Sunday, February 15, 2009

Went to Elena's Orphanage

It was a 3 hour drive one way to Elena's orphanage - I was sooo nervous that Elena might want to go to the nannies and not want to come back to me - but that was not the case - you could tell that we have definitely made a connection with our little girl.

When we arrived at Elena's orphanage - they set off a long strip of fireworks to celebrate Elena coming home to visit. They hung a sign that said Welcome Guo Le Jing Come Back Home again - which they gave to us when we were leaving.

We took lots of pictures:

This is us walking into the building where Elena lived. There were only two rooms of babies that we were able to visit.


This is the Nanny that took care of Elena at her Orphanage.


Here is Elena's crib - this is where she spent her nights from the time she was born til the day she was introduced to us!!


These pictures are of some of Elena's crib mates. We took pictures of all of the babies that were in both of the rooms that they showed us!! It truly looks as though these babies are being well taken care of but now I can tell why they don't roll over. When the babies are in their cribs - they are tucked in so tight that they can only lay on their backs - they go from the crib to the walkers but that is about all we could see. We could definitely tell that Elena's nanny truly interacts with the babies in her room - and Elena is definite proof of that!!












All of these babies are SO adorable - we were told that a group of 9 babies would be joining their families in the next couple of weeks - of course some of the babies that have been matched are in foster care - so we are not sure which of these babies have found a home.

A picture with the Directors and Nannies with all of us!!


The entire experience was very exhusting but we are really glad we did it!

Bobby - we took lots of video of all of the different Motorcycle companies that were located on the way to Elena's orphanage - although - I think they are truly more like scooter distributers - the motorcycles that you and your brother have would run circles around anything they are selling here and I am sure they are twice as loud - we can't wait to show you some of the videos. We miss you both very much!! Love You!

Friday, February 13, 2009

We finally have our little Princess

It's so hard to believe that we finally have our little Princess!! We arrived in Nanchang on Sunday and our guide Maggie told us that our baby will be brought up to our room on Monday around 11:00...Talk about a long day/night...

This is our little one being brought into our room...She was in layers and layers - the directors basically dropped Elena off and left. Maggie stayed and we completed a bunch of paperwork but all we wanted to do was unbundle our little one. When she arrived she was sweaty, smelly, crying, had a slight fever and a runny nose but all we knew was that this little bundle was ours...


Elena arrived in our room @ 11:30 and we needed to be back out the door by 2:00 - so in that time we fed, bathed and dressed her and as soon as her belly was content - so was She...she was a completely different child - happy and all smiles!!

This is the first picture of the 3 of us...I really wish the boys were here so we could include them as well!! As you can see - she is a very happy baby!!

Adventures in China

Wow, it's hard to believe that we are finally here!!

We left for China on Thursday, 2/5 and arrived in Beijing on Friday (2/6). We met our first guide Amelia - she was GREAT - we had basically 1 day to see all of Beijing and I think we did a GREAT job... We went to the Forbidden City - it was unbelievable!!

We went to the GREAT Wall and Bob & I climbed up to the 3rd tower...Murry stayed back and took lots of pictures!! It was definitely a challenge - the steps vary in size and because I don't have the longest legs it was a lot of work to step up and even on the way down.

We went to a Jade factory, a Silk factory and had lunch in yet another tourist spot...basically you go to these stops in hopes that you buy stuff.. it was great to see. In addition to all of that - Murry and I ventured out a couple of times on our own. The last night before we left Beijing we ended up at the Pearl Market and we had a GREAT time - we ended up running into a very unique individual - her name was Charity and we spent some time shopping together - this is the place where you go and NEVER pay the price that is listed - always negotiate - we had an Excellent time!!

Beijing was AWESOME!! So I am really glad we went before our adventure of meeting our daughter began...Now I know you are all waiting to hear about our Meeting day...well - I will post that as soon as the pictures finish downloading...

Bye for now...Bobby & Chance if you are Reading this - we LOVE you and miss you very much...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

We have a date!!

Well, we finally have a date when we will have our daughter in our arms!!

Here is our itinerary:

2/5 Leave for China
2/6 Arrive in Beijing
2/7 Visit the Great Wall & the Forbidden City (we will have the final on this soon)
2/8 Leave for Nanchang
2/9 We finally meet Elena!!!
2/10 the Adoption becomes official!!
2/11 We visit her orphanage - I so can't wait to see where our little girl has spent the beginning of her life!
2/12 Visit the Temple of Tengwang Ge
2/13 Pick up Elena's passport
2/14 Leave for Guangzhou
2/15 Visit Guangzhou Xiangjiang Safari Zoo
2/16 Elena has her Medical visit and gets her Visa Photo
2/17 Visit The Six Banyan Temple
2/18 Our American Consulate appointment
2/19 Go to the American Consulate for taking oath and to pick up Elena's Visa!
2/20 We leave for home!!!

