Future Updates

For those of you who have asked, all our future family updates are on our normal blog: dueglory.blogspot.com

Back Home

Casey and Corey did a great job keeping things going on this blog while we've been away. Thanks, guys!

What a joy it it so know that we have sons who ably kept things running here at home while we were away. Many thanks to them and to my mom and dad for all they did while we were in China. Upon our return, the house looked great, we were greeted by "Welcome Home" signs and balloons, the garden was bountifully producing, the lawns were mowed, flowerbeds weeded, fences painted, piano lessons given, wood projects completed, school work accomplished, laundry finished, bathrooms scoured, etc., etc. And on top of all that, Kevin went on a three day backpacking trip and all three of the boys climbed Half Dome in a day with some friends.

On Thursday afternoon (China time) we went to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou and took an oath on behalf of Hope. Upon completion of a few items there, we received Hope's visa, Although she didn't gain citizenship at that time (that would come at her port of entry (San Francisco) in the United States, it did free us up to begin our trip home!

U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou

As soon as we had her visa in hand, our guide told us we had to hurry and she shooed us out the door, into the van, and off to the train station. Lugging suitcases, carry-ons, and an uncooperative six-year old through the massive train station at a frantic pace proved exhausting, but we managed to just get ourselves on the train before it headed off to Hong Kong. It was an easy two-hour ride through interesting country and we arrived in Hong Kong just after dark.Train

We ate a fast-food meal at the train station, and then got a cab across town to our hotel. Hong Kong in incredible. I'm not a city person, but it really is a nice looking place--at least what we could see at night. Our hotel was just outside the city on a little peninsula looking over a small bay and we enjoyed waking up on Friday morning to beautiful mountains, non-smoggy skies, and little boats making their way across the water. It was a great way to begin our trip home!

View from our Hong Kong Hotel

Hong Kong Aiport

Officially a U.S. Citizen in S.F.

After fifteen hours of travel, plus another three hours of immigration processing and airport security, Steve, Hope, and I returned from China yesterday afternoon and how very good it was to see the boys again! Hope was thrilled to see the brothers she'd been Skyping with for the last two weeks and took to them immediately. I think she was happily surprised, too, to realize that no, we don't actually live in a hotel room. She just kept running around, exploring, with a happy grin on her face.

And so, this is, officially, the final post for Hope's adoption process. Until we head off to get Caleb in Uganda, you can follow along with Walker happenings at our normal blog (the ones the boys typically keep updated for us) at dueglory.blogspot.com Thanks for your support and prayers! We rejoice in all that the Lord has done and will do, and we pray that He works mightily in Hope's life!

Hope from the last 16 days

Here's a video that sums the whole trip up. Thank you for all your prayers!

Eight Things You Should Know For China Travel

"Eight Things You Should Know for China Travel:

1) Squatty potties aren't that bad. (It's just the toilet paper thrown into waste baskets that'll gross you out.) Don't know what a squat toilet is? Then check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet

2) Carry your own toilet paper because despite the waste basket issue, #1 still gets a whole lot worse when you realize that most public restrooms don't have toilet paper at all.

3) For a communist country, China appears, in many ways, to be more capitalistic than the U.S. Expect to see shop after shop after shop.

4) Plan to walk around with wet hands. Paper towels are seemingly non-existent and those places that do have toilet paper like it so well that they use it as their hand-drying paper. As you can imagine, it's not very effective.

5) Food is delicious and cheap if you can find hole-in-the-wall places and have a person who can order for you in Chinese. We had a huge lunch of fried "green garlic," pork and green beans, spicy peanut chicken, sweet and sour pork, cabbage, white rice, and fried noodles for a grand total of $8.50 for the three of us.


6) Every hotel seems to have the same beds which are (no exaggeration) about as hard as rocks. You really do get used to them, though.

7) Beware of falling men.



8) Watch out for stone-faced people who offer food to your children.



Tonight is our last night in Guangzhou! We miss the rest of our family so much and are really excited to be heading towards home.

Tomorrow we have the "swearing-in" at the U.S. Consulate where we'll get Hope's visa. Then we catch a train to Hong Kong and spend the night there before our plane flies out on Friday morning. Because of the fifteen hour time difference, we'll fly for twelve hours but still arrive home three hours earlier than we departed. Thanks for your continued prayers!"

