Adoption Programs
Introduction:
Dean and Beth Buttery are from Michigan and have two biological sons. Dean and Beth traveled to the Sichuan Province in the People’s Republic of China in December 2004 to adopt 11-month-old Yu Jiang Hong (aka: Jena Buttery). It was only 13 months from the date they turned in their application to the date of the adoption. Following are emails sent by Dean and Beth from the day they arrived in China to the day they got back home to the US.
December 5, 2004
We made it, finally!!! We are here in Chongqing after 33 hours of travel time. It is Sunday evening for us, about 6:00p.m. Our travels went smoothly until our last flight. The weather in Chongqing was very foggy so we had to fly into a different airport. After gassing up and getting our official approval to leave again, we were off, 2 hours later. Overall, not too bad. We were sooooo happy to be off the plane that the terrifying taxi ride was nothing.
We were warned about the driving here, but unless you actually see it for yourself it is hard to believe. There are no traffic rules that are enforced as far as we can tell. It is a little frightening; I thought we would hit another car or person at any given time. We arrived at the Hilton unscathed, and were very happy to be able to take baths and showers and get clean clothes on. We seem to be suffering slightly from vertigo, we are very dizzy. It could be because we are soooo tired and because we were on the planes for so long. We hope that after a good nights rest we will feel better.
Tomorrow is the big day, we will leave in the morning for the orphanage and we will meet Jena for the first time! We are so excited! We are so happy to be here in China, we love it here. We are so glad for the time we will have here to learn as much as we can. China will always be a part of Jena and now it will always be a part of us too. More to come.
Ryan and Corbin, we are doing great, we love you guys and hope you are having a great time with Granny G. Mom, thank you so much for taking care of the boys for us, we love you guys.
Much love,
Dean and Beth
December 6, 2004
Well we are officially a forever family now. We left this morning at about 8:30 and traveled by taxi (which was an absolute riot). We drove for about 45 minutes with only 2 stops for directions, which Jophy made the taxi driver stop for. By the way, he is a man and the same driving rules apply here also. (which are, the woman always tells the man to stop for directions sucking all the pride right out of him). When arriving at the Chongqing City SWI, the gates and grounds going to it were beautiful. A woman that would in turn be the one to take us to get Jena met us at the front building. We went right up to the rooms where the babies were and before you knew it, Jena was in Beth's arms. We were able to spend awhile in the baby room talking to the caretaker and director. We saw where her crib was and all of her friends, which are all beautiful like Jena. We will forward pictures later due to lack of technology here. Jena is an amazing princess and all of you will enjoy here as much as we already do. She has warmed up to us way more than I had expected (i.e. Dean) and she is so smart and funny she will fit well with our family.
-Dean
Hello everyone. What an amazing day! We have our Jena and she is even more beautiful than her pictures showed. She cried some when we tried to hold her, she wanted to go back to her caretaker, she loves her very much. She was fine when we left the building and we were outside looking around. She fell asleep in my arms on the way home. She fits perfectly in my arms. Jophy helped us make a bottle when we got back to the room. Half American formula and half Chinese formula, she ate every last drop. We played and she was still wary of us. She would go to both Dean and I but every time we made the switch, she would whimper a little, but then be content with who she was with. She took a short nap before we had to go to the civil affairs office to make things official. On the way there she started to open up and by the time we got there, she was smiling. While there she said mama. What an incredible word that is. She is very funny and has us laughing already. She is babbling and she says Dada now too. She knows who we are in such a short time. She is a very smart girl. She has a tooth coming thru on the top and the bottom. She likes to copy what we do and she loves to shake her head no. She is a dream come true. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your e-mails, it is like a piece of home when we are so far away. Thanks for the time tips Scott, you had me laughing. We are going to go enjoy our baby some more; we will try to send another e-mail tomorrow. P.S. Ryan and Corbin, Daddy and I got to ride in a really cool motorcycle taxi with a dragon on it, we have pictures. Can't wait to show you. We love you. Remember to be good for Granny and to have fun!!
Love to all,
Beth
December 7, 2004
First of all, we would like to wish Corbin a very Happy Birthday, Happy 5th Birthday buddy! We love you and hope you have a fantastic day!!
