Our Journey to Hope

2006-05-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Wendsday May 17th 2006

We visited the Pearl Market with our travel group.

It was very interesting to watch these ladies string pearls..

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All the babies in our travel group on the famous Red Couch at the White Swan.
(Our Hope is the one on the far right.)

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Hope is having so much fun!

2006-05-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hope enjoys sitting on the famous Red Couch at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China.

2006-05-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

Baba, Mama and baby Hope on the famous Red Couch at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China.

2006-05-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Friday May 19th 2006

Our last day in Guangzhou, China was the sunniest that we had there.

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The dawn of our last day in China.

Leaving the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou

2006-05-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

At the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou.
Our stay here was very nice, we enjoyed it very much, but...
We are ready to leave for the airport and head home!

2006-05-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

"Do I have to wear this,?" "It doesn't go with my outfit!"

2006-05-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

"What else is in this backpack?"
(on the flight from Goungzhou to Hong Kong)

2006-05-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hope is getting comfortable for our flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.

2006-05-29T12:04:00.000-07:00

Hope is an excelent flyer. (After we made putting on her seat belt a little more fun!)

2006-05-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hope finds a new way around the airport!

2006-05-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

We arrive in Hong Kong. The first stop on the way home.

Hope really like's the travel pillow that her

Aunt Laura loaned Mama and Baba for the trip!

We are SO tired.

2006-05-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is as close as we get to Hong Kong. Maybe next time.

2006-05-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

"OK, Its my turn!"
We found a little play area in the airport and Hope had so much fun!

2006-05-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

We had a five hour layover in Hong Kong. It was a very nice airport. The stay was very pleasant.

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Hong Kong International Airport.
Hope's and our last look at China before we head home.
We are sad and happy at the same time.

2006-05-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

"I want to listen too"!

2006-05-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hope is listening to the emercency instuctions on the plane. She is so funny!

2006-05-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Look Hope, we are almost home!

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Kelly telling Hope about home.

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Hope's first glimpse of home through the window of the plane.

2006-05-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Arriving.
We were met by some very close friends that greeted us with lots of love. It was so good to be back! Now let's go home!!

2006-05-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Hope walking up to our home. This is Zach's first time to see her.

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Zach's first moments with Hope.

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Zach's first time holding his little sister, Hope.
He couldn't wait any longer. He met us as we came up the walk before we even got in the front door!

2006-05-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Zach getting a good look at his little sister, in person, finally!

2006-05-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

"So, this is my big brother....hmmm....I think I like him"!

2006-05-29T09:09:00.003-07:00

Wow , is this my new home? I like it!

2006-05-29T09:09:00.002-07:00

Hope checks out her new little rocker and laughing bear. She took the time to inspect everything! Her reaction was such a delight to us!

2006-05-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

Hope in her room. She is so happy! She wants to see everything...She was all smiles.

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Hope loves all her new toys. She kept saying "Wow"!

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Big brother watching his little sister play with her new toys.

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Zach enjoyed showing Hope her toys in her new room.

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Hope enjoying her toys in her new room.

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Hope and her sleeping GeGe. (big brother)
hmmm...what is she thinking?

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Hope likes to share her things!

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Hope having fun with her sleeping GeGe. (big brother) She put her spoon in his mouth and thought it was pretty funny!

2006-05-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hope "feeding" her GeGe. (big brother)
(Zach is sound asleep)

2006-05-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

After Hope "fed" her GeGe (big brother) she covered him up with her blanket and gave him her dolls to sleep with. (he had no idea until he saw these pictures!)

2006-05-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Kelly admiring our Baby Hope rocking her to sleep in her new room. What a relief to have our sweet baby home.

2006-05-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Although we are all exhausted, we are so happy to be home. This has been a long awaited day.
And Hope seemed so content to finally be home and safe her her Mama's arms.

2006-05-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday May 16th 2006

Baby Hope likes to sleep with Baba's hankie.
We know we keep saying this, but she is so precious. We adore her, and wonder what we ever did without her.
For all of you who are waiting, please be encouraged by our posting. Your dear little one will be in your arms. May God strengthen and comfort you in your wait. And may you know the sweetest of His blessings in this time.

2006-05-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

We have had Hope for just over a week and she has 6 pairs of shoes. What a girl

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She must have been a beautiful baby...

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My sweet Hope

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Kelly and Hope in Bonzi Park

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kelly and hope in bonzi park

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Hope giving Mama hugs in the banzai park in Guangzou. Her little hugs are so precious to us.

She says "oooooWah!" as she hugs us!

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Those are some intense eyes.

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"Baba, Hold Me!"

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Bottle time on the bus.

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Let's bring the food. I'm hungry.

2006-05-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hope can hardly stand up with the heavy backpack but she is a determined little girl!

