"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