We haven't been able to add to our blog spot while we were in China. Something happened that disabled us for being able to log onto the blogspot. We have however finally arrived in Los Angeles. Although it was a long flight, 12.5 hours, it wasn't that bad. Mia did very well except that she wouldn't let Sherry hold her on the plane at all. That meant that I had to hold her for the entire flight. Even while she was sleeping! Anyway, we are checked into our hotel and Nate is staying with us for the night. We are ready to get home and see everyone. These pictures are from on the plane, in the airport, and at American Consulant, (that is the picture with Mia holding onto her visa). Can't wait to see everyone! Good nite for Los Angeles.

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Mia taking a bubble bath. She is finally getting to be okay with taking a bath, especially since I let her bring all of the toys in with her. Please keep us in your prayers, Sherry and I are both not feeling well. Mia on the other hand is getting better. We are closing in on the end of the china journey, only 3 more days! I am ready to come home, as I know Sherry is also. Boys, we miss you very much and can't wait to see you! Will write more with more pics tomorrow. Bye from China.

This is the look that everyone needs to get used to. This is the look you get when you try to talk to Mia and she doesn't know you. She has eyes that can be as sweet as candy or cut like glass.

This is a picture of a huge ship that was handcraved out of Jade. It is in the lobby of our hotel.

More beautiful landscaping and garden areas. This is all along the streets. They even have landscaping like this along all of their interstates. They seem to take great pride in making sure the landscaping looks beautiful.

This is a picture of on of the streets in the area that we are staying. This is a kindof garden area that is in the median of the roads. The area we are staying in is an island. It is very European style and very beautiful. It is considered a tourist area. Our guide told us the way back, this area was ruled by the british and then the french. The hotel we are staying in, the White Swan, is extremely nice. This is the hotel that houses all of the american presidents, other countries politicans, and famous people. We have been eating most of our meals at a restaurant called "Lucy's Bar and Grill". It is the only "western food" around.

Wore out after a long day! Mia still doesn't like to goto bed, just like Haden! But she is finally sleeping alot better. She doesn't like to use a pillow, probably never used one before.

Hello today was our first full day in Guanghou and it rained off and on all day so really didnt get out much. Our guide wanted to do our medical visit and visa photos today so we were up early to get started. Mia doesnt like to be touched by strangers so she had a rought morning, she was the only baby who cried for the visa photo what should have taken 5min took almost 30min. She gives the meanest looks to people when they get to close then she looks up at us and smiles she something special. As you can see all that crying wore her out she took a really good nap. Then we also filled out our visa papers so our guide will take them Tuesday to the U.S. Consulate for us and make sure everything alright so we can get Mia's visa and head home. The trip is starting to get alittle long and we are missing our family at home.

We bought a stroller today for 50bucks and Mia loves it everytime we stop she gets mad she wont even sit in a high chair to eat she stays in the stroller.

What a smile!!!!

Mia is feeling better but now Michael and I have colds, I think its the same as she had. We started our antibiotic today Mom I gave Michael the three day stuff from the black market and I took the real stuff from my doctor so we will see if it works faster. Did I mention its Shannons birthday and she is the best sister ever and I can only hope to parent my children as well as she does in fact she is in the process of writing a book on parenting is called "Front Porch".

Abby Im so sorry to hear about Hannah ear I hope she is feeling better.

Hopefully the rain will let up and we can get out of the hotel room it seems to get smaller as the days go by. Thanks for the comments it fun to read them and we appreciate your prayers alot they must be working Micheal and I are still speaking.(ha ha) Cant wait to see everyone when we get home and see how Mia enjoys her new family. Good Night...

Happy Birthday Shannon!
we miss you so much and wish you were here with us right now.
You are such a good mother, I know I could use your help with parenting. Your children are so good and such a blessing you are truly an example to follow. If you have any time when we return home please come over and help me with Mia. Your wisdom and guidence would be truly appreciated. Again happy birthday!

Your Loving Sister Sherry

Well we made it to our last city. I included a picture of Mia and mom on Mia's first ever plane ride. She did so much better than we could have imagined. The only hard part was playing with her for the entire flight! She demands constant attention. One of the other pics is of her running in the airport. She was happy to get off the plane! We are checked into our hotel. It is extremely nice! Like a Ritz-Carlton compared to the last place. We will be off in the morning for medical exams and pictures for her visa. Then we will be touring to the town. We will send more pics tomorrow. Boys, we will call you early in morning, which will be your night. Good nite from China! Mike and Sherry, aka "Mom and Dad"

Well we on our last day in NanChang. It rained all day yesterday, that is why no post with pics. We spent most of the day at the hotel. Today we went to Walmart. I included some pics from this adventure. Everywhere you go here, no matter what the time, it is always crowded. This Walmart is much like ours except for the pictures I have included. One of the pics is of pig tails, one of chicken feet with peppers, and one of duck feet. I think we would have a hard time finding these in our local Walmart. I included a picture of Mia on her first of many many trips to Walmart. The rest of the pics of Mia are in the room. No matter what mood she is in when we are out, she brightens up and gets very happy to be back at the room. I think it may seem like a safe place for her. Even though she likes being in the room, as you can see in some of the pics, she still throws tantrums like a normal 2 yr old. She is a very stubborn little girl. In these pics of her crying, she wanted some bread that she was eating, but didn't want to walk 3 steps to get it. Instead, she stood there and cried for about 5 minutes. Good thing she will have brothers to bring her everything, b/c she likes things delivered right to her hand! She is calling both of us by Baba and Mama, and is even starting to listen when we call her name "Mia" rather than her chinese name. We are packing up to leave for our last destination in China, "Guangzhou". Our flight leaves in a couple of hours. We are going to miss our guide, Cindy. She has been great! The other couples on our floor in the hotel are alltogether in a group with one guide. They are very jealous that we have had our own "personal" guide. I hope that our next guide will be a good and patient as Cindy has been. Alex, we are going to get Cindy to write Mia's chinese name for us so that you can get it tatooed on you. However, we asked Mia and she said that you can't get it on your back, she wants you to get it on your right butt cheek. Ancient chinese tradition! We hope all is well at home and work, and again thank everyone for your help. This trip has been an unbelievable experience for us, especially Mia. She is truly a God send! You'll are going to absolutely LOVE her. She is so much fun and so very sweet. I am proud to be able to raise her as our own, one of our family! We will try to post more tonight when we get to the other hotel. Bye for now!