Taoyan Internation Airport and Dong Wu Hotel

And finally, here we are happy and tired at Taiwan Taoyan International Airport.



































You betta declare yo' stuff, or the beagles will get ya! Never saw them, though. I bet they come out of nowhere.






























The FIRST thing that came down baggage claim (below). I guess it's time we got used to sticking out like a sore thumb.

The cab ride from the airport to Dong Wu was about 30-40 minutes and entertaining. Not so much by what we saw (it was dark and hard to see much), but because of the traffic going on over the driv'ers radio. Fun to imagine what was being shouted in Mandarin, but they sure were excitable.

We arrived at Dong Wu with a similar feeling as when were first transported to our hotel in Belize for our honeymoon -- where the heck are we and what are we doing?! But we really do like what we have seen of the hotel so far, and our room is quite comfortable and quaint. The room we had originally booked was occupied, so we actually received an upgrade! Bonus. This where we will be for our first three nights, and then we will relocate to The Howard Plaza before meeting Pierson and Maylin.

Well, we're off to the breakfast buffet. Talk to y'all later!

More Pics from Day 1

These are little out-of-order, but here is a shot of Taipei at night from the plane...

















...this our plane from Tokyo to Taipei (take before the night shot above)...

Pictures from Day 1

It's about 7:45 AM on Friday here in Taiwan, and I think I've done about the sleeping I can do, considering the jet lag. Not too bad, though -- we finally got to bed around 1:00 AM, so I'll take it. Traci is still asleep, so I figured I'd take the opportunity to post some pictures

Oh, by the way, Traci back is doing much better than a few days ago, and the journey over here was very tolerable for her. Prayer does work! Not to mention thermapads and a trip to the chiropractor before we left. Thanks to everyone for keeping her in your prayers, and please continue to do so. She's still a bit stiff, but much, much improved.

Now onto some pictures. We don't have a whole lot to show from the journey so far, but here you go. First up are some shots from our layover at Narita International Airport in Tokyo. This was when we were really the fatigue...

Hello from Taipei!

After 30 hours -- from the time we woke up at our home in Charlotte on Wednesday, March 17 to the time we set foot in our hotel room on Thusday, March 18 -- we have finally arrived here in Taiwan! It has been a fairly uneventful day, in a good way. Travel included a drive from our house to CLT airport, three flights (Charlotte to Chicago, Chicago to Tokyo, Toyko to Taipei), and a cab ride from the airport to our hotel, Dong Wu. Traci and I agreed that our longest stretch, 12 hours from Chicago to Tokyo, was not that bad at all. Luckily, we were entertained by a few fairly decent movies (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Everybody's Fine) and at least one really awful one (Whip It!, Drew Barrymore's directoral debut. What did you expect?).

Our layover in Tokyo was when the fatigue really caught up with us. Though we were there around 3:00 PM in the afternoon, our bodies were telling it us it was about 3:00 AM. I try not to think too hard about the time difference anymore because one time I actually almost convinced myself that if you fly in just the right flight path over the north pole, that time travel is actually possible. Anyway, we got some good sleep in Narita, as well as the final flight.

Had no problems whatsover in any of our various checkpoints, and so far, everyone we have dealt with has been quite friendly to us gringos. Especially the cute, sassy old lady on our Tokyo-Taipei flight -- she was a vegetarian, so I traded my salad for her chicken. The Taiwanese have been incredibly friendly to us, as we were told they would be.

I'm so glad we had the opportunity to travel with Kristi and Ian a few years ago when they adopted Kylie from China because I think it prepared us for the jet lag and culture shock of being in an Asian country. It's still a bit of a shock, but I think being in China lessened the blow a bit. It STILL feels like you're on a completely different planet, what with all the Chinese characters, different styles of dress, different sights and smells, etc.

The bad news right now is we can't upload pictures just yet -- sorry, world! We are still unpacking, and I'm not sure which pile of clothing and beef jerky our camera adapter is hidden in. Once we locate that, we promise to get some pictures up.

Stay tuned! And thanks to everyone who is/has been supporting us back home through your prayers, financial aid, love, and friendship. You all are in our hearts as we embark in this journey, and we can't thank you enough.

Zai jian!

Back spasms are back! :(

4 day until we leave 10 until we are parents!

So today I have laid out Maylin's clothes, shoes, undies, socks, matching hair bows, jackets, toys, pj's. I started to get things out for Pierson when Chaucer (the dog) decided he needed a walk. So I obliged him and off we went. Some of you know I have a history of back spasms and this week has been no different... it has been bearable but somehow on the walk I slipped in the mud. (luckily I didn't fall). But you know how when you slip every muscle tightens... so here I am on my back on the couch with my 10's unit (a muscle shocker device) hooked to me. :(

I am praying and asking for all believers to pray with me that this will pass quickly! The thought of getting on a plane and sitting that long makes me want to cry more than I already have today.

Let alone, and more importantly I want to be able to pick up the children pain free and with out worry!

Thanks for your prayers!

I do have to note that my wonderful husband, Adam is cleaning the house, doing laundry, cleaning out the refrigerator... and still going! He is the best.

Here are pictures of the kids room I have been promising several people.

Maylin's room

Peirson's room

Coming to the end of the rapidly fraying rope.

So as time approaches I am getting so very excited and very nervous about meeting Pierson Yong-Sheng and Maylin Yu-Fong. I know that it is going to be wonderful, but I am not naive enough to believe that the life altering transition will be flawless. There will be a huge learning curve for all of us as we learn to speak each other's language, learn each others facial expressions, our mannerisms, what makes each other smile, what makes us frown... What kind of foods the children eat, how long they sleep, what they like to play with...


But for now I live in the present there are so many things I wanted to get done before we left for Taiwan. I have resigned to the fact that my list is just not going to get done I am now working on the necessities like buying and wrapping presents for the foster family (while researching what sort of gifts I should buy and what color paper I should wrap it in... Asia has very different traditions). Making piles of toys to take to Taiwan to entertain the kids in the hotel and on the plane ride home, buying and packing medicines we may or may not need, ordering a stroller for the trip, getting insurance for the kids, booking our flights and hotels (which was no easy task because of the cycling convention in Taipei while we are there) cleaning out the garage so we can fully open the back car doors to get the kids in and out and so on and so on...


Things I am not going to get done, put out pine needles in the yard so that I don't have to after the kids come home, clean the house from head to toe, (thankfully a trustworthy student has volunteered to clean it for me while we are gone!) Make meals to freeze for when we get home.


Things I still have to do between now and when we leave, finish off the food in the refrigerator which might go bad while we are gone, pack for myself and the kids, get all four of our things in two suitcases and 2 carry-ons. Make a picture book of critical things like foods, toys, facial expressions, clothes, household items and anything else that may help us communicate with the kids before we speak each others language...


Well I could go on and on... but I think that I should start working on my list rather than ramble on about it here.

And these faces make it all worth it.

Coming Soon

Twelve day until we are parents! :) I can hardly wait to get my arms around these two and get to know them more than just through a skype visit. They seem like they are going to have fun personalities!