Look at me in my new sweater knitted by grandma Joan!!! I look so good!!! These are also pictures of Ryan’s class celebrating Sadie’s arrival in the US!!! Ryan’s class was so sweet to through her this party and they made some very neat things - - - thank you!!! God is amazing!!!

“I love my Daddy…” is so true. And my daddy loves me!!! She is so special and is such a gift from God!!! She is so small she takes a bath in the kitchen sink. It is so sweet to see her play in the sink… so small but yet so special… she is a gift packaged by God!!! So sweet!!!

Sadie’s little foot - - - it is so small! Spending time with her brothers Ryan and Sawyer, Also spending time with her aunt Missy!!! And her little friends Maelin and Maya… In the end – I look so cute!!!

Sadie rolling over… her first opportunity of moving!!! Sadie was so proud of her self. She took it all in and loved the fact that she could do it on her own… so sweet!!!

Sadie chilling with mom… stretching her legs and just loving life! Everyday is a new adventure and she is loving every part of it! What will tomorrow bring? Will it be better then today - - - yes it will and I love my life with my mom Heidi and my dad Rob… I’m so happy!!!

Sadie with her new aunt Kathy… enjoying her time with family! She is so sweet and life is so new for her! If she only knew where she has come from and the opportunities she will have in the USA and in her new life now that she is a US citizen… She is so special to us and we have enjoyed the unique journey that has brought us to today – Gob is amazing and God is control… Sadie - - - we both are blessed by Gods gifts – our gift is you and your gift is us…

Sadie's first Christmas

Sadie at her first Christmas with her new family and new cousins… She was an early Christmas gift for all of us. She is doing well - -- better everyday. Getting use to her new brothers, cousins, mom, dad & Grand parents… been an adjustment and not fully over but everyday she is doing better… We love her as our own. We know this is the work of God and she is our own… praise Him for this gift – she is so special… thank you God!

Sadie with her new brothers and cousins! They are so excited to have a new little sister. Ryan is so excited that he is no longer the youngest… A picture of Sadie in her Christmas dress. If she only new what Jesus did for her… she will soon – She is a happy little girl. She is still a little over whelmed but doing better every day. She grinds her teeth and pulls her hail when she gets overwhelmed. She also wakes up at night and cries a quite whine telling us she is sad for what she has left - - - her foster family and her life in China… she is sad and misses these things but she is adjusting well to life with the Pehkonen’s – I’m trying to get her on the sales floor… I do not think you could say “No” to these eyes… Heidi says a need to wait a few years or decades but I think why wait? Get her to earn her keep… I’m losing so far… Ha ha - - -

Sadie's first USA bath

Sadie’s first USA bath!!! What a cutie!!! She is very special to us… a true gift from God. It is amazing how He works – He gives us her as a Gift and we give Sadie a gift of life in the USA… life where she will decide her destine verse where she came from in China – Praise God for His gifts and blessings. When the world looks impossible or discouraging – think of the blessings and gifts you have received – is it really that bad? God is GREAT!

Sadie's first USA hair cut!

Sadie’s first USA hair cut!!! What a cutie!!! She is so cut already but after her little snip -snip… she is even cuter…

Welcome Home Sadie!!!

“WELCOME HOME SADIE!” These are a few pictures of our first few days home in Colorado. We all were so happy to be home. Sadie is doing ok. She is a little or a lot overwhelmed… it is a lot for her but she is doing well – with a family like the Pehkonen’s… how could you not be just be so excited!!!! Ha ha…

Denver - - - Home Sweet Home

Pictures of our Denver arrival. Grandma Joan, Jim, Sondra, Sawyer, Ryan, Kathy, Haley, Sierra, Scott & Calie - - - So good to be home. Been a long 32 hours and we are really glad to be home. Cannot wait for our own bed and our own house. I’ve been waiting to just be able to walk around in my underwear… and soon I can do this with out worries.

