SHE'S OFFICIALLY OURS!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!! Our sweet China Blessing No 4 is OFFICIALLY A PIERCE!!!! This morning we went to the Registration Office to get Ansley Grace's adoption certificate. This was the same place that Callie Beth and Eiley Joy were placed into our arms for the first time. It was a short and sweet process. We had our picture made by the infamous wall with the Chinese writing and the date. We have had our picture made in front of this very same wall with each of our last three adoptions. No one told us until today that the wall was intended only to be used for people who are getting married!!! We still had our picture made there, and since the date on the wall was wrong, we stood in front of it so it wouldn't show. We just didn't want to break tradition!!!! :) It's Official! After we left the registration office, we had to go to the Notary Office for our notary interview. All that consisted of was us getting our picture made with the notary. The rest of our group will be going to the Zhengzhou PSB office this afternoon to apply for their children's passports. Since Ansley Grace was hosted in the United States last year, she already has a passport, so we have a free rest of the day!!! I am planning on visiting the orphanage where Ansley Grace has spent the last 7 1/2 years of her life. I want to visit the foster family who live on the grounds of the orphanage whose care she has been under for the past two or three years. When I talked to our guide about our visiting there, she recommended that we not take Ansley Grace with us. Since she has been doing so well with us, I kind of agreed, but then a friend of mine recommended that maybe I have our guide talk to her and ask her is she would like to go back and visit her foster family one more time, and explain to her that it wouldn't be to stay....it would just be for a visit. So, I asked Tina our guide if she would do that. I watched as she asked Ansley Grace if she would like to go back and visit, and explained to her that it wouldn't be to stay, but just to see her family one more time. Her answer was NO......she did not want to go back. A part of that makes me sad. I truly believe her foster family loved her and cared for her. She is very self-sufficient, she is a very happy child, she is obedient, and really has a sweet personality. Someone has done something right in her life along the way. At the same time, though, her not wanting to go back tells me that she is happy and content with us. We are still not doing big bear hugs with her, but she holds our hand, lets us help her when she needs it, and definitely doesn't act scared of us in any way. We knew from the beginning that God chose Ansley Grace for us, so honestly, I have never doubted through this whole process that she was meant to be our daughter number four. God has graciously shown us already just how perfect she is for our family. I know her big bubbas are going to love her, as will her Gran Gran, and her uncle and all her aunts. She is going to fit perfectly in to our China Girls group. Our family will never be the same again without Eiley Joy, and the intent of adopting again was NEVER to try to fill the loss of her because no child could ever take her place. We adopted again because God gave us enough love in our heart for another little girl......and yes, we have enough for plenty more!!!! I don't know whether or not there will be a Pierce Girl Number 5. It is not in our plans now, but we have learned that if we will keep our heart and mind open to God's will for our lives, and say YES when He calls, He will bless us beyond words. Sent from Yahoo! Mail for Windows 8

GOTCHA DAY!!!! OUR LIVES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN....

Our day started quite early today. We were all wide awake at 5 A.M. and SO ready to go get our girl!!! I can't begin to explain the emotions on Gotcha Day. It's a day that one's life changes forever. Having experienced this day three times before, Roger and I knew it was going to be a good day. It is not always a bed of roses, but there are no words to describe when a child from half way around the world is placed in one's arms for the first time......

Our group left the hotel at 9:30 this morning to go to the Registration Office to meet our children for the first time. It wasn't a very impressive looking place. We actually had to walk through a whole floor of construction to get to the steps to go to a room upstairs where they would bring our children.

When we reached the room, the officer from Ansley Grace's orphanage was already there with her. OH, what a cutie she is!!!! She was a little shy around us at first, but still offered us smiles. She had a photo album with her that the orphanage had sent with several pictures of her in it. She was pretty possessive of her book at first.....she didn't want it our of her sight However, she didn't mind letting Roger and me look at it. Other than the clothes she had on, it was the only thing she had with her. 

GOTCHA!

It didn't take her long to warm up to us a little more, though, and we got lots of smiles and giggles. We found out right off that she loves a cell phone. She had mine taking selfies like crazy! We asked her if she wanted to go play with the toys in the room. At first she shook her head no, but then later she went and played with Molly Kate and Callie Beth. It was like they had an instant connection. 

