April 23: Today it is almost sunny. It is the first sun we have seen since we have been here. We did a little shopping. I had to head to QingPing Market to get some more allergy medicine for Molli and Helen. A box in the hotel costs 70Rb and the same box at the pharmacy was 27RB. Thankfully my guide took me over because I never would have found the pharmacy. Unfortunately it is just Claritin and not Claritin-D. Could not find the 'D' anywhere. China must not even give its citizens the option of buying 15 a day and signing for it. No 'D' no meth problems, this is China.
The highlight of our day was ordering pulled noodles and then watching him make them for us. I hope the video will come through. It is one of our favorite things to watch in China. These noodles are famous in Molli's city. The girls sat for a long time and listened to this musician in the restaurant. I should know what this instrument is called, but I don't. She wants the girls to come back every night. Helen would request songs and she would play. She told the girls she practices 3 hours a day. It was very beautiful. Tomorrow we go back to have the TB test read. So far it looks good to me. I am already looking forward to joining HCC for worship on Sunday via the internet. |
Helen Wallen
Three years ago we were introduced to two girls, God had a plan for both. We have had the privilege to watch it unfold in miraculous ways. The culmination shall be in the trip to China over the coming weeks when we welcome Helen into our home.
Monday, July 5, 2010
April 23 we love our noodles
Friday, April 30, 2010
Home sweet home!
| Dear Family and Friends: Last night we arrived home at 10pm. A 2 hour connection in Newark was not enough. We are very thankful that there is no speed limit for electric carts in airports. Our driver earned his tip. We got to our gate 15 minutes before takeoff only to find out they had changed the gate to the other end of the Newark airport. Luckily we found out before the electric cart left. He then raced us across the entire airport yelling 'beep beep, coming through.....' The Lord knew I was not up to emotionally missing the last plane home. Here are two pictures. The first is a scared little girl waiting for the plane to American in Beijing and the second is all my girls on the swing this morning laughing. Thank you dear friends and family for loving and praying us through the last two weeks. It is sooo good to be home. Life goes on, off to the doctor in 15 minutes with two more cases of suspected strep throat. Four in the family are already on antibiotics for it. |
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Travel Home
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Travel to Beijing
April 28 adventures at school
| April 28 What a day! Our driver picked us up at our friend's home in Beijing this morning and drove us to Helen's old school. We got to attend English class. My students will enjoy the fact that I had to sit in a desk and pay attention. I shot the attached picture while sitting in my desk. Mama Yang, Kayla, Helen, Molli and I attend the Beijing acrobats. Helen's foster family cooked us two huge meals today of all her favorite foods. I stood and watched to get much-needed pointers on my Chinese cooking. This was a day of lots of pictures. Tomorrow we will visit Holy Family Hospice home for babies. We understand there are over 20 babies. Hopefully we will get to do lots of holding and feeding. Tonight as we ate dinner together I yearned for the day we will be gathered at the Feast of the Lamb, every tribe and every nation. I pray our families will be reunited before that time on earth, but if not we have eternity. Tonight was a glimpse for our families of what that day will be like. PS. As you can see, we did find one more that does fit in the suitcase! |
Monday, April 26, 2010
April 26
| April 26: Our morning began with a summons to the phone during breakfast. We must leave immediately for the American Consulate because Helen is 14 she must be fingerprinted. Thankfully, I had finished my 3 cups of coffee and was feeling up to the task. Our guide told us to take the hotel bus to the train station and the consulate was across the street. I felt much better when fellow Buckeyes got in the bus, but they departed after 10 minutes to go shopping. We continued another 40 minutes through rain across a very busy city where I have yet to figure out the traffic rules. Daily I am amazed at the fact I do not see fender benders every block. The fact is, I have yet to see a traffic accident. After more slippery sidewalks and escalators, the task was completed and a driver was called to take us back to the hotel. Tomorrow, I take the American citizenship oath for her and receive her Visa to the United States. We find that at the end of every trip to China, the silliness breaks out. Today was the day. The girls raced the wheelchair through the lobby. They rode in the wheelchair together as I would run down the middle of the street with them in the rain. The good thing about the construction here on Shamain Island is the streets are finished, but the cars have not returned. Sidewalks are not usable for pedestrians right now. In the evening we shopped with our other friends from home and peels of laughter could be heard from American children as they tried on souvenirs in the shops. Our day closed with a bowl of our favorite hand pulled noodles, fried bananas and apples in sugar glaze that you then dip in