A Lifetime of Memories !!!!

As many of you open this post to read, we will be preparing for our 12 hour flight to Los Angeles. Our last stop tomorrow is the Chinese Consulate where we have to take an oath to love and care for this child (like anyone would go through this process and not do so). This has been such a lifechanging experience for a precious abandoned child and two grown adults. As Olivia was napping today I went and sat by the pool and reflected back on what has taken place the last three weeks we've been here and tears just streamed down my face. If I could only describe the pain all three of us experienced those first five days, you would have a better understanding of just how this whole experience has changed us. Then, I would take you from the valley to the mountain top so you could clearly see how God has answered prayer. I've seen God give Tyler such patience with Olivia and believe me, she loves her daddy!!!! It was such a blessing that Olivia was from Guangdon province and we had to stay three weeks. We can see where God took those weeks to refine Tyler and myself. Our feet were held to the fire many days, but God used it for our good. Olivia still has so much fear and uncertainties locked inside her heart, but we have seen God at work, chipping away that fear and replacing it with trust. We have definitely learned that God will act in His own timing, in His own way. After being in China we realize why Olivia's birth mother probably gave her up. The poverty level here is unimaginable. But, thank God that His word says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." Thank God that He brought this child to us!!!! We came to China as two ordinary people and will return with three hearts and lives that have been totally changed forever. We have experienced the true miracle of adoption. This is crazy, but we felt a little sad today knowing we would be leaving. Not that we didn't want to, but that we would be leaving such a very special place that will remain in our hearts forever!!! To God alone be the glory forever for His mercies and neverending love!!!! Thank you all so much for the comments you left, they were food for the soul. We love you and can't wait to get back to the States on Saturday. See you all soon.

Tyler, Steph, and Olivia Ji'Lan Scales

Our Baby Loves to Eat!!!!

She loves to eat, but she didn't care for us in her face while she was trying to do so. Yes, that's a piece of broccoli hanging out of her mouth. How many kids do you know that would reach across the table for more?

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub One in the Tub

Sorry, I couldn't resist putting these on. She now loves the tub and the swimming pool!!!

Wooohoo, We're coming home !!!!!!

I know these are two totally different pictures, but the computers here are soooooo slow I can only upload two at a time and the charge is $8.00 per 15 minutes so I'll explain these and post more pictures below!!! We stumbled across a medicine market and the sea horses were supposed to be good for helping the body release the toxins. After that followed a pet market and you could smell it a mile away, nasty as could be. Dogs, cats, and chickens in cages. Definitely an experience!!! More pictures below.

Our Sweetie Pie !!!!

Hangin' Around, Literally

I know it looks like Tyler is holding her in the first picture, but she's actually hanging on herself. She is strong in strength and strong in will!!!!! What a praise, yesterday we were in the play room at the hotel and she just crawled out of my lap and started playing. Tears came to my eyes because I saw prayers that had been lifted specifically for her being answered right in front of my eyes. She's started to stick her tongue out all the time now for some odd reason. Isn't it the sweetest thing? She's come a long way, although she is still very fearful. Please continue to pray for her. We leave this Friday and we are on cloud nine. We've experienced so much these last couple of weeks and we wouldn't change any of it. Well, maybe those first three days!!!

A Chinese Fit !!!

This is the second time I've posted these pictures. When we called home they said they didn't post, so I'll make these next two quick. These are pictures of her at the adoption clinic. By the look on her face you can tell she threw a little fit. She weighed 20 pounds, so she's gained a pound since we've had her. She should, she has eaten everything in front of her face!!! The doctor was more concerned about her diaper rash than the congestion in her chest. He said, "Keep baby bottom dry!" Tyler has to do all the holding down when it comes to things like this. I'm a big weenie!!!

And More!!!!

More Pictures!!!

Lions, Tigers, Panda Bears, Oh my!!!!!

