Cheung Sha beach in Hong Kong

Adoption update: We get to skype the older two kids in the orphanage starting this Friday...that is great news!! And Tom and Emma were able to video chat with Han-han yesterday from Anchorage, so he got to see his room and the dog. Sounds like the call went great!!

Saturday started off rainy, but by midday the sun was out and we went with the plan…go to the beach!! That involved a bus ride, a ferry ride, and another bus ride…fun journey with Sam and I, Bentleys and one other family.

Cheung Sha beach is on the south coast of Lantau Island, and it was lovely, uncrowded, lined with a few restaurants and a surf rental shop. There was a stream leading into the ocean with much tunnel and digging potential, clams to observe finding their way in the sand.

Sand found its way everywhere, and at the end of the day, the place cleared out fast when it started to rain. Imagine our surprise when we saw a black bull walking across the beach. It was completely surreal!!

Our last sight as we left to catch the bus was the most massive jellyfish I have ever seen! (toes in pictures to give an idea of scale!)

a great day!

Regrouping in Hong Kong

Tom and Emma left Tuesday; Sam and I bought tickets to Hong Kong Wednesday….to leave on Thursday. We found tix $60 cheaper (each) than all of our previous searches thanks to John at Dada. Even better, at the beginning of the week, Erica in Anchorage reminded us that Bentleys, friends of hers had moved to Hong Kong, so we connected with them pronto. It fell into place beautifully and Thursday afternoon, we flew into Hong Kong. They are on Lantau Island, same as the airport, so easy to get to.

(above, view from Bentley's apartment) Heavenly Father must know I need these recharges periodically because this little diversion has been heaven sent. We heard nary a word all week re: court rulings even though judge has had unresponsive birth mom info for 2 weeks at least. We made all our decisions LAST MINUTE this whole week, hoping to hear something. In the end, we decided not to overstay the visa and get monetarily penalized, but to go to Hong Kong and start the 30 day clock over on our return to Taiwan.

So, to come here and stay with a wonderful family and be shown around....taking a break from all that pesky thinking and figuring things out...it has been SO good.

We spent our first day at the science museum where the kids all shot through the place like pinballs in a machine. Sam spent a very long time at the Archimedes Screw exhibit moving pellets through from top to bottom.

Then we went to the Temple Street Night Market....that was mostly not there...because of the rain. No matter, still a fun outing wandering the streets, seeing the lights.

Church on Sunday was just down the road in a local school...small branch with a few American visitors from China, and a treat to listen in English. A good number of expats live in Discovery Bay, so they make up much of the branch.

The day before we left, I got a special treat...Maren and Audrey gave me a pedicure! Bright purple polish done by professionals...what's not to love about Hong Kong??

As a sidenote, this trip has been funny in a different way. We've read MANY books aloud to the kids all through the years and generally hope that they find their way to wanting to read.

While Sam LOVES to listen and learn in many ways, reading has decidedly NOT been one of those ways. He started reading Fablehaven before we left Anchorage and is on book 5 now. Those are literally his first 5 chapter books, so last week I asked what he would do once he finished them and he said, "Maybe I'll just start them again."

But once we got to the Bentleys, he saw lots of other options and from Friday to Monday has read through 6 volumes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. So, all of these pictures only LOOK like the same book.

He is in the same location, mostly same clothes, but different books at different times of day in every picture. And, believe it or not, we really did get out quite a bit and did active things (there were some late nights of reading).

It has been hugely entertaining to me (nothing new for lots of you parents, I know). I admit that there were days I wasn't sure it would happen, but eventually, it has to, right??

Bye Tom and Emma

So, there have been pending decisions about travel and such with these adoption delays. We fasted on Sunday and rehashed all of the details. There are factors like visas expiring after 30 days and kids passports 6 months from expiring (which is the deadline here) and do we leave Taiwan for a few days and go to Hong Kong, buying us 30 more days or will we end up having to pay penalties anyway if things don’t move along. Too much information, I know.

But, we also realized that youth conference for Emma is 3 weeks away, Tom is off payroll and maybe they should go on home instead of mucho dinero on change fees and penalties blah blah blah. Not having heard anything specific, we figure we’re at least 2-3 weeks out (and that’s being optimistic), so Tom and Emma go home today. It feels like the right thing to do based on the information we have at present. But…it was also sad.

I think I let it all out when Lucy left the school tonight. We know her well and she has just loved Emma. Because Emma and Tom went to Taipei today, she wasn’t there when Lucy left, meaning she wouldn’t get to say goodbye. We’ve seen her most days from 12:30 until dinnertime, gone swimming weekly and on the playground too. This afternoon, she gave us a little gift of porcelain shoes, not realizing that half the family was leaving tonight. I think I cried for more than just Lucy…it was for Emma and her goodness and for having our other half head home a little prematurely.

I count on Emma for stability and being agreeable and positive in practically every situation.

I count on Tom for lots of decision making-for splitting the labor-buying train tickets that get us to where we need to go, finding our way to hither and yon, taking pictures of everything so that we will always have a record of this story. What will we do without them?? Unfortunately, there's not too much time to belabor it since Sam and I are staying and need to deal with visa stuff.

The first thing we do is buy tickets to Hong Kong for a few days, so that we don’t overstay our visa. Leaving and coming back buys us another 30 days, and while people say the $$ penalties aren’t a big deal, it felt like maybe we’d want to err on the side of caution with immigration here.

I am laying my hope in a bigger picture…a perspective that maybe I can’t see right now, but Heavenly Father can. He knows our situation and what lies ahead. Can I trust that and remain calm and at peace? End of story: we stopped at Lucy’s home on the way to the airport and were able to say goodbye.