Travel Home

Connor wins for being the best Mangus Family Traveler. He slept on the floor of the plane for about 6 of the 10 hours from our flight from Beijing to Seattle. He is a trooper. Cassidy had a very tough time on the long flight but ah well what can you expect??? I don't imagine we will be doing any more LONG traveling excursions for a very long time. She did much better on the shorter flights- AMEN for that. We arrived home to Hayden/Steamboat safely around 11pm and were happy to sleep in our own beds... now its time to get life back to "NORMAL."

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers while we were traveling. It was incredible, amazing, testing and exhausting but worth it all!

Red Couch Photos

It is tradition to take photos of each family on the Red Couches before departing and also of the babies from the group. What an adventure it is to try to get 9 babies and one teenager to look up at just the right moment, not to mention trying to keep them from all crying at once.

This was the highlight of the day since the rest was just wanting and waiting to fly home.

Homeward Bound

THIS LINK SHOULD WORK NOW!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=560889353606%3A1704885109


Today is our last day in China. While a great trip for the purpose of bring home Cassidy, it has been exhausting and long. We are not good travelers and won't ever claim to be. Our home, family, friends, doggies and people speaking English are many of the comforts that we are looking forward too. O and the cleanliness of the USA will be much appreciated as well!

Many people are requesting more photos, the best way I can think to do that is to send you this album on Kodak Gallery. It has all the pohotos we have taken so far except for today on it. I was going to take the time to organize them and write comments, but if you just want to look at photos, this is a great way to do so.

We are wishing for smooth travels home

White Swan

Today was a pretty busy day for the Mangus 4. We went on a tour of some local sites a Buddhist Temple which was beautiful, the Chang House which is full of local art work and the Provincial Shopping Centre which was great because you are purchasing things that are nice quality and you did not have to try to negotiate... we are not such good negotiators, we could have used Momma Der's talents or Todd Pedersen's help yesterday when making some purchases right outside of our hotel.

I had to do some more paperwork to help wish Cassidy's Visa Appointment which is tomorrow bright and early. These are the documents that make her an American Citizen when we touch down in the USA on Wednesday. We thought that she would have dual citizenship but apparently once she is an American she is no longer a China Citizen. That's okay but it would have been neat for her to have both.

We have worn out on the Chinese Cuisine so we stopped by Lucy's for dinner which has french fries, pizza, chicken fingers and club sandwiches. Not the healthiest meal we have eaten in China but it was nice to have the taste of home.

Connor and Sophia were not together at all today which was torture for both of them, so we took a late evening swim with their family. The pools is beautiful but because of the many celebrities they have visit this hotel (like Presidents and Government officials from all over the world, Hollywood stars etc) they don't allow cameras at the pool.

There was a "Heritage Tour" at the White Swan while we were here which was for families to bring back their children who were adopted 10 or so years ago, they travel to many different parts of the country with their final stop, again at the White Swan. It was so sweet to see all of the families that "remember" the trip when they came to get their children and their congratulations were kind.

We are VERY anxious to get home. 2 more full days here and then the travel day. Love to all!

Yesterday!

Today we had Cassidy's Physical Exam for the Consulate Appointment which is on Monday. We are pleased to report that other than a raspy little cold she is in great health. Her Buddha belly is featured here in her bathing suit. I think she weighs exactly what her brother did at her age, and we all know he was a little round human as well. She wears 18 months clothes and mommy is having a blast dressing her up really girly.

She continues to come out of her shell a little more each day. We took her in the pool today, which she did not like when we were at the other hotel, but today she liked it and she almost fell asleep in my arms in the water. She learned how to give me 5 and really laughed while watching Daddy and Big Brother swim. She is really just too sweet for words. I hope as she continues to trust us, so that she will open up enough to actually catch her smile on camera. She is always very serious when we bring the camera around but when you see it, her smile will melt you.

Connor is being such a trooper. We walked several blocks today in this incredible heat and humidity and he only complained a little. He worries about Cassidy when she is sweaty, when she needs a nap and still worries about if Dad and I are hurting her when we give her basic care. We found the Starbucks today, their version of a Chai Tea Latte is a bit different than ours in the US but it was STILL a nice treat, not surprisingly we stumbled across many of the families in our group there too.

We miss everyone and look forward to getting back to our world- the countdown to come home is ON.

Today in Guangzhou

Today was LONG but we have safely arrived in Guangzhou at the beautiful White Swan Hotel! We have heard so much about his hotel, it is really nice to be here and finally see what everyone has been talking about. It is late here so we basically just checked in, looked at the waterfall and fish and came up for bath and tucking the little Mangus's into their beds.

