November 7th Update from dennis

Life is quite different for us Drakes. I'm very proud of all 3 of our
kids for the time they are investing into Chloe's life. They are
supporting their mother in a great way. Well, really quickly as i
have her wrapped around my leg while I'm typing, we are struggling
trying to find a doctor who can keep an appt for Chloe to get
evaluated for her cleft palate repair. Keep us in your prayers, esp
for Dawn as she keeps searching. Insurance is there but not all drs.
are on the plan we have, etc, etc. We are gratefull each day to all
of you for your help to us. There are some photos here, as much as i
had time to post.

Chloe was teaching Anna and Dawn how to play drums on a porcelain set
after she found her brother's sticks :)

And there are more photos here of what happened when I tried to eat my
supper Friday night. The green in Chloe's mouth is not from the green
peas i fed her before i ate. :)

Settled In

Here are some photos recently:  My big brother Samuel who just turned 18 this week - feeding me while I jump up and down on his tummy.
And Anna lets me turn the ceiling fan light on and off.  Love my big brother and sister.

Then here i am getting to know the blond haired dog of the family

Finally, this is my papa feeding me sweet potatoes and applesauce.

Tomorrow I make my first trip to church!

Home at Last! - from dennis

We are home!  It has taken me a bit of time to write; but we made it just fine.  I'd like to forget the last 3 days and never do them over again, but we did make it just fine back to Dallas.  Dawn's sister and her husband along with their daughter met us at the airport; and they brought along Samuel and Anna with them.  Chloe slept a lot on the flights, so she smiled at everyone and was in a decent mood.  And it was GREAT to see Samuel and Anna again.  Since that time, things have gone from "great, we're home" to "Oh, God, help us get through this jet lag."

I've heard of jet lag before but that term does not do it justice.  The words "jet lag" always brought up images of a slow airplane to me; but now I know what it's like first hand.  After connecting flights from Guangzhou to Shanghai to Chicago to Dallas - all on Wednesday the 23rd, we still have not recovered.  I'm sure those of you who travel frequently know what i mean.  Going to China was "uncomfortable" in the sense of the flying hours and the layover.  But coming back was wretched in terms of getting over it.  In general the flights went fine, aside from some minor glitches; but somehow our bodies did not agree.

On Thursday, Dawn woke up to take Anna to school, then went to the grocery store for a few things we were out of.  She came home and started sorting through clothes for Chloe, and then got hit suddenly with an awful stomach bug.  She laid in bed miserable and was not able to eat again until mid-day Friday.  Same day, I woke up with a terrible sore throat and just a general feeling of heaviness.  It kind of felt like I'd been on several planes for 1-2 days and had to clear 3 airport securities, U.S. customs and immigration, and had a run-in with a non-compassionate security supervisor who did not appreciate the fact that I forgot to remove my shoes for the security check (Chicago).  And the way i felt Thursday has not completely gone away yet.  My throat aches, i feel like i have a cold now, and all the while during our adjustment period, Chloe is having the same feelings and possibly worse.

Think of being uprooted from everything you are familiar with - after you have been left on a street and passed through a police station and orphanage and foster care.  Taken from your country ... from its familiar sounds, sights, smells ... only to be newly planted on the other side of the world in a house with large amounts of grass everywhere, strange sights & smells, new caregivers, new siblings, new friends .... you get the idea.  Let's just say that Chloe has in general felt lousy and has let us know about it.  She will come to us seeking comfort; but will NOT be left alone to play.  This is all very normal and expected; but MAN has this hit us hard.  REALITY.  As Dawn has said several times to keep our perspectives in place - "Dorothy, you ain't in Kansas right now."  If there was ever a time when I know that I need to "suck it up and drive on" - I know it's now; but I hope no one ever goes thru "jet lag" like this ever again.  Instead of "jet lag" - I would suggest a better term would be "jet ban."  No more jets.  I might market a T-shirt with a jet on the front and one of those red circles with the line through it.

Okay, so while Dawn was throwing up everything in her stomach and I was generally feeling horrible, our oldest son Nathan skipped classes & came home from college for a couple of days to see Chloe.  If it hadn't been for him, I may not have made it through Thursday.  He hung around while I was taking care of Chloe, watched and waited until she warmed up to him and then took it from there.  By the time he left on Friday he had fed her 1 meal, several snacks and played with her while I was walking around the house trying to find out why everything was still moving.  I think someone referred to this as "vertigo."  THANK YOU NATHAN!!

Dawn has not instructed me on how to post from the actual blog and she & Chloe are crashed out right now; so I'm gonna hope that the pictures of Nathan and Chloe show up okay on this post.  I'm sending it via email to the blog site just like we did in China.

I do have pictures of Samuel and Anna with Chloe as they have invested time with her and she is warming up nicely to them.  I'll get them off the camera and post them later.  Samuel is a hoot with his new little sis!

Special thanks to our family for the help while we were gone and for all of you who continue to pray for us.  We could not have done this by ourselves.

