Sir Edmund Nicholson

This is me at the highest point we could reach of The Great Wall. I was told there was a Starbucks up here. I got news for you--capitalism has not reached this far. I am a 41 year old, balding, slightly pooched, guy who is sweating like a pig. I cannot breathe and my chest is pounding. If I had to make choice, I would rather get hit by a truck, have a kidney stone, and a cystoscopy, and a knee surgey, all at the same time, than climb these steps again. I am heading back down--time me. If I do not blog again in 45 minutes, please call Great Wall 911 and tell them a stinking (literally) American has dropped to his knees somewhere on the Great Wall. Kids, I love you.
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Sir Edmund Nicholson

This is me at the highest point we could reach of The Great Wall. I was told there was a Starbucks up here. I got news for you--capitalism has not reached this far. I am a 41 year old, balding, slightly pooched, guy who is sweating like a pig. I cannot breathe and my chest is pounding. If I had to make choice, I would rather get hit by a truck, have a kidney stone, and a cystoscopy, and a knee surgey, all at the same time, than climb these steps again. I am heading back down--time me. If I do not blog again in 45 minutes, please call Great Wall 911 and tell them a stinking (literally) American has dropped to his knees somewhere on the Great Wall. Kids, I love you.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Tour Day

Today was a big day of tours.  But before I get to that, let me tell you that my prediction came true.  My prediction being that Melissa would be awake before me because she went to sleep so very early.  At about 4:00a.m. she QUIETLY WHISPERS, "Do you mind if I turn a light on and make some coffee because I want to get up at 5:00?"  Or, it was something basically like that.  So, by 6:00a.m. I was in the hotel excercise room watching traditional Chinese opera and desperately searching for something I could understand.  Which lead me to CNN China, which lead to the sports segment, which lead to the "World Play of the Day".  Imagine my shock when the announcer indicated the "World Play of the Day" involved Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays!  The twist, however, was that Ben hit a foul ball down first base and cracked a lady in the noggin.  To add to the drama, they showed Ben then hitting another foul ball down first base and the same lady fielded it like a professional!  To cap it all off, she then stopped another line drive from Carl Crawford shortly thereafter.  So, in reality, they announced that she was the "World Play of the Day".  See what I have to write about when Cole, Shelby, Piper, Bill and Linda are not with us?

First, let me say that the buffet breakfast was as fabulous as ever.  Even though we are in a totally different city, the meal really did not change.  Or, perhaps I cannot change.  I chased a bowl of cereal (oats, bran, sunflower seeds, raisins, no milk) with white toast, 4 pieces of bacon (limp), a side of fried rice, steamd carrots and celery, and a bulbous green vegetable of unknown name and origin.  Massive amounts of pineapple juice and cofee as thick as maple syrup--which was good because my head was pounding from lack of caffeine and lack of sleep.

We then spent the day on tours.  Just imagine Melissa (or little Bill as I think of her) networking with every family in from our agency and every family from an entirely different agency.  By the end of the day, everyone knew who the super-friendly gal was and I actually heard one lady refer to me as the "quiet one--off to the side there".  I am not totally positive, but I think she already has us travelling to California to visit new acquaintances.  We spent the whole day touring with our group, starting in the Hutong Village.  The village is really some of oldest existing living quarters in Beijing, basically 8 dwellings surrounding a common area with a well (think of a pound sign).  The fun part was riding a rickshaw to get in-and-around the village.  Our guide was number 0231 and I am pretty sure he could have dropped Lance Armstrong like hot potato.  We then made a brief stop at a silk shop where silk worms at work, thread being produced, quilts being made, and lots of bedding, carpets, and clothing on sale.  From there, we had a traditional lunch and dance show for one of the ethnic minorities (Dai, I think).  Food was good, dance was okay, and highly confident the lead girl dancer was not a girl--no girl has abs that solid.  From there we headed to Tiannamen Square (political capital) and the Forbidden City (think Mulan).  Someone pegged our day at 8 miles of walking.  It was good, but we are very tired.

Right now, we cannot read any of your posts.  So, please do not think we are ignoring you.

 

Safe and Simple Travels!