Our day was mostly wasting time in our room at the Crowne Plaza in Zhengzhou, although that time seems unimportant. It in our room with just the 4 of us, that we get to enjoy little Cassidy coming to life. Her personality is adorable but she is cautious to show it when we are not in our own little setting. She laughs a ton, and is slowly warming up to cuddling and kisses on the lips (which are imperative for any child of mine!). She is precious. She calls for Ma Ma or Da Da and if we say Connor enough she will repeat it. She has the sweetest little voice. It is of course only little when she is happy, when she is unhappy that little voice escalates rapidly.

We then took our bus to the airport where our CCAI guides checked us in and left us at security (never have you seen such hand holding but it is SO appreciated). Our flight was delayed and the babies all started getting hungry which made things loud at the gate, but all in all they did very well. The flight was easy and we were happy to be greeted by our new guides in Guangzhou Grace and Maggie (for those of you who may have had the same ones). These ladies are ORGANIZED beyond belief and we are excited by their bubbly personalities.

It sounds like tomorrow will be busy with Cassidy's Physical Exam and then Visa Photo, but after that we have some time while the paperwork processes to check out the area and have some fun. We are looking forward to shopping the little gift shops and loving some pool time.

Matt and Tracie- Sad to tell you our group is the LAST CCAI group staying at the White Swan. After this it is the Marriott. Since Josh and Lily know what they are doing SO well, I trust that will be great too, but I thought of you when they said it was the last group, knowing that you are on your way to get Emi soon. I also think of you often when I hear people's stories of being matched last November and traveling with us to get their little person now. I am praying for your wait to be shorter than those families.

All in all for traveling with 9 families, I have to say everyone is getting along really nicely. There are of course some more "special" people but more than not, it has been fun getting to know the other families and the stories of their children.

One final note on our progress. Cassidy LIKES both Shea and I now... what a relief. Like every kid she will know who to charm at what time, but traveling with her for our first 10 days together, it sure is nice knowing that she will now come to either of us!

Love to all!

Day 3

Ahh, Day 3

When Cassidy was abandoned at 3 days old, she didn't open her eyes or unclench her hands for the first 3 days. Perhaps day 3 is the day she gives into her new surroundings and begins to accept them. Today, she began to trust her mommy.

We took a long walk to the Walmart and KFC today. The people here drive their mopeds on the sidewalks and honk at you when you are walking like a "pedestrian"- God forbid you walk on the side walk. Cassidy allowed me to hold her for the entire walk. After the most interesting Walmart we have ever experienced (makes Steamboat's Walmart look amazing), then walked around the shopping district and ate lunch at the KFC. Ordering was challenging but it felt nice to have a little familiarity.

After our morning adventure, we came back to the hotel room for some down time. Cassidy and I laid on a bed playing, laughing and tickling her for hours, it was really fun and really nice to connect with her. Meanwhile, Daddy and Connor are in the processing of mastering the Batman game on the Nintendo DS.

We all went swimming... Cassidy  was not such a big fan of the swimming pool. When she doesn't like something she stands very still and stares down. After a short time of trying to convince her it was fun, we got out. She chased a ball around the pool deck area and still had a nice time. Connor and Shea played with Sophia and her dad Scott for a while in the pool. It was great.

We are heading now to go eat some dinner, then bath time and bedtime. Connor helped Cassidy not be afraid in the bath last night and that worked well so we will hope to have the same success today.

I appreciate all of you who are worried about how I am handling the stress of little missy not taking to me immediately. It is okay now and I am sure it can only get better and better. I think perhaps she is starting to understand that I am not just one of the nannies who comes and goes in her life but that we will be together forever!
- Show quoted text -

The princess

Day 2, Family of 4

Connor is a wonderful big brother. When we change Cassidy's diaper, if she fusses, he tells us not to hurt her and says we must be pressing too hard. After a day and a half of being a brother, he has all the answers. When she cried the first day, he cried too, but the Shea told he it was his job to cheer her up and now he is taking that very seriously.

After the 3rd or 4th rejection for the momma today, I had a little meltdown. It makes me a little sad to know that I cant do for her right now, what daddy can. The CCAI rep is saying it is great that she has attached to one of us (and that it is common to bond fast to one parent and a little slower to connect with the other parent) but I am on a mission to make her love me too. So I mustered up the courage to take both kids to lunch without Shea, knowing that Connor would be great and with Cassidy, well I had to hope for the best. She surprised me and did quite well. She didn't cry when we left Shea this time, which was an improvement and she actually ate a little lunch which helps too. Certainly keeping her full is part of keeping her happy.