We were at the Registration Office for almost three hours. A couple of families in our group had to wait longer than expected for their babies to arrive. We finally got all of today's paperwork and payments completed, and headed back to the hotel. Ansley Grace took Molly Kate's and Callie Beth's hands and got on the bus, just like it was something she did every day. 

We spent the entire afternoon in our room. All three girls played with their Mobigos, drew pictures, and played with toys we brought. The room we are staying in is VERY warm. In fact, even though the high termperature the past two days has been in the low 50's, we have had our window open. Ansley Grace came to us in the thickest sweater pants that I have ever seen, and it was obvious her top was layered. In addition to that, she had come in a heavy coat. I noticed her cheeks were getting rosy.

 I had an outfit laid out for her that matched what Molly Kate and Callie Beth had on. I asked her if she wanted to put it on, and she nodded yes. SO I helped her get those bulky clothes off and put the matching outfit on. She grinned from ear to ear. I asked her if she wanted a bow, and she shook her head, so I wasn't going to press that issue......YET!!!!
 

SISTERS!

Tonight we decided to walk to the Holiday Inn Express and eat noodles for supper. We have eaten there many times before when we stayed at the Crowne Plaza next door. We started walking from our hotel, and we just hadn't stopped to realize just how far it was. The sidewalks here are very uneven, and they are not just for people walking. People ride their mopeds on the sidewalks, too. It really is dangerous. Ansley Grace tripped and fell, she got up without any problem. Then she tripped and fell again. This time when it happened, she cried. She let me comfort her by putting my arms around her and kissing her on the head. Roger carried her for a while, but it was almost like she was shutting down when he was carrying her, so he put her down to walk again. I think it was probably farther than she has walked in her entire life. She was really quiet the rest of the way to the restaurant, and even though she was holding my hand, we were afraid she was shutting down on us. But once we got there, she was her happy, smiling, giggly self again. She ate noodles and rice until she was full. We decided it might be best to get a taxi back to our hotel rather than trying the long walk again. Molly Kate and Callie Beth both fell asleep during supper, so we were afraid we might end up having to pack all three of them before we made it back. The taxi was the best $3 we've spent since we got here.

When we got back to the room, I intended for the girls to take a bath. I didn't even have to tell Ansley Grace. She immediately started stripping down. I had rub-a-dub-dub, the three cutest China girls in a tub!!! After their bath, they got out and I helped her dry off. I had new PJ's laid out for all three girls to wear. When Ansley Grace saw hers, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. This girl likes clothes!!! She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and was all giggly again when I gave her vitamins. I fixed her bed, and she obediently climbed in when I told her it was bedtime. It took her a little while to go to sleep. I turned the TV on to a cartoon channel, and she watched it for awhile, but finally fell asleep.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we couldn't have asked for our GOTCHA DAY to have gone any better. She is a perfect fit for our family, just like our other three girls were from the beginning. The only thing that kept this day from being perfect was the absence of Eiley Joy. Somehow, though, I just know she was smiling down from Heaven.......

DAY TWO OF TOURING

We had a FULL day today and I am totally zonked!!! I am going to try to share as much as possible, though. In less than 48 hours the IMPORTANT entries will begin!!!! I

The tiny red building at the top.....that was our goal to climb to. 
You can only imagine having to climb up that.

This picture with the four brick high step is just an example 
of how tall some of the steps were on our climb. 

We set our goal on making it to that top point, and we did......all SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY-TWO STEPS!!! Yes.....742 steps. AND, of course, since we went UP 742 steps, we had to come DOWN 742 steps!!! The last time we climbed the Great Wall, we had to hold our girls' hands all the way up and all the way down. Today they were very independent and climbed on their own. It was quite an accomplishment for them, especially for Callie Beth who has a vision and depth perception problem. I hope her vision teacher, OT, and PT at school see this!!!! 

This is a picture of the brick walk with Callie Beth. 
It shows in the background how steep it was in spots going back down.

There is so much history and interesting facts connected to the Great Wall. Our guide told us today that when it was being built, 9 out of 10 of the laborers died while working on the wall,, and when someone would die, their body would simply be buried in the wall. The Great Wall of China is also often known as the Great Cemetery of China. 

