From embroidery to the "Spa"

A tender "hello" to all of you! We are sooooooooo loving this infant stage! As you know, we were quite surprised and slightly caught off guard when we found out our Graycn was so young~ but oh, what a true joy it has all been!

She is just bubbling more and more each minute we have her! Wade and I were talking about how we feel as if we haven't lost any time with her. It has been so smooth ~ just perfect!

I am so sorry I haven't gotten a chance to update the blog....let's see: We did not go to the park today, but we did get to go to a beautiful embroidery store. It was a historical factory that we could watch people making all levels of embroidery pieces, learned the history of how the silk was made, dyed and then turned into exquisite pieces of art. We could not believe the details! Each province is known for something special. Some are known for pottery or porcelain, but Graycn's province is known for embroidery. I did not think I was much for embroidery, but WOW - Wade and I were really blown away! We found a really sweet piece for Graycn's room that we will give to her to take to her home when she grows up. It is a piece that you can see through. It has a beautiful flower that represents her life just blooming and growing as a result of God's grace....it also has a sweet butterfly that we thought would be a visual reminder of how much she has changed just in these 3 days and what is to come in the days ahead! :) We also found a gorgeous large piece to put above our family's mantle. It is a landscape scene of a farmer's field here in Hunan. It has a young farm girl leading one of her family's oxen passed an arched stone bridge ~ it is so beautiful! We loved it!!! It will be neat for her to see that even when she was born, her homeland was so simple without many modern amenities.

We had a nice day just hanging with other mom's and dad's ~ our girls are all doing so well! We have been blessed with some really wonderful families! What a joy it has been to meet each of them.

One of the mom's and I (Grace Lynn's {Gracey} mom) went to the "spa" today to get a 80 min foot massage {cost was under $13.00- and they don't accept tips} ~ WOW!!!! We were informed NOT to go to the "spa" on the 8th floor because it is "too expensive" (code word for "adult massaging") ~ Wade and I are just laughing at the thought of accidentally going to the "wrong" spa!)..... Anyway, we were asked if we wanted a man or a woman. We looked at each other and thought "a foot massage?".... we didn't care, just as long as we could keep on our time schedule so we could be back in time for dinner w/ the hubbies. So, we got escorted to a really comfortable room sat down on the beds, they served us "hot" water (really excited about being home and getting my first glass of something with ice cubes in it!) and then all of a sudden, 2 guys come in with buckets of hot water. They smile, but don't speak any English. They put our feet in this REALLY HOT water....then abruptly pull out our feet and dry them off briskly.....then ......OUCH!!!!!!!!! their tiny little hands just about rubbed every blood cell out of the tip of our toes......the entire toe....the ball of our feet.....oh no.....here comes my arch......augh...they found the instep......yep...the heel too!!!! Then they wrapped our feet up in hot towels and before we knew it, our bodies were bouncing up and down as they aggressively massaged our shoulder socket, our upper arms, forearms and then my hand....what in the world are they doing to my hand, I thought? I heard this "pop" and thought to myself....."did he just pop my finger off of my hand? I didn't think that was possible?" And then, just a quickly as they came in...they took the towel off our feet and left the room.

I looked at my friend and she said "was it just me or did that really hurt?" I said, "yes, I thought I was not going to be able to walk around and sight see any more of china!" She said, "It was hurting so bad that I had to practice my breathing techniques and go to my 'happy place'!" We sat there in a daze and just laughed. I said "Is it over?" She said, "I don't know?" ALL OF A SUDDEN ~ the boys were back w/ buckets of HOTTER water!!!!!! My friend, Amy, said that she kept trying to pull her feet out of the water, but he kept pushing them back in and holding them down and smiling. She said she thought it was some form of "foreigner's torture"! The bad thing is that my guy got to me quicker than her guy did, so by the time she is trying to get her feet out of the bucket, my feet were done and now, instead of getting them wrapped up or massaged, I find myself bouncing up and down AGAIN, but instead of my upper body being attacked, it was now my lower extremities! Oh my word.....I thought I was going to fall of the bed laughing.....I was trying so hard to look like I wasn't surprised, but when my friend let out a noise from the HOT water, I found myself giggling out loud!!!! (Please remember: What is it that Holly does when she is stressed? That's right........LAUGH!!!!!!) Oh, no.....now, I am bouncing, my feet are probably hurting but they are SCALDED, so I can't feel the pain anymore, and this guy keeps attacking me (not gently massaging....but flopping my legs around like they are fish getting battered)! Needless to say, when it was all done....and the room was quieted from the TORNADOES that had entered our world of "serenity".....we sat up, adjusted our hair, looked at each other and burst into laughter. I said, "I think I feel like I have been violated!" ~ she stood up and couldn't even walk to the door without looking like she was hit by a truck!!! (LOL!) She said "I thought this was supposed to be relaxing! It said it was a 'Lavender' massage!" So, the moral of the story is ...... we had no idea $13.00 could buy SO much in China!!!! and we have signed our husbands up for one tomorrow!!!! (some bonding time for the guys!) :)

okay....off to get some sleep......I'll try to post some photos tomorrow....still having technical difficulties with my computer skills...

Love to you all! We are so enjoying the Skype phone calls!!!! It is awesome!!! How fun to have our little Graycn seen by you ..... The emails are awesome too!!!! I am trying to respond to them, but sometimes I am limited on my computer time. Just know that they are all read, appreciated and longed for!

My sweeties are sleeping....our day starts early with skype conversations from our wonderful families who are watching our kiddos ~ you guys, I know I have told you thank you, but again.....THANK YOU!!!!!! It is so fun!

w&h