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Hope tries the loaded backpack. She had to sit down to get leverage! Oh, the world of a two year old, we are having SO much fun!!

2006-05-21T05:27:00.000-07:00

Hope likes to do like Baba does. She has seen her Baba carring the backpacks every where...guess she wanted to give it a try!

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It's 9:00 pm and the shoppers are out. The neon lights were fantastic.

2006-05-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

Lots of neon, lots of people.
McDonalds was packed at any given time, but we didn't eat there - we loved the local food. Except the unidentifiable squiggly stuff that was the color of mud.

2006-05-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

This is a shopping mall in Guangzou. The side streets are all little shops. There were some guys in our travel group that wanted to do a little shopping and we found that in a few shops, there would be someone that spoke a little English, if not, Nate would just point to what the guys wanted and use a calculator to negociate the price.
It was a lot of fun.

2006-05-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

It's 1 am Friday morning as I post this. We are all packed and ready to leave here at 8:30 am to fly to Hong Kong and then at 5:45 to O'Hare. This will be our last post from China. I am both excited about coming home but also sad to be leaving China. To understand it you need to experiance it. If you would have told me 2 years ago I would be in China and in lovewith it I would have told you your crazy. We get into O'hare at 7 something Friday night. Hope is saying good bye and see you soon. I will catch everyone up on the rest of our journey after I recover from sitting 14 hours in a plane and not getting any sleep tonight , that might take a few days. Good bye from China and God Bless everyone who has help to make this trip possible.

2006-05-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Monday May 15th 2006

Hope's last day in her province.

2006-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

On the way to the airport in Nanning.
We are a little sad to leave this part of China.
We loved our time here.

2006-05-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm tired. Are we there yet??

2006-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

My first airplane ride. This isn't so bad, but I don't like this seat belt!

2006-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Guangzhou. Yea! We are here!
Where is our group?

2006-05-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

On the bus from the airport. Hope is amazing....she is already such a good little traveler. What a busy day for such a little girl.

2006-05-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for medical exam.
We came here straight from the airport and Hope is still happy...no nap, no lunch, but happy!
I know we have said this before, but she really does amaze us.

2006-05-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hope gets measured. She is so cooperative. (She did keep peeking around the doctor to see if we were still there)

2006-05-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ok Baba, I can do it!
Hope gives the thumbs up sign about her health check.

2006-05-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hope did so well at her medical examine. She knew how to open her mouth wide and let the doctor look inside. She was very curious about everything.

2006-05-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

The last part of Hope's medical exam. She did just fine.

2006-05-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

We thankfully get to go to our room at the White Swan Hotel! The view from our room is beautiful. Hope saw it and said "WOW"!!!
She won't sleep in this little bed, but she likes to play in it and look out the window at all the boats.

2006-05-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hope checking things out from her veiw from the baby bed.

2006-05-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hope loves the veiw from our room! She loves to look out the window at all of the boats and lights. Our room over looks the Pearl River. She says "WOW"!!!

2006-05-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

No she doesn't take a bath in the sink, but she likes to sit in it all wrapped up in her towel and have her hair combed and dried.

2006-05-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

She is so fun!

Good Morning, Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday May 14th, Happy Mother's Day!

It was so sweet to wake up with little Hope next to us.

2006-05-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Hope. We were looking for a specific place, but ran into this old court yard/cooking area instead.

2006-05-17T04:35:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Hope in an old court yard /cooking area. Hope kind of looks like she isn't quiet sure of this place.

2006-05-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

Kelly in front of and ancient bronze drum in the Minority Park in Nanning. (Nanning is the capital city in the province that Hope is from. )The people cooked in it as a pot and also used it as a drum. It dates back a few hundred years BC.

2006-05-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

Hope and her Baba in front of some ancient brass drums at the Minority Park in Nanning. Hope is so happy, no matter what we are doing, as long as we are together. (well, she isn't crazy about bed time yet)

2006-05-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

Honk Honk

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Baby Hope playing the "honk your nose" game and our guide Mary, in the Minority Park in Nanning.

Happy family

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The very happy Troia family in front of a bridge in a Minority Park in Nanning. This bridge was built without the use of nails.

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2006-05-17T03:26:00.000-07:00

Boy its green out there.

2006-05-17T03:24:00.000-07:00

Baba and Hope looking at a bird in a cage.

2006-05-17T03:20:00.000-07:00

There are so many people that ride bikes and scooters its unreal. Street in Nanning.

2006-05-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

Baba and Hope sitting under a hugh tree. Have no idea what kind but it was beautiful

Hope and Mamma walking the bear

2006-05-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

Hope loves to watch us and then copy us!
The night before this, Nate and I walked with her between us, holding her hands. Here she wanted me to walk holding her bears hand. She is so sweet.

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