In an effort to keep the girl bonding thing going, I took Cassidy with me to the "Shopping Outting" while the boys went to the pool. The store was 3 stories, a million people, and HOTter than heck. People stare at Americans like crazy which we are getting used to, but the comments of "Lucky Baby" when you walk by people in the store was interesting. We had a successful shopping trip and then a meltdown on the bus back to the hotel. Luckily Dad, Brother and Hello Kitty saved the day when we arrived back to our room. 

All in all I would say we made "baby steps" forward on liking Mommy today but the other 2 have it in the bag!

This morning we signed the paperwork and notarized that Dang, Shi Meng is legally our child, it was presented in like a little graduation ceremony which appropriate. Just like college, 4 years, when you finish this many "papers" you should get some sort of diploma. Our diploma comes in the form of a "Certificate of Adoption

Gotcha Day

This morning the long time dream of adopting a baby from China became a reality. Cassidy Anne (Dang, Shi Meng) was handed to us at to us around 10 am local time. It was a very emotional experience for us and for all the other families, to see all of the families receive the children they had been wishing for. Cassidy was very queit when she was handed over to us. The Chinese put children in "split pants" which allows for them to pee all over the floor, which is exactly what she did. After I cleaned her up, and Shea the floor, we put an AMERICAN diaper on her we started loving on her. She is very quiet although as the day has progressed we have heard some sad and happy noises. Big brother Connor showed her how to eat cheerios and goldfish and now she is hooked.  Cassidy loves fruit and noodles, but judging by the way she eats we don't think that there is much that she is not going to like.  We just finished a very brief nap in Daddy's arms and then we tried out some pool time, so that big brother can use up some of his endless supply of energy.  Cassidy has quickly fallen in love with her dad and brother and is starting to warm up to me... this has been a LOT of change for one day- so I will cut her some slack for today- ha ha.

We have an appointment tomorrow morning which makes the adoption legal!

We will post more about our new little lady tomorrow. She is precious and is already a great addition to our family...

Cassidy Eve

We arrived in Zhengzhou today which is the Capital City of the Henan Province. We are staying at the Crowne Plaza which is very nice.  We will be here today until Friday.

On the bus ride here from the airport, we received an update on our little lady... so exciting to hear about her after two months of no new info. She is walking on her own (which is a great sign of progress), she eats 5 times per day with formula as her main course and of course pourage, noodles and rice are her other common meals. She will fit right in with her brother because she LOVES fruit. She is called Meng Meng for short, but we think that is probably pronounced Mung Mung. Not too far off from Mang(us).

We loved this piece of information, "when she is fussy, a lollipop will immediately comfort her and bring a smile back to her face." Guess we are going to buy some lollipops tonight before we meet her.

We are excited to explore this town a little more on our own. You can walk places and not feel so overwhelmed by the population and craziness of Beijing.

Keep us in your thoughts tonight, by the time you wake up tomorrow we will have our little Cassidy Anne in our arms!

Great Wall

Great Wall Of China:

We left the hotel today heading for the Great Wall. We stopped off at a Jade Factory which was amazing... I wanted to buy one of everything, if you ask Shea he may tell you I did. Then off to the Great Wall. Connor was impressive, it is STEEP and the stairs are uneven and a little crazy. Our tour guide George reminded us that it was all built by hand and no machinery to help which makes it that much more incredible. Shea was concerned as we climbed it- that a lot of the stairs would not have been approved by Routt County's "building code." Connor and I went up to the first large "square"  or look out area (seen in the photo) but started down after that. Shea decided to be a go getter and go further- a stellar work out no doubt. The way down was a little scary, and at times my knees were seriously trembling but luckily I somehow convinced Connor that it wasn't too scary and that we could do it. Connor was extremely proud of himself when we looked back up at what he had accomplished.

On the way back towards town, we went to the Olympic Nest, which was fun to see. We crack up at how many different street vendors tried to sell us the same darn kites... it is like visiting Mexico on steroids. But it provides for lasting discussion and entertainment.

Finally after all of those stops, we went to an acrobatic show which was pretty stinking unbelievable... just almost incomprehensible about how these people make their bodies to bend. Shea and I were wishing at that point, that we didn't have to go to the show, but Connor's face watching the performances was pretty sweet and made the stop worth if for both of us. 

