Scrapbooking!!!!!

I wanted to let you all know what I have been up to since we got home. I gathered all the pictures from Connie and Devera, and printed the ones I wanted. I will tell you that I printed 350 pictures, do you think I have enough to finish my scrapbook. Maybe I should go back get some more, hmm, maybe just a couple. Well I started my scrapbook on Thursday and worked on it from 8:30 am ~ 8:00 pm. I got 16 pages done..... I still have so much to do on it. I joked to a friend of mine that I would probably spend more money on the scrapbook, then I did on the actual trip. Well I cant wait to share the book with everyone. Hopefully I will have it done by next week. Thanks for checking in with me. Talk to you all soon.

I'm Back

I am feeling so much better. I have had a week to recooperate and I feel like I am back on track. I have not taken a afternoon nap in 5 or 6 days. Yeah! Not much has happen in my home, except the usual, laundry cleaning house, taking kids to school, and back into the sports routine. I was really surprised when I was talking to a friend and telling her that I had been going since we got home, everyday except Thursday, the day after we got home. I am really surprised that I am back on track.

Well I have some homecoming pictures to share with everyone. What a great welcome to come home to, enjoy the pictures.

My sweet Kaylee, waiting for her mommy. It wont be long now.

David waiting for me and the rest of the group.

Ashley and Pastor Brian waiting also, I know we were excited to see them.

Kenzie waiting on mommy, daddy, sissy, and bubba.

Finally here we come, and boy oh boy are we ready to hug our families and friends.

The moment we had been waiting on for 3 weeks.

I had to get my hug from Kuyler too.

Oh Ladena I can't wait to catch you up on everything that happen.

No problems with a bonding issue with the siblings. Kaeleb took to his bubba's and sissy's real fast. Laughing and smiling, and was eager to play with them.

How sweet, Kolton giving his sweet Kambry a big, long awaited kiss.

Even Kaylee was able to hold Kaeleb, and had the sweetest touch of the face. Oh how sweet.

Ashley and Kuyler taking in it all, oh yeah and helping with the luggage. We only had 10 pieces of luggage. Did we tell you that our limit was 10........

After many hugs, smiles, kisses, we had to catch up on everything. I am not sure what we are talking about, but I am sure that it was important.

Last but certainly not least......... Connie, we did it! We are here, back with our families, and on solid American ground. WOW, I love this picture it really does show how happy we were to be home, and how much we missed everyone. Thanks again to everyone that was there, to greet us. And Devera thank you also for capturing the sweet embraces, laughs, and reunion with all.

Hello from Ringwood Oklahoma

We are so glad to be home, and on American soil. What a blessing to arrive at the airport, from a very long day of traveling, to a wonderful welcome home party. My kids ran to me when our eyes met, and hugged me so tight. I had waited for that moment for a very long time, in fact I couldn't even eat a very welcomed McDonald's on the plane because I was so excited to see them. They had welcoming signs, and many smiling faces. Connie and I were also handed a very special gift that our girls had made especially for us. How sweet! All I can say is that when I held my family for the first time in 3 weeks I was shacking so bad, they could even feel me shacking. We visited in the lobby of the airport, and caught up with our friends, and smiled and laughed at Kaeleb when he lit up and shared his personality with his family for the first time. Yep you guessed it, he was a hit. His siblings were in love instantly, as so was everyone else. We arrived home after a 1 hour and 45 minute drive around 1:00 am. No time for jet lag to set in yet. I went straight to bed and slept until 11:00 am the next morning. I sorted souvenirs for family and friends and then I was done for the day. I could not fight it any more around 3:00 in the afternoon. I took an hour and half nap and then awoke to a steak and potatoes dinner. Literally steak and potatoes. YUM...... I wen to bed around 10:00 and awoke around 3:00 am in the morning, but forced myself to go back to sleep. Finally at 6:45 am I was up for the day. Connie told me to fight the nap in the afternoon and so far that has not happen. I wake up and then realize that I just feel asleep, no control at all.
Well I can't begin to share my appreciation to my family and to Connie and Clayton for allowing me join them in the incredible journey. My God has given me so many blessings, to many to tell, but yet I give Him all the glory and honor for this trip of a lifetime. I thank the Lord for the experience, memories, China culture, and the many friends that I made on the incredible journey. THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I will post more blogs later, when I can think more clearly. Praise be to my Father, for I love Him. He is awesome.