After we left our Great Wall adventure, we visited a government owned Jade Factory, and had lunch in the restaurant there. Yep.....you guessed it. We had Chinese food. It was actually really good. The food here is NOTHING like the food at our local Chinese restaurants around home. It is much healthier, and there is a great variety of food. Despite the fact that we are already tired of Chinese cuisine, we enjoyed it. Poor Molly Kate won't try anything new, but she has eaten her weigh in rice these past two days. 

We went on a short tour at the jade factory. I bought a jade bangle bracelet for Ansley Grace, as well as a jade figure of her Chinese zodiac animal, the rat. After our tour, we started back to the hotel, which was about and hour and a half drive. We drove by what is called the Cube and the Bird's Nest which were both constructed in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics held here.

After reaching the hotel, we had about 15 minutes before we had to reload the bus to go to the Chinese Acrobat Show. This was the third time we had attended it, but every time the acts have been different, and it was as amazing as ever tonight.

Instead of going back to the hotel after the show, we opted to have the bus driver drop us off at the "Food Court." Our purpose for going there was NOT to eat......we actually would probably would have gotten deathly sick had we eaten anything from there. It is just amazing to see. Vendor after vendor with some very UNUSUAL foods for sale......fried scorpion and snake, fried sheep testicles and penises, intestines of who knows what kind of animal......the list goes on. There were probably 100-200 different foods being sold there, and doubt that any of them would be found in our local Kroger. Molly Kate informed us that it smelled REALLY bad, and she was right. It was also shoulder to shoulder with people walking and eating all the disgusting foods!!!

On our walk back to the hotel we decided we probably needed to find somewhere to eat supper, since it had been quite a long time since lunch. The fact that we chose McDonald's might give you an idea of just HOW tired we already are of the typical menu here. And also, considering that the food at McDonald's here isn't really quite the same flavor of the food at McDonald's at home.......well, I guess we were just hungry. :)

We made it back to our hotel room, I got the girls hair washed and we got several pages of math assignments completed. Roger and the girls have all three conked out on me. I have to get everything packed tonight and have our suitcases ready by 7:30 in the morning to be taken to our bus. We will be traveling to the train station to take the Bullet Train to Zhengzhou, Henan. I have a feeling the train station is going to be an experience of a lifetime in itself as we try to get four large suitcases, two carry-ons, and four backpacks up an escalator and to the right location in a timely manner. It may make for an interesting blog entry tomorrow night!!! Our phenomenal guide, Jason will be with us, though, as well as at least 4 or 5 other families in our travel group. I'm sure it will be fine.

Our countdown has really begun. In less than 48 hours, we will be united with our precious daughter number FOUR!!! Please continue to pray for her and for us, too, that the transition will be smooth and that she will know and recognize from the beginning that we already love her to pieces. :)

IT IS EYE OPENING.....

More Pics From Our Tour....

Today when we came out of the Forbidden City there were beggars on the street. The first man was totally missing his left arm and his legs. It was in the low to mid 40's and he was sitting there without a shirt on. The second was a younger boy. He had such a hump in the middle of his back that he couldn't even sit up straight. He was also shirtless. The third man was very elderly. His feet were so twisted and deformed that I'm sure he probably wasn't able to walk and had to crawl. He had no shoes on and was just sitting there like he was in a stupor. It was SO VERY SAD.

MORE PICTURES....

The moat at the Forbidden City.

The Rickshaw driver that drove us as we toured the Hutong community.

Tian'anmen Square 

We Are HERE!!!!

FIRST FULL DAY IN BEIJING

We are here!!!! We arrived in Beijing last night around 7, and by the time we got to our hotel and was checked in, it was close to 9:00. We were starving!!! Our flight over was GREAT, but then, the food was definitely airplane food, so we needed a meal. Unfortunately, everything near our hotel was closed, except for the famous 7 Eleven store across the street. Our evening meal ended up being yogurt, almonds, chips, and chicken for Roger.

Our bodies are apparently somewhere between home time and China time, as we all woke up this morning around 4:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep! That just gave us plenty of time to get ready for our day of site seeing. There is one other family in our group that is here with us now. They are the Nasons and are from Indiana. They have a five year old daughter, Zoey, whom they adopted a year ago, and this trip they are adopting a 17 month old little boy. There are six more families in our group who are to arrive by Saturday.