"Today we have nothing exciting as far as pictures go since we were in our room for nearly the entire day. This morning we were asked to stay in our room to wait to hear from our adoption guide. She delivered our paperwork to the U.S. Consulate and we needed to be available to hear whether there were any problems with the documents. All was well and we have Hope's "swearing in" on Thursday afternoon before we hop on a train to Hong Kong where we'll catch our flight out on Friday.

For pictures we'll simply share a couple of Hope dancing with me and of Steve and Hope playing "drums" on the desk."





For now (and for the three in China),
Casey

Hope: Day 8

Steve and I have jokingly said that we have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde child--except that Jekyll is a whining two year-old and Hyde is a bright, cheerful six year-old. We're getting used to the fact that Hope typically has little tantrums and/or wants to be held anytime we're in public. Like many two-year olds, her favorite word during her "trying" moments is "no" and Steve and I both feel like we've heard "bu yao" (the equivalent of "I don't want") enough times over the last week to last us a lifetime. However, despite the challenges, we're so excited to have the opportunity to parent this little blessing. Right now, all is well and we're sitting in our hotel room, where, for the last hour and a half, Hope has been excitedly "singing" and signing songs with us, including "Jesus Loves Me" and has been enjoying playing "What color is this?" with a box of crayons, and writing her numbers from one to ten. She wanted me to keep writing the numbers beyond what she could write, so, I was counting "Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two..." After I finished, she started counting in a mixture of Mandarin and English and in random order, "Twenty-san. Twenty yi. Twenty liu."

It's actually taking me a bit to finish typing this because we had to take a break to play "Lan and Nai-Nai". The Davies gave us a CD to use that has Chinese children's songs on it and if we're understanding the gist of one story-type song, Mama says not to go to the door for strangers. The wolf knocks and the kids don't go to the door. There's a second knock and Mama goes to the door, but there's Nai-Nai (Grandma), a welcome guest. Now we play this game where we take turns being the wolf or Grandma at the door. Hope last said that she'd be the little wolf and Daddy would be the big wolf and then I was supposed to pretend karate chop at them both. It was nice to actually understand what she was saying in Chinese. As long as she keeps it to words like "wolf, big, and little" we do okay. Of course, all games must come to an end and now Hope is have a protesting pout on the bed. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted :)

Our guide ended up taking us on a little tour today after all. We went to a temple which is now just a historical landmark and to an open-air wholesale market which was interesting to see. We spent most of the time walking down the street known as the medicine market. Thought you'd enjoy seeing some of those pictures--especially the pictures of things like dried turtles on sticks and scorpions (which they pick up with chopsticks to bag up for people). I decided it would be too rude, but I really wanted to zoom my picture in the faces of some of the people on "Food Street" to show all the fried and BBQ'd delicacies like frog legs (which I've actually had before, but somehow on a stick they just don't look as appetizing), and crunchy scorpions. Mmm-mmm? Nope, we weren't brave enough to try them.

Guangzhou

Thanks for your prayers, everyone. Yesterday was a long, tiring day, but today has been our best so far. We packed up yesterday morning and then had eight hours to kill before we left our hotel in Changsha to go pick up Hope's passport and head to the airport. We stopped at the biggest Chinese food restaurant in the world and our guide ordered us some yummy soup made from a vegetable we'd never seen or heard of before. Hope had four bowls full. We also had a pork that had lots and lots of habanero-type peppers sliced in it. We were all sweating profusely after eating it but it was delicious if you like really spicy food. Our guide took us to the Changsha airport two hours early and then our plane was delayed an hour. So, after three hours of waiting, we finally boarded and took the hour flight we had to Guangzhou. If that one hour flight is any indication of how Hope will do on our twelve hour flight home next Friday, then we need lots and lots of extra prayer. It was a little rough. By the time we got to our hotel at 11:00 p.m. we were a bit bedraggled. However, a decent sleep and morning light brought refreshed perspective and we were happy to find that our new location on Shamian island in Guangzhou is much easier to navigate than Hunan for non-Chinese speakers. In fact, we even indulged in a very American meal (though much cheaper than in the U.S.) at Subway. The hotel we're staying at sees approximately 1500 American adoptees come through per year. In fact, Mattel has a contract with the hotel and supplies a toy room and gives every family a Barbie. We don't like Barbies, particularly, but Hope was thrilled and when you're stuck in a hotel for hours on end, any diversion for your child is appreciated. Of course, Steve was disappointed when he found out they're collectibles and could have been eBay-ed for over $200.00. This morning Hope had her physical and TB test (not a happy moment) and then we finished another pile of paperwork (the end of it, at last!!!). Aside from the TB test, we have had no major meltdowns today. Hope remains clingy in public, wanting to be held/carried most of the time, but is delightful when we're in the controlled, familiar environment of our room. This was, for all of us, a day that went by more quickly, and was a real blessing after yesterday. Again, thanks for your support! Also, we appreciate your emails and comments, it makes us feel more connected to all you when we're so far from home.