Me & Murry are excited - Bob is getting a bit more nervous as the date gets closer!!

This is going to be the LONGEST I have EVER been away from Bobby & Chance - I think this will be the HARDEST part of the entire trip!! I know they will be fine - we have so many people that will help watch over them - its just ME missing them that will be HARD!! The good thing is - is we are going to try to stay in contact with them via Video - hopefully it will work!! And although Melissa isn't my daughter - I fell as though she might as well be - I will also miss talking to her - how is she going to be able to survive without me (just kidding) I know she will be fine as well - but 2 weeks is a VERY long time!!

Wow, what an experience this will be!! Our parents as well as the rest of our friends and family are EAGERLY awaiting the arrival of our little ELENA - and FINALLY we can say without a DOUBT when that will be!! Hopefully, I will be able to continue to blog while we are in CHINA so please stay tuned!!

Love to all and Thank you SO much for all of your support!!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Waiting to travel...

Well, its official - we received our Travel Approval on 1/21 and we already have our Consulate appointment for 2/18. We are just waiting for our agency's contact to finalize the travel itinerary so we can book our flights!! The best part about this is it appears as though we will finally get to hold Elena in our arms on either the 9th or the 10th!! I can't begin to tell you how excited we are!!

By the looks of things we may be traveling 2/5 - in the meantime I am scrambling to get things done at home and at work - I can't wait to finally have this trip booked, our bags packed and on our way to meet our baby!!

Elena - Mommy, Daddy & Aunt Murry are coming!! We will be there soon!! We LOVE YOU!!

Monday, December 29, 2008

We have a Daughter!!!

We are SO very excited to introduce our daughter!

Elena MaryElizabeth Davis
Chinese given name: Guo Le Jing
Born April 13, 2008
From: Guixi SWI, Jiangxi Province



Words can't discribe the emotions that we have gone through today!! But seeing our little one's face makes this wait so worth every minute! Now we are on a new count down! We have now moved on to the waiting to hold you stage!!

Our dreams are finally becoming a reality!!

We LOVE you Elena and can't wait to have you with us!!

Friday, December 26, 2008

...Lots to catch up on!!

So much has happened in the past few months - so I am going to do brief catch up:


Bobby took 1st in Sheet Metal for the State in Skills USA and his cousin Sam took 1st in practical nursing!


Chance & Lizzy had a GREAT track season!


Bobby graduated from High School!! We ARE SO VERY PROUD OF HIM!!


Chance's end of the school year/birthday party!


We did Relay for life again this year - it's such a touching experience to be there and support this great cause!


Chance joined the swim team and is group took 1st in the boys 11-12 year old division!

We had a GREAT time on vacation @ the beach this summer!!


Chance did the National Guard camp again this year with a bunch of his cousins - each color was a different division - as you can see we had all of the divisions covered!


Luke's first day of school - I was so excited to be there - I remember taking his mom (my niece) on her first day!!


Chance's 1st day of school - his books weigh almost as much as he does!!


The 3 Amegos...they decided to dress the same for a wedding we went to - the wedding was fun but seeing them together as they all walked in was priceless!!

My friend Nicole & I worked on our company picnic - here is a picture of Nicole with her family & me with mine

Mom & Dad on their 50th Wedding Anniversay! They didn't want an anniversary party so we elected to do a paint party instead and we painted their living room & entry way - it turned out really nice but the best part was - all of us kids worked on it together!

Peter, Chance & Charlie - this was Peter's first time staying with us! We were very lucky to be able to host Peter at our house for a month while his forever family was being found!!


Our group of Trick or Treaters! It was a Fun night!! I didn't think Peter would ever get tired!


Our Agency did an adoption picnic - it was a beautiful day and a GREAT event - I was lucky enough to win a really nice baby stroller!

Peter's field trip - spending time with him was a lot of fun - even if it was with 21 other kids!


Peter's last day with us! This is a GREAT picture of Bobby, Chance & Peter!


Getting out Christmas Tree!


Christmas 2008 - Bobby (18), Chance (11), Lexi & Tinkerbell!