Day 5 - We officially become a family of 6

Today was our "official" adoption day for Lize (NOTE: We were unable to access our blog for the first few days here so I am posting updates as if they occurred in sequence thus the reason you may see a date of Wednesday when I'm talking about a different day that that). You are given temporary custody of the adoptive child the first day (the Gotcha Day) and then on the next day you have to confirm your desire to adopt your child. We had a little time in the morning to have breakfast and get ready for the day's events. We were off to the provincial office for the adoption paperwork (here's a couple of pictures of the appointment and paperwork:

Signing the papers made us feel great as at that point in time, the Chinese government consideres our daughter. I can't help but think about the birth mother and can only pray that someday she finds some peace of mind in knowing that her act of grace makes her an angel to us bringing one of God's precious gifts, the gift of family.

Only one day into having our girl and we already can make several observations. She's appears to be healthy, has a big appetite, enjoys talking, has a great big friendly personality and is very independent. After the appointment we headed back to the hotel and were able to walk around the general area of our hotel (here's some pictures of that adventure):

Later in the afternoon today, we took trip to Dawn's favorite store in the whole world, that's right - Walmart. This store was huge and is located completely underground. Picture your local Walmart as busy as you ever seen it and multiply it by 10 and that's how busy it was. They carry items you would see at any American Walmart plus the added benefit of carrying some "local" specific favorites. I wonder if Sam Walton envisioned that his dream would spread all over the world. Either way, here's a picture of Lize and I outside the store entrance:

Lize was excited enough to sleep most of the way through the shopping experience. We loaded up on sodas, snacks and water.

Day 4 - Izabela Grace Newsome Arrives

After much anticipation, waiting and travel, it was finally LIZE time:

Today was Lize's "Gotcha Day". Once we arrived, we were taken to a room where Lize (and the other kids to be adopted) was waiting for their mommies and daddies.

When we walked into the room, we saw Lize setting at the end of the table. Once she noticed us, she acknowledged it by calling out "Momma" over and over. You can see that in one of the pictures she was pointing across the table at Dawn and I calling it out. Everyone in the room just gave an overall "Ahhhhhh" when they heard her. She cried just a little bit when she was handed over to us but very quickly stopped and was right where she was always intended to be, in our arms. It was instant love that words cannot describe.

We were off to our hotel room quickly after the "Gotcha Day" ceremony. When we peeled off the layers of clothes, we found that our expected 33 pound toddler (as we were advised her weight would be) actually was a very petite little 20 pound angel. Lize had a GREAT first night. We'll see what the next few days hold. Here are some pictures from our first night with her:

And you thought I was either kidding or crazy when I said that today would bring something that would make the Great Wall seem small and know you know that I was correct. Nothing I see here can top the beauty of this gift from God and the angel he used to bring her into our life. I can't wait to be back home so our family can be complete.

TRULY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a very busy day full of fun, excitement, astonishment, and appreciation. We (our group) started at 7:45 AM and didn't return to the hotel until after 5 PM. Our first stop was at Ming's Tomb. Ming's Tomb is collection of various tombs spread over several hundred acres across one of the mountain ranges. Here are some pictures of this stop:

After Ming's Tomb, we were off to what is truly one of the wonders of the world - The Great Wall. When you see the wall in the distance (as you drive up to it), it looks impressive. As you get closer and eventually arrive at the base of the specific section we visited, it leaves you completely astonished. What these people were able to accomplish nearly 2,000 years ago is beyond impressive and comprehension. The highest tower (of this section of the wall) sits at nearly 4,000 feet in the air.

As we climbed near the top, it was very windy. Standing up there looking down to the base, you truly got a perspective on how high you were and just made me that much more impressed. Truly remarkable. With no disrespect intended , but this turned out to be the biggest step master work out Dawn or I ever had. We took an insane amount of pictures but I will only post a few. I hope you enjoy them:

Dawn and I near the base of the wall (to the left). The other pictures were taken along the wall. Near the top of the highest point of the wall, I climbed into one of the watch towers and then on the roof it (you can see it in one of the pictures below). It was located higher than the highest point you see in the picture to the left. The final picture, at this point, is of The Grows' and us once we came back down the wall.

At the base of the Great Wall there was an impressive garden and other buildings. Here are a few pictures :

We finished the tour by going by the Olympic Village, The Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium) and the Water Cube. Here's a couple of pictures of those as well:

That brings to end another wonderful day. How do you top the wonders and beauty we've seen so far, well all these things will pale in comparison to what tomorrow will bring for us. You may think I've lost my mind but after tomorrow you too will agree.

WOW - What a first day in Beijing!