A picture of reality :)

The smile we love to see

Our hotel (and yes, that's smog)

Listening to a fiddler while on our walk

Enjoying our oasis in the middle of high rises

A taste of America

Tuckered out

Another picture of reality--sermon prep on the hotel bed

And another--laundry in the tub

"The last two days have been tiring but good. For a child who has a heart condition, Hope just keeps going and going :) Also, as you can imagine, communicating with a non-English speaking six year old who has spent her entire life in an orphanage is bound to have its tough moments, and it does. Hope continues to do well, for the most part, though we typically have at least one major meltdown per day. We expected this, so we're not surprised. Hope is already learning a few English words, but "bu" ("no") is still her favorite Chinese word. Although she seems quite bright, in many ways, because of her institutionalization, we're sure, she seems developmentally/emotionally to be more like a four year old. This too, we expected, we're just letting all of you know that though the pictures we post are all smiles, Hope's moments are not all cheery. Please continue to pray for her and for us as we finish out our time here in China and as she continues to bond with us and heal from her life's emotional. Again though, we're so thankful that she seems to be attaching to both of us and that she is excited to talk with her siblings on Skype, calling them by the Mandarin names for "big brother" and "big sister". We miss home, miss the rest of our family, and look forward to getting out of hotel rooms, but we're thankful for the Lord's provision in getting us here, and for the blessing of this newest little Walker. Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou and begin the next phase of this process so that we can actually get this little Walker out of the country and back home.

Wendy's favorite new fruit--Dragon Fruit.


Noodles and more noodles in our motel room. Blessedly, we like them.


Bathtime. Happy time.


We actually got out for a bit today and saw green! We went to a beautiful park in the Changsha.



Everywhere throughout the park, retired men and women were exercising. In this photo, the exercise was dance.


We rented a foot-paddle boat. Paddling with a six-year-old on your lap is a good thigh workout.


First ice cream!







On the way back from the park, we stopped at an embroidery factory. Hunan is known for this traditional art. The pieces were incredible. The tiger and panda are two sides of the same piece embroidered in silk. It was amazing!


Steve's having trouble finding shoes to fit his feet, though :) Thanks Shipleys, these slippers fit Hope perfectly, though!

Also, Davies family, the Chinese children's music and the "Chinese Children Learn English" DVD's have been a big hit. Thanks so much!"

For those in China,
Casey

Want to say something to The Walkers?

Go to the church message board! Mom and Dad are blocked from blogs and FaceBook, but can access the church website (no matter how strange that may seem), so leave your comments there!

Hope is officially a Walker!

"Just two more "Hope pictures" from the day. Coloring with Mommy and combing Daddy's hair.



We legally became Hope's parents today. She's doing well though there were some understandably tearful moments throughout the day. She's already learning some English words, which is good, since we're still floundering with our Chinese.

