This is it!

Yesterday was our last full day here in China. it's a bittersweet feeling, 3 of us are keen to get home, but the smallest of our family of 4 will be leaving the only home she has ever known permanently.

We are seeing so many changes in Zoe over the last two weeks, it's hard to believe. She pretty much sneezes on command, she's starting to learn some baby sign language, and she loves her big sister a lot, looking for Amelia anytime she disappears from sight.

Zoe is starting to like her time in the pool, pretty much a prerequisite to being Amelia's sister, and really seems to be adjusting well to being a part of our family. She has a VERY strong will, not afraid to let us know when she's not happy and, if possible, she might be even spicier than her big sister.

We check out at 2pm today and head to the airport for our 6:45 flight. We grabbed a few last minute souvenirs yesterday and today, now we just need to get packed up and ready to go. This will be my last update until we get home. Thank you all for following our trip and thanks for all the nice messages.

A special big thanks to Kayla for helping me with the blog, she's been amazing as always, we can't wait for you to meet Zoe at Christmas!

Forbidden City Pics

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Forbidden City/Tienanmen Square

Today was forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. Security to get into Tienanmen Square was crazy as the 'Peoples Congress' is under way or soon will be. This is the once every 10 years meeting where a new leader is chosen for China, and it is done in one of the buildings here. We had to have our bags x-rayed and be patted down and checked with a metal detector.

It was a lot of walking again today and we are still sore from the Great Wall yesterday so it was a bit of a challenge, but we made it through. Last time we toured the Forbidden City there was a lot of renovations underway, so this time it was nice to see it completed. It really is fantastic.

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More Pics

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Pics #4

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Pics #3

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The Great Wall

We've had a very big day today so I will be brief in my descriptions of it. We left the hotel around 9:30 this morning and did not return until 8pm, so It was a very big day for the little one's.

First was the Great Wall, the same spot that we visited last time, but the view was much different this time of year, especially with the recent snowfall still on the ground. Of the group of us, only myself and Amelia went all the way up to the first Guard Tower. Janey and Zoe went up about 1/2 way with us before she turned back. Carrying the extra weight up that trek is near impossible.

We were very proud of Amelia for making it all the way up there, and I took plenty of pictures to prove it. The steps were still a bit icy, but she was very brave and did it! The one picture I will post, you can see behind her the row of buses parked, to get an idea of how high she went.

After that we went to the Jade Factory, where we had a very nice Chinese meal and of course, some shopping!

Next stop was the Silk Factory for . . . . . more shopping!

Then we had our Peking Duck dinner, and after that stopped by the Olympic Village for some fantastic night photos.

We were all very tired by the time we got back to the hotel, but of course, Amelia had been promised a swim so off her and I went for our daily Polar Dip. (The pool is frigid in this hotel!)

I'll post the pictures in groups of two as the free wifi is pretty slow and the tablet has a tough time handling more than that. Tomorrow is the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

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A Message from Amelia

Dear Everyone,

This morning was Zoe's medical check up to be sure she was healthy. Our doctor's name was Dr. Lucy Chen. She is very nice and a very good doctor. While we waited for our turn we waited in the toy room, for babies and toddlers. Elizabeth and Peter's baby Sophie is a little older than Zoe. Sophie is smaller than Zoe even though her birthday is November 6th and Zoe's birthday is November 27th. Zoe went to see Dr. Chen first and Sophie was second.

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Medical and shopping day

This morning was Zoe's medical check required by the Embassy for immigration purposes. She received a clean bill of health from the doctor. She weighed in at 8.8 kg (19.4 lbs) and is 72.5 cm (29 in)tall.

After lunch we went to the silk market by taxi for some souvenir shopping, only to discover that it is no longer cheap! As bargaining is the name of the game there, we managed to pay about 1/3 of the asking price each time, but still felt like we were being hosed with every purchase. Stuff is not as cheap as it was 7 years ago, good thing we got lots of souvenirs then as we won't be spending that much this time.