Today was an incredible day. We started by going to a shopping district here in Beijing and then we went to The Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square for our group activities. We followed-up a GREAT day by having an unbelievable dinner with a friend who is now living here in Beijing. Both locations were so much more impressive than I could have ever imagined. The only thing that would have made this better was having ALL the kids here with us.

Here are some pictures from our shopping excursion (yes they do celebrate Halloween):

Here are some pictures of The Forbidden City. The description INCREDIBLE doesn't due this place any justice. (For those of you who didn't know - This location was the Chinese Imperial Palace for the Emperor and his household. It took from (year) 1406 - 1420 to build and is 720,000 square metres. For a guy (like me) who loves history and just the thought of being here and walking where previous emperors of China once did is remarkable. Here you go:

Then we were off to Tienanmen Square. The square is over 100 acres which makes it the World's Largest Public Square - let me tell you, IT'S BIG! Several significant events in Chinese history occurred at this very site. Here are some pictures of the square, Dawn, me, and the Grows family:

We finish the day with a dinner with a friend. We couldn't pass up the opportunity as we "just happened to be in the neighborhood". It was great seeing her again as we enjoyed the food and the time we spent together.


After 10 miles of walking and having a good meal it was time to call it a day. True to expectations, the people here are absolutely fantastic. I cannot say enough about their friendliness and willingness to help. Tomorrow's a busy day for us as we take a group day-tour.

WE MADE IT!!!!!

Well all went well after 30+ hours of traveling (from the time we left our house to check in at the hotel). We arrived in Beijing at 10:30 PM and by the time we got our luggage, cleared customs, got a taxi, "negotiated" a taxi rate, got to the hotel and did some unpacking, it's now 12:45 AM (keep in mind China is 13 hours ahead of Wisconsin time) local time. I'm posting a couple of pictures:

Here we are (also included are our friends the Grows, minus Richard who was kind enough to take this picture) waiting for a tram. The Grows are adopting a little girl as well.

Here's a picture of one of the planes we were on during this leg of the trip.

Dawn saw these little Chinese dolls and of course we had to get them for the girls. I must admit, they are cute. And their names are what you might ask, Sofi and Lize of course.

Just a few more hours

Well, in 9 hours we'll be on our way. We want to thank everyone for your prayers and support and ask for you to continue for us (during our travels) as well as the kids. We'll keep you posted. We'll see everyone back in Milwaukee on November 15th at 2:00 PM (we're flying Northwest Airlines)

Just a little more, and then we're off....

Well, it's just over 8 days until we leave for China. We can hardly wait! The kids are very excited about having their little sister home. Sofi says, " Lize coming home soon" all the time. While we wait, I thought I would post a few more pics of the family:

Pumpkin Time ...and one week closer to Lize

One more week goes by and it brings us closer to Lize. We can't wait until the 29th (our depature date). This weekend we went on our annual pumpkin hunt and here are some pics of the journey:

LIZE, HERE WE COME............TA has arrived!

That's right, yesterday we received our travel approval. Due to a Chinese holiday Oct 1-3, a couple of weeks of trade shows in Guangzhou and some other issues within the proviences, our travel date will be October 29th (we'll get full confirmation on this date no later than Monday, we hope but it looks as if that will be the date). It's not as soon as we wanted but we finally have a date to get our little angel.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We hope that you keep them up until we get to Lize and bring her back home. We'll keep the blog updated with travel information and such once we have confirmed information.

Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated Sofi and Will's birthday this week (Sofi's birthday is Sept 23rd -she's 3 - and Will's birthday is Sept 25th -he's 8). Our little ones are growing up too fast. We also hoped to be with Lize on her birthday (Oct 3rd) but that's not going to happen. We took the kids to a restaurant that you could classify as a very upscale chuck e cheese.

I will post some pictures of them later but here's a couple of photos of Sofi that were taken yesterday:

G-Town Hawks 1-0

Zach is playing 7th grade football and his primary position is as a running back. Satruday was his first game and the team won 14-0. Here's some pictures of him before and during the game. (The photo from the game is Zach getting the ball for the run):

LOA finally here - (and some updated photos)

Well, we finally got our LOA (which is our approval to travel from China). We expect to be on our way in a few weeks to get our little Lize. We'd like to thank everyone for their prayers and support and we'll keep you posted on specific dates once we get more information.

For now, here's a general update from The Newsome's. We just returned from our annual trip to nothern Wisconsin. It's 3 nights/4 days of great fun, relaxation spent with friends at one of our most favorite spots in the world. Here's some photos from our trip (Will's big thing was horse back riding) - of course getting pics of Zach was difficult: