Thankful

It it seems to be the time of year to express your thanks and reflect on the past 12 months.  We are very thankful to have N as part of our family.  Her smile, joy and excitement for all the new things is very fun.

She has enjoyed experiencing Halloween (above) and the fall leaves for the first time.  She even helped me rake the leaves and compact them in the trash can (below.)  G helped too!

We are just about at the three month mark.  Everything continues to go well.  N very much enjoys her teacher and learning.  She continually amazes us with how well she seems to be transitioning.  Things aren't perfect. There is adjustment for everybody having another person in the house.  

Even during all this joy there is uncertainty.  Being a white male I have not often thought about the color of my skin and how people react to it.  Over the last week there seems to be more people who feel comfortable expressing feelings that are less than inclusive of non white people.  As a father of somebody who is in this category, seeing this is troubling.  I don't know what the future will bring but I am hopeful that our country can become a place that is welcoming to all.

Two months and a different world

The kids at the Science museum in Manilla

Just two months ago we were still in the Philippines. At the time N was quiet and reserved.  She was definitely still just figuring us out. In the last two months a lot has changed.



First up we all celebrated J's birthday.  He had an ice skating party with some friends.  N joined us but decided not to ice skate, it was to "cold, cold."

She has gotten to meet most of her grandparents and an aunt, uncle and cousin.  Hopefully with the holidays coming up she will hopefully be able to meet more.

  We also had the chance to do some adventuring as a family.  We took a short trip to a National park for some hiking.  We also had a chance to make some treats together.
 

During these times we continue to be thankful for her huge smile and wonderful laugh.

 Then it was time to start school.  On the left is her first day of school.  On the right Jenn had the chance to join N's class on their field trip to a farm. Everybody had a great time.

Now it is almost time for Halloween.  N carved her own pumpkin and is very excited to dress up for trick or treating.

We know our journey is really just beginning.  There will be many challenges ahead some related to adoption and some just normal parenting stuff.  We feel very blessed that things are going so well at this point.  Just like with any adoption there are some challenges but ours have not been as challenging as many others yet.

Although I can't yet get a hug anytime I want, when I do they are amazing.  And every night at bedtime she asks "Daddy sing a song."

Travels Part 3 - Manilla

As the travel plans worked out we actually spent the most time in Manilla.  Thankfully we also had the biggest hotel room.  We stayed at a residence hotel so that we had a kitchenette, living room and two bed rooms.  This was much needed as we all needed a little extra space to be figuring each other out.

We arrived in Manilla mid day and headed to the hotel.  Thankfully we had some good tutoring and experience with taxis.  We knew at this point to insist on the meter and not a flat rate.  Even though the taxi driver didn't know exactly where the hotel was I was glad to see him ask one of the traffic cops for directions. We arrived at the hotel with no major issues.  We decided to just relax in the roof top pool for the rest of the afternoon.

The view from the roof was very striking to me.  You could easily see the big hotels and then the squatters areas right next door.

The boys enjoyed the pool.  They were always very excited to be in the water.

N wasn't so sure about the water and decided to just explore the furniture on the patio.

The next day we decided to start exploring the city.  N was doing pretty well so off we went to the children's science museum.  After not being able to get a taxi at the hotel or on the street corner, (it was rush hour after all), we decided to give Uber a try.  This was our first foray into Uber and it worked perfectly.  We used it for all of our transportation for the rest of the trip.

G is fascinated by robots right now.  This one was made all from vacuum parts.

This display demonstrated the effects an earthquake has on different types of buildings.

Here G was trying to make a gigantic bubble with him in the middle.

 It seems that each of our days had a fun activity in the morning and a more cultural one in the afternoon.  On day one we walked to the American Military Cemetery.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place.  Despite everybody complaining about the walk, which was longer than necessary because we had trouble locating the entrance at first, everyone was very impressed.

They had mosaic maps showing all the different military engagements the US was a part of in the area.

Jenn was on the trip too.  It was her phone that had all the space for photos though.

The view from the hotel at night.

