Guangzhou's Shopping

Well things got a little hectic the last two days in China before we flew home, so I'll catch you up on our crazy shenanigans.

Second to the last day in China we were supposed to hang out around our hotel rooms until noon while our guides went to the Consulate to file our paperwork for Joshua's immigration. They needed us to be available in case they had questions. Once everything was complete, we met up with the Kemps for some last minute shopping on Shamian Island.

Shamian Island was where the consulate used to be located so all adoptions out of China were completed there. As a result, the island is full of souvenir shops that cater to the adoptive families.... they sell lots of squeaky shoes, silk outfits... and love to see those Americans show up who don't know how to bargain!! It also has some really neat architecture and bronze sculptures.

First stop was Lucy's Diner, a great place to get a cheeseburger and fries!

After that, the power shopping began!! After purchasing a few things on our lists, we convinced the Kemps to venture off the island to look for a deal on pearls. This was a true taste of culture! You're lucky we didn't come home with some dried seahorses or snake skins for you! Too bad this is not a scratch n' sniff blog, the pics might not do it justice!!

Good pic of the happy little couple here (the kids not the dads!! Although Phillip and Rusty did make quite a pair!)

Dried bones anyone?

How about some dried bugs?

Or, dried seahorses?

Partial to snake skins?

Maybe pearls are more your style!!

Macy Li get a little lovin' from her Daddy.

We finished off the evening with our travel group at the Banana Leaf (see previous post).

{I must give credit where credit is due... some of these great pics, especially the gross ones were either taken by Phillip of Glamour Shots by Phillip or his beautiful assistant, Rhonda.}

Please save the date!!!

We have much to celebrate, and we want you to join us!!!

What are we celebrating?: Joshua's adoption and second birthday!

When: Saturday, September 13th (probably 7 pm)

Where: River Community Church

Who: All of you who have been a part of our journey (even you blog stalkers and lurkers who don't know us.... you're welcome too!)

More details to come!!!

Team Cryer has new WWF member!

Hudson and Hannah have a long winning streak as a tag team against Daddy in the wrestling ring. Looks like they'll be even harder to beat now that they've got fresh blood!

They're dropping like flies around here!!!

Joshua here again... blogging because my Mom's a little stretched. You see, my bro and sissy have had some nasty virus with fevers since Saturday. I've been keeping my parents up a lot during the night because of jet lag, and now my Dad has a fever too!

Here's a pic of my sibs, they're smiling even though they have fevers because Mom is letting them watch non-stop t.v. (Don't laugh at my brother... he's got a girl shirt on because he needed a wardrobe change in the middle of the night and we couldn't find more jammies for him.)

I'd put a pic of my Dad in bed too, but he's got his shirt off, and he doesn't want to make his new friend, Phillip insecure.
Mom's called in some reinforcements for tonight... a cute girl named Heather... sure hope we hit it off ok, because my Mom needs some sleep. I'm sure under other circumstances my parents wouldn't allow me to be up such late hours with such a catch of a girl, but apparently these are desperate times!!!

Joshua Shen here reporting from the homefront...

Hi all my friends out there in who are addicted to my blog and missing your fix!! My parents are jet lagging and haven't been posting, so I thought I'd give all of you a quick blog post. Been missin' me? Thought so!!! Anyway, I'll catch you up to date on what's been happening. I flew into Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport about 4pm on Wednesday and immediately met a whole bunch of new friends. There were kids galore, lots of big people and some crying ladies. My favorite were two little blonde martians who rushed me and haven't left me alone since. Here's a pic of them.

So, I think I'm really gonna like my new home. There are tons of toys and plenty of room to run!

Back to that jet lag... Dad looks a little tired here. My preferred wake-up time is 3am. By then, I've tossed and turned for an hour or so and I'm ready to rock 'n roll!!! Mom and Dad aren't too hip on the rolling that early, so we compromise and do some rocking (after they squirt something from modern science in my mouth to help me sleep). We rock for awhile and I nod off for another hour or so... but not too long... don't want to waste daylight!

Yesterday I went to a fun sprinkler park to meet some of my future buds. I ventured out pretty quickly and liked the water until the snacks came out. After that, I pretty much hung out around the Mommas because they kept talking about how adorable I was, and Ms. Amy wanted to "eat me up." I didn't mind the comments, 'cuz they all had some great snacks and they kept 'em commin'!

I still eat about an elephant a day, and Grandma says I'm getting a second chin. Last night my new family celebrated me at dinner. They grilled some T-bones and had a bunch of other good stuff. Grandma even made a peach cobbler! I passed on everything though, since mom had boiled me some eggs and made the most delicious congee!!!

Well, that's about it. I'm pretty much lovin' life right now as the center of attention! I plan to go to church tomorrow. Can't wait to meet more people who are thrilled I'm finally here!

Oh, one more thing.... here's a little shout out to my Southern friend Macy Li.... I'm glad you're loving your new life too, and I really miss your leftovers!!!

Joshua Flys Home to a Crowd!

Joshua was welcomed home by an amazing crowd of friends and family Wednesday afternoon! People showed up in red, white and blue with balloons and signs. We feel so blessed to be a part of a community who has helped us bring him home through prayers, encouragement and even sacrificial giving. We are so grateful. It has truly been a group effort to adopt Joshua!

He's such a treasure.... we brought home the gold!!!

Home!

Rusty, Lesli and Joshua were greeted by ecstatic Hudson & Hannah, family and lots of friends at the Wichita airport. They're home safely! More to come soon...

Flight Update - 2:28pm

As of 2:28pm, here is an update on the flight. Looks like they could be 10 minutes early.