American Girl Made in China!

Sadie is a US citizen!!! She is an American Girl, made in China!!! This was such a neat night. We arrive home and Sadie is not only our daughter but also a US citizen. These other pictures are Heidi’s aunt Myrla, who lives in Orange County, who meet us at the airport to snuggle the new Pehkonen. The other pictures are the two twins after their first McDonalds processed chicken Mc Nuggets – as you can see… they loved ‘em…

On the flight… How lucky we all are…

On the flight home!!! This is so huge because once we land on US soil… all our new daughters become US criticizes!!! We all have come a long way and we are all excited to land in the good old USA - - - my stomach is better but I feel a head cold coming on – Great – get back from being gone two weeks and get sick. What a journey for Heidi and I. We have spent a lot of time discussing how God works and how amazing He is. He has blessed us with this new healthy beautiful daughter and he is blessing her by allowing her to come to a country where she will be free. A country where she can do what ever she wants – be what ever she wants and most of all be blessed by being a Pehkonen… ha ha – well this one might be test from God – poor Sadie… Oh well – our Sadie is almost home!!! This was an amazing view of Sadie’s hand on mine… she is so tiny but so bold. Look at the picture of Wayne and Heidi’s seat – you think we were going on a 12-day flight – Heidi brought everything but the kitchen sink…

Getting ready for “Our” 12 hour flight

These pictures were some of us just relaxing before our short 12-hour flight back to the good old USA!!! Our flight is scheduled to leave on time and we’re all ready to go home!!!

Getting Ready to board the airplane for our 12-hour journey home

These were pictures taken at the airport right before we got on the airplane for our 12-hour flight home. We all were very excited for the trip home – not to excited for the 12-hour flight…

Wayne’s Last night in China…

This is a picture we took of Wayne meeting a few of the “local Shopping Sales girls…’ as I guess they called it – he disappeared for a few hours and said he was “Shopping???” What ever - ha ha… No really these two girls were friends with Wayne and Heidi. They worked in one of the local shops and helped Wayne and Heidi pick out some nice new stuff for Sadie at a very low price – a few US $’s… Wayne and Heidi got on a first name bases with a lot of the shop help…Some more pictures of our last day and all the luggage as we were loading up to the airport for our trip home…

Pictures of our last day in China

These are a few pictures of our last day in China. We did a picture with all the kids – pretty amazing if you think about it. Also a bare butt picture of Sadie after her final bath in China… as grandma Pearl would say, “I do not care about anything but you better look good when your arrive back…” - ask Sondra if you need anymore information. David form Larimer experienced some of the local food – octopus on a stick – I was going to have a few but ran out of RMD currency – bummer… a picture of Heidi and Sadie in a close moment – very special….

Final Thoughts from China…

Wow, what a few weeks. To tell you the truth – words cannot explain how wonderful and how amazing the last two weeks have been. It has been an emotional rollercoaster of every thoughts and feeling imaginable times infinity – Sawyer what would this be? Ha ha. Wayne, Heidi, Sadie and I have really been through a lot and we are very happy to be coming home. It is truly a bittersweet day, as we get ready to load the bus to the airport. We all have missed our family and friends very much. We have seen sights that we really cannot imagine and really have opened all of our lives with a new perspective of things we in the USA really take for granted everyday. We have acquired a new daughter who we will love and give a life that opportunity is hers - - - it is and will all be up to her as to where she wants to take it. We have turned her little life around in a new direction. We have been able to see her village and see the place that she might have grown up in. We have seen God at work in more ways then we all can explain and really look to the future with excitement and love as Sadie is now part of our family, part of our life and part of us. We are so excited and as Heidi just whispered in m y ear, “I cannot believe she is ours…” This really sums up our experience – We cannot believe she is ours. We love her and cannot wait to get her home.
I will ad a bunch of other pictures once I get home. It is so much faster. Sawyer wants to help keep the sight going… so we will keep adding pictures over the next few months for family who want to keep in touch. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers – pray for a safe trip home to Denver and I thank God for our new little sweet thing – Our Sadie XI XI (Pronounced - Sadie she she).

