Nanchang...and crazy Walmart!

This morning we said goodbye to our dear new friend Sara as she was flying back to Shepherd’s Field.  We feel honoured to have had the chance to spend time with her and get to know her…she is a wonderful person, doing amazing work for God’s children.  Sara works as the liason between Shepherd’s Field and the orphanages…so she arranges for the children who will be cared for at Shepherd’s Field (like Thea), and is also the one to see the children off and fly them to their birth province when they have been adopted…what an amazing job.  She has blessed us much in this journey…Sara is the one that gave us all of the updates and photos of our Thea before we came to China, and she took great care of us while visiting Shepherd’s Field.   We will miss her and hope to someday see her again.

We are staying at on the 21^st floor of the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang.  It is crazy how much smog there is here...we wonder if they ever get to see a blue sky?  We have now met up with 3 other families from BC that met their new daughters here yesterday just before we arrived.  We will be traveling with these families now for the duration of our trip.  Thea is the oldest of the 4 baby girls and is the only one adopted through the waiting child program.  The other 3 babies came from a different orphanage than Thea, and actually all shared the same room…very cool for those families to have that connection.

Today was a ‘free day’…so Mataeus took the opportunity to go swimming in the pool.  It was nice for him to be able to do something fun like that, as he was getting a bit of ‘cabin fever’.  He has been such a great kid…he is so good to Thea, and VERY protective of her too.  He hasn’t minded one bit that everything is ‘all about her’…we are so lucky to have him with us, and even more blessed that he is our boy! J

This morning we had a chance to talk to our Nathaniel via skype.  It was so great to see him and talk with him.  He was so excited to see ‘Flea’ and was kissing her on the screen over and over.  We truly appreciate all of your prayers for him…we are hoping that talking to him made things easier…now that we are in a bigger city the internet is better and we will be able to talk to him daily.  Praying this makes it easier for him rather than harder.

This afternoon we went to Walmart…Nanchang style.  The taxi ride there and back was unreal…weaving in and out and around other vehicles and scooters…absolute craziness!  Then on the way home…we are in a back alley and the traffic all of a sudden stops…our cab driver turns off the car and gets out!!  Talk about being just a TAD concerned…you should have seen Glen, instant daddy ‘protection mode’!!!  What an adventure!  And Walmart…wow…where do we begin…let’s just say, chicken feet, chicken feet, and more chicken feet…to go with the frogs, turtles, and eels.  An eye opener for our little Mataeus for sure.  We got the essentials we needed and then got out as fast as possible…lol!

Little Thea is getting more and more attached to us.  She reaches for us and crawls to us, and even leans in for kisses now.  She has a ready smile and the cutest little laugh.  She gets cranky when she is hungry or tired, but aside from that she is a happy little girl.  And boy does she sleep!  A solid 13 hours last night, and then another 3 hour nap today!!! Hoping this lasts, but I’m not holding my breath.  It is easy to see that the craziness of life ‘outside of Shepherd’s Field’ is a bit overwhelming for her…it must be hard to be going through such a change in her life and seeing so many new things all at once.

The little ones are sleeping now and Glen and mom are playing a video game on the TV…and getting very competitive I might add! J

Again, I want to thank Kim for sending us all the comments you are leaving on our blog!  What a blessing to be able to read them…it makes us feel very loved, and helps us feel connected to home.  Wish we had time to reply to you all…but just know that we appreciate them bigtime!

Off to bed for me…love to you all!

Gayle xox