November 2006

My Journey to Miah

Hailey Harrison (10) offered to tell us about her trip with her parents, Gerald Harrison & Desirée Iannuzzi, and her sister, Alyssa (6) to meet Miah in Nanchang.

We left for China on November 15. I kept on thinking the plane ride was over when there was still long to go.

The hotel in Beijing was beautiful wit all the Christmas lights and decorations

The next day we went on a hutong tour. A hutong is an old Chinese house. It was neat. We went into a hutong and met a very nice lady. She showed us around her hutong. She cooks with coal. She gave us Chinese candy. She also gave us oranges.

When we walked into the government office, I knew what baby was my sister. It was an amazing experience. We got Miah’s first smile and laugh the first day we got her. We became attached very quickly.

I have another sister, Alyssa. We adopted her 5 years ago. She had her 6th birthday in China.

Before I knew it was the end of the trip. We got on a plane and headed home as a bigger family.

The Great Wall

Julia Millington (9) travelled with her parents David & Lorraine to meet her new sister, Kathleen. We asked Julia to tell us about one of her experiences.

The best thing about my trip to China, after getting my sister Katie, was climbing the  Great Wall. I think China was busier than home and it has a lot of historical stuff like “The Great Wall of China”. It was hard to climb up. It was like climbing up a mountain, well it was! Just a warning, if you travel in winter then don’t climb to high, it’s really icy and cold. And don’t expect flat surfaces. The Great Wall is not flat. It dips and tips sideways so it is very hard to walk on.

I hope you enjoy your trip.

I did.

Sincerely,

Julia

My trip to get my Sister

Carter Pearen (7) travelled with his parents, Chris Pearon & Michelle Amlin to meet his sister Maia. The following are excerpts from our peek into Carter’s journal.

After a long plane ride, I'm in Beijing. Tomorrow, we get on another plane to fly to Nanchang to get my baby sister. After I get my baby sister, I will play with her. When I got to meet Maia it was really crazy. I got to hold her right away.

The next day, we had to get up early and go to do paperwork so that Maia can become a Canadian and officially part of our family. Then we all went out for dinner.

We got to know each other over the next few days. My sister really liked to wrestle with me on the bed!  She learned togive kisses and bounce with me.

A few mornings later, we went to the Summer Palace. At the Beijing Zoo the Pandas put on a show for us. We went to the Great Wall. It was amazing.

Then we went to McDonalds. On the last day, we went to the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  That night we had a good-bye China party. It was really fun and there was a magic show and I was in it. It was a really long trip home.

I am glad to be home with my new sister.                                                                                   

Carter

Summer Palace

The Faulkner family, Paul & Sandra, Caleb (8) and Lauren(12) travelled to Nanchang to meet Isabelle. We asked Lauren to tell us of her impressions of the trip.

Have you ever been to China? I went this month to adopt my sister, Isabelle Jia Xin. We traveled with 15 families who also adopted babies to bring into their loving homes. We visited many of the country' s treasures: the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.

Of these, the most memorable were the Great Wall and the was the Summer Palace. The Great Wall really was great! As we climbed it, the air became thin, and we got tired fast. It was eerie to think that we were walking over the grave for some of the builders.

We visited on the Summer Palace on a foggy, sort of dreamy day. It was also gigantic and sprawling. We all agreed the fact that an entire army was enlisted to build what was only a summer cottage for the empress was amazing. It had a huge man-made lake, beautiful palaces and breathtaking gardens all of which were gifts for the empress on her 60th birthday! Wow, I should start planning ahead for my 60th birthday wish list!

Though all of these places were awesome, filled with a rich history about China and its past, everyone agrees that getting our babies was the best part of all.

Lauren\