On day two we started at the aquarium.  It was very different.  We heard the Filipino's like malls and there were malls everywhere.  The aquarium was integrated into a mall.  Many of the exhibits where like stores in the mall.  It was a little confusing for us to find all of them but we made it.

After we finished at the aquarium we headed down the street to Rizal park.  Rizal is a national hero as he was martyred by the Spanish while fighting for Philippine independence. 

G wanted a picture in this Jeepney that was part of the orchidium garden, unfortunately not many orchids were in bloom.

After forcing everybody to walk the length of the park they were rewarded with a trip to the playground. 

Day three in Manila brought us to the Inter Country Adoption Board (ICAB.) At ICAB we were able to get N's passport and official travel papers.  As you can tell she wasn't very excited about pictures at this point.  Everything worked out just as we had hoped.

 After ICAB we headed to the Mall of Asia to do a little souvenir shopping.  It was similar to any other mall, not sure what I was expecting.  After making a lap of the mall we decided it was time to head back to the hotel and start packing.

While Jenn and the boys hit the pool one last time.  N allowed me to read her a book.  This was probably the first time she sat on my lap. 

Friday brought us to our departure day but not until 5 pm.  Even with allowing for all the airport stuff we had some extra time.  So we walked to Ayala Museum.  For Jenn and I it was probably the most interesting museum we visited.  One of the highlights was a set of 60 dioramas depicting the history of the Philippines.  This is J standing next to the one showing the rice terraces.  They are hand build and if laid end to end would be 80 times longer than the Great Wall of China.  I think seeing them will be a part of our next trip, whenever that may be.

 There was also an exhibit on Philippine gold. This was a death mask. 

We had lunch at the Ayala Museum cafe.  It was Filipino food and the best we had all trip. The kids loved the koi pond.

Then it was time to head into the air for the next 25 hours.  Some people slept but not as much as usual.

My mom waited patiently to pick us up as we were the last people to pass through customs.  This was do to many factors including not knowing what were doing and picking the lines with the largest families around.

We made it though and we all rested some when we got home.

Travels Part 2 - Gotcha Day

Then came the first day that we met N.  As expected both JB and I were full of emotions.

It started pouring rain just before we were to walk over to the orphanage so Ailaine offered to pick us up in one of their vans.  Ailaine is the social worker that works at the orphanage.  She has been there the whole time N has been their and through our Skype sessions we have found that they have a wonderful relationship.

The orphanage was set up for our visit.

To JB's right is Ailaine (social worker), and one of the sisters. To my left is Sister Myra.
We began with paperwork to make everything official.  Just talking to these ladies and signing the forms I was tearing up.

We were given a tour of the orphanage.  It was so clean and the central area with playground looked like a great place to play.

However I was surprised that I didn't cry when N walked into the room.  I think I was mostly in awe.

I love the expression on the boys faces.  They are both so excited.

More than the cleanliness of the orphanage I could feel the love.  We got to meet all of the teachers and nuns who have taken care of N over the years.  They all loved N so well.  This was such a blessing to know.  I teared up most when I met each one of the caregivers knowing that they were saying goodbye to one of their children.

We spent Sunday morning at mass with the orphanage.  Afterwards they did an entrustment ceremony where multiple people were given the chance to share.  All of the staff shared wonderful memories and when it came time for JB and I to talk I think there was more crying than actual words.  We both were completely overwhelmed.

They threw a party as a send off for N.  She was able to play with all of her friends for one last time and say goodbye.

(That's Jack wearing one of my shirts.  We didn't think to buy him a nicer shirt for church because we thought we would have our bag back... oh well.  We got the bag back late on Sunday thanks to JB taking a taxi to and from the airport).
N was quiet the first few days but we could see a little bit of her personality come out as she began to play with the boys.

Later on Sunday after the entrustment we had the opportunity to go to a butterfly santuary while still in the city.  This was something that we thought all of the kids would enjoy and give us a chance to build some memories.
N was very brave and wanted to hold the caterpillar and butterflies just like her big brothers.