GRAMMY PERSPECTIVE

Grammy's perspective on the second adoption and trip to China has been very different from the first experience.  Obviously, having B'Elanna so involved in my life has been a huge blessing even with the exhaustion.  I am learning what kindergarten and first graders are learning and I swear what B'Elanna is learning I did not learn until 4th or 5th grade.  She has given me more laughs and love than I could have ever imagined before she joined our family.  She has also been the driving force to pursue her sister's adoption.  While Carmel was on her year long deployment with the Navy, B'Elanna would draw pictures for her Mommy, of herself, her sister and her Mommy doing things so everyone knew she was ready for the new addition.

The paperwork for the second adoption seemed to just happen without the announcement from Carmel for each step but that may have been because I was busy with B'Elanna, packing the Yakima house so Carmel could sell it, continuing my involvement in the Farmer's Market Events, and finally moving into the Oak Harbor house with Carmel, B'Elanna, four dogs and one cat.  Once the final steps of this adoption grew near the anticipation to travel and meeting Alya also grew.  I had met her in June while I participated in the Heritage Tour with CCAI, but this time I could let down my guard because I did not have to hand her back to a stranger and trust they would care for her as we would.

The connection with the other traveling families has also been different.  B'Elanna's adoption trip involved a lot of before travel e-mails and development of friendships that did not happen with this group.  The Finch family was the only family from this group that participated with the Beijing tours but luckily there was another lone CCAI family (Allison and JD Ledford) there and joined us.  They were a great addition and B'Elanna fell in love with both of them.  JD and our tour guide, George, carried B'Elanna almost everywhere which she loved.  We toured the same places as our first trip: Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong that included a Rickshaw ride and a wonderful meal in the home of a family living there.  It was a full day that included dense fog that left everyone questioning how people could live with this air every day.  The second day involved traveling to the Great Wall of China where B'Elanna and her Mommy walked to the third tower and back besides visiting the Buddist Temple located by the entrance to the Wall.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Jade Factory where we spent way too much.

The next morning we were heading to Zhengzhou via train while the Ledford family flew directly to Guangzhou to meet their first child, Kate. We met two more families from our CCAI group (Conklins - Jennifer, Zach, Zoe, Brook, Harrison, Matthew and Jennifer's mother Sandy and Ashley Johns) before leaving for the train.  B'Elanna made an immediate friend with Brook Conklin.

Getting onto the train was scary including B'Elanna tripping and falling with her small suitcase while a mob of people were all running to the same train since everyone was given 3 minutes to get on before the train left the station.  VERY SCARY!! We would never have made that connection without a stranger and the Conklin family's help. A young Chinese woman saw B'Elanna and her Mommy struggling with her and the luggage so she took B'Elanna's hand and gently helped her down the escalator to the train level and the Conklin girls helped B'Elanna from there.  I fell further and further back from the group due to my bad leg and being out of condition for such a fast push so Carmel got everything on the train and came back to pull me along. Carmel, Jennifer and Ashley got settled on the train and talked the entire trip to Zhengzhou so it was a good bonding experience for them and B'Elanna sat with Brook, Zoe and Sandy so she also had a good trip while I leaned back and enjoyed watching.

Yisha met us at the train station and took us to the Hilton Hotel in Zhengzhou which is a very nice hotel for newly adopted children and the craziness that goes along with that process.  We met another CCAI family (Saylors - Nicole, Kevin, and Kai and the Gerber family -Jenni, ________) before heading to the Registration Center to pick up the children.  All the families had previous adoptions, so the level of anxiety or nerves was not as obvious but the eagerness to received their next family member was definitely present.  We entered one door at the Registration Center as the children were entering from another and everyone met in the hallway so the camera's came out and great confusion ensued but that is another story.

All I can say is that all the walking and touring and climbing stairs over the last few days has pinpointed why I have scheduled my knee replacement surgery 10 days after returning home from this trip.  I will start physical therapy while my new granddaughter, Ayla, starts her evaluations and therapy.  Happy days!!