Hello Everybody!
We are really sorry about not posting... we forgot to say this but no blogging sites are allowed in China. China was amazing and we all had a great time. Jake is a happy energetic 5 year old who loves to try to say English words. Our trip started at 8:00 in the morning on Christmas Eve when our flight took off for Seattle. From Seattle we flew to Tokyo, and then on to Beijing. We got to our hotel at 12:01 in the morning on the 26th. In Beijing we spent a day sightseeing at the Great Wall and Summer Palace. The next day we toured the Olympic Village before driving to the airport. At the airport we flew to Chongqing, and had barely an hour before going down to the lobby where Jacob was waiting for us. He seemed very quiet at first but then as we stayed down longer he grew more and more used to us and grew more and more energetic. When we got to the room he immediately started jumping around the room and pretty much going crazy. Our family spent the next few days in our room and exploring Chongqing, the biggest city in China. We had met another family who spoke fluent Chinese, and was adopting a eight year old girl named Sophie. So the last night in Chongqing we went out to dinner together and Jake and Sophie seemed to like each other. Then it was time to leave Chongqing to fly to Guangzhou. Jake was very excited and scared for his first airplane ride and was very anxious to get on the plane. After a short plane ride we arrived in Guangzhou and met the other babies and one of the new families. When our bus came we drove to our hotel, The Asia International, and had a few hours to settle down and unpack before going down to our group dinner. The dinner was good and we celebrated little baby Ava's 1st birthday. We went to Shamien Island the next day for a physical and 6 shots! Poor Jake!! The entire time he got them he was yelling "be gentle, be gentle!" We went back to the island the next day for shopping and lunch at Lucy's! We did a lot of sight seeing over the next few days and made friends with one of the guys who ran a shop on Shamien Island, Jack! We visited an outdoor exercise park one day!! It was awesome! On Thursday, the 7th, We drove to Hong Kong for the night. We flew out early the next morning to Tokyo. Then on to Detroit from Tokyo. We were finally home!! It was so cool to see the sign that said welcome to America! The VandenBrinks had decorated our house with streamers and a sign that said 'Welcome Home Yacullo Family' in Chinese! It took us all a while to get over our jet lag. Jake has transitioned into his new life very nicely. He is such a sweetie but he also loves to tease his sisters. Every morning he makes his own bed perfectly and it has got Ryan doing the same. (minus perfectly.) He is going to start kindergarten at Moorsbridge next month and we are hoping that will improve his English. We all love him so much and hope he will soon love us just as much back. We will post pictures soon!
With Love,
Sammy
and
Casey