Also, we wanted to include two additional pictures that were taken of the signs that are in our hotel's elevator. Great marketing, eh? We're pretty sure that something was lost in translation :)"




For now (and NOW for Mom, Dad, and Hope),
Casey

Hope

Today we had the joy of meeting Hope for the very first time. She greeted us with sweet smiles and big hugs as she called us by name: ma ma and ba ba (Mommy and Daddy). We sat and did a puzzle together, looked at a short book, and asked the orphanage director a few questions. Within a half hour we were back on the road to hotel with a scared little girl whose tears began to silently flow as we drove the short distance to our lodging. We completed our paperwork with the guide we have here in Hope's province and Hope continued to be a bit subdued. However, it wasn't long after our guide left that Hope began to perk up. She loves coloring, looking at family photos, and absolutely delights in blowing bubbles and it wasn't long before we got to see a much more energetic little girl. Though we spent much of the time wondering what on earth she was trying to communicate to us, through sign language, laughter, and a few fumbles, we had a lovely evening together. Hope particularly enjoyed the meal we shared around our little hotel room table and laughed heartily each time Ma Ma slopped her food due to her continued lack of chopstick coordination. Now, at 7:45 p.m., she's just fallen to sleep and we're praising the Lord for blessing us with this little girl after our three years of waiting. We have many more pictures and will post more later, but for now, know that we miss you all and look forward to seeing many of you within a few weeks.

~Corey (for the three in China)

False alarm

Unfortunately, we found out that their translator informed Mom and Dad that it was still 3:00 their time that they would meet Hope...they would still appreciate prayer, as they will still meet Hope soon! Only 3 more hours!

Casey

The time is here...

At 6:30 p.m. our time (9:30 a.m. China time), my mom and dad got a call saying that Hope had arrived at her destination – six hours ahead of schedule. My mom and dad are with her right now and would greatly appreciate your prayers as they meet her for the first time.

~Corey (for the Walker gang)

Hunan

"Today we traveled to our daughter’s province.

Since we have only one picture from the day (a view of the night lights we see from our 30th floor hotel window), we thought we’d relate some of our “cultural adventures.”

Our plane was delayed an hour so everyone who was waiting to board was given a free meal to tide them over until we were fed breakfast on the plane. We were given a little juice box, two French bread buns, and two packets of unidentifiable goodies. Always game for trying new foods, I, Wendy, dug into the first packet. Bite number one.

Steve asks, “So? What is it?”

“Not sure yet,” I replied, slightly baffled by my chewy mouthful.

“Is it good?”

“Not particularly.”

Bite number two. Pickled. Definitely pickled. Something in my brain registers and bite number three confirms it when I hit yolk. Egg.

Steve opts for the French bread instead, but quickly realizes that the French who visited China must have had a different family recipe than the one they handed down to the Americans.

Drink. I definitely need to wash down the pickled egg with a drink of juice. Insert straw. Big slurp. Oh! Of course! How could I have imagined that the Chinese writing on the front of the juice box said apple juice when it clearly said “soy milk”? Ah well. We’re still up to digging into packet number three. Pickled green beans. Not bad, actually.

Dinner on the other hand was delicious. We had a spicy beef with onions, rice, and dumplings. Tasty. We didn’t make too much of a mess using the chopsticks, and we enjoyed the meal, all-in-all. But after about 10 little cups of black tea which the waitress continued to pour for us, we still didn’t have our bill and we appeared, I’m sure, as quite the lame Americans when we tried to communicate our question of “Where do we pay the bill?” One after another, the employees, stumped by our question, sent another to try to decipher our English, only to ultimately leave us alone in our center-of-the-restaurant seats, until another employee would give it a go. Using sign language, we finally managed to get our point across, they brought us the bill and we left our tip. The waitress called after us, handed us our tip money and said “No. No.” Steve said, slowly, pointing to himself, “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re Americans,” at which point he was going to continue by explaining that we always leave tips on the table, since it seemed clear to him that we’d committed some faux pas. Of course, the waitress had no idea what he was trying to say, and even if she did, I’m sure she’d wonder why on earth Steve felt the need to explain that we’re Americans since we clearly stick out like a sore thumb. After a night of stifled laughter I knew, at that point, that we better get out of the restaurant quickly because I wasn’t going to be able to hold it back much longer. Safely in the elevator we had a hearty laugh.

So, what’s Hope going to think of these two goofs who can barely hold their chopsticks, order from a menu, and communicate a clear thought? We’ll find out when we meet her tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. (Monday morning at 12:15 a.m. California time)."

For now (and for Mom and Dad),

Casey