Taitung

On Sunday night we went to the night market in Taitung.  We were the only Americans most saw, so we stood out and everyone really enjoyed staring at us:)  Michelle helped us get food and tell us what everything was.  We tried stinky tofu.  I can say it is very stinky!  I am glad I tried it, Michelle likes it.  I finally got to try bubble tea too!  It was good and fun to drink.  It is tea with little tapioca balls in the bottom!  The night market has tons of games for kids.  Elliana and Andy would have loved it!
When we got back to the room, we skyped with the kids and introduced them to Micah.  It was very cute!  Elliana does not understand why it takes so long to come home since we obviously have Micah already.  Next we talked with our friends in Bolivia!  And finally, we saw that our community class (Sunday School) at church was on, doing a test run for talking to the Wardens (in Bolivia) next week.  So we called them too!  It was so exciting for us to introduce him to family and friends who have been praying for him and us for so long!  They both, the Wardens and community, prayed for us again. So precious, thank you guys.

On Monday Michelle came with a new driver, her landlord. She is so sweet, it was difficult for her to find another driver, she called all her friends.  Jake, her landlord, is very nice and runs a Chinese Medicine store so he said he had a flexible schedule.  Deana had a change of plans, really our paperwork from the court was not ready.  We did not know this at the time so we were not worried or stressed about the change.  It worked out good.  We went shopping on the streets to see all the fruit stands and shops.  Michelle took us where she shops, the grocery store:)  She is afraid of the fruit stands because once the fruit had ants all over it and they speak Taiwanese instead of Chinese.  Too funny, also she does not cook so she doesn't know what do do with all the stuff in the little shops.  At the grocery store we got some fruit and dried mango for a snack.
Jack came back and took us to the beach.  We thought we would eat our snack there, but with the heat index at least 114 degrees it was too hot!!  Michelle works at a place called Hookies, named after VT Hookies.  So we went there and ate.  Chris had his only Mountain Dew of the trip!  It is the only place in Taitung that has it.  Next we met Deana for lunch and ate some more yummy food!
It was almost 2:00 so we headed over to Hannah's hope to meet the other babies and special mothers.  Deana went to go pick up our birthmom from the train station and go get some papers signed at court.  The babies were so great!  I will send pictures to all you waiting mom's and dad's, hopefully today!  Without Deana there to tell us all the English names, we did not get pictures of all the new referrals.  The special mothers are so loving and truly care for each little one!  We got to see the ones that cared for Micah.  It was very difficult for them all to say good bye to him, so sad.  At about 3:00 Deana called so say they would be there soon.  As soon as they walked in, she got a call that she had to get to court right away.  Michelle would have to translate for us.  She did a great job, I am sure she was very nervous, was were we!  But she was wonderful.  We learned lots of stuff to share with Micah as he grows and we were able to video the whole time.  One thing she made she sewed "Good Man" on it, which is what Micah means.  That was pretty neat, since she would not have know that!  Micah took a much needed nap as we talked, but she had to be at an appointment at 4:00 so she was rushed away and we had time to decompress and relax for a few minutes.  I went back to say goodbye to the babies and give the clothes that a few families had sent. 
Chris asked about going to the House of Registry that we were supposed to do that morning.  Well, after a little confusion, our paperwork was still at court, but we, Michelle, Wuli (social worker) and us headed over anyways.  They said we were missing a document and we had to wait.  Deana came running in after finishing a families first hearing and tracking down our missing paperwork which had just been completed moments before.  Stressful day for Deana!  We were totally exhausted and came back to our hotel at 5:30.  After eating dinner we headed down to look at the shops.  We saw the traditional tribal show going on and stayed to watch it for a bit.  It was pretty cute to see. 
After a long busy day, Micah was very glad to go to sleep!  He had his bottle at 8:30 before we went down for the show and only woke up at 5:45 to eat again.  That is the time that the special mothers always feed him, so he was right on:)  Yesterday was very difficult to him too, so he is soaking up all the sleep he can get! 
Today we have to go sign the rest of our paperwork and fly back to Taipei!  It will be sad to leave Taitung.  It is such a warming, not to mention super hot, and sweet place.  Michelle has been a huge blessing and help. I cannot wait for the other families to meet her too!  She taught us so much about the young culture of Taiwan!

Gotcha Day!

I will try to start at the beginning and please excuse any mistakes in typing!!!  We got up at 5 to leave our hotel at 5:30.  It did not take long to get to the domestic airport.  Surprisingly, there were many people out at that time of the morning.  The sun had been up for awhile too:).  When we got the airport, and figured out what line to stand in, the guys told us our reservation for for a 12:05 flight!  We found the other airline and waited for them to open.  They had the next first flight on Sunday mornings at 8:20!  It was fully booked so we found the standby list and were the first ones.  They said come back 20 minute before leaving to see if we made it.  While we waited a really nice group gave us part of their breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's.  Chris and I were getting pretty hungry since nothing was open when we left the hotel so we were very thankful!  At 8:00, a man gave a us a look and said that we could go buy our tickets.  We made it!  I praised God for His timing, I am not sure I would have made it to 12:05!

