Some very special babies!

Every group from our agency traveling at the same time has a very special picture taken at the end of the trip at the White Swan red couch and waterfall! I remember months ago looking at pictures of other adoptive families doing this, and it seemed so far away! And here we are! It was an awesome moment!

Very fun day!

Connie, Mary Kay would be proud!
Myra with a mega milkshake mustache from McDonalds!
Card tricks!

Bay and Myra chilling on the bus!

We had a great day today! It was really sunny when we woke up. What is really funny, though, is after we were told that everything went well at the consulate and that we could leave our room, it started thunder storming! It is really just comical at this point! The guide took us into Guangzhou for some shopping...in the rain! We had been singing that song all day..."I saw you, and him, walking in the rain..." just joking about it, and we walked by one of the stores and they were playing it! Very funny moment! We had done so much shopping already, that we just went along for the ride! By the way, Shawn told me earlier, "do you realize that every time someone quotes you a price on something you turn to me and say 'is that all?'" Ha ha! Did not even realize I was doing that so it totally cracked me up!

It did indeed turn out to be a pappa johns night tonight! The guide did not change the restaurant plans, and I was not chancing the getting sick! By the way, I can tell you first hand that the hotel has a great gym. Just very sure my visits are not going to outweigh the visits to the pizza! Going to have to pound the pavement pretty hard next week to be remotely ready for Amelia the following week.

The kids were dead set that we were getting a milkshake at McDonalds while on the shopping trip. Do you know that one of your options for sides besides fries is a cup of corn? Kind of weird for McDonalds! Anyway, Shawn wound up showing a bunch of school kids some card tricks...they were fascinated and it was so funny! Threw a few pics of that in.

Shawn winessed to two more shop owners today. We are following up with one of them tomorrow. Very cool to see our kids sit and watch this!

Myra is goofier and more mischevious by the day! Shows she is getting used to us! The swearing in is tomorrow at the consulate building. Then we start packing!!!! Thank you again for all of your prayers. We look forward to seeing you all! Kisses CG!

Ash and Shawn's top 10 funny things...

1. Shawn keeps the shoes dry by putting them in the air vent and also blowing them with the hairdryer!
2. Tanner and Baylor have been watching cartoons with MJ in the morning and seem totally unaffected by the fact that they are 100% in the Chinese language!
3. Myra has a very goofy sense of humor ,this is seen totally through body language since she does not speak much yet!
4. Despite total vehicle chaos in the streets, you don't hear any horns. We have been told that it is not allowed. No one even looks annoyed!
5. The kids are probably going to wake up their first morning back wondering why there is not a breakfast buffet waiting on them!
6. They will also probably automatically carry a bottled water with them to the sink to brush their teeth!
7. Tanner will no doubt never step foot into a 7eleven as long as he lives... the 7eleven is where we have bought some of our water/cokes etc and it has a very distinct food smell that Tanner cannot stand. We joke with Tanner that if he misbehaves, he is going to have to take his time out inside the 7eleven!
8.Myra will literally eat anything you put in front of her! And you have to judge for yourself when to stop feeding her because she won't stop!
9. The day we are told we have to stay in our room to wait on a phone call is the first sunny day in China! Also, the special group dinner planned for all of the families tonight is at a restaurant that I have heard has made several families sick. I told Shawn that there is no way we are eating there! Going to try to talk our guide into another restaurant, otherwise it may be another Pappa John's night!
10. If Shawn has to come home and sell the practice to pay the bill, it will be due to the fact that by the second day we had succumb to the convenience of the hotel minifridge. I think a coke may be five American dollars!

Chinese Dinner

We were very blessed to have dinner tonight with Mr. Lee. This is some what tough to explain so bear with me. Mr. Lee and his secretary met us for dinner tonight. Mr. Lee graduated with Tom, the husband of Dr. Amy Lee my dental collegue back home in Macon...small world. Mr. Lee drove 3 hours just to have dinner with us tonight out of respect for his friend Tom. Told you the hospitality was incredible!! Mr. Lee could not speak a lick of English so Phoebe, his secretary, was the translator. The restaurant we went to was 100% Chinese or Cantonese food as they say in China. When they asked what my family would like to eat, I got up from my seat, was led through the restaurant to at least 15 aquarium tanks and picked what I wanted to eat!!! Thats right...you pick it, they kill it, you eat it!!! AWESOME BABY!!! And by the way, it was the best food we've had since we've been here...seriously. We had a blast. Special thanks to Dr. Amy Lee and her husband Tom if you are reading this!!!! Even the kids said it was the best dinner yet. Of course Myra Jane ate everything we put in front of her. To have a dinner hosted by someone who doesn't even speak your language and for everything to go absolutely perfect was incredible. We promised Mr. Lee a big barbeque dinner if and when he ever makes it over to the States. Well we are 12 hours behind YA'LL so I'm going to bed now. Getting closer to coming home...miss everyone, see YA'LL soon. SHAWN (and Ash, already asleep in bed)

Swam through the zoo today...

Yep, more rain! We went to the Saffari zoo today, which is actually the largest zoo in Asia. Some of the pandas from the cities effected by the earthquake were moved to this zoo. It was really fun, dispite the rain, and dispite the fact that a lightening bolt hit not far from us as we were held up under a small thatched tent-like structure. Shawn said he has never experienced lightning so close where the trees crackled around you. Fear was definitely present to the point where God was called on through prayer!!! God had already set His angels to protect us long before we entered the gates of the zoo. Though the typhoon continues to haunt us, God continues to protect the Scotts!

