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!