The Young Family Farm »

So today was our LAST day in our son’s provence:(. So sad! Sad to leave this place he has known as home for 2 years—sad to leave our dear friends who we have been with for the last week…and sad to leave the cozy apartment and pack all 5 of us in a hotel for the rest of the trip. It was so nice for Parker and Loo to have their own space and for us to have Zeke in our room—nap time was easy and Parker and Loo could still play..so now our creativity will begin.

So I have more pictures to post–but it’s very late in Guangzhou. (We obviously made it here–safely…minus the turbulence and the awful plane ride. Y’all if that 2 hour flight is ANY foreshadowing of what a 18 hour flight journey will be—y’all need to start praying NOW for a different experience. Oh my. I just want to apologize to anyone on China Air flight 4903 to Guangzhou. It may take 24 hours for my blood pressure to chill out.)

BUT before we went through THAT experience–we had a wonderful journey to a historic part of town. It was great for the first hour…

I’ll upload more pictures later. Today has been a hard day I’m afraid. The historic market was so fun for the kids–but Zeke got tired and melted. It wasn’t nap time–but it was just too much. If you think about never going to stores or outings for 2 years (or like EVER in your life)–and then you go to a action filled market–it was just too much. We went home for lunch and nap time for Zeke–and the kids got to have one last hurrah with their sweet friends…our friends kiddos that they have been playing with all week.

We packed up the apartment–straightened up (the family that lives there is having a baby in the US and will be back in a few weeks…so THANKFUL we were able to stay there!)–said our goodbyes to everyone:(…and then Matt took us to the airport. Our flight–was a 2 hour flight. And y’all we made a discovery. Zeke is NOT a flyer. It was HARD. Sweet boy cried, fussed, yelled–you name it…the entire time. I was having a hard time trying to balance the crazy–and Parker looked at me and said, “Mom. He’s doing great. How would YOU feel if two Chinese people came to get you when you were 2 years old–and took you from place to place where you didn’t know anyone or anything. Do you think you might cry like that too?” Y’all. This boy is 8 years old–wise beyond his years. Going to make an amazing leader, husband and daddy one day don’t ya think?! SO–for the rest of the trip–I let Parker’s words sink in. Yes. Yes, I think I’d be kicking and screaming too. We see the beauty down the road–but right now there’s also a lot of broken. And these parts–they are just hard. I know we could have not stepped into the messy, hard parts. But life, love…real love–healing, turning brokenness to beauty…well–it’s just not always fun…or easy. I think I could turn off my computer right now and cry to be honest. Today was just a hard day…and momma is off to rest. Because tomorrow is a new day. And He is enough for it.

I have so much stirring in my heart about how worth it each of my children are. It makes me really sad that some people missed their worth in the past–and some will miss it in the future. But I have this really amazing privilege to get to be the one now to tell them how worth it they are–how loved they are–and how blessed I am to get to be their mom. This trip with Loo bear and P has done much for our relationship too. They are pretty awesome kids–and how blessed I am to get to be their momma too. How thankful I am for all my friends and family who have supported us–and always loved us. I’m so thankful. So blessed. I think about the things that we some times get our panties in a wad over–bickering, gossip, fussing, jealousy…whatever–and life is just too precious and too short. There’s too much broken around us to ever add to it. Too much healing that needs to happen not only around us but also in us. We need to constantly be looking for how to love others, serve one another and how we can do life–really do life–TOGETHER…in real community. Now that post is for another day…but for now I’m just going to leave you with this:

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

So when you have thoughts run in your head–when you are tempted to compare your experience or life or whatever with others–when you hear others bicker or gossip–when you are tempted to bicker or gossip–when you are frustrated–when you are tired–when you feel defeated…REMEMBER THIS VERSE. Memorize it. Write it down on a sticky and put it on your bathroom mirror–and on your frig and in your car. Let those thoughts that bring you down go to the wayside–and instead think on things that are pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy…and be challenged and encouraged by them.

Love you guys! Okay–so I was ABOUT to poke fun of my hotel room here in GZ being the size of a cruise ship. BUT instead–I am going to practice Philippians 4:8. I’m thankful this room has a/c! And while I’m bummed Zeke wouldn’t sleep in the crib because the size of these beds..I’m thankful I have 2 precious children who begged for him to sleep with THEM–and they are ALL THREE sleeping away together. God is really, really, really good. He’s good in the hard–and even though I wanted the hard to go away today–we made it through–and tomorrow is a new day:)

xoxo.

Andrea

Our day started BRIGHT and early as we wanted to get to the panda reserve early. When it gets hot the pandas go in so it’s harder to see them. We left around 7:30…meaning we had to actually wake the kids up–hard for this momma to do! We got there just after 8am and stayed until just before lunch time. Parker and Loo LOVED seeing all the pandas. Zeke on the other hand–he had a hard time following the “Please be quiet” signs:) He is Mr. Mayor and likes to talk to everyone we pass–and he had a thing or two to tell the pandas too.