Waiting For US Citizen Ceremony…

Here we all are waiting for the US Citizen Adoption Ceremony where we take an oath to raise Sadie and take care of her… It was a pretty special event and was the culmination of almost two years time waiting for our little Sadie… Very neat and special day! I was able to get a picture of Heidi, Sadie and I with the person who did the Ceremony. It is very special to have this picture… I was able to sneak in the camera and got this photo. They usually take any cameras away and give them to you when you leave…

Immigration Day!!! The BIG Day for all Families!!!

Well today is the BIG Day. This is when we go to the US Immigration and get Sadie’s Visa and citizen paper work into the USA!!! How it works is she is currently a Chinese citizen with a USA Visa. She has a special Visa that once we arrive on US soil – her Visa allows her to become a US citizen and she does right then and there… Pretty neat. Sadie will always be eligible for a Chinese passport but once we hit LAX – she is a US citizen. Here all the families are getting off the bus and heading up to the immigration office to get their daughters Visa and US citizen paperwork.

Grandpas (AKA - Papas) and Grandmas on the trip…

The special ones that were lucky enough to see the process come together. It was so nice to have all three of them here. Harold is the person standing next to Morgan in the Mail area. Harold is Kim Bell’s Dad. Wayne is the one with the two pictures and Myra is Barb’s mom who came along to help and also just experience the whole thing… Pretty neat to have them all along. They were all a big help – Thank you to them!!!

The Final Families…

The final families are Tye, Kim & son TJ. The family with the two twin brothers is Tom and Tim Horeis with Tom’s son Jake. Tom is the one adopting. Tom’s wife was not able to come over due to her needing to take care of their three-year-old son – They are really looking forward to heading home. Poor Jake has been sick for the past four days… and he is just ready to head home. The person in the Red shirt is our fearless leader – Morgan who has done a GREAT job and was personally responsible for keeping us on schedule – Way to go Morgan – Thank you!!!

More Families and thoughts…

Well as I’m waiting a half an hour for this to upload to the USA… I could not stop my self-thing of the two way street of blessing God has given each one of these families. It is truly an amazing thing that each on has done but the over whelming amazement is what is to come to each family by the blessing of their new daughter or daughters. God works in amazing ways and right now we are marveling n the excitement of our new daughter but God has so much more in store for us all. We will get to see our daughters take their first step, say their first word, go off to 1 st grade – a killer for me on my two boys, graduate from high school, get married and hopefully hit it rich and take care of mom and dad – just kidding… but really it is an amazing blessing that God has magically made happen for all parties and I can only say, thank you God and Amen…

All Families got great news today – Our INS Paper work was approved and we all received our daughters Visa. We also received her new USA Passport but it will not be effective until she steps on US soil. Then it gets stamped and our new daughters are US citizens… This is a big deal. This is so GREAT! This also means we will all be on the flight to LAX leaving tomorrow at 9pm… We all are very happy and thanks to our Morgan who lead the group – we will be leaving on time and arriving in the US around 5 pm Friday Dec 08, 2006 and this is when our daughters become US criticizes…

Here are a few more wonderful families. The picture with the mom and Daughter are Barb and Myra Reisman from Chicago. Barb is a single mom who fulfilled a dream of being a mom on this trip. The family is David and Susan from Laramie. More pictures and thoughts to come this afternoon.

AGAIN, GREAT NEWS – We all passed our INS Paperwork and coming home today!!! Congratulations to all the blessed families.