Farewell China!

Ok, this is it..... The last blog from China. In the words of Connie it is bittersweet. I am so excited to be coming home, and yet so sad that we are leaving China. I can't believe that the trip is coming to an end. I met so many wonderful people, and the cutest kids ever. We have experienced so much of China, and I am sure that there is so much more to see. (like the rest of that mall). :) I am packed and ready to go at 7:30 pm, I know hard to believe huh..... I surprised myself when I was able to get everything in two suitcases. Maybe I should do some more shopping! Connie and Clayton are packing as we speak, and are very close to being done themselves. When you are so eager to come home it is hard to be organized, but Connie told me that when you get home, it is so hard to figure all the gifts out and then you have to figure out where they are. I have so many wonderful treasures, and can't wait to share all the memories ( I do have 906 pictures to bore everyone with) with everyone of you..... I end with this, please pray for Kaeleb, Kambry, the flights, me ~ still not feeling well, smooth travels, that customs is easy as possible, Clayton and Connie ~ traveling with a new child, and that no one hurts themselves while we are running to hug our families. lol :)

Thank you so much for checking the blog each and everyday, I loved hearing from you all and so looked forward to checking to see if I had messages. I love you all and I will see you soon.

For the last time:

Good Bye from Guangzhou,

April

Almost Home!!!!!!!

Oh my we are almost to the moment when we leave for home. Not much to share today except that we went back to the mall and shopped some more. We were there for about 2 hours and shopped our hearts out. Their prices are so cheap here, I mean you can buy kids shoes for about $6.00 a pair. Connie bought Kaeleb shorts for $2.60 a pair. Connie found some really cute stuff, and of course I found a really cute necklace set for only $6.00. We are thinking about going back tomorrow to shop some more but we are not sure how much luggage room we have left..... lol We were suppose to take a dinner cruise tonight, but we decided to stay on the Island and just finish buying some last minute souvenirs, oh yeah and luggage. We didn't take any pictures today so I will just post some really cute ones from other days and share all about them. We have mixed emotions about the next 36 hours, we are so close to coming home and yet we are so close to the trip of a lifetime being over. Well I will treasure this trip forever, and I thank Clayton and Connie for putting up with me for 3 weeks, not many people could do that. I appreciate their special way of making me feel like family and letting me be such a big part of the entire process. Connie and Clayton may you be blessed beyond measure for your love, obedience, patience, and service. I have been so blessed to see this adoption process unfold before my eyes, seeing them love on a special boy, experience China to its fullest, and having such a wonderful family that would allow me to do all of this. Thank you David, Ashley and Kaylee for everything, your love, support, encouragement, and for just letting me be here. But all the glory must go to the Father above, for He first showed us love, and all to follow. My God is so awesome, and I give Him the glory and love for everything.

The beautiful waterfall in the White Swan Hotel lobby.

The view from behind the waterfall.

My hotel room, or should I say my residence for the last 2 weeks.

Trying to fill daddy's shoes

The Shamian Island walking park through the shop's.

A picture of traffic, and this is not a bad one. They are usually alot closer to the other car then this.

Rebecca and Kambry having tea.

I have enjoyed my time in China, and thank the Lord for this experience. We will soon be home, love April, Connie, Clayton, Kambry and Kaeleb.

Guangzhou Zoo

Hudsen, Max, Kaeleb, Emma, Jada and Maddie

Well first I want to share with you our morning, we started as usual with breakfast, and then at 9:30 we meet to take the famous red couch picture ~ this is the picture that every adoption group takes when staying at the White Swan. There is a red couch that they all put the adopted child on and take the picture of all of them together. There was many taken and we manage to get a few good ones, before we had crying babies and two little girls on the end appearing to start a fight between the two of them, not really but they were diffidently checking each other out. Then we headed over the the other famous waterfall and took a group picture ~ thats quite a group. There is 6 families represented in this picture, 7 including me. Of these 6 families, 3 have adopted before, and three are brand new adoptive parents. Two of the families have come with their entire family. Now off to our next destination, can you believe this group of 23 people going to the zoo and staying together as one group.