After we got back from shopping we had to try on the purchases for some pictures!

Tomorrow is the Great Wall and jade factory.

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Sunday Snow Day two more pics

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Sunday Snow Day!

This morning we woke up to quite a bit of snow/slush. Of course, we had to walk through it to get to the photo shop where Zoe's visa photo was to be taken.The slush continued for about 2 blocks until we encountered the sidewalk cleaning crew, pictured above in orange. A little further on we came upon a second and third crew, pictured in green, these guys were the army! Big snowstorm in Beijing and they call in the army, wonder if they got the idea from Toronto??Our guide for this leg of the trip, Cissy, told us that the photo place we were at hires their employees for life. They can never be fired, ever. Not only that, the employees children are also guaranteed jobs at the photo place if they wish!Tomorrow we have the medical appointment required by the embassy, Tuesday is our Great Wall trip. The weather is supposed to improve for the remainder of the week, still cold, but at least dry and not as windy. We'll see if the forecasters here are any better than the ones back home.Sent from my ASUS Pad

More Pics

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Chongqing Old Town

A couple pics from the Chongqing old town - before we got Zoe.

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Made it to Beijing

We are now in Beijing, arrived at the hotel around 3:30 this afternoon. The hotel is very nice, not surprisingly to those who know Amelia well, we have already tried out the pool! It's on the 9th floor, and supposedly has a very nice view, but it was dark by the time we got up there.

The weather is quite a bit different here, most days in Nanchang were around 20 C, it was only 11 C and pouring rain when we landed, apparently they had light snow here this morning. We're already thankful for the warm clothes we packed.

I will be using internet in the lobby at this hotel as the Wifi is free down here, but we have to pay to use it in the rooms, and it's quite expensive. So anyone who we've been e-mailing with keep in mid I won't be answering as frequently.

Zoe is doing well, she still has a bit of a runny nose. We didn't think it possible, but we just may have an even spicier girl on our hands than the one we already have. When Zoe decides she isn't happy with something, she can freak out like crazy! Made for quite an interesting flight, and we're hoping this wasn't a 2 hour preview of the 13 hour flight we have in our future!

She's eating and drinking pretty much anything we give her, she uses those 6 teeth of hers quite effectively. However, even if she's hungry, if she's not in the mood for something, she will not even consider eating it. Spicy!

Tomorrow we go get the pictures taken for Zoe's visa that she needs to enter Canada. Monday is the medical check required by the embassy. I'll take some time tomorrow to go through our pictures and put a few up from the last week.

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What a day!

Today was orphanage visit/meet Zoe's foster mom day.  What an incredibly stressful and emotional day.

It was about a 2 hour van ride to get to Fengcheng, through a mainly agricultural countryside.  Amelia's home city and the entire trip to it was very mountainous, Zoe's is just the opposite, quite flat, similar to SW Ontario, and is a farming area of rice and sugarcane primarily.

Most of the rice has been or is ready to be harvested now, some fields were being harvested as we went by.  After the rice has been harvested, apparently it needs to be spread out to dry, and every flat concrete surface to be found was being used for this, storefronts, sidewalks, and even the highway!

Fengcheng city, where Zoe is from, is a 'town' of 1 million people.  On the way through town we saw both the new and old town, which were definitely a huge contrast from one another.

When we got to the orphanage, Zoe's foster mom, Xun Aimei, was waiting outside, and was already at the door of the van when we emerged.  It was very emotional as she was crying when she saw Zoe, as I'm sure she realized this was the last time she would probable see her.  She had brought a bag of treats and snacks for her and was giving them to her the entire time.

We had a quite  bit of time to spend with her and ask questions, etc.  We've been able to tell over the last 3 days that she had taken very good care of Zoe for us and we can't thank her enough for that gift.

After the meeting at the orphanage, we all went out to lunch together, the families, the foster mom's and the orphanage director, then we made our goodbyes and were on our way.  Xun Aimei was genuinely heartbroken to see her go, we can tell she received lots of love from her over the last 11 months.