We got to see the pandas up close. My favorites are the red pandas–that look like a mix between a panda and a fox. We got to get pretty close to the cubs while the bigger red pandas were above in the trees.

Panda Reserve

It was our first outing together…and there were definitely some sweet connections made even being out and about…

Sweet Connections Today

And while mommy is rarely IN pictures because I’m always behind the camera–I’m thankful Rico Suave grabbed the camera a time or two to grab some sweet mother-son pictures today…

If you have never seen a red panda…here are a couple for you–

Zeke’s favorite thing though today–was either the greenery (he loves picking grass and leaves!) or the Koi!

SO THANKFUL for these 2 troopers!! They have been AMAZING–and have rolled with the punches the entire trip. So thankful for them! They have also made the transition so much smoother for our little man and put him first…before themselves on every occasion.

THEN–we came back for lunch. And this week is our friends kids LAST week of school here in China so their kids only had to go to school a half day today and tomorrow. We met them all at the pool just after lunch and they all swam until 4:30pm. Here’s a game for ya…WHERE’S PARKER??? (Can you find him in this picture?)

Our friends have the sweetest community here–and it’s been so fun to be a part of it this week! We sure are going to miss them!!

AFTER that…we came back and changed the kids–and went to our friends Kadie and Matt’s for dinner. My camera ran out of battery there though–and I realized I left my camera battery AT HOME IN GEORGIA…so unless I find a battery charger–the rest of my pictures from this point on will have to be with my phone! BUMMER huh?? But it’s really all good. Phones take pretty good pictures these days:)

Alright–so momma is off to CRASHHH! This is our last night in our son’s provence and being with all our dear friends who live here:(. So sad to leave!!! We fly out tomorrow night at 7pm–so we are going to just make the most of tomorrow–and then head on over to Guangzhou for the big consulate and medical appointments ahead. Our medical appt is on Saturday morning and our consulate appointment is on Monday morning. THEN we will head to Hong Kong on Tuesday night to fly out early Wednesday morning to begin our journey HOME! Just 5 more days until we sweet our other boys and are all together as a family!! Can’t wait!

Blessings from China!

xoxo,

Andrea

So today started with a little Skype fun with two of my loves on the other side of the world…

Skyping with the Boys

June 5, 2013

I miss these two:(. Only 7 more sleeps until we arrive home and we are finally ALL TOGETHER. Honestly, I could stay here or any where for that matter if all my chicks are with us under the same roof. I’m homesick without the other two with us though. They have spent the last 8 days with my mom and dad–and they made the transfer today to my sister’s. We got to Skype them just before they left which was last night for them–this morning for us. MISS THEM! I know they will have so much fun with my sister and their 3 cousins–but oh my…how I miss them!

Rico Suave took one for the team–and since the Civil Affairs only needed ONE of us to come to the office today–Rico Suave went down. I stayed here with the other 3 and we even added one–had a little friend over to play with Loo-bear. Rico got home around noon–and then he headed out on a little adventure with Parker and Laney on the streets while I stayed here with Zeke for nap time.

Here are a few pictures from our morning before we got going for the day…

Day 8: Our morning

Zeke woke up around 3:30pm–so we headed off for our own little street adventure:). What could have been a 10 minute sidewalk journey was 25 minutes because he likes to stop and tell EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. we pass–“Ni hao”…followed by “bye-bye” (with lots of waving) and then he seals it by blowing a kiss. I think he might get more attention on the streets here than my blond headed children do even! He is a HAM to say the least.

THEN we went over to another friend’s house for dinner–the Todd family…and had some great fellowship with their sweet family!

Now–this momma is off to crash. Gotta rest up as we are up and at ’em bright and early! We are heading to the Panda Preserve tomorrow–and then heading back after lunch to play with friends!

Blessings and Much Love from the East!

Andrea

I didn’t take my camera with us yesterday to lesson the load as I have 25 extra pounds of sugar on my hip now;).

We went to the Civil Affairs office yesterday. THEN after the Civil Affairs we trekked it across town to go to the notary office. LOTS of driving in a taxi. A few pictures from our morning…

Our Morning

June 4, 2013

The long 30 minute taxi drive home got everyone realllllllly tired…

Day 7: Tuesday {Posting a day late...sloooooow internet:)}

We got home in time for everyone to have a real nap. Zeke and momma took a sweet nap together. AND then we scooted over to our friend’s apartment just next door and had a fun pizza night with their family of 6. The big kids have had a blast playing soccer and dress up with their big kids. Parker told me last night he would even be okay with us moving here:) It’s so fun staying close to our friends and our families getting to do life together this week. Best decision ever to stay in this apartment next to them…and so nice being able to do laundry each night so we’ll go to Guangzhou on Friday with suitcases full of clean clothes.

We got back from our pizza party night around 8:30pm and then we all CRASHED. It was a great day!!!