I haven't put much in this blog yet of Scripture, but am going to recommend that you take the time to read Psalm 139 in the Bible during the next few days as you get time.  It is an amazing description of how detailed our Creator is and a much needed reminder that He loves us JUST like we are.  Thank God that Chloe was formed with a cleft lip and palate ... or we would not have her right now. I'll leave you to think on that for awhile.

dennis

Even more pictures from Tuesda

More pictures from Tuesday

Goodbye to China

Today was our last day here in Guangzhou.  We spent the morning finishing up our taking pictures, shopping, packing, and Chloe and I played in the Swan Room.  The Swan room is a play room here at the hotel provided by Mattel.  It is an open space with toys and kids.  Chloe loves to play there and especially watch the older kids play.

This afternoon, we headed to the US Consulate, had a quick ceremony and received Chloe's visa to enter the US.  When we are in Chicago for our layover she will officially become a US citizen. 

We spent the evening at a wonderful Italian restaurant and are now holed up in our hotel packing everything.  Luckily we bought an extra suitcase here, and i just have to balance the weight amongst them.  Of course, Chloe is helping out by getting into EVERYTHING I set out.  And Dennis is helping out by generally getting in the way :)

We wake up tomorrow at 5 am, and will be checking out of the hotel around 6:45. 

We know this trip from the planning stages to each day has been covered in your prayers.  Please continue to pray for us.  Tomorrow will be an incredibly long day for each of us.  Pray for health, safety, flights that are on time, short lines in security, immigration and customs, that Chloe will sleep, and anything else you can think of.

We leave at 9:30 am from Guangzhou, land in DFW at 10:10 pm, and have a total of 18 hours of flying time and 7 1/2 hours of layovers. 

Dennis thoughts on Tuesday

Well, today is Tuesday and we leave China tomorrow for home!  I wish i could say i am as enthusiastic about leaving now, like i felt yesterday.  But i got out on my own yesterday - away from guides and other tourists and just walked the streets near part of the canal that surrounds our district near the hotel.  The canal is fed by the Pearl River which is very much alive with fishing and commercial industry supporting Guangzhou.  But around our hotel they made it more visually appealing.  I was trying to get away from all of the Western influence if possible and see the real city.

I walked across a bridge that went over the canal into some streets that were alive with family businesses.  I'm attaching some photos to give you an idea of the atmosphere.

The most amazing thing i stumbled into was a medicine market near the canal.  There was shop after shop of families setup in what we would call a flea market atmosphere.  No doors on most businesses, just a space with 3 walls and medicinal herbs and other "commodities" spilling out all over the streets from their storefronts.  Everything was alive and out in the open.  I went again this morning and plan to take Chloe with me in the stroller this evening.  I want to see if there will be musicians setup and other artists out marketing their skills, etc.  I cannot say how much I enjoy this type of culture.  It is so authentic, genuine, real and alive.  There are no English speakers that I've found in this medicine market.  Buying here is a challenge, but the store owners have found an easy way to communicate and most of them just hand me a calculator.  I would put in the amount of Yuan i wanted to spend and point to the item i wanted - or they would put in the Yuan value and show it to me on the calculator.  But i don't even know what I'm buying.  So far I've bought some Saffron, which is supposed to relieve stress I think, but I'll have to read about it on my own to see how to use it.  Then this morning I bought some Ginseng roots - about 1/4 of a pound I am guessing (roughly 100 grams) for 35 Yuan (~ 5 dollars).  I don't know what to use them for yet, but they are so popular here I wanted to try them once we get back to the states.  This medicine market is apparently quite a business, and some items get very expensive for an average Chinese laborer whose family needs medicine.  But this is a busy place so somehow people are buying the herbs, etc.  Much of the Chinese thought is preventive also from what we have learned. 

There are other things to buy near the medicine market, such as food.  I saw some small places where families were selling chickens that they roasted on spits, as well as other meats.  There were a couple of bakeries I saw where I was tempted to buy some bread or muffin.  I wasn't hungry so i passed on the idea.

I passed by many unique family businesses where they were sorting seahorses on the pavement, or scorpions (large and small).  My ignorance is pretty great so i couldn't tell you what the seahorses or scorpions are used for; but there was great care in the sorting.  I watched for a minute (did not want to be rude and stay long time), but could not figure out the criteria for sorting.  There were live snakes, not like snakes I've seen in the U.S.  Not sure if poisonous or not.  There were fish, crabs, turtles, all kinds of things.  I know that turtle soup is popular in some cultures; so maybe that is what the turtle was for - but other than that, I'll have to learn more about the purpose for all the items.  All I know is that I love the culture.

No, these people do not think like we do; but we do not think like they do.  This has been my foremost thought while out among the people.  I have grown to love and appreciate their spirit, their ethic of hard work and patient endurance of poor living conditions.  Conditions we would not tolerate because we think we need so much to make us comfortable.  These people are resilient and adaptable.  For enjoyment after much work we see them playing a form of hackeysack, or many sit down around a barrel or table outside on the street to play cards or mahjongg or some other game.  They live in polluting and adapt to crowded cities.  It is a lesson for me that I will always remember.  It is also an encouragement to me so that Dawn and I will not allow our daughter to forget who she is.  She is and always will be a Chinese girl.  We will teach her the truth that we know, and will encourage her to seek her own way when she is older ... to pursue her heart and to find the gifts God has blessed her with.

We go now to the U.S. consulate in a few minutes and this will probably be my last post here in China.