cold water to harden. Hallgarths and Wallens agreed the bananas were the best. Finally, what do American kids do to end the day in China? They play spoons! It has been a blessing to meet our friends here in China. Helen is scared of America and scared of Americans. After our friends leave, she always comments. They are nice. I like them. Only the Lord could have planned this trip so that she would be able to become friends with kids who live less than a mile from our home while still in her home country. She is still very unsure about the rest of you, but she knows the Hallgarths will be her friends. Thank you for continuing to pray for us. We leave Tuesday for Beijing. I expect this leg of the trip will be very emotional, as Helen will say goodbye to her very loving foster family that has cared for her for five years. Please continue to lift us all up during this time of transition. PS. I love these little mangos. I eat 4 of them a day! They are so sweet; after you peel them the whole thing fits in your mouth. The seed is about 2 inches in diameter and flat as a piece of paper. |
Sunday, April 25, 2010
April 25
| April 25: Today we spent time with our friends and their new daughter. Molli and Helen both loved talking to Grace in Chinese. Both Molli and Helen are missing the little kids in their lives. After we left, Helen said she just wanted to spend more time with Grace. Later we got together for cards and Helen and Grace had more time together. Kevin was able to snap this shot of all three of us after breakfast. It is nice to have a record that I am the adult along on this trip! We are looking forward to joining our church via the internet for worship in just a few more hours. Since half the kids have strep at home, I am sure they will be logging into worship, too. Please pray for John. He has already had one twin at ER with strep and he is waiting for the next one to fire up her fever. Two of our older kids also have strep. Why do these things always happen on the weekend? Juli is healthy and a HUGE help to her dad right now. |
Saturday, April 24, 2010
April 23 - The White Swan
| April 24: We met Kevin on the way to breakfast and later I had a chance to sit and chat with the rest of the Hallgarths and meet Grace. She is beautiful and very healthy! I know about 5 phrases emergency parenting phrases in Chinese and taught them to Cheryl. Helen passed her TB test, which saved us the money for a chest x-ray! Molli taught Helen how to play cribbage. I wonder if cribbage has ever been played in Chinese before? I thought you might enjoy a picture of my breakfast. Missing are the two yogurts I ate. The manto is just like Mrs. Sung taught us to make. It tastes just the same! Danielle – the dragon fruit is for you and Chris – the watermelon is for you. I pray for you every morning when I eat them. The waterfall is in the lobby of the hotel and the boat passed our window during breakfast. A Chinese junket boat passed on the far side of the Pearl River, but it was too far away to get a good picture. |
Friday, April 23, 2010
April 23 noodles and music
| April 23: Today it is 'almost' sunny as you can 'almost' see. It is the first sun we have seen since we have been here. We did a little shopping. I had to head to QingPing Market to get some more allergy medicine for Molli and Helen. A box in the hotel costs 70Rb and the same box at the pharmacy was 27RB. Thankfully my guide took me over because I never would have found the pharmacy. Unfortunately it is just Claritin and not Claritin-D. Could not find the 'D' anywhere. China must not even give its citizens the option of buying 15 a day and signing for it. No 'D' no meth problems, this is China. The highlight of our day was ordering pulled noodles and then watching him make them for us. I hope the video will come through. It is one of our favorite things to watch in China. These noodles are famous in Molli's city. The girls sat for a long time and listened to this musician in the restaurant. I should know what this instrument is called, but I don't. She wants the girls to come back every night. Helen would request songs and she would play. She told the girls she practices 3 hours a day. It was very beautiful. Tomorrow we go back to have the TB test read. So far it looks good to me. I am already looking forward to joining HCC for worship on Sunday via the internet. Ok, I canceled the video. It was taking way to long to load. I will work on it another time. |
Thursday, April 22, 2010
April 22
| April 22 We arrived in Guangzhou at 1:30 in the morning after an airport delay. It promises to rain the entire time we are here. I asked the American consulate for one more favor this morning and they have agreed. Because the island where we are staying is all torn up with construction, it is very difficult for Helen to get around. I asked them if we could have her visa the same day we take our oath. This will allow us to return to Beijing a day early. We will not have to come back to the very muddy island. I am so thankful that they have again granted us a special exception. They have been very good to us. I am sure they will be happy to see our file disappear from their desks. My fourth adoption to China and I get to experience the 'baby hotel', The White Swan. For all our friends who have stayed here, I am praying for you and reliving your adoption pictures. It is a part of the adoption experience I have never gone through. The rooms are small, the beds are hard