OK, if you did not quite get the visual of what we meant by people hauling things on bikes, then you need to see this pic we included! We have no idea what is in these boxes (kind of scary!) but these bikers win the prize for most items loaded on a bike, hands down!

We are going to dinner tonight with some very gracious Chinese people who are friends with our friends Dr. Lee and Tom from Macon. We are looking forward to it! Hospitality is unbelievable in this country. 3 more days CG!

pics

new pics...

Rain, rain go away!

Hey everyone! We are getting pretty used to being wet everywhere we go, dispite some great umbrellas from The White Swan. Reason being, Tanner and Baylor wind up hogging them and basically knocking the Chinese off the sidewalks! It is so embarrassing! We have definately had some good laughs this trip!

Tanner woke up at 4am this morning ready to start the day! So once again, I tried my best to keep him from waking the rest of the family. He actually put himself to bed tonight after his shower because he was so tired!

We went to the medical clinic today for the medical portion of Myra's visa. There were so many other families there as well. This basically just gives her clearance to enter the US. It is in no way a thorough exam. She will receive that once she gets back to the states. I then had to go spend about 2 hours with the rest of the moms and our guide filling out paperwork that is sent to the consulate. It's kind of funny, such a big deal is made about the consulate date, and when you get over here you realize that you don't even go! Your guide takes your paperwork for you and you have to sit in your hotel room in case the consulate has any questions! Our consulate appt is the 30th. Then we are "sworn in" the following afternoon and are free to leave the next morning. So we are returning on the 2nd. What is even funnier is that we land in Japan at 3pm July 2nd and then we arrive in Atlanta at 3pm on July 2nd!

Shawn: By the way... for those of you who are wondering where the name Myra came from. Myra was the name of the woman who adopted my father. We have always considered her our "real" grandmother and nothing less. She also babysat Ashley and her sister as kids. We actually have pictures of me and Ash as kids swimming together, and although Ashley had the "hots" for me, I played a hard to get seven year old. Since Myra was a pioneer to adoption in our family, Ash and I both whole heartedly agreed on the old school name for our new daughter. Things that I will remember as our trip moves closer to the end: the humidity is absolutely miserable... I change clothes twice a day, we survived our fist typhoon as it has poured rain for four days straight... I change clothes twice a day, the vendors... they actually get upset if you don't haggle with them, eating Papa Johns pizza four nights in a row.... probably will be seven by the time we leave, and Baylor being a super star model or an alien with that blonde hair according to the Chinese...they are constantly asking to take their picture with her . Much more but thats all for now.

Trip to the Georgia Aquarium!!

Hi Everyone! Today Jacob & I took Carson to the Georgia Aquarium! He was SO amazed at all of the fish, whales, etc.. I wasn't sure if he would really understand what all was happening but he really loved it! On the video above he would just crazk up every time the seal would swim by the window. His favorite were the seals, penguins & otters! That place is the coolest place on earth! Tonight we are just grilling out & taking it easy since we had such a long day! I hope that y'all enjoy these pictures!!

more cute pics

Boat tour pics

Our hotel from the water

4th Day with Myra Jane

Miss Myra and Daddy
Missing you Carson!
Loving Mommy
Tickle time with Daddy!
God Is Good...look at this smile!

The boat tour last night was really great! They really light up the city of Guangzhou along the river at night, so we put some pics of that on this post. Today we went to this beautiful park that was nothing but trails and vegetation. Shawn was in heaven (he is the gardener in the family, for those of you who don't know!) There was also this huge statue of these 5 goats that is some big landmark in the city. So our guide, Connie, tells us that we need to take a family picture in front of this staue. We pose and then begin to realize that there are all these other cameras pointed at us snapping pictures! It was hillarious. The kids just gave us another one of those "what's the deal" looks and we came back with the "smile and wave" look! We realize besides looking different, the Chinese are not used to seeing such big families. Even our guide longs for more children, but she is only allowed her one son. Just another freedom we take for granted.

The time is really going pretty fast here because they keep us pretty busy. Tomorrow we take her for her medical appointment for her visa, and the other families from our agency will be arriving from their other provinces. Everyone has to pass through this province before leaving with their child. There are also some more tours planned for the following days. I believe today is the day that I am going to finally darken the door of the gym here! Pappa Johns delivery is going to start catching up with me if not!

Miss u Carson! xoxox

Hi!! I just wanted to post some pics of Carson from today! He did great today, as usual! He slept through the night & woke up this morning at around 8:50! Today he went to school with my Mom to have hot dogs & meet her kids. They loved him & all wanted to be around him...so cute! Tonight we went to the music festival & he met a ton of other kids his age! He fell right to sleep tonight & we haven't heard a peep out of him since I put him down, he was so tired from school & the music! Also, the little girl who has her picture with Carson (above) was adopted from the same place Myra Jane is being adopted, her family stayed at the White Swan. I just thought that was cool! Her name is Elizabeth & she is absolutlely adorable, she fell in love with Carson! I hope that all is well!!!!!!