Lets meet some of the other families…

Right to left on the picture around the table – Jeff and Angela Perkins from Nevada, Darryl and Susan from Hawaii, Craig & Cynthia are from Des Moines IA and Morgan our fearless leader. The picture of the two with the twins are Jeff and Angela from Nevada – Wayne has kind of adopted them and has helped them out through the trip - - - they call him “Grandpa Wayne…” The husband and wife with their new little blessing are Kelli and Dean Barber from Fort Collins CO. The Family with the very cutie little girl are Terry, Carole, & Isabelle the Gregan’s form Highlands Ranch CO – just down the way from us in Denver. I can truly say that this was a very special group of people. We all really helped each other out when someone needed something and we just road the wave – did what ever we needed to as a group. I will always have a special place in my heart for all the families on this trip. To think how they not only blessed their family and lives but how they have blessed the little soul they now call there daughter or in one case – daughters as in two… it is a true blessing from God, to God and by God… Thank you all for sharing in our blessing and adventure…

Sadie having a little dinner…

Yes more pictures of Sadie doing the everyday thing – but from the comments I have received – this is what her audience wants… so this is what they get. These pictures were taken a few hours before she got sick and yes, a few hours before I get sick also. Was not fun but a few days later and feeling much better. Sadie had a tougher time of it. She is finally feeling a little better. We hope she will be 90% to 100% by tomorrow – a day all four of us are ready for. The day we come home. Will be a bitter sweet day, a day to get excited about drinking a glass of water out of the tap and not getting sick but also a day to reflect on the past two weeks and really think of the amazing thing that we all have been through. Time to celebrate our new daughter but also a time to reflect on the sight and sounds of China… more to come.

Sadie’s Medical Exam

Yes, she passed!!! Was a very simple medical exam. She got sick about 12 hours after this exam… Poor little thing. She is doing a little better tonight – final sleeping but really had a rough night so far. It is about 12am and she is finally down. She has had a lot of diarrhea and we are a little worried about her getting dehydrated. We have been able to get a little liquid in her and have gotten her to keep it down. It is hard when you cannot just run to the store and get some pedealite… They have nothing like that here. Will update all in the morning.

Group Photo at the White Swan Hotel

We had our group photo at the White Swan Hotel. We also got a few other good ones. We did these photos after we took Sadie’s Passport Photo! Today is a busy day of passport photos, Medical exam and INS Paperwork… Fun – Fun – Fun!!!

On the way to the hotel in Guangzhou…

Papa Wayne practiced his loading skills as we piled the luggage to take it to the bus. The flight went very well and Sadie slept through most of it.

Sadie’s first airplane ride!

Sadie’s first airplane ride to Guangzhou. I’m feeling better today but Sadie is still pretty sick. Not really eating and what she drinks comes back up or out the other end. Not very good. We are a little worried about her getting dehydrated… Not fun in China at 10:07pm

Sadie the “Ham…”

These are a few pictures of Sadie goofing off the night before we head to Guangzhou. She was having a good old time playing and being funny.

Rob and Sadie get sick...

Sorry for no updates today but I am sick and Sadie got sick tonight. Seams a bug is going around and it is not good. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow and will ad some more pictures. Heidi and Wyne are worried... that they are next. A lot in the group have been sick... I hope I get better - this is not good.

Rob, Heidi, Wayne and Sadie

Sadie’s Birth Certificate

This is Sadie’s Birth certificate. This was taken our first day together… If you look at her passport picture, she was not very happy. Brings back memories of our first few hours together and little Sadie wondering what the hay is going on. This was one of her ”I got Troubles days” – actually it was the first… Jeff, another new father in the group with twins made a smart comment to me – he said, “Man, look in the mirror. If I saw you I would scream my head off too. Consider yourself lucky it only took a few days…” True new friend. Wayne has really been helping them out – the received twins and are new parents…

Sadie’s Passport

Sadie’s Chinese passport!!! We are ½ way home and cannot wait. Next stop US passport!!!

