Hi dad. How are you?

Anthony just opened the door to check on me. I’m on day two now of possibly having Covid 19. Secluded in the basement with all the luxuries of hard work. We have a playroom with a smart tv and a laundry room with a shower and toilet. Rachael just spent a whole week down here and now it’s my turn. She is doing well and so far the kids are good too.
This has never happened in our lifetime. The USA is pretty much shut down. The world is pretty much shut down. A lot of people are dying and there are no vaccinations yet for it.
We are so blessed and are just a text away from anything we need.
The kids have been locked up in this house and the yard for 3 weeks now. Masses have been cancelled and streaming on line. Our health care workers are working without the proper equipment and that is pretty much how this invisible virus entered our home. The elderly are much more prone to serious effects of this and Rachael has already lost a few patients at work.
Rachael has not gotten results yet and it’s been a week. I was trying to stay safe while bringing her down food and taking care of her but I guess I wasn’t careful enough.
We have never been apart, never not slept in the same bed. It’s been 7 nights now and 1 since since I have been able to put the kids to bed....... this sucks. I hope they don’t get this shit.
I feel ok. The fever hasn’t gone away, coughing, aches, and now I’m here.

I salute and pray for all the nurses and doctors..... not all hero’s wear capes!

Two years since my last post....wow. I guess time does fly by when your having fun. A little two year recap.
We ended 2011 on a happy note moving into a new town just 5 miles away with great neighbors and a great school system just in time for full day kindergarten.
2012 was a rough year for our family with the passing of my Dad, Andrew "Crash" Grabowski. He worked double and sometimes triple shifts to keep food on the table and a roof over the heads of his ten children, wife, mother, and many pets. He made me a better man and father. May you rest in peace dad.

Our cousin Paula who was so helpful in so many ways but most of all during all of the paperwork for our adoptions. She was a Notary public and a very bright and intelligent women whom we looked up to for so many reasons. Rest in peace Pia.
Her husband Andy, who was an adoptive father himself, and a great person. Rest in peace Andy the Dandy. The check is in the mail :)
Aunt Mary rest in peace.
On a much brighter note..... these kids are getting big and the conversations are getting more fun. There is a ton of competition, lots of fun, some frustration at times, laughing, crying, learning.... by everyone. Its all good over here!

Here's a few pics. The middle one is Hannah's own personalized magic marker make-up kit. The black and white is the fall on 2012 and the bottom is the latest one taken last week.

.....and now its November!

Its been 5 long months since we've come home with Hannah and it feel's like years have passed. She love's her brothers and walks around kissing them all day and when she's not kissing she's biting :(

It took a little while for her to sleep well and get used to her crib and now that she has we've sold our home (in just two weeks) and are moving to Trumbull. Packing sucks! I've been here since December of 98..... alot of time to accumulate garbage! We're gonna miss this place..... a whole lot of memories of starting our family, the kids first big parties in the back yard, lots of good stuff!!

5 years ago today

After 5 long years on the anniversary on our log in date we have signed our final document and should be receiving Hannah's visa tommorow. She will be our newest American citizen the moment we hand her immigration paperwork over to customs in LA.
We've met some amazing families here with some even more amazing stories. We traveled to immigration with 8 other families this morning. Beautiful children and families.
We met a family yesterday who adopted a 14 year old girl. We were unaware that here in China, once a child turns 14, they can't be adopted anymore. She just made it :)
Tommorow we will visit the jade market on our final sight seeing adventure and we will be on our way home on Thursday morning CT time.
2 more sleeps and a long trip home and a long trip home and my dream comes true!
We're coming home boys :)

Guangzhou is beautiful

It's been a lot different here in Guangzhou than it was in Fuzhou. Rachael is loving the little shops that are full of dresses and shoes for Hannah. Her closet will be full in no time at all. As a matter of fact it was pretty full when we left.
Our guide, Jack Mao, is awesome. He gave a pretty intense history on China from uncivilized China through the dynasty's and into modern China. We took a long stroll through a park and visited Sun yay-sen Memorial Hall who is a person Jack compared to George Washington for us.
We have another day of sight seeing tommorow and our Consulate appointment on Tuesday.
Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Last day in Fuzhou

We have a couple of hours away from leaving Fuzhou for Guangzhou and are waiting for a police officer to deliver Hannah's passport to the hotel. It has been another week we will never forget. The second part of our trip has been something special we've been waiting for ever since we started this journey over 5 years ago. We will be staying at the White Swan Hotel and will be there other adoptive families and children who have gone through a long wait just like us.
We hope you guys have been able to view the pictures and video on Sky Drive. They are adorable and I'm not just saying that because I'm her daddy :)
Let's see if this link below works.

Fuzhou day 5

We've got a couple of days left here in FuZhou and we found an excellent restaurant in the hotel. It's a Japanese restaurant that makes Ichiro look like McDonalds so we'll be eating there until we leave for Guangzou. Today we visited a tea house and we have a new respect for Chinese tea. The Chinese people take their tea very serious. Excellent!
We also saw a pretty cool bear show. If the bears did this at zoo back home I would go every day. Tommorow we are going to a Buddist Temple and Walmart again for some supplies. A few things we've learned about Fuzhou is we stick out like sore thumbs and people are very curious a about Hannah. Our guide told us that a lot of people here are unaware that foreigner's can adopt their children and that 90% of the children adopted from the Fujian province are adopted domestically.
Skype has been an unbelievable experience with keeping in touch with the boys and everyone. It makes us feel like we are right there. We cannot thank you all back home who are helping with the boys, the two most special people in our lives. We could not have done this without you.
Now since we can't upload videos to YouTube I've found a backdoor by uploading video and pictures to my Windows Live account called Skydrive and I'm not sure how you can view them but it's attached to superiorelectrician@hotmail.com or my name James Grabowski.
Hannah has been amazing. She sleeps 10 hours a night and has a beautiful personality. We think she is a little behind with her strength and are working on it. Thanks for all your prayers and we know there are a lot of well wishes on Facebook even though we can't see them.
All the best!
Jimmy G.