We went from a 7 passenger van to a 24 passenger bus. Crazy huh, we were so use to being the only one that it seems very weird to us, but we like the change. It is nice being on the Island and seeing people you know or at least know some what. Anyways Rebecca had our zoo visit down to a T. She knew exactly what we would want to see, and said she was friends with all the animals because she sometimes visits the zoo twice a week. Everyone had a great time and then we went to lunch at a local dumpling restaurant. Great more extra pounds.........

The beautiful Tiger

The zoo had the neatest exhibit, the goldfish exhibit. There were many fish tanks with different styles and sizes of fish. They had many different tanks, small and large. They even had squares of glass on the ground that had gold fish in them too. The kids really enjoyed this, plus they got to walk about, so that may have been the cool part, who knows. Kambry was diffidently intrigued by them.

Kaeleb enjoyed them also. He liked to hit the glass.

The typical American black bear.

Yes you guessed it, a Giraffe

At this zoo you were able to get much better shots of the animals then at home. We got lucky when the elephant came out. Now I am sure you are saying ok how boring, we have all those animals at home but what China does have a few animals that we don't have in the states.

This is called a Panda Bear Goldfish.

These are the Golden Hair Monkey, Rebecca said we don't have these in the USA.

Of course we could not go without seeing the famous Panda Bear.

What did I tell you, you don't need a double stroller in China. The cool thing about this picture is that this is the first time that Kaeleb had sat in a stroller. In other good news, he also sat in the high chair through two meals today. WOO HOO Kaeleb!!!!!!!!

Rebecca and Kaeleb watching the elephant.

It was a great day, and we had beautiful weather this morning. Tomorrow we go back to the huge mall, and Rebecca told us to leave our husbands and kids at the hotel. She also told us she would take us to a luggage shop after we shopped. I think Clayton is really scared. Don't worry Clayton, I will watch Connie, but there is no one to watch me. We are also going to take a dinner cruise tomorrow night with the group. I have been told that it is wonderful and the food is good. Tomorrow morning is the Consulate Appt. Clayton and Connie don't actually go to this appt. but we are to wait in our room until Rebecca calls.

Being Sunday we really missed our church family today. It is so great to have a church that supports us and prays for us daily. Thank you Lord for so many blessings. We are so close to coming home, we are really ready to come home and are counting down the days. Blessing to all! Good night from Guangzhou. Love April, Connie, Clayton, Kambry, and Kaeleb.

Our Day of Miracles

Thank you so much for checking the blog everyday, and leaving me comments. We love hearing from you and it gives us the feeling of being at home. To my calculations we have 3 days left including today. It is Sunday for us, and today we are headed to the zoo, I will post pictures of that later this afternoon. What I do want to share with you is something very special that happen yesterday. I will tell the story to the best of my abilities. A few days ago a girl ~ about 8 years old ~ found us eating in the hotel one morning, she asked her adoptive parents if she could come over and say "Hi" to Kaeleb, she proceeded and talked to him, played with him and before I knew it had him out of Claytons arms and on the floor touching him and playing some more. We all thought it was very special for Kaeleb, because she could talk to him and he understood. She then was pulled away from him by her mom, and they went on. Yesterday we seen her and her family in the breakfast room again and she immediately lit up. Her mom said "She only lights up when he is around" and then asked "where is she from", she told us that she was from Foshan, Nanhai. Oh my to our surprise she was from the orphanage that Kaeleb was from. No wonder she lights up, as Connie said she probably helped take care of him on the weekends. This is a God given miracle to the little girls family and the Johnson's. The chances of this is very slim, and here it happen. The two families have taken information and plan on keeping the two of them connected through out their lives. This was so touching that is brought Connie to tears, and gave me and the "H" family mom goose bumps. I thank the Lord for giving them this connection, and bringing it our attention so that these two children could continue to grow up together.