and the breakfast is opulent. One tradition the White Swan has is to present the adopted child with a Barbie doll. Two were waiting for us in our room when we returned from the health clinic today. The girls like the dolls, but have firmly declared they know no America mommy that looks like the doll. It only took us three shots to get out of the country: varicella, tetnas and influenza as well as a TB test. I can understand the TB test, but the others seem silly to me. I checked the manufacture's dates and the shots were a year old, but still had one more year to go until they expired. Ugh. Molli's allergies are really bad. Andy: Helen now reigns as the most flexible person in our family. You have been dethroned! Finally, last night Helen decided she is only speaking English to Molli when we are in public and they will speak Chinese in the room. She is tired of all the Chinese people asking her why Molli cannot speak Chinese. She said she is just going to pretend she cannot speak Chinese. Last night in the airport she started laughing and told me the people around us think she is American and does not know Chinese. Today our translator had to ask Helen how to say 'wheelchair' in English. Helen's English is much better than our translators. Molli is learning Chinese and Helen American Sign Language. We are a very weird breakfast table to those observing! |
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Travel to Guangzhou
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
saying goodbye at school
| April 21: Happy old birthday to Helen. Helen has agreed that she wants her new birthday to be April 20, 1997. April 20 is the day she joined our family. It is our family tradition that we change all our Chinese adopted children's birthdays to be the day they joined our family. We have also agreed that 13 is a good age for her. However, today is a very special day for us to remember the works of the Lord. According to Chinese law, Helen is too old today to be adopted. Last night our agency's representative called to say congratulations. She said for the last two weeks everyone in China has said it was impossible to get all the paperwork done in time for Helen to be adopted. But we know the God whom we serve. We know His will cannot be thwarted and we know His son promised us "With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:26. Little did she know, she was affirming God's promises last night and His mighty work on behalf of the orphan and our family when she told me her story of the last two weeks. So many Chinese and American government agencies worked together to push the paperwork through in record time for this adoption to be possible. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Well today is a boring picture day, so I decided you might like to see pictures of Helen's last day at school. She says her class is 70 fifth graders and 1 teacher. Hudson schools have no clue about budget constraints. Helen says it cost too much money to have more than one teacher. Notice the students sharing chairs. |
Shopping adventures
| April 20: I don't often think about how much I love the sidewalks in America, but to all you civil engineers out there – Thank you for designing very practical sidewalks that are not aesthetically pleasing. Have I mentioned how shinny the sidewalks in China are? Even the ramps to buildings and down into the streets are high gloss. High gloss sidewalks and rain are not a good combination, especially when you use arm crutches. Poor Helen had one fall that I missed, and two that I caught. (Wallen kids – Molli says my left arm was the nail today for Helen. The nail is back on Aleve.) We ventured into a department store where we secured a few treasures. Namely Disney princess books in Chinese and origami folding papers – yes, they are the girly girls. After shopping we wisely stood in the rain to catch a taxi and avoid any more physical contact with sidewalks. I was shocked when a 20ish man stepped right in front of us and took our taxi. Another older Chinese man made sure no one took our next one. Molli found a fallacy today for her school fallacy folder on a billboard that said "Chivas: live with chivalry". Hmmm – guess the younger man hasn't had his Chivas today. Of course Molli had no idea what Chivas was, so a lot of explaining had to be done before she could classify the fallacy. Thanks to my childhood neighbors, the Regals, who named their dogs 'Chivas' and 'Brandy', I could interpret the billboard. We sent 5 pairs of Helen's pants out to the tailor today to have several inches removed from the bottom. They were returned in less than 3 hours for a total of 25RB = $3.00. |
Monday, April 19, 2010
Our new daughter
| April 20: Introducing our newest daughter, Helen-Ling Ruth Wallen. Her adoption was made official today with 14 hours of eligibility left. We are so thankful for the Body of Christ that has come along side of us as we have walked this difficult path. She is a testimony to answered prayer and God's care for the sparrow. Please join us in giving thanks for this newest blessing in our lives. |
Gottcha Day
