Tuesday in China

We have been in China for 5 days and today was the first day I didn't feel like I would fall asleep in my noodles.  Vivienne and I got here on Friday morning and Charles arrived Sunday morning, then we met Henry around 1:00 pm on Sunday.  He is a complete joy...he seemed comfortable from the first moment and hasn't stopped talking since.  We have to stay on our toes because he has so much energy but we are all so happy that he does.  There is a beautiful park next door to the hotel where we can go walk and play soccer and a huge pool where he loves to go in the afternoons after his nap.
He is very good natured and when he gets too hyper or does something he shouldn't he responds quickly with redirection or a stern word.  We are hoping this lasts:)

We all LOVE the city where we are staying...Zheng Zhou.  Like I said there is a beautiful park just next to the hotel where the older people go to "play" Tai Chi and dance.  The men play cards and smoke and there are a ton of people with kids walking around.  Vivienne and I had a young boy follow us for a long time and after getting his courage up he ran up to us and said "So happy to meet you" and then "What nationality are you?"  So cute.

The food is really good too.  The hotel has a free buffet for breakfast.  There is everything from waffles to chow mein....omelets and fruit to pastries and toast.  Next door is a restaurant where we have figured out how to order our favorites...green beans, eggplant, beef and rice...and of course noodles.  Henry LOVES noodles.  Tonight Vivienne and I walked about 15 minutes in the rain to get McDonalds which was an experience.  The cars have the right of way, then the scooters which ride on the sidewalk then the pedestrians.  So you have to pay attention...we very nearly got hit by a bus on the way.  McDonalds taste the same in China as it does in US, not very good, but Henry thought he was in heaven.

I am pretty sure that Henry loves being with us but I am also sure that he already misses his friends at Shepherd's Field.  We are going back there for a week on Saturday and I can see why the Lord worked it out that way.  He talks a lot about his friend Joseph and Bei Bei.  I am really glad that he will get to see them one more time.

Ok so thats all I have for now.  I will try to be more creative tomorrow...we are having a blast!  We skyped with Ben today and can't wait to get home so he can meet his brother in person.

This is the photo that was taken at the Civil Affairs office where we got our official guardianship certificate.