Like father, like daughter. We both spill things when we eat!

Reunited!




Sisters

Happy Mother's Day

Under an ancient Banyan tree

I'm having too much fun to go to sleep!

The last few days have been crazy. Our plane ride out of Nanchang was delayed for two hours due to storms AFTER we boarded the plane. Needless to say, Abby was very scared and cranky since she had never been on a plane before. Actually, I was quite cranky too since, as you know, I am not very good about sitting still. Arriving in Guangzhou brought a great sense of peace when we met up with our new guide Connie and the other families. The following day, after passing out in the hotel room, we had a long series of appointments with doctors who had to verify that our children were healthy enough to travel back to America with us. This was very stressful because the doctors were considering having Abby stay in China longer because she does not walk as much as the typical child her age. Luckily, Connie was able to explain to them that we understood this before we adopted her and were planning on making sure that she would have plenty of physical therapy when we returned home.


The rest of the day, after a great deal of sleep, was very peaceful, yet strange. No matter what city in China families meet up with their new children, all families must stay in Guangzhou before they can return home. As a result, out of the 28 floors in the White Swan Hotel, almost every room is filled with adoptive families from the U.S. So, here we are on the other side of the world, in a completely different culture, and yet I have heard English spoken more than Chinese. This city is 2,000 years old and yet is unbelievably clean, modern, and just plain beautiful, full of gardens. I'll take some pictures tonight or tomorrow. Nightime was fun as we had a little time to walk through the markets. We picked up a pair of "sqeaky shoes" for Abby--shoes that squeak whenever you step down. She loves them and is now stomping just to hear the sound when we practice walking with her. Afterwards, most of us met up at "Lucy's American Diner"--I have been very good at sampling as much local food as possible, but I must admit that it was quite refreshing to have a good old American cheeseburger.

Emily the Celebrity. There were a number of students learning English walking around the streets of Guangzhou with their teachers. They would walk up to us, practice their English, and ask us to write our names in their autograph books. Emily was their favorite. They then sang some really cute songs for us using the words they had learned.

This tower behind me had nine floors, symbolizing the nine levels of Buddhism.

Other than meeting Abby for the first time, our trip to a Buddhist temple was a highlight for us. It is a tradition for adoptive families to go to this temple and have their babies blessed by a Buddhist monk. Connie explained to us that about 80% of China practices a form of Buddhism. Even though our family is not Buddhist, I was very moved by the ceremony, and despite things looking so different from our own religion, I noticed many similarities in terms of