Today was such fun!!! Jane, our guide, took us and the other couple that is still here, to the zoo. It was definitely an experience for Olivia. She's gone from not hardly getting out of her crib to a whole new world. We often talk about how we would LOVE to know what's going on in that little mind of hers. When I called home today my Mom read all the comments to me as I was at breakfast. Tears were just streaming down my cheeks because so many of you have shared your hearts with me, especially those of you that have gone through this process. Tyler always wants to know who wrote what when I go back to the room. We want all of you to know how much it means to us just to take the time and communicate while we're sooooo far away!!! To Tyler's Uncle Tandy, the verse you left in the comment is the VERY verse we had read and underlined while were at church on Sunday, thank you!!! Back on the zoo, as you can see in the second picture we have a little tree climber. This was at the python exhibit and she loved it. She latched on to that fence like it was no big deal at all. Tyler really isn't holding her except on her bottom. She is as strong as an ox. The last picture is of her looking at the macaws. She loved to hear them call out and make all that noise. God has allowed us to see such sweets sides of her (but oh how she can throw a FIT). She prefers me when she wakes up in the morning because I'm gentle with her and she doesn't wake up easily. Then she prefers Tyler much of the day and into the night because he's just as rough as he can be with her and she's loves for her daddy to play hard with her. The craziest thing happened last night. We went to a park that was decorated for the Moon Festival that's coming up the 25th (I'll post pictures in the next post). All of a sudden there were about six or eight photographers just up in our faces taking pictures like crazy. Later we found out they were local photographers from the different newspapers taking pictures to promote the festival. We got up this morning and started down the street to catch our ride to the zoo when a someone called out, "Hey lady, come, come, look. You and baby!" Our picture was in the newspaper!!!! Then we walk about two more blocks and people are pointing at us saying "Lady and baby, lady and baby." They gave us a different paper with a different pictur in it. All in all, we found our picture in three different local newspapers. We thought that was the neatest thing yet!!! What a souvenir to bring home. The caption read "American lady and her adopted baby enjoy lights a Moon Festival Park." Thank you all so much for praying today and please continue to do so. She had her daily meltdown this morning and we just stopped and prayed, screaming and all. Tyler put her down on the floor and she crawled into the bathroom to me. She also rode in her stroller about three blocks without turning around and crawling out. I keep saying this over and over, but God has taken us through so much these past two weeks and has remained so faithful. Lori, thank you so much for the wisdom in your comments. I've worked on eye contact with her today. To all sets of grandparents, you're going to love how she says dah, ma, and ba, to her WONDERFUL aunts and uncles, you're going to love having a baby around to play with again, to her new cousins, you're going to be the one of the best things she's got to look forward to,and to our Lord, thank you for difficult paths you make us walk in order to trust you more. His grace has been sufficient in every circumstance we've faced, but how we still need your prayers. I'm going to post just some pictures at the bottom. They're of the zoo, the park, and of Olivia ejoying the fire out of the silverware at dinner!!! Love you all so much!!!

13 months today !!!!

Olivia is 13 months old today!!! We found a great Thai restaurant and celebrated with some wonderful food!!! The first picture is in the restaurant before we've eaten because when we were finished we all three had food all over us. Nana and Gram get plenty of bibs becuase she is a messy one!!! The next picture is of us walking home from McDonalds yesterday. She just decided she was in the best mood, laughing and she's learned to wave bye. So, everyone gets a wave as we pass. Might I add, those were the BEST Big Macs we've EVER eaten!!! The next one is of us at the pool. You can't really tell, but she's playing with Tyler's toes. Whatever amuses her works for us. The last one is so sweet. She's learned to put her lips together and blow to make a sound. She's starting to open up. Right now Tyler has her upside down and she's just laughing. We can't figure her out. One minute she's laughing and the next she can turn on the tears. It's almost as if panic sets in and takes over. We're still battling her not letting us sit down and play with her, she just goes to pieces. I thought I would ask everyone pray specifically for two things on Thursday (that way we'll be praying around the world). Please pray that God would take her fear away and she would be able to play and crawl around and explore like a normal child and secondly that she would trust us with her heart. Every time you think about it, please pray. It's been so amazing to see what emotions have been bottled up inside this child for a year now. We've definitely seen the power of love at work. Her diaper rash is clearing up, still has lots of congestion, and just when her face started to clear up, she woke up this morning with some type of rash around her eyes. To put the icing on the cake, I'm pretty sure she's teething. We have 10 days left and we're counting them down. This has been the hardest experience for us in our married lives, but I don't think we've ever learned as much as we have here together. We can see God's hand in all of it. Thank you so much for lifting us up. Jana, we prayed for your mom's healing today and throughout her recovery. We know there is power in prayer. Love and miss you all soooooooo much!!!