Just a quick update to let you know we have arrived safely in China. We arrived at our hotel-Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing around 2:00pm China time (about 1:00am Illinois time). So, we pretty much been awake for almost 24 hours straight. As I write, it is now 9:00pm in China (8:00am in llinois). I am feeling good and Melissa has been asleep for a couple hours. This, is not a good thing, as she will likely wake me up in a few hours wanting "to talk"--as if the three words I already gave her on the 14 hour flight are somehow insufficient for her emotional tank. We have met a few families that are part of our agency's group--some from St. Lous, some from Mt. Prospect, some from Conneticut. Tomorrow, most all of us will tour Beijing-Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square, Hutong Village, Olympic Birds Nest, which should be fun.

Be patient with the blog. It will be "boring" compared to prior trip because Cole, Shelby, Piper, Bill, and Linda provided most of the writing entertainment and sadly they are not here this time. Also, apparently China has blocked Blogspot, so the updates will be brief and potentially without photos. I do not think even NiteCruzer can solve this one.

Love to all.
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Our Trip to China 2!

Well, we are counting down the days. Wednesday Sept. 1 we leave for 2 weeks to China to bring Mack home! I, Missy, have so many mixed emotions! I'm so excited to visit China again. I'm so excited to spend this time with Dave. I'm so excited to add another member to our family! But, I don't want to leave everybody behind, I'm nervous about going so far away for so long and WHAT our we thinking adding another person to our family!!!!! With all that said, God has blessed our family so much that we feel compelled to share our lives with another that He has brought to us supernaturally. (through the miracle of adoption!) Truly we feel Luke will benefit growing up with another brother who shares his ethnicity, and our family has embraced adoption and cleft as part of our lives so here we go again!

Wednesday morning Dave and I leave Peoria and will return the 16th of September. Our 4 kids will be staying with Grandma! We will miss them all so much on this trip. Cole is just starting his Sr. year, Shelby Soph. year, Piper 7th grade and Luke is 3 with many speech appts. while we are gone! Grandma Linda and I will be sitting down tonight to go over the calendar! I know they will do fine, but wow, it could get interesting!
Dave will be documenting everything for us and we will keep the pictures coming. Please pray for us as we journey.
Aug. 23rd the first day of school this year, this was what my devotional JESUS CALLING read,
"Entrust your loved ones to ME; release them into my protective care. They are much safer with me than in your clinging hands. If you let a loved one become an idol in your heart, you endanger that one-as well as yourself. Remember Abraham and Issac. I took Isaac to the very point of death to free Abraham from son-worship. I detest idolatry, even in the form of parental love. When you release loved ones to Me, you are free to cling to My hand. As you entrust others into My care, I am free to shower blessings on them. My Presence will go with them wherever they go, and I will give them rest. This same Presence stays with you, as you relax and place your trust in Me. Watch to see what I will do."
This was so appropriate for the first day of school, or sending one off to college, or worrying about a new driver and specifically in my case leaving kids behind for 2 weeks.
When we talk about the dynamics of our family changing I say to the kids, "God is faithful". I'm reminding myself when the human insecurities creep in that My God is Faithful!
"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we can ask or imagine" Eph. 3:20

Missy

Mack - 13 months!

Introducing Mack-March 2010

Since I wrote in November a lot has happened. Duh! And really I wouldn't even know how to give a lot of details, so the short list is Christmas, my brother's wedding, gymnastics meets, volleyball games, swim meets, Dave and Cole and Piper's birthdays and our spring break! But, most importantly we were "matched" with our 5th blessing. A little boy, from China!!!!! I wrote that we began our second adoption last spring and Dec. 16th we received our referral. It was the day before my brother's wedding!

His name is Guo Yu Hui. He was born Feb. 9, 2009. He was born with bilateral cleft lip and palate. It was corrected on Oct. 9, 2009. On Dec. 16th we accepted him into our family and we are waiting to find out more information on him. We named him Mack Andrew Nicholson. He will be 2 1/2 years younger that Luke!

We are waiting to see when we will be able to go and get him! Hoping that it will be June. We have Luke potty trained and out of the crib waiting the arrival of "baby maaa" this is Luke's interpretation. Need to work on the hard consonants!

We have asked for post surgery pictures, but have not seen anything. As soon as we have more information we will post it! Please pray for the details as you think about us. Dave and I will most likely make this trip ourselves. It is exciting and overwhelming thinking about working out all the details.