Once in Taitung, we found Michelle, a student from Taitung University.  She will be taking us around while we are in Taitung.  She took a picture for us at the welcome fountain at the airport.  She is a lot of fun to talk with and has been very helpful. 
Our first stop, of course, was Hannah's Hope.  Deana met us there.  She brought Micah down right away.  He is perfect!  I am not sure I have words to describe it!  We will go back on Monday to visit the special mothers (nannies) and the other babies.  So don't worry, all of you waiting for pictures of you little dears, I send them as soon as I can.  We did not even see them yet.  We then headed to Deana and Luke's church.  It was fun to hear the hymns I grew up singing sung in Chinese.  Deana translated the youth pastors sermon and told us what was going on. 
Luke, who had been preaching at another church came at the end to pray a blessing for us.  We recorded it, but did not get pictures of that. 
Okay, next we went to get our stuff and get checked into our hotel.  It is a great place and everyone is so very nice.  With hunger setting in again, our driver picked up her kids and we went to lunch with Michelle and our drivers family.  It was great to go to a restaurant and not have to order a thing, since there were no pictures and we would have been totally lost.  Micah had his first bottle there and my arm was breaking by the end.  Deana had told me that Micah had to be moved to another room in the home because some of the special mothers could not hold him for very long,  I completely understand!  Wait until you see these legs!  He is five months and wearing a 24 month shirt:).  The picture below is our driver holding Micah while we were eating.  Apparently I must have looked like I was struggling trying to eat with my chopsticks and holding him LOL.
We are now back at our room for a nap and rest time with Micah.  He is doing great!  He loves to "talk" and does a great big belly laugh with Chris.  We will be headed to the night market here in Taitung.  It is only on Sunday nights here.  There is lots of food and shopping and all around fun to be had, so we heard.
Tomorrow is a busy day again.  We will change Micah's permanent address, meeting with his birthmom, and visit Hannah's Hope.
Here are a few pictures from today:

Arrived

We have finally arrived in Taipei. Yah!!  After 22 hours of travling, we are at our hotel for about 6 hours.  We will leave for the airport again at 5:30 to go Taitung.  Tomorrow is GOTCHA DAY!

The first picture of the trip is Chris in Japan.

This is the Taipei International Airpot.

Airport

This morning we were so thankful to be able to participate in my Pop's funeral.  We were not able to go the military salute, but know that it was meaningful and we are blessed to be part of his family!
We have now returned say good-bye to the kids, change clothes and throw our bags in the car to get to the airport.  Next time we write, it will be from Taiwan!!!

Prep Week

We are on the count down with only four days before we travel.  I made Chinese food, well cashew chicken, for dinner in my excitement.  I realize that we will only be eating Chinese food on our trip, but it is so good and I am so excited:) 
We have the packing list mostly done and the plans mostly done too.  Chris booked our hotel tonight.  We do not have a way to call internationally so I suggested Skye.  He said it was awesome and worked better than if he was on a real phone!  Free too, that's what I like.  However, while he was talking to the hotel people, my mom called to share bad news.  My step-dad's dad, Pop, passed away today.  This is only two and a half weeks after my mom's dad, Grandpa, passed away.  Thankfully, we will be able to make it to his funeral before we leave on Friday.    I guess God knew why were needed to fly out of Detroit more that we did.

Travel Dates!!!!

We will leave Michigan (we will be dropping Elliana and Andy off at the grandparents) on Friday, June 18!  We will eventually arrive in Taitung sometime on Saturday evening/night.  Hopefully we will get Micah that night, if not, then on Sunday.  We really want to go to church there and see where Micah has been going the past 5 months:)  I think that Luke, the pastor, may still be in China, but I cannot remember what dates he will be traveling. 
To make is easier to follow:

Friday: leave the USA
Saturday: arrive in Taipei and fly to Taitung
Sunday: church, if possible
Monday: go to house of registry and finish adoption paperwork
Tuesday: travel back to Taipei
Wednesday: AIT visa appointment, and meet with birthmom
Thursday: free day
Friday: free day and pick of visa if ready
Saturday:  leave Taipei and return to Detroit
Sunday: return to Cincinnati

It has been a pretty crazy day figuring it all and booking the tickets.  We still have to decided on hotels tonight:)  But Chris is still getting cleaned up from playing beach volleyball.  He just started on a league.  I took the kids to watch and watch a friend's kids while they all played.  While there, I noticed a family that looked familiar to me.  I asked the mom where she was from and if she had a blog.  I have been reading her blog for almost a year now!  They adopted from Taiwan last year.  How neat it was to see her and see their precious little girl!!  It was just the energy booster I needed since I was ready to fall asleep putting Elliana to bed.  Well, we better get to figuring out where to stay in just a week and a half.

What a week!

Monday was Memorial Day.  I usually call my grandfather on Memorial day and thank him for serving his country, but he passed away on May 26.  After the funeral, which I was not able to attend since it was in Nebraska, my grandma rode with my aunt and uncle back to Ohio.  They dropped her off at my home to spend the week with me.  This was the first time that she has been able to come to my house.  It has been so wonderful share stories and memories of my grandparents and hear stories about my grandpa that I never knew before.  Elliana took right to her and enjoyed the time together.  Andy was a little funny to watch as he would not get too close, but just keep a watchful eye on Grandma.  He eventually warmed up to her:)  We even made it to the zoo for an afternoon.

Also this week we were told to email AIT with a request for a date after June 18.  We did that the first second we were allowed!  This morning we received a message that said they would give us an appointment for two to three weeks from now.  That is great news!  The difficult part is that we can not buy plane tickets or anything like that because we do not know the exact date.  Hopefully, next week will be more informative.  We are so happy to have this news and now I am stop telling Elliana that is have no idea when Micah will be here.  Now I can say, "At the end of JUNE!"  It has not slowed down how many times a day she asks, but I do not think anything but having Micah home will.