When we got back to the hotel we forced Connor to stay up for dinner, and he just crashed... tomorrow- a LOT less activity and a bit more relaxing. We have a flight over to the province, HENAN, where Cassidy lives. We will get to the capital city of her province called Zhengzhou, check into our new hotel and have some downtime. It will be nice to be a bit sleepy and worn out from the first couple of days with hopes that we can sleep tomorrow night. After all, our family goes from 3 to 4 on MONDAY!

Kristen- Good call on the scary sqwatty potties- not our fave thing.
Craig- We could use those foot massages, we will definitely look into those in our next location.

Lots of love!

The Forbidden City & Tienanmen Square

Our tour guide from CCAI, named George did a great job of "lightly" introducing us to Beijing. It was raining like crazy so we did the tours in the opposite order that George would usually give them in. We started in "Old Beijing" where we got to ride in rickshaws through the narrow alleys and meet the patriarch of a family who has lived in this same location in Old Beijing for 150 years. We then went to a silk factory, which was really interesting- the silk and all of the treasures they produce are incredible. Then we had an "authentic" Chinese lunch (which was not all that different from the USA's Chinese food). It was great, and then we walked though Tienanmen Square and on into the Forbidden City.

We've met 8 other families that we will be traveling with. Of the 9 families- 6 of them are here to adopt little boys! Most of them seem to be cleft lip and palate stories. Connor has a new BFF, Sofia, she is also 5 and was adopted from China when she was a year old. They held hands and their new found friendship made the day much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. IT was very cute to see them together; she is a cutie pie to say the least. Sofia is here with her mom and dad to adopt a little brother who is 13 months old.

The Chinese continue to be in love with Connor. People came up to us all day wanting to take photos with him. A few teenage girls were even kissing him on the cheek for photos. I honestly wanted Shea or I to be holding his hand most of the time because I thought someone might steal him. O lordy, I can only imagine what it would be like for Kaleigh & Taylor Paoli or Mackenzie Moore- the little blonde girls would really be in trouble!

Since Conman has been up since 3:30 am and we just came back to the hotel at 4pm he has wholeheartedly crashed for a nap. If today was "Beijing Light" I wonder what those other tours are like.

We are planning to stay in our hotel for dinner tonight for dinner- mostly because you can order American Food and we want to make sure the little dude eats before we try to get him to sleep again tonight! We are off to the Great Wall of China early tomorrow morning!

Travel and Arrival

Travel and Arrival:

I hate flying, but the travel here could not have been smoother and easier than it was, so I am thankful for that!

Connor's Aunt Caitlin said that the Chinese would be in love with him- she was right. Before we even got to our seats on the airplane our little man had his head rubbed by 5 or 6 Chinese Ladies... Shea was a little jealous.

When we finally arrived Thursday evening at 7pm and went right to bed. Unfortunately Connor has been up since 3 am local time- so we will see how today goes. Wish us luck.

Off on a tour for today and we will meet the 9 other families traveling with us!

Travel Eve

I woke up and said to Shea today "I can't believe we can finally say ITs happening tomorrow." We are on the 6:02am flight out of Steamboat, to Denver, to Seattle and then to Beijing.

My feelings today are a little mixed, excited of course, but nervous because it is such a big adventure for our family- I think about Cassidy ever minute of the day hoping that she will like us and that she won't be too traumatized by the transition of having a family. Sounds funny doesn't it? How can you be traumatized by getting a family since you have never had one, but really the CEO of our Adoption Agency said to our friend's travel group "While it is your BEST day, it is the the child's WORST because you will be taking her from everything she knows".... luckily intellectually, we know that someday she will think of it as her best day too!

The first couple days that we are there we will be site seeing- I will happily share photos of the adventures the 3 of us will have together in Beijing. Many people are asking when we will get Cassidy- the answer is while all of our friends and family in the US are sleeping Sunday night and the wee hours of Monday morning (Aug 1), our little lady will be handed to us!

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers- we appreciate it!

The link below is to a Steven Curtis Chapman song when I hear it I get goosebumps and watery eyes!
When Love Takes You In...

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." --An ancient Chinese belief

Cassidy Anne Mangus

On July 27, 2011 Shea, Connor and I will leave Steamboat Springs for the journey of a lifetime, to go to China to pick up our little girl, Cassidy Anne Mangus!

Cassidy is currently known in her orphanage as Shi Meng Dang. She is 18 moths old now and was abandoned on a busy street corner in a large city, when she was 3 days old.

Shea, Connor and I are so grateful to everyone who has supported us since we began this journey almost 4 years ago!

We will update our blog as often as possible throughout our travels. We are looking forward to our "Gotcha Day" which is the day she will be handed to us, to be our DAUGHTER!