| April 19 Today was the official "Gottcha Day" at the Civil Affairs office. Helen has been given to us for a 24 hour bonding time. So, during our bonding time today, we sat at the bank for a very long time in order to convert money. Then we counted out the money for notaries, passports and orphanage donation and put them into envelopes to be given tomorrow. We then prepared our six gifts of hand lotions and Aldi's fine European chocolate. With all the adoption work done for the day, we Skyped the family to check in on Sharon's wedding. While in the middle of the call, the hotel decided our AC was broken and we would have to change rooms. After the move, we headed off to the pool. Now are going to head out in search of some noodles. Molli will be attending her Logic class in Hudson in four hours thanks to Skype. Just got back from our noodles, steamed broccoli and pumpkin sticks. Less than $7.00 for the three of us. Cara and Johnie: It is a new orphanage director. The new director seems very nice. One big change here is nobody smokes while doing business anymore. I was asking our guide about it today and she said the big cities have banned smoking in public places and for the most part fewer people smoke. I never see anyone smoking on the streets anymore. |
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A close to my Sunday
| Just got to Skype my family and then worship with online with my church family. I was even able to email myself sermon notes right from the website. Thank you HCC for always being there for us, even in China. |
The Bullet
| April 18, 2010: The bullet ride was a great experience. The luggage was a problem, but one of the ladies traveling with us from the children's home found a porter with a cart that you could pay to take the bags. We got to go in a different door and it made the process much easier than pushing through the crowd with three children, one baby, two adults and luggage. Once on the train they let us leave the bags on the floor and not lift them into the overhead racks. The train was very clean. As we were boarding the train every car was being washed externally. During our three hour ride, the floor of our car was wet mopped three times and broom swept three times. The girls played cards, made paper flowers and decorated Helen's crutches with stickers. Today, we learned that Helen is very relieved that we are keeping the name Helen. She was afraid we were going to change it and she really likes it. In fact she prefers to be called Helen rather than Ling Ling. She would however, like us to change her birthday. She told Molli she would like it to be May 29. But in a family that picks birthdays as it is, she can't have that one. It is already taken by Johnie! She has a very gentle spirit and is concerned about other's comfort. Two other children and one adult traveled with us from the children's home. The first was an older girl/young lady about 20 who has Down's syndrome. Helen was conscious to include her in conversation. The other was a 3-month-old CP baby with a gastro-nasal tube. Both Molli and Helen got to carry the baby. Molli had to carry the baby a long way through the train station because the other adult had to help with our suitcases. The blanket was so thick around the baby that Molli said it was hard to even know where the baby was in the blanket. I bet the baby weighed about 6lbs. Molli and I are now safely in our hotel. Helen is at the Children's home in Taiyuan. Tomorrow we will meet her at the Civil Affairs office where they will officially give her to us for a 24 hours bonding time. The following day we will report back to the Civil Affairs office and accept her. The adoption will then be processed. |
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Day 1 Beijing: Meeting Day
| Dear Friends: We have had a great start to our trip. Last night we met Helen Ling for the first time. She has a very sweet personality. She lives in a wonderful foster home that has cared for her very well the last five years. We spent time looking at pictures on the computer. She is happy she is going to be in a big family. She kept counting 3 big brothers, san ge ge ge, 1 big sister, yi ge jie jie, and 3 little sisters, san ge mi mi . Then she would get a big smile on her face. She and Molli are obviously the same age. She loves animals. One of her first questions was if we had a dog or a cat. Then she wanted to know if they were allowed to sleep in her room. Ughh. If you know me, you know I hate animals in the beds. Her English is very good. Today we get on the bullet train with twice as much luggage as we are allowed. I expect we will be sitting on it. We are also taking a baby from the Children's Home here back to Taiyuan. We may hang out in the Children's Home tonight and play with the kids. We are really looking forward to joining Hudson Community Chapel via online worship tonight. I packed the computer speakers so we can fill our room with praise. Hopefully it will not be blocked. Biology class, please write and tell me about your field trip. 6th graders I hope you enjoy your papermaking with Mrs. Kibler. I will miss you. |
Meeting Helen
MC, Molli and Helen meet in Beijing. I don't know the details but know the first meeting went well. MC sent me this picture.
Thank you for your prayers and keep them coming. They travel to Taiyuan Sunday where the adoption will take place.
Meeting Helen-Ling
Friday, April 16, 2010
Molli.jpg
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Gods Plan
Travel Day #1
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Beginning
Three years ago we were introduced to two girls, God had a plan for both. We have had the privilege to watch it unfold in miraculous ways. The culmination shall be in the trip to China over the coming weeks when we welcome Helen into our home.