Back Home!!!

Thank you SO MUCH Everyone who met us at the Airports on our way home!

Curtis, Deneen and little ones, thank you SO MUCH! Sharaya (really,
could you have picked a harder name to spell?!?!) you are AWESOME!!!
You to Ashton! Oh heck, the whole family is awesome!

Alban and Tracy! So glad that you guys were in YVR to come see us!!!
And thanks for the gifts for the kids as well! :-)

So NICE to see famaliar faces once we fought our way through
customs/imagrations. :-)

And to the crew in YOW, Pastor Kim, Trevor, Nat, Debora and Kim, you
ALL are AWESOME!

It was great to see Ping so happy and already so loved by others!

She is going to be such a blessed little girl because of you all!

Now, I'm going to bed. Its 3am Ottawa time, I'm not even sure of the day.

Good night.

And to those on the journey, Good Luck and God Speed.

Now, the rest of the journey begins for us and Ping.

More Pictures, and the Reason Why You Bring A Grandma

This is a bit of a picture dump, one of our guides (Fae, again not her
real name), some of the Olympic Stuff...

But what I really want to touch on here, are Grandmas.

There were a couple of grandparents who came on the trip with us, and
I'd like to just say Thank You for them. Because they quickly became
Grandma and Grandpa for many of the people there.

And they carry these magical purses which can not only carry the
contents of an entire Shoppers Drug Mart, but also have wonderful
common senses which come in handy every once in a while.

Need a fork? Ask grandma... chances are, theres one in the purse.

Need a napkin? Yup, ask Grandma.

Sanitary wipes? Grandma.

Purell (you can NEVER have enough), Grandma.

Class M Weapons Grade Plutonium? Yup, Grandma... she had to dig a
bit, but found it in the bottom of her purse.

Someone to watch the kids? Grandma.

Forgot your coat? Grandpas gotcha covered.

It really takes it back to the old cliche about needing a village to
raise a child... it was an honor to travel with such a wonderful
village on our trip. Everyone (even Uncle Kelly grabbing all the bags
of the belt while we fight through Immigration) was like family -
helping eachother out... dropping other peoples babies on thier
heads... good times... good times.

Adrian (and Son#1) VS the Great Wall

Tour Guide: So there are two sides to the Great Wall. Both are
Great. The Right Side, is challanging. The Left Side is MORE
challange.
Me: Whooo-hooo! Left side! Left Side! If Rob can do it, I'm SO
gonna take the left side!
Son#1: Uh, Dad, are you SURE thats a good idea?
Me: Bah! When I was your age I BUILT walls bigger than this JUST to
climb them! This will be a peice of CAKE!
Son#1: They said its like 4000kms long.
Me: No problem! We can do it!
Son#1: I'm not sure this is a good idea.
Wife: Oh go on with your father, someone is going to have to carry
him back down. I'll go up the Right side with Ping.

... a little while later ...

Me: See! Isn't this FUN!
Son#1: Yea! This is AWESOME!
Me: And we're TOTALLY gonna make it to the top!

... a little whilte later ... again ...

Me: Oh Look! Some stairs! That will make things easier!

... a little whilte later ...

Me: Why are there so MANY darned stairs!
Son#1: I'm gonna KILL who ever built these stairs!
Me: I don't think you can, I'm pretty sure they are dead already.
Son#1: Then I'm gonna dig 'em up, bring em back to life, just so I
can kill them!

... a little while later ...

Me: Go on son! Go one without me! I'm old and weak! You still can
have a full life without me!
Son#1: Sure.
Me: WHAT?! You're not supposed to leave your DYING father! Get back here!

... a little while later ...

Me: Whose silly idea was the LEFT side! I blame you!
Son#1: It was YOUR idea Dad!

... it pretty much went like that for about a 1/2 hour... but we DID
make it to the top, and we DID get the medal for making it.

It was amazing! Just to see the wall! To stand on the Wall! To see
it snake through the mountains... so majestic. Can't wait to go back.

And Today, I made my Daughter Cry...

----- REWIND: 4 or so days -----

But I could NOT have been happier!

I had to run out in the evening, and when I said "good bye" Ping cried
and cried and cried!

I've never been so happy to make one of my children cry before!

Today was filled with random cuddles, a first.

The odd kiss on the hand, a first.

And some open arms to pick her up and carry her, another first.

So today was full of some great first. But I think seeing her cry was
the best 1st so far. Just to know that she is already wanting me that
much, well, it felt kind of good.

Now, her mother cries alot as well, but it seems to be more when I
come home... :-)

Today was a Gooder Day

----- LAST WEEK -----

Look at how cute and innoicent they are when they are sleeping! Oh,
its wonderful!

You wouldnt think that for the first two or three days of our adoption
that she thought it would be a great idea to "not like" Daddy.

Its amazing how often I have heard the term "bu yow!" in the first 72
hours of our adoption.

Its reminding me of something... Oh yes!

Hello Rejection... my old friend. How you been?

All those years and failed attempts of courting my wife are FINIALLY
coming in handy! Yup, after 5 years of getting shot down on a daily
basis, all the experience is finally coming in handy. :-)

I know that Ping needs to try to have at least a little bit of control
in a world where all control and famailarity have been ripped away in
a very short time frame.

Shes getting along GREAT with Kole.
And she lights up and smiles as her Ma ma everytime she enters the room.
But with me, its a "look, but don't touch" relationship right now.

... and sometimes, don't even look. :-)

But thats OK.

I'll wear her down...
I wore her mother down...
I can be very persistent...

I'm also glad that if she had to choose someone to play strange with,
it was me. I woudln't want her to be scared of her mom, or her
siblings.

----- FAST FORWARD TO NOW -----

Now however, all is great. Ping is asking for Ba ba, and holding my
hand, playing on my lap, asking to go for walks...

I'd like to say that I won her over with my wonderful parenting
skills, and charm, maybe with a touch of charisma thrown in... but I
think it may have been the Snickers bar I bought her. :-)

Don't you judge me! :-)

More China Pictures

More pictures.
Notice the carvings on the walls, and doors and such.
Its all so very symbolic.
The carvings are done in stone, brick, wood, and the smaller ones on
display are done in bone.
Amazing stuff!
The carved ball is a "friendship" ball... or happiness ball... or
something. Anyway, its all carved out of one peice of ivory - they
carve it from the inside out. The ball in the picture had something
like 43 layers carved into it... and the can all rotate around,
because they are balls carved within a ball. Its crazy. I don't get
it. But its 43 layers, thin thin thin layers, all decorative layers
as well!

Crazy... how could a county so talented in design and craftsmenship
design something as exquisit as a 43 layer friendship ball, but not
have created a better eating utensil than a CHOP STICK in over 3000
YEARS!

YEAARGH!

On he plus side, I've lost almost 10 pounds this trip...

... can someone please send me a fork?