Departs: Minneapolis/St. Paul-Int'l, MN (MSP)		Arrives: Wichita, KS ( ICT )
Gate: A7		Gate: 2
Scheduled: 2:15PM		Scheduled: 3:59PM
Actual: 2:10PM		Estimated: 3:48PM
Aircraft: CRJ		Weather: ICT
Note: Flight left the gate at 2:10PM but has not taken off.

Minneapolis to Wichita flight ON TIME

Here is the text of an automated email that Northwest Airlines just sent out about the flight the Cryers are on. Looks like they should be on time!

NW 5672 July 30 ON TIME departs MSP at 2:15 pm arrives ICT 3:59 pm Gate 2

A few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures to check out as the three Cryers are on their way home.

Documents in hand!

The adoption crew

Meal-time & friends

Suggested attire for Wichita airport welcome

from Joshua's Grandma Teakell

Those who would like to could dress in red, white or blue and bring red, white or blue helium baloon(s) to hold.

Information reminder for Wichita airport arrival

from Kyle Walters

Rusty wanted me to remind Wichitans (or those close by) of their arrival information. The three tired travelers are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday July 30 at 3:59pm. They will be traveling on Northwest Airlines flight #5672 from Minneapolis. Please check the flight status before you come to see if it's on time. You can check the web (www.nwa.com) or by call Northwest Airlines (800.225.2525). I will also try to put a post on the blog when I know whether or not their flight left Minneapolis on time. That post should show up an hour or two before their scheduled arrival in Wichita (that's for all of you Cryer blog junkies that check the website every 30 minutes! Okay, so maybe I'm one too...). It would be good to arrive at the airport 10-15 minutes before the flight is scheduled to land so you can make sure you see them.

Rusty also asked that we pray for their return trip. As you can see from the picture in the previous post, 22-month-old Joshua would much rather be "flying high" than sitting still on mom or dad's lap for the 17+ hours of airplane time.

How do you explain this?

You pick the caption that you think best fits the picture!

Caption One: Don't look Mom, we're just being a little wild at heart!!!

Caption Two: Really Mr. Chinese Official man.... we will make great parents... we promise not to hurt him, "abandon him again," keep him away from all danger, and provide him a good education. Seriously... please don't take him back to the orphanage now.... we've already fallen in love!

Caption Three: Well, if he doesn't dig school too much, he can always become a Chinese acrobat!!!

Caption Four (from Grandma Teakell): Having been told by the orphanage that Joshua was timid and introverted, Lesli & Rusty are being careful not to overstimulate him.

Caption Five (also from Grandma Teakell):
Headline - Summer 2026:
"Chinese Born Gymnast brings home the Gold in the High Bar for Team USA.
Edges out Favored Peoples Republic of China team by sizable margin."

More Photos

You can see more photos of the Cryers on the blog of some friends with whom they are traveling. The photos are in the slideshow posted on Monday July 28.

http://fromdatingtodiapers.blogspot.com

A Note from Grandma

Early this morning Grandpa and Grandma rendezvoused with some "not so sleepy but should have been...," four and a half year old twins named Hudson and Hannah. The two little troupers had been up since around four something and traveled a couple of hours. Hats off to Wendy P. for getting two four year olds up that early! They waved, smiled, and hugged us and had to tell us their dreams. (Hudson dreamed about Grandma and Momma and Hannah about a skunk!) Hudson was full of discussion about baseball and the batting glove he had on his hand. Since Grandpa is an expert on baseball they had lots of plans to work on batting. Within an hour of getting home, and before breakfast Grandpa read three books to them! Hats off to Grandpa! What a couple of great little kids they have been while mommy and daddy have been gone for twelve days! We're all full of gratitude for all the friends that entertained them, helping to make the time fly. They had so much fun they didn't even want to stop long enough to field their phone calls and Skype!

(Grandma took pictures this morning but forgot the cable to load them! BOO!)

While we're on the topic of food...

We just came back from an amazing restaurant called the Banana Leaf. It is more Polynesian than Chinese, and reminded many of the families in our travel group of the Rain Forest restaurants in America... except this had better food!! The decor was really fun, kind of a jungle type atmosphere. We were also surprised by some live entertainment!! I even ended up becoming part of the show!!! If I can get this video to post, it was taken just moments before I lost all inhibition and jumped in! Joshua LOVED the music!!! We've become convinced that the "shy, timid and introverted" child we were told we were getting is definitely none of the above!!! He still seems pretty easy going, which is the one label from his referral that I'm glad has stuck!!

Finally, Uigher Food!!!

For those of you who know us, you might remember that we have an affinity for Uighers and their food. Uighers are located in the western part of China, and are actually Muslim so their food tastes different than Chinese. Rusty say's that the only international dish he craves is Uigher lagman. We had been told that there were some Uigher restaurants up in Shenyang, and we planned to eat a lot of lagman, but we didn't find any.

Last night we went on a bit of a wild goose chase with another family in our travel group. (I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Rusty went to junior high with the wife!!) Anyway, we had gotten directions for a fast food Chinese place that some of the other families had liked. Probably an hour later, we decided that we weren't going to find the place. As we were walking back to our hotel, I looked up and saw the word "Uigher" in a restaurant sign. Rusty perked up, ran in, and started speaking to them in Kazakh. He got even more excited to discover that they were truly Uigher, and had lagman!!! So Rusty became our hero.... speaking in some language none of us understood and ordering some amazing dishes!!! Believe me, they taste so much better than the pictures!! Those of you who have had lagman in the past.... remember the tenth commandment!!!!