We were all emotionally drained by the time we returned to the hotel, but not too tired to make yet another trip to the pool with Amelia!  At the end of the day Helen brought us our notarized adoption documents, tomorrow we receive Zoe's passport, that being the last thing we need before moving on to Beijing on Saturday to begin the Canadian side of the adoption process.

Tomorrow we are also planning to go to a porcelain market to get some souvenirs from Zoe's province.  Jiangxi is known for fine pottery.

Happy Halloween!

Today we visited the Teng Wang Pavilion, which is only a short walk from the hotel.  It was very neat to see, we got to see a short musical show at the end of it that Amelia loved, she recorded the entire thing on her ipod.

Being Halloween today, our guide, Helen, surprised Amelia with a bag of candy!  I think it made her day.  Zoe has been a bit of a bear off and on today, but the timing of the tour today messed up her nap time and she never did get straightened out.  Doesn't help that she had us all up at 5:30 this morning either.

Tomorrow is the orphanage visit, and a visit with Zoe's foster mom, it's probably going to be very emotional for all involved.  We can tell she was taken very good care of, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to thank her foster mom for the care she gave her.

Thanks everyone for all the nice messages, both here and on facebook.  I am able to get the VPN to work somewhat and we can read facebook, but having a difficult time doing much else.

Couple Pics from today

Pretty quiet day again today. We went for a walk down the pedestrian shopping street, only bought a couple pairs of shoes for Zoe as the ones we brought are too small. It's amazing what 7 years can do, when we were in China in 2005 everything was so cheap, but now in the nice shops prices are probably similar, if not higher than back home.

That being said, get off the shopping streets into the markets, and things get cheaper, but still no where near the bargains as before.

Tomorrow we visit the Teng Wang Ge pavilion, so lots of good photos coming.

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Paperwork day

So not a lot to say. Raining all day, but just a shower, not a downpour.

we visited the Civil Affairs Office, Notaries Office and Police Station, all to complete necessary paperwork to complete Zoe's adoption. Now we just have to wait for the processing to be completed and we will be done this part of the process.

As it wasn't a busy day we didn't take many pics, but I added a few of those we did take.

Tomorrow is shopping day! (Trying to psych myself up for it)

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All's well

We've made it through the first night now, and all is going pretty well. Zoe was pretty serious yesterday evening with us, as expected, while she tried to figure us out. She would crack the odd smile, but not too many and largely just for Amelia.

She was sad prior to bed time for about an hour, which eventually lead to sleep. Around 3am, she woke up and took 1/2 a bottle before going back down until morning, so our night was pretty good, except we're not sure if Amelia made it back to sleep after the 3am wake up.

This morning she has had another bottle and some cheerios and has been blessing us with smiles and giggles while Amelia has been hamming it up for her benefit. She laughs and giggles when Amelia pretends to sneeze and will sometimes try to mimic her.

So overall things are going well. She is eating, smiling, and seems to be beginning the big adjustment she has to make.

Today is paperwork day, apparently around 4 hours visiting various offices to complete necessary documents.

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Gotcha!!!!

Introducing Zoe Shui Ting Farrish.

After a short 6 year wait, finally, GOTCHA!

I'll keep this short and sweet for now as our room service just arrived. She's big, 8.5 kg according to info given to us but we haven't put her on our scale yet to confirm. She is tall, and 6 teeth! At 11 months!

She's not fond of the bottle we made her, but is drinking the same formula from a sippy cup instead. She's loving the cheerios we brought also.

And, as expected, she is totally enamoured with her older sister, and of course, Amelia is the proudest big sister ever!

We've had a few smiles, she was sad a bit when we first got back to our room, but got over it easily after being held by mama.

More to come later.

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Too pooped to colour!

It appears all the travelling, long days and short nights have finally taken their toll!

Amelia was colouring while Janey and I organized the new hotel room and next thing you know, she's out!  Crayon still in hand!!

