00.007-07:00

As March begins another month in our wait, we have had word that our agency will be receiving a new list of children with special needs anytime soon. Hopefully sooner than later. They may even have it already, but don't let anybody know about it until the files are translated from Chinese to English, and a board of volunteer doctors have looked over the files. Then they begin matching the children with families that have submitted a MCC (medical conditions checklist).

We know that families that submitted an MCC in January, February, and most of March have already recieved referrals, and that there are families still waiting for a referral in April and May ahead of our June 3, 07 MCC date. So there is a slight possibilty that we might get a referral off this list. We are secretly hoping this would be the case, but know in our hearts that it might not happen this time around. So we ask all of you following are blog that you would hold us and Emma up in your prayers that we might get matched off of this list.

We knew that we would use our back room as Emma's bedroom, but have not done much of anyting with it. A year ago we donated to "LOVE INC." the full sized bed that was back there, that we got from our friends Mark & Krista Webber, when they moved to Oregon. And we really have not done anything since. We did buy a crib/transitional bed last November on sale. Eric had painted our old dresser to put in Emma's room, but everyhting had been out in the garage until recently. We decided to start putting her room together last month and have been slowly moving things into her room. Our friends Jeff and Spring gave us some toys last summer and a changing table. We are not sure how old Emma will be yet so might use the changing table for that purpose or use it for shelving. We posted pictures of some of the furniture we have waiting for Emma.

We found the pink drawer knobs on clearence at Lowe's for .47 cents

Emma's transitional crib, we can take the front off and lower the mattress.

Close up view of stuffed toys waiting for Emma, and the stacking cups.

Changing Table / Shelving for toys, books, etc.

2008-02-28T21:33:00.003-07:00

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's "real" parents.
7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word "Dossier" means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

Weekend Trip To McCall, ID

2008-02-24T22:04:00.005-07:00

We went up to McCall this weekend to see Jenn's parents and take them their new dishwasher they had bought a month ago down in the Boise valley. We had heard all the stories about all the snow they had been receiving, but could not appreciate it until we saw it for ourselves. Of course we forgot our camera, so you'll have to take our word about how much snow there is up there, or just go see for yourselves. The snow was probably 4-5' tall in their yard. It had been taller, more like 6'+ but it has settled and melted and then froze again. Around the house the snow has slid off the roof and covered some of the windows and they had to dug out so they don't break. They have to have the drive professionally blown because it is about 150-200' long and leads down into their basement garage. So the berms leading down the drive way are so tall you can't seee over the top of them.

Sadie our yellow lab loves to visit McCall, because of the snow and wild animals (mostly squirrels and an occasional deer, elk or bear) smells. She loves to run and jump in the snow banks, but had a little trouble this trip because it was hard to get to where she usually romps around. Once she found she could finally climb up on top of the snow, she was happy as could be. We would let her out and she would run up one side of the driveway and have to jump about 3' off the bank ledge to get back down. The Lund's neighbor across the street has a yellow lab named Katie, and they have a picture of her on top of the roof of their garage. She was able to get up their once the snow slid off the roof and made a path to the top. Luckily Sadie was not able to do that at Jenn's folks.

We also helped install the new dishwasher. It took a run to the local hardware store to extend the water line and adapt to the existing drain line, but we got it all hooked up and placed back into the old spot. So if you know of anybody who needs to change their dishwasher out, my father-in-law or I can tell them how to do it. :) If we had our camera we would have done a before and after picture.

Well we made it back home and Sadie is snoring away on her bed. No new news on the adoption front right now. We're waiting for our agency to get a new list of waiting children and hoping and praying that Emma might be on this next one. So we will update when we here something new from or agency or have something else to share with everyone.

2 Journeys In 1

2008-02-21T08:59:00.002-07:00

When we first started our adoption journey, we researched the process very extensively (so we thought). But as we became more emmersed into our journey to Emma our eyes and minds were opened to a whole new world of adoption related web sites, web groups, chat rooms, adoption rumor sites, and online adoption communities. Most all of these sites have provided an abundance of information for us. Information that has frustrated us, gives us hope, made us cry, made us rejoice. But all in all, we have become more informed about our adoption journey.

As many have heard adoption in China has become veerrryyyy vveeerrrryyyyy slow. There are so many different reasons why there is a slow down, that it is hard to say that is exactly one specific thing that is slowing it down. We have recieved many letters from our agency founders (who happen to be Chinese) about the increasing and extended wait, trying to help explain it to everyone. But the fact remains it is slow and up to a 3 or 4 year wait for anyone entering the program now. They cant even tell us how long it will be for our specific wait. They tell us on a monthly basis that "the current wait time is........" Meaning that people who are receiving referrals now are waiting 24-27 months, as of the February last newsletter.

After reading posts, websites, blogs, and our adoption agency newsletters, we learned about 2 different adoption routes in China. They have the traditional NSN (non special needs) route and the SN (special needs) route. SN children have minor to major health/physicals needs that prevent them from being in the traditional adoption program. They might have visible birthmarks, scars, burns, limb differences, cleft lips, cleft palates, missing or extra digits, heart defects, blind, deaf, and also includes older children up to 13 years old, both boys and girls.

When we first heard of the SN adoption route we started reading more about the children in the orphanges with special needs. Most (but not all) agencies have a special needs adoption program, which they post a list of children that they have available for adoption through there specific agency. We were being drawn to these sites more and more feeling that there was a place in our hearts and home for one of these children. In reality, the sad thing is that these children are no different than any of the others except for there specific need.

We decided a year into our wait for Emma, that she could be one of these special girls that might otherwise be overlooked just because she was different in some other way. And who knows, no one might ever know how or why she is different then anybody else. So, as of June 03, 2007, we submitted a MCC (medical conditions checkist) to our agency with what special needs we would consider, could handle, and be open to. We will probably be matched with Emma off this list before we ever make it to a NSN referral in 2009 or 2010 or 2011.

We know this is a long post and many of you know where we are at in our process already, but we wanted to help keep everyone up to date with what is happening in our Journey to Emma. We also know that you all love us and its hard to keep asking "Have you heard anything?" as it is hard for us to keep saying "No we havent." So keep us in your prayers as we get a little closer everyday and don't stop asking us "have you heard anything," cause one day you may just get a different answer. :)

Our Long Long Long Adoption Process

2008-02-20T10:30:00.004-07:00

As many of you know we (Eric & Jennifer) have been in an adoption process since spring of 2006 (specific dates don't come to mind because it was so long ago). Many of you have been involved in the process from the very start as you have submitted referals for our application / homestudy, prayed for us, encouraged us, asked about our process, etc....etc....etc. We THANK and LOVE all of YOU for your support through our painfully long process.

We decided to start this web blog to keep everybody updated about where we are at in the process. We know you are all very interested and like to be updated about any information we might know at any given point. Sometimes we might know more about where we are at in line (of 30,000+ China adoptive parents) or we just dont have a clue what-so-ever. When we started our journey to Emma, China was stated as the most reliable adoption program out there and we would have her in 9-12 months. Well 20 months later that is not the case anymore. Even the adoption agencies aren't sure what is going on at any given time anymore. We don't want this web blog to take the place of any questions/answers/updates that we normally share with all of you. In fact we hope it will bring up more questions/answers/updates that you might be wanting to know about.

So, as we continue our China Journey to Emma, we hope to post more in this web blog about our wait, updates and any information about our lives that we want to share with others. And one day this whole blog can and will probably be published into a book for Emma.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!