Pictures getting TONG MINXI Passport

Here Heidi and I are getting Sadie’s passport. We had to show our passports and they had to look at Sadie and make sure her picture on her passport was whom we had in our arms – our little Sadie.

Chinese Passport Day for Sadie Minxi Pehkonen – Chinese: TONG MINXI!!!

Well today is the day we get Sadie’s passport. Her passport is printed in her Full Chinese name – TONG MINXI Birthday 16 FEB 2006 Place of birth – JIANGXI. Very exciting day! We have been waiting all week for this little passport. This means that we can move on to the next step and get her US Visa and passport. All is on schedule thanks to Morgan. We will fly down to Guangzhou where we spend the rest of the week What we will do there is get Sadie’s US Visa and passport. I think she becomes a US citizen here in China but it is not really in effect until she steps on US soil. I’m not 100% sure.

Pictures after diner tonight

We had another great Chinese dinner tonight. It was a little spicier tonight. It was a nice dinner right by our hotel with the group. The other picture is Sadie having a little bottle snack after dinner… I think she was more playing then drinking but what do I know. She is doing very well in the area of eating and drinking. As a matter of fact she is really doing well in all areas. She was a little cranky early this afternoon but ended the day really happy. She is too happy right now since she should be sleeping but she is in her crib making funny sounds and playing with no sign of going to bed. She better get sleepy soon because the lights are going out. Things are going very well with the little sweet girl and she seams to be settling in on getting use to us.

Sadie eating - - -

These are pictures of Sadie having her bottle this morning and holding it all by her self. The one is Sadie eating her lunch of squash… the others are of her having her evening bottle before she decided to get wild and play. I feel she will be crashing anytime soon – I hope… Heidi and I are getting tired!

An Adventure out shopping at Wal-Mart – Nanchang

What an adventure it was to hit the local Wal-Mart in Nanchang. As you can see – people everywhere… amazing. We took a few pictures of the appliance department. Mostly very small appliances and priced pretty expensive verse the wages in China.

More Pictures Of the little Sadie Bug…

Here are some more pictures of the little wonder girl. Heidi and I are a little worried tonight… it is about 8:38 pm China time and the little bug really doesn’t seam to interested in sleeping. She is more interested in playing and laughing. We show her pictures of her brothers, Sawyer and Ryan, and she just laughs… if she only knew… she will soon enough.

More pictures of us out in Nanchang

These are some pictures of us out in Nanchang. I’m thinking of revising my delivery crew and moving to this new “truck” to deliver appliances… might not work as well in Denver but I think we should look at the cost savings verse investment – Ha ha… The one of little Sadie and I – we took looking in a mirror. The others are just neat pictures of us enjoying the day. Sadie girl really likes to get out and about. She will fit well with in our family. As Sawyer and Ryan both love to be out and about too – Sadie just cannot stay still… She loves it!

A Day out in Nanchang

This was a visit we made to a famous Pagoda. This was a picture of our whole group. Was a neat time to see a little history of Nanchang. These pictures are what you think of China when you see them.

More pictures of the countryside from TongGu to Nanchang

These are a few more pictures of the buildings and countryside as we drove from TongGu to Nanchang. The truck with the pigs in it – would never pass PETA standards. We tried to count how many pigs were in the truck but every time the bus driver passed – we all had to say a quick pray so needless to say – we did not get a count. The other picture is water buffalos – they run wild all over. Chickens and Rosters also run wild all over…

Sadie’s Second Bath

Wow - what a few days make. Sadie really likes her second bath. She plays and splashes in the water. She had a little issue when we washer her hair but this was to be expected. She had fun and got clean – I hope this doesn’t mean 15 minute showers in about 10 years… Oh well.

Wayne and Heidi's Thoughts...

Hi all!
What a week! We have enjoyed and looked forward to all of your comments. We too cry everytime we read them! Keep 'em coming!
Sadie continues to just thrive. She is so happy...smiling and laughing and jabbering a lot! A few nights ago we ha