Feb. 21

We started our trip to China on Tuesday to go get Tovin, whom as you know is the little boy we've adopted.  The actual day on which we see him in person for the first time is this coming Sunday, to pick him up, if you will, in more ways than one.  In the mean time, however, following a suggestion from our adoption agency we are spending a few days to take in his culture, not to mention Addison's once again, before we get Tovin.  When that time comes we will need to focus all of our attention on our little boy, to start the bonding process.  We know when that process starts, things for everyone and details of everything on our trip will need to change.

So...right now we are in Hong Kong, mainly for something we knew that Addison would thoroughly enjoy and treasure for the rest of her life.  Also, it is something that we thought we could give her as a gift because she is so special to us, not to mention that she has been asking, practically begging to go, for about the past four months, thinking that she might have the chance to go to Florida.  Thats right, tomorrow we are taking her to Hong Kong Disneyland, and she has no clue :-)  It's going to be a special day!!!

Today we took a ride in a Crystal Cabin cable car (named so for it's see through glass floor) up a steep hillside to see Big Buddha.  Big Buddha is, by all accounts, huge!  It is definitely a tourist trap, but it is also the home of an active Buddhist monastery.   "Once merely a remote monastery hidden by lush, mountain scenery, the Po Lin Monastery made it to the world map when the extraordinary Tian Tan Buddha statue (informally known as the Big Buddha) was erected in 1993." (google - Big Buddha)

We also took in a short tour through the fishing village of Tai O and were able to ride in a boat on a tour of Lantau Island and out to sea to spot and watch pink dolphins.  We did see two pink dolphins from a fair distance but Addison wasn't so sure what she was looking for so she missed the two times they surfaced.  We enjoyed our walk through the local specialty market and ate in a back alley eating establishment - not so sure if it was an actual restaurant or just someone's home set up with lots of tables, etc.  I could talk about the food and how good it was, but I'm not even sure what it was that we ate.  All I can say is that if you like Chinese food in the states, you should make the trip to the main land someday, it will be worth your time!  

Once again Addison was her sweet little self today, right up to the time when she figuratively hit a brick wall and zonked out.  She's been sleeping since about 6:00; she missed supper and our stroll through parts of downtown, which included a ride on the longest escalator system in Hong Kong.  It really wasn't too exciting, so we only went about half the distance of it's total length and I bet we rode for about 15 minutes.  

It's now about 11:30 and everyone is asleep except for me.  We're all tired, and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.  

Thanks for reading our blogspot, and enjoy the pictures!  We sure are having fun creating those memories.  

Jason, Jen, and Addison.

p.s. - here's a shout out to my 7th and 8th grade Health students!  Rock on!  And, let's see, 8th graders.....Reed, stop talking so everyone around you can pay attention; and yes Noah you can tell  Dylan that I like to talk!  7th graders.....Anna, quite please everyone else is trying to read this too; and Natalie, Mrs. Kainz say's hi!


In the Crystal Cabin cable car.

Awesome story:  Addison is sometimes a scaredy-cat and covers her eyes when she sees statues.  It took me awhile, but I was able to talk her out of some of those fears enough today so that she uncovered her eyes even when we got up close to Big Buddha.  I told her that Buddha was just like Jesus and that he loved her and would never hurt her.  Later on Addison saw all the people that were kneeling down to pray to Buddha, and before I knew it she joined them, paying attention to how they held their hands and everything.  She turned around and said, "Daddy, what do I do."  I told her to say a prayer.  She stayed there for about another minute and said, "Ok, daddy, I'm done."  I picked her up and made a point not to ask her what she prayed for.   As we walked around to look at the back of these three statues below she whispered in my ear, "Daddy, I asked Jesus to watch over us on our trip, and then I said, Jesus, I love you and I know that you love me,  and I know that Buddha loves me too.  Can you watch over me, and can you watch over Buddha because he loves you too.  Amen!"

I'm not sure if that is the first time anyone has said a Christian prayer in a Buddhist temple before, but even so, I'm guessing that both Buddha and Jesus understand.  A little later, the Chinese tourists that were burning incense in the open square praying to Big Buddha were serenaded to more than one of Addison's favorite Christmas songs - it was awesome!

Here's what a tired 4 year old looks like at the supper table.  We ate at the Hard Rock cafe and Addison couldn't have cared less!

Good night all!