Things are going well. Jena continues to adjust. She slept well last night, from 9p.m. to 5:30a.m. with only one or two little peeps (not too bad Scott). She is such a joy and so happy. We went to the mall area in Chongqing today and people would come up to us and want to touch her and some people would hold her. One woman wanted to hold her and once Jena was in her arms, she looked at me and started to cry, she put her arms out to me, she is my baby and she knows I am her mama. She is very easy going and only seems to cry when she is hungry or wet. She loves to smile, just like her referral said. She is such a sweet pea. She has a little cough and runny nose, but other than that she seems to be doing just fine. Thank you all so much for your e-mails, it is a wonderful piece of home and we treasure them all. Thank you all for your love and encouragement. Dean wants to write some now.
Love from Beth
Hello all. It was great to read all the mail from home. It makes us feel so close to you all. Thank you all for sharing this experience with us, it means so much to Beth and I. The day was fun. It was great to see parts of the city today, and eat some more fun dishes. When we got back from shopping and sight seeing, Beth rested with Jena and I took on the adventure of milling about as the only American within the 2-block radius that I covered. Spent some time in the square watching people and activities of badmitten, table tennis, dance, drums, people laughing and talking having tea. I also had tea. Got to see some interesting eats which I will explain later for the benefit of only the people that want to know. But anyhow things are very good here and we are good. I can't say enough how awesome Jena is. She defiinitely has taken well to Beth. She lets me play with her and talk to her but only when Beth is really close. But I know that will change daily. I love her so much. Well all its off to bath time with Jena and a mission to find something with FRIES
Love from Dean
December 8, 2004
I absolutely love China, it is so amazing and I wish you all could be here to experience it because I don't think my words can do it justice. We went to an ancient part of Chongqing today and it was incredible. We got to see an old house and how it was set up and how the people lived. We went in lots of shops and I bought several things for Jena. The people are amazing, I saw things like couples walking together, mommies loving there babies and daddies playing with their kids. The people were very interested in us. They had nice comments about Jena, long beautiful eyelashes, pretty fair skin, and happy baby. One woman even said that I was doing well by covering up Jena versus some of the Americans she has seen. I love the food, my favorite dish was chili beef and I even tried duck, which wasn't too bad. Jena was a very good girl today. She took several naps in the carrier and she likes to shop!! We rested for a little while this afternoon then ventured out on our own to walk around by the hotel. All the school children like to practice their English on us and I had a group laughing when I took their picture and showed it to them. Bargain of the day would have to be the 3 pairs of shoes I bought for Jena for 11 dollars (US.) Ryan and Corbin, we love you and miss you, can't wait for you to meet Jena
Mom hang in there Scott will Be there soon
Laura and Wayne, thanks for celebrating Corbin’s b-day with him. Tami I heard about your e-mail troubles and never fear I know you are thinking about us.
Debbie the weather is very foggy and about 50 deg. during the day. Chrissy, glad to hear you are enjoying the e-mails, I never knew it would be this wonderful to be in China with Jena, it is better than we dreamed. Love to everyone and keep those e-mails coming we love them.
Love Beth
Hello all, it’s my turn at the events of the day. I love this place, it is awesome. We experienced a whole new part of the city while driving to the ancient town. We drove through some pretty interesting areas to get there and from the free way you can see the temple right on the mountain side inner-mixed with all of the newer buildings. We toured an old style home, which was cool. We also went to the Temple there, which was a hike up about 200 stairs twice as steep as our basement stairs. All I have to say to that is, feel the burn. The Temple court and temple were beautiful. But they wouldn't let me rub Buddha’s belly for good luck because he was behind glass. The walk around the town was great, the cobble stone streets, the people especially were awesome. It was great to see so many people interested in us and stop to talk to Beth and say nice things. Also to shop and watch Jophy barter like crazy for us. Before we knew it the Items in question to be purchased had already been negotiated for us. We met a "famous" artist today who made a stamp (chop) with Jena’s Chinese name on it. Jophy bartered him down from 200 to 100yuan for us and that was hilarious to watch.
After the ancient town we came back here and hung out for a while. Later we ventured out around the hotel. Beth found some more great deals for Jena. O yeah Jena let me carry her around the whole time with only a little crying when we first left the room. She talked and laughed at me the whole walk.