We have had a LOT of travelling, and with the time change difficulties, she has been lucky to be getting 6 hours sleep a night.  All along tho, like the little trooper she is, she has been an incredibly good girl, making us proud at every turn with her good manners and consideration.

Another note from Amelia

Dear Everyone,

Tomorrow we are getting my little sister. It is so exciting! Today we are flying to Nanchang where my sister was born. The plane ride is 1 1/2 hours which to me seems like a very long time. But it will all be worth it.

Amelia

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Not much to report

We have a relatively quiet couple days now, so not a lot to say. Friday morning we walked around downtown Qianjiang. Being well off the beaten path, we were drawing quite a few looks. This area of China does not see many Caucasian people, so Janey and I with Amelia were quite the spectacle.

I'll add a couple pics we took of Qianjiang. It's a very nice city, crammed into a valley between the mountains.

In the third picture, if you look close, you can see a few small stone structures. There is 3 in the top right corner and one in the bottom left. These are tombs, and we saw them all over the place during the drive between the city's. Apparently in rural areas it is still the norm to bury people in tombs.

It's Saturday morning here now, this morning we are going to visit the Chongqing old town, before flying to Nanchang this afternoon, at 2:45. We'll then finally be able to settle in for a week, and unpack our luggage and get organized.

Tomorrow is gotcha day, we are all very excited, Amelia especially.

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A message from Amelia

Dear everybody,

Yesterday we went to the orphanage where I lived when I was a baby.  It was closed so we couldn't go in.  My favourite thing yesterday was seeing the mountains.  Speaking of mountains, a man named Mao gave us a tour of his house.  Mao lives on a tall mountain.  Mao has animals, he has a dog, a rooster and two big fat pigs.  We've had long days here in China.  We still need to get used to sleeping times in China, so we are still tired.  I cannot believe that people back home are awake when we are asleep and we are asleep when you are awake.

I am picking out two pictures that I took to show you.

Amelia

Qianjiang homeland trip!

After our short night last night, we've all done pretty well today, with still more travelling.  We all managed about 6 hours sleep, were up at 8am, and on the road around 10, heading to Qianjiang, where Amelia was born.  Our guide for this part of the trip is Michael, who was also one of our guides in 2005 when we were here to get Amelia!  Very nice to have that familiarity.

The highway to Qianjiang is quite nice, a twinned highway, much like the 401, except that a large part of it goes UNDER the mountains.  Tunnel after tunnel, some of them going for probably 5 km or more.  When not in the tunnels, the scenery was fabulous.  I will attach a few pictures to this post, but the app I'm using will not let me insert them into the middle of the post so I think they will be at the bottom.

On the way we stopped at a nice scenery viewing spot, from which Michael took us on an off road adventure.  We climbed down some slick dirt paths to some local houses to get a closer look, at one of them we met the owner, a man named Mao, who happily gave us a tour of his home.  This was an unexpected but great treat.  He was very nice and at the end, he took Amelia's hand and helped her back up the dirt paths to get back to our van. 

We got to our hotel in Qianjiang shortly after 2pm, had a quick bite to eat then went to visit some of the important places in Amelia's past.  We are now back at the hotel and taking it easy before we plan to head to bed early.  This will be our first opportunity to make up some of the lost sleep.

Tomorrow we have the morning to walk around the area before heading back to Chongqing after lunch.  As we have Saturday morning free before flying to Nanchang, Michael has offered to take us on another tour of our choice, so we may get a chance to take Amelia to the zoo to see the Panda's.

A couple notes to everyone - I haven't been able to get the VPN to work properly here so we do not have access to the blog or facebook.  Comments posted by you guys on the blog are e-mailed to us, so we are reading them and appreciate getting them, but we do not have the ability to reply to them.  The Great (fire)Wall of China strikes again!

Also if someone could pass along to Florence that Janey plans to call her but we don't know when we will get a chance yet, it might be Saturday or Sunday until we get the time to get a calling card.

BTW - I've taken 192 pics so far.  :)

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