Our first stop was Tian'anmen Square and The Forbidden City. Even though it was our third trip there, and we really weren't looking that forward to going back, I honestly learned a lot today that I didn't remember from our past visits. The history behind it all is very interesting and amazing. Our guide, Jason is AMAZING, and is a walking expert on Chinese history. Tian'anmen Square is where many monumental events in Chinese government have taken place in the past. Chairman Mao's body is entombed in his crystal casket here. You can see his picture in the background of one of our family pictures. Even though there is so much history behind his reign here in China, he actually affected our lives, too. Had it not been for the "one child" policy he enacted during his reign, we might not have ever been afforded the opportunity to adopt our girls. I'm not saying I think that policy was a good thing because I don't think it was good or fair either, but the good that came from the bad is
in the form of Molly Kate, Callie Beth, Eiley Joy, and soon to be Ansley Grace. And even though more than likely all of our girls didn't end up in the orphanage because they were either girls or a second or third child, the abandonment of children was an effect that rippled from his policy.

The Forbidden City was built during the 1400's during the reign of two very famous dynasties here. It is absolutely amazing to see, and the story behind its construction is amazing. I can't begin to tell you, though, all the superstitions that molded the way it was built, and unfortunately even though so many steps were taken to ward off evil spirits as well as enemy forces, it was attacked multiple times, and one emperor was even slain in his courtyard, and by a woman at that! There were places on the wall built to touch for good luck, and there were even specific ways to walk and step across the 12 inch thresholds in each door to ward off evil spirits and bad luck. Men were to step over the threshold with their left foot and women with their right. NEVER was one to step ON the threshold. Many of the emperors from the dynasties who lived in the Forbidden City died at a young age. It was attributed to some having as many as 3,000 concubines!!!

After leaving the Forbidden City, we took a rickshaw ride to one of the community hutongs. Hutong actually means corridor. A hutong is a community shared dwelling. As many as three generations of a family may live in one. These dwellings have narrow corridors that lead outside from one room to another. Rather than being like a house with several rooms, the one we visited to day was made up partially of separate rooms that had to be entered from outer doors. Another part was two stories high with multiple rooms. Hutongs do not have bathrooms in them. Community bathrooms are shared among several hutongs. The pictures I've shared are from the one we visited. . It was purchased approximately 150 years ago by family generations back. To purchase this hutong today, the cost would be approximately $2,000,000 in American money. Yes.....you heard me right. What we would term as almost dilapidated and not fit to live in is considered a GREAT possession in the Chinese culture. Jason, our guide told us, too, that it is estimated that the combined length of the corridors in hutongs across China, if connected, would be as long as the Great Wall.

The family who lived in the hutong we visited today was SO nice and hospitable. It was obvious that they were very proud of their home. They shared with us the meaning of numerous pictures they had hanging on their walls. They raised champion pigeons, and as I was taking pictures, they made sure that I took pictures of their prized pigeons, too. We were served a delicious home-cooked Chinese meal at the hutong, prepared by the family, which included fried peanuts, meatballs, rice, stir fried, onions, peppers, cabbage, green beans, and a couple of dishes that we weren't exactly sure what they were. Green tea and Sprite were served for beverages. We can only drink water if it is bottled. There are so many impurities in the water system here that we would most likely become very sick if we drank it straight from the tap. After our meal, we rode the rickshaw back to our bus, came back to the hotel, and enjoyed a THREE HOUR NAP!!!

Even though our day was a walking history lesson, all I could really think about was our girls and how different their lives would have been had they remained in China to grow up. Of course, they were all in an orphanage or a special care system for children when we adopted them, but it was just hard for me to picture them living in the scenario that we saw today. I once had a lady tell me that they would have been SO much better off had they been able to remain in their own culture. I just don't know about that. Actually, I DO know......NO THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF. How I know that is best not shared at this moment, but I can say that what we have to offer them is life with the promise of an ETERNAL future. I greatly appreciate the opportunity that the Chinese government has afforded us to adopt four orphans, and am thankful that we can say that three, soon to be four are ORPHANS NO MORE!!!! 

We Started in Nashville, flew on to Chicago, then arrived safely in Beijing!

The Journey in pictures...

Waiting to board the plane at the Nashville Airport.

One last meal of McDonald's in the Chicago Airport.

The Economy Plus tickets were worth every penny!  

Computers and tvs at every seat!