Love you all and miss you Dean
December 9,2004
Well, today was our last full day in Chongqing and I am sad to think that it is time to move on. We will be leaving this incredible place where Jena spent the first 10 months of her life. I am happy that we are continuing our journey and that soon we will be home to see all of our friends and family, but I will miss this city with the beautiful people. I have taken so many pictures, when I look back I will probably think I did not take enough. I have tried to capture on film the everyday lives of the people here. They want the same things in life that we do, to be happy and healthy, I can see the love they have for each other as I walk down the street. I think I will miss the children the most. Tonight we went out again to walk around and there was a group of older children all saying "hello" to us. I asked if I could take their picture and they all jumped in front of the camera. I gave them stickers and one little girl had two so she gave one back to me, they are so sweet. I always want to remember their chorus of voices, so happy and beautiful. Our little Jena is one of those sweet, beautiful children. She is an amazing girl. She is such a good baby, so happy, always ready with a smile. Everyone we meet wants to make her smile and touch her face. We had real giggles and laughs from her this morning; she is such a blessing to us. I am sorry I have not been able to send photos; I know you are all waiting patiently. Hopefully when we get to Guangzhou. We are leaving tomorrow (Friday) at 4:30 in the afternoon. Thank you all so much for your e-mails. They mean so much to us and I will keep them forever. I will let Dean tell you more about our day now.
Much love, Beth
Hello to all.
Well my day started out just amazing, to one little girl patting my face and giggling at 4:30 am. So we started out pretty early but Jena slept again before breakfast. Then we met our guide for the day, which was Mei, because Jophy was off to Beijing for the day for a meeting. Mei is an amazing Chongqing lady. She knew so much about the history and the people and places we would pass, it was great. Our first stop of the day was feeding time at the zoo. Mei knew exactly when to go there because we were able to see all of the pandas, which she said is very rare. Then some lions and of course monkeys, etc. Then off to the Chongqing Peoples Square, which is huge and has an indoor stage area that seats 4000. There is an art gallery there, which had many local artists’ paintings and some from the university. We purchased a set of 4 pieces here, they are amazing. Then out for some pictures of the square and into another taxi and off to the harbor where the two rivers of this area meet. More history by Mei that I probably already forgot but we have reference materials, locally purchased of course. Then back to the Hotel for a quick stop then off to late lunch of bean curd soup, kung pao chicken, some beef things and some other kind of curd. They keep telling me the food is spicy but I really have not been tested yet. Back to the hotel for Jena food and a nap. At this point Beth had discovered that we had misplaced a camera from the restaurant to the room. More than likely my fault. But after telling the front desk, the Hotel staff was off and searching. Within 10 minutes came a call that they had found it at the front foyer ???????? We didn't care about the camera it was the 15 or so pictures in it. But its back now. Well thanks for the emails. Jena’s is getting upset and we need to chase down some dinner for tonight. Love to all. I miss you. Dean
Ryan and Corb I really need a good wrestling match when I get home.
Hey Dad I love you and can't wait for you to meet your grand daughter. You to Carole
Wayne I miss you and thanks for helping out with the boys
December 11, 2004
Well, we are officially on the last leg of our journey. We arrived in Guangzhou last night and were very tired, so we had an early night. Thank you for sending the e-mail out mom, we appreciate it. This morning at breakfast I was very sad and cried. I feel on the verge of tears most of the time. It was very hard to leave Chongqing, we loved it there so much, the place and especially the people. We were able to have one last Chongqing adventure before we left and we are so thankful for that. Let me start the adventure by saying, I now fully understand why the Chongqing people are so physically fit!! We went to a mountain park, called Pipa Mountain. We climbed all the way to the top and only had to stop once. I was carrying Jena in the carrier and Dean had just as much weight in the backpack. At the top we were able to see the city and enjoy the Chongqing people some more. A lot of the older people go to the park to play cards and Mahjong; we went to watch several women playing Mahjong, hoping to understand how to play (it is much different then what I play on the computer). As Jophy says, the way they play is much funnier. The ladies crowded around us and all wanted to see sleeping Jena. They all said how sweet she was and commented on her long eyelashes. They pulled up stools for us to sit on so we could watch them play. It was so nice to be a part of their daily lives. They were all retired schoolteachers and Johpy said that their grandchildren were all grown so they could play the games in the park; it keeps their minds sharp and strong. We then had to head back to eat a quick lunch at Cheers, our favorite local restaurant (I had the sweet and sour chicken, fabulous). It was then time to load up the bags for the airport. Jena's first flight went wonderfully, she is so good. She babbled the whole way and did not have any problems. Guangzhou is so different then Chongqing, it looks much newer and especially at the White Swan, it is like it's own little world. I am sure we will have a good time here, but Chongqing will always hold a special place in my heart. We have had the experience of a lifetime and we are so thankful for our time here. Chrissy, we are so thankful that we did get to come by ourselves; it was so nice this morning to be able to scoot by the large group at the doctor's office and get right in and out. Jophy is fabulous and we are enjoying her company so very much. I cannot even imagine this journey without her. Anyway, I could write all day, I am feeling emotional so I will hand this over to Dean now. Thank you again for your e-mails, what an encouragement they are. Mom, things sound good at home, welcome Scott, glad you could join in the fun at the home front. We love you Ry and Corb and will be home soon.