Tyler, Steph and Won Ton, Jing, or O (all Tyler's names for her)

Amazing Grace !!!!!

Today we attended a Christian English worship service with all the other families in our group. We were really anxious about going because Olivia has been a little pistol britches about sitting still and being in one place. As soon as we walked into church and started singing really loud, she was just fine. Tears came to our eyes as we were singing "Give thanks with a grateful heart" with all these strange Chinese people knowing we were singing about the same almighty God. It was so good to be in church. The first picture is the inside the church service and the second is in front of the church with another angel God has sent our way. We were at the hotel eating breakfast and she just walked straight up to our table and told us she lived in California, but had been a nanny at the orphanage. We told her about some of the problems we were having with Olivia and she gave us some comforting tips for her. Olivia went straight to her and she's usually scared of strange people. The next picture is actually of ME holding her inside the hotel. It's really pretty!!! The hotel, not me!!! That's a waterfall behind me. The dress she has on is a six months and if you look closely you can see it's a little big for her. I love this picture because she's started to stick her tongue out and say dah........ The last one is of her daddy getting her to sleep!! We sat her on the bed today and played with her about forty-five minutes. I sat behind her so she knew somone was right there beside her. That's the problem we've fought all week, not letting us put her down to play with her without her screaming. We have prayed and I know you have at home that God would continue to replace her fear with trust. We went out to eat with all the other families tonight at a Chinese restaurant, it was really good. We had tons of foood.. spicy beef, sweet and sour chicken (with bones-blah) noodles with egg plant (I liked it, Tyler didn't) some type of beans with pumpkin (sounds strange, but good) and congee which is like a chicken soup. We did a brave and stupid thing last night. We decided we would come in from the pool and go to McDonalds. I haven't been able to eat at all and needed some good Amercanized fried food. We hopped into a cab and went to a McDonald's with absolutely NO AMERICANS IN SIGHT BUT US!!!! Talk about some really strange looks. Afte that we tried to flag down a taxi to get back and got pretty scared because it took about thirty minutes to get someone to actually stop. Our guide told us to always take her with us the next time and we should have know better. When we came in tonight we walked out by the pool and sat just a little to play this silly duck game we've started. As I was quacking like a duck and trying to tickle her, she actually giggled out loud. All of a sudden Tyler says "Listen!!!!!!" In the background someone was singing "Amazing Grace". In communist China, Amazing Grace!!!!! No other song was played after that, so you can totally uderstand the tears that came next. God has given us so much grace during this process and has shown us that it's not about us or anything we can do. It's all about Him revealing who He is and how He works on our behalf through this child. It has been amazing. I haven' t been able to read my posts from you all (have no idea why, interent here is funny) but my Mom has read them to me. I can't begin to tell you how close it makes us feel to home knowing that people love us so much to offer such wisdom and prayers for us. Please keep posting, second hand information is better than none at all. Tate, I did read where you learned to say hello in Chinese and yes, we are going to take a cruise down the Guangzhou River sometime this next week!!! If you find anything else for us to do, let me know!!! Please continue to pray for us, we have two more weeks left. Pray for Olivia's heart most of all. We love you and miss you something terribly!!!!

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul!!!!!

