This is the 13th installment in a series of columns I am devoting to the adoption journey my wife, Claudette, and I started in 2005. Hank Bond, publisher and editor of the Greenup Beacon, asked that we share our story with you. Maybe you have an interest in adoption or know someone who does. If so, I hope this information is helpful. We adopted our daughter, Siyan, from China in 2007.

In a January 31, 2007, entry in “Our Journey to Josie Claire Siyan Hapney” website:

“We've had a great Thursday in Nanjing. It is 2:15 p.m., and we just got settled in "for a long winter's nap!" We're heading that way anyhow. We're starting to really miss home.”

“We've determined a pattern regarding Josie. She's a bit of a grouch in the morning (like Brock), and then wide open, laughing, playing, and running around during midday until late in the evening (or night in many cases). She's a very sweet baby girl after morning turns to afternoon.”

“Claudette and I are craving American food, or at least U.S. and "Americanized"

international food such as Olive Garden, Fazoli's, Texas Roadhouse, and even McDonald's. We haven't had anything close to that for a week!”

“We had breakfast here at the hotel this morning (buffet with some Western dishes), then left to go to the Notary office to pick up our official adoption documents to take with us to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, to U.S. Immigrations when we get to Chicago, and then a copy for us to keep. We then visited a Nanjing park, which is the ruins of the Ming Palace; Xiao LingTomb; Plum Blossom Hill; saw the Observatory on Purple Mountain; and Zhonghua Gate, built under the orders of the first Ming emperor, Hongwu, from 1368-86.”

“After that, we went to an authentic Chinese restaurant for lunch (again, we are craving American food!).”

“Our driver and guide then dropped us off to our hotel. We're truly looking forward to some extensive rest. We have had none all week. It's been ‘run, run, run.’”

“Thanks again to all who have posted messages in the guest book. I hope everyone will do so, as it means a lot to hear from you when we are so far away from home. We've had a wonderful experience while here, and are enjoying our time with Josie very much, but we look forward to going home and getting back into our routine (church, work, boys' activities, and now Josie)!”

“We found out why Josie throws a tantrum every now and then. She wants to do everything herself. She has had to do so in the orphanage (growing up too quickly), and gets frustrated when we try to do everything for her. She threw a tantrum when Claudette and I were trying to feed her today during lunch. We finally gave her the spoon (held the bowl for her) and let her feed herself. She ate every bit of the fried egg and rice in her bowl! We were so proud of her. It's great she can do that, but also sad that she's had to do that on her own without anyone. She's a spunky, independent 2-year-old! We love her very much, and cannot wait until you meet her in person.”

“I may write more later; then again, I may enjoy some much-needed rest. My throat is a bit better today. I'm getting ready to get another dose of antibiotics. Hopefully, I'll have this in check very soon. Claudette's doing very well, and Josie is as well.  Hope you enjoy today's photos. 

Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Ph.D., is a professor in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University, and an eastern Greenup County native. He may be reached at hapney@marshall.edu.



I snapped this photo of Josie right after she woke up this morning. All I can say is we have two major grouches in our household now--Josie and Brock! Oh joy!

Traffic in China is just awful. I don't ever want to hear anyone back home complain about traffic, or any other aspect of our area for that matter. Have a chat with me sometime about this topic. I am amazed at what we take for granted in our wonderful area.

Josie feeds herself after throwing a tantrum when we tried to feed her. She seems so much older than she is. Claudette and I are certain that she's doing things the normal 2-year-old typically does not do because she had to take care of herself in the orphanage.