Now for the rest of the day, Connie, Clayton, and Kaeleb left this morning for the medical exam ~ all is good. Kaeleb didn't like the whole experience but this was good for Kaeleb and mom, because it gave Connie a time to consul him, and so she did. She would never have let that moment slip by...... Then that afternoon, she went to a special room, and filled out paperwork. I went for awhile to experience it also, but Kaeleb didn't cooperate for the entire time, so I left with him. That was pretty special to me because Kaeleb cuddled up and fell asleep in my arms for his afternoon nap. "OH HAPPY DAY" I then chilled and watch a movie. (Which was much welcomed because I was not feeling the best).

Now on Friday, we had 4 more families join us at the White Swan, and last night we were able to have dinner with the entire group. As Connie said the adoptive children ages range from 9 mths to 3 years. I was able to get a picture of the group, and I got some closer pictures of the little girls that were down by us. We really enjoyed the time with the other families. The dinner was wonderful, and the fellowship was really enjoyed All six families are going to the zoo today, and Kambry and I are so excited.

This is what Connie ordered for dinner. It was called something like Fried Rice with Seafood. We all decided that the presentation was really spectacular.
This is Jada and her momma.

This is Emma and her aunt.

Is this not the cutest picture. This is the "H" family children. My thought is who need a double stroller in China, not us...... There is no way any of our kids would do this with a smile upon their face. LOL :)

Well I almost forgot the other cool thing that happen the other day, this was another big moment for Connie, EVERYONE CHEER, Kaeleb said "MAMA", and since then has said "DADA" also. Brings tears to your eyes huh...... So many wonderful things have happen over the last few days, PRAISE OUR LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD.

Good bye from Guangzhou......

Love April, Connie, Clayton, Kambry and Kaeleb

Declare among nations His honour, Among all the peoples His wonders.

Psalms 96:3

Kambry's Special Day!!!!!!!

Boy oh boy did we have fun today. We went to a Children's Amusement Park. I could not tell you the name of it, but it was just like the kiddy rides at the OKC fair. This picture to the left is so cute, we will call it "April preparing Kambry for Six Flags". Fun Fun Fun. Well at least I will say it was fun. We rode many rides, and each ride cost about 5 yuan per person. Kambry started every ride unsure and by the end was having fun. We only rode one ride that kinda scared us, as much as one would at this park. We (The "H" family mom, daughter and new little boy along with Kambry and I) boarded the ride and much to our surprise the boat not only went back and forth but it also spinned around as it went back and forth. Whew, glad that one is over. We then, after our time was almost over looked at the requirements for the ride, It read " This ride is unfit for the psycopathic, the hypertension, the heart attack, and drunk." LOL The kids really were not sure about the ride, and the little "H" boy was scared to death. The "H" mom and I were taken back, and Connie said that it looked like I was about to loose my breakfast. Notice in the picture does say "Spinning Viking Rider". We just didn't see that until after the ride was over.
We were here for about an hour and half, while our "Rebecca" left to go to the Notary Office, to finish paperwork for the Johnson's and the "H" family.
Kambry and I were riding buddies, and by this picture I was the one having all the fun. I guess you could say that I was hamming it up. We rode the train, drove some cars, bumber cars, carousel twice, and the scary boat ride. We wont say that it was the highlight of the trip, but Kambry and I had alot of fun. We then went to McDonald's and had a much better experience this time. We got regular cheeseburgers, fries and a coke. It tasted just like home. I enjoyed the real tasting cheeseburger. Anyways enjoy the pictures below, I will try to explain them to you. I might post more later, since this was so filled with info. Love you all, April, Connie, Clayton, Kambry, and Kaeleb.




Me having way to much fun.....

















This is all of us, Connie, Kaeleb, Kambry, Me, "H" family daddy and daughter on the slowest train ever......














Kambry and I on the bumber cars, we decided that we were the freak show at the park, because as we rode this ride all the Chinese people gathered around to watch us, go figure.

















Kambry enjoy the cheapest ride in the park. She thought this one really fun, we still could not get Kaeleb to sit it and ride.

Connie and Kaeleb on the Carousel, Kaeleb seemed to enjoy the ride. But Connie opt out to sit on the sideline and watch us ride the rides to come.

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Now this is Rebecca, she is the life of the party, and she love the kids so much. The "H" family little girl even calls her "her best friend" She is so accommodating to all of our needs, even if it is not adoption related.