I can't begin to describe to you the power of prayer we felt surrounding us today!!! There is none other who can take the heart of an abandoned precious little girl and hold it in His hands with the mere mention of a whisper of her name. As you can tell from the pictures today was a gift from the Lord. We were at the pool trying all of those crazy parent tactics we've always seen others doing. Tyler just kept flying a pink rubber duckie and hitting her in the stomach. I reached my hands toward her stomach to tickle her and she smiled. SHE smiled, Tyler gasped, and I cried. Then she later found her belly button and started to play patty cake as you can see in the pictures. I jumped up and just shouted Praise the Lord!!! The biggest lesson we learned today is how God is revealing things about our own personal lives through this baby. We refuse Him, we reject Him, we act ugly, we want our way and yet He still stands ready to love us despite our imperfections. That's exactly what we have to do. It sure hasn't been fun learning those things, but when you experience His hand, you know it is for your good!! We've got a long way to go, but we have had such a better day. Thank you all so much for praying and please continue. You might need to offer some special ones up for Tyler because a one year old and a thirty seven year old crying is a lot to deal with. We've both regained our appetites back a little and we are going to be okay!!! This is one of the hardest things we've ever done, but it's been worth it all every step of the way!!! We love you all and will post soon!!!

Mrs. Scales Class Question of the Day!!!!

What is the best way to stop a baby from crying? This is probably the hardest one yet!!! I REALLY need some help on this one!!! No books for this one, only experience!!! Believe me, whoever can get this one right deserves the best souvenir money can buy!!!! Love you all!!

Mrs. Scales

A Quick update!!!!

For some reason I'm unable to post any pictures today!!! Today is the first day we were able to read the comments. We both had tears streaming down our cheeks!!! Thank you so much. Please keep them coming. It brings part of home to us and such a bright spot in our day!!! The past two days have been the most difficult. But, today we saw some breakthroughs. We were able to sit her on the bed and she played with a toy for about five minutes without crying. We had to go to the police station for passports, so we are officially her parents. She's been sleeping about 11 hours each night, a two hour nap, and eats pretty good. She LOVES eggs and bananas. Tyler says he thinks he heard her say Roll Tide, hee hee!!! He made me write that. We celebrated Tyler's birthday by ordering Papa John's Pizza. Boy was that ever great!!! I have a cute picture of her gnawing on part of the crust. Her diaper rash seems to be improving just a bit. Thank you so much to Dr. Pounders for the call and Dr. Fields for the good counsel. Sure is nice to know a good doctor. Thanks kids at school and everybody else for your support. She's definitely a daddy's girl and takes to me just a little. I don't know what I would have done without Tyler. She really loves him. He's always been a lady's man, ha ha!!! I'll do in a pinch, but it has to be a hard one. We know our God is faithful and we are at a point where we are totally dependent for the Lord to take care of our every need. Why is it that we don't depend on Him more? He has definitely opened our eyes to Him. We covet your prayers!!! We're off to try and find something to eat, that is if the place has pictures we can point to. I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow. We love you so much and sure do miss the States!!!

I am fearfully and wonderfully made!!!!! We have her!!!

Wow!!! We can't believe this day is finally here!!! God has been so faithful to bring us to this point and we give Him our praise for allowing us to rescue this child!!! We are at the Civil Affairs building here and she came straight from the orphanage. The director and her Nannie brought her, so you can imagine how she reacted when the Nannie left - SCREAMED!!!!! Her head has been shaved and she has a severe diaper rash. While we were out strolling, because she HATES to stay in the room, we met a couple from Athens, yes, Athens!!! Any time you meet Americans you stop and talk. They are Billy and Emily Woodall and of all things, he's a doctor. Isn't that just like God to take care of us? We went to their room and he examined her. He said she had a yeast infection and has congestion in her chest. She has really taken to Tyler and isn't that fond of me!!! That was difficult, but even more difficult is to see her cry and not be able to do one thing to console her. As you can see, she loves to suck her fingers. She has cried the entire time we've had her today. She was screaming at one point just a few minutes ago and acting like she wanted to crawl out of my arms, so I put her in her crib and she was INSTANTLY quiet!!! I knew this type reaction could happen, I just wasn't ready for it!!! She won't eat or even take her bottle at this point. We are all going to be just fine!!! I have to brag on Tyler. He has been the best Daddy to her. Even though she's screamed her lungs out, he's been so patient with her. Please pray that God would heal her little heart and she would grow to trust us. We know she will, in her time. I need to get back to the room, Tyler's holding down the crib!!!! We sure do miss home!! We love you all!!!