Love to all, Beth
Hello all,
well as Beth wrote, yesterday was an emotional day. The thought of leaving Jena's place of residency was tough. The hike up the mountain was awesome the view was as good as you seem to get there at this time of year. Plus I really couldn’t look through the camera lens through the tears. The flight and travel wore on us pretty good. So sorry for the e-mail delay. Well the White Swan is nice, big also. Breakfast was tough because we had come to like our normal routine and the food. At the White Swan it is very different and westernized, just a little adjustment time needed for us. We took off first thing with Jophy to get visa photos and off to the doctor’s office. What a riot that was to walk into a room with about 15 other couples and video cameras, and pass right on through that process. I thought that would be at least a 1 or 2 hour adventure. When we left there were 2 big buses with people and children lined up outside to go in. Yikes it really didn't look like fun to me. We headed to the Wholesale fabric markets to pick out silk for a couple of shirts Beth and I wanted to have made. And Renee we didn't forget about you. We got Jena’s fabric for the quilt and back again tomorrow for you. For lunch Jophy wanted to take us for American food, at Lucy’s?? We asked if we could eat with her out locally some place and try some Hunan province type foods. We did and it was great. Then back to the hotel for a rest (ME). Later, we went to get our photos and laundry and come to this little Internet cafe, which is a crack up, but a lot cheaper than the hotel. (Hint for any of you coming this way) Well time to find out about photo attachments.
Love to all,
Dean
December 12, 2004
Our time here is winding down, and I am a shopping maniac!! We spent the whole morning and early afternoon in the room and then we went to the wholesale market with Jophy, great deals!! Jena loves being out and about like here mama. Jena had a little cough but it is much better now, pray that she will be feeling one hundred percent (as well as us) for our travels home in a couple of days. We love you all and can't wait to see all of you and for you all to meet Jena!
Mom and Scott, it sounds like things are going well at home we cannot thank you enough for staying with the boys for us, it means the world to us!!
Tami, yes, I ate duck!!
Love to you all. Here are a couple more pictures to get you thru.
Love, Beth, Dean and Jena
December 13, 2004
What a blessing our little Jena is, she is so sweet, smart, happy and beautiful. We are enjoying her so much and it is so fun to see her personality come out. Thank you all for coming on this journey with us. We have really enjoyed ourselves and will always remember this time as a very happy and exciting time. This will most likely be our last e-mail until we get home. Tomorrow, we go to the American Consulate in the morning and then off to the pearl and jade market. Wednesday, we pack, and pack some more and then head for home. I cannot believe it is time to go home, this time has gone by so fast. We are so excited to see Ryan and Corbin and all of our friends and family. We love you all so much, thank you for your love and support.
Much love, Dean, Beth, and Jena.
Susan, the weather in Guangzhou is beautiful, about 70 during the day and a little cooler at night, it has been very sunny too. We are so excited for you and that you will be leaving soon to get your sweet bundle!!
Ry and Corb, We love you guys and miss you so much, we show Jena your pictures everyday and tell her about her brothers.
We will be home with your sweet sister soon.
December 17, 2004
Hello everyone, we are home!!! The flights all went very well and we were even able to get some sleep. I managed to get Jena to sleep until 5:30 a.m. this morning. We are trying to get back to MI time as soon as we can. We are tired but so happy to be home with the boys and Jena. She is adjusting so well and has many smiles for all of us. The boys love her and always want to hold her and make her smile by offering her toys. What a wonderful Christmas this will be. Thank you all again for your love and support. We can't wait for all of you to meet sweet Jena.
Love, Beth, Dean, Ry, Corb and Jena |
