Goodbye to Shanghai

Daddy's Girl

Westin Brunch - Daddy & Angelina

A Rare Sunny Day in Shanghai (click to open)

Nanpu Suspension Bridge

The Bund at Night

Shanghai Maglev Train Station

Shanghai Maglev Train - That is 258mph!

Our Driver, his wife and 5 mos old baby boy

Our Driver's Wedding Picture

Night View of Shanghai (click to open)

Our Anniversary Dinner

Well tomorrow the movers come to pack our apartment...I wish it was that simple and we could just relax over the next 24 hours but its not. They have two actions: 1) Pack and ship to our temporary service apartment in Dalian 2) Pack and store the remaining items until we move into our permanent house in Dalian. So Pamela and I have been trying to separate what we think we need in the short term and what can go into storage for 2-3 months.....the fun never seems to stop.

We are really going to miss Shanghai it has been a fantastic experience for us. It was almost exactly 1 year ago that I began traveling here and 6 months that we moved here as a family. It is about as close to the western world that you get in China (less Hong Kong of course) so the transition to China has been pretty easy. Now we get to go experience what it is like not have all of those creature comforts. It is not just the western comforts that we will miss, this city is absolutely amazing - you could spend 5 years here and not see everything it has to offer.

We have spent our time here really trying to take as much of the city in as possible but there is so much we have not seen....maybe we'll get the chance to live here again? Who knows? We did get a chance to meet our driver's family last weekend. It was a real treat and his Mom cooked us an amazing dinner that rivaled any Chinese food we have had since we arrived. We are really going to miss Jackie, he has become an extension of our family and has done an excellent job of keeping us all safe as we drive around this crazy city.

Last night Pamela and I celebrated our anniversary (August 29th / 9 years) a few days early at a wonderful restaurant called New Heights that overlooks the Huangpu River, Pudong and the Bund. I have attached some photos above. So Monday it is movers, Tuesday pack my office, Wednesday final apt walk through and Thursday we fly to Dalian.

Our next post will be from NE China, till then.......
Zai Jian!

Angelina's Transformation

November 2006
Our very first meeting and the day our lives came together

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007
We have been looking back over some pictures dating back to last November when we first met Angelina and I thought it would be fun to post a chronological sequence of photos. Amazing how quick children change in just a short 10 months.

The Long Wait......Just Got Longer......

Pamela emailed me the note below from the US Embassy in Ukraine. This is extremely disappointing news for all past, current & future Ukraine adoptive parents. I was not pleased (actually pissed) when I read it and feel obligated to post this information here for those that are in the process or planning the process of adopting from Ukraine.

What is this government thinking?? Any government that implements non-productive beauracracy that hinders, delays or discourages the ability to save / help these children needs to evaluate their base principles and priorities regarding adoption policy. Ukraine government cannot effectively support the thousands of children in their system that so desparately need more than what the institution can ever hope to provide. So why implement additional non-sense to discourage and limit?

I have said it before and will say it again - Ukraine government needs to pull it together and learn how to effectively self govern in the post Soviet world. They have had +15 years of independence and still cannot figure it out, not sure they ever will until they rid their government of corruption and implement the proper checks & balances. A perfect example of this is their leadership debacle (the Yushchenko & Yanokovich story) and now the invalid parliamentary elections.....click the link to the right titled "ukraine news" for a view of their wisdom. This additional adoption waiting period will become nothing more than opportunity for another Ukrainian beauracrat to instill bribes and profit off of international adoption. Pathetic.

The price will always be paid in cash, but the real price is emotion. No one wins and the greatest loss of all is the opportunity for these children to find loving parents.

God bless every adoptive parent that has previously, is currenty or will in the future save these children.


Update on Ukrainian Passport Issuance

The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs has informed the Embassy that effective immediately Ukrainian passport issuance for adopted children will take a minimum of ten business days in addition to the required ten-day waiting period after the adoption has been finalized. Therefore, following the court decree that recognizes the American adoptive parents as the legal parents of the child or children being adopted, passport issuance will take a minimum of 20 additional days.

We realize this places a substantial hardship on U.S. parents, many of whom have already spent a good deal of time in Ukraine prior to the adoption. However, this new policy is based on Ukrainian law, and the U.S. Embassy cannot influence the issuance of individual passports in accordance with this policy. We urge Americans adopting in Ukraine to take this additional period of time into account when making their travel plans.

Sincerely,
Adoption Unit/Immigrant Visa Section
Consular Section
American Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: 38-044-4904422
Fax: 38-044-490-4570
Kyivadoptions@state.gov
http://kyiv.usembassy.gov/amcit_adoptions_eng.html
In accordance with E.O. 12958 this message is not classified.

Blog Access at Last!!!!......and July 29th

Little Miss Maria Parker, born July 29th, 1999

Little Miss Lila Yee, born July 29th, 2005

Little Baby Hardgrove, born July 29th, 2007

I have a workaround to access and post on the blog from China - I can now see everything unrestricted whereas previously I could only see the dashboard screen in Blogger. Thanks to a fellow colleague, no more excuses about posting info and pics! Thanks to John Rydzweski for the tip!

It has been sweltering in Shanghai, since I arrived on Wed afternoon the temp has averaged from 100-102F and 100% humidity. Yeah, even sweating in the air conditioning is not impossible! On Sunday I go to Dalian for a week and the weather has been much cooler there, 75-85F and low humidity - it will be a welcome weather break from Shanghai.

I am missing Pamela & Angelina and still have 2 more weeks to go until they come back from the US. By the way, a good friend/co-worker of mine had a baby girl this past Sunday(my B-day) in Dalian. This is the third friend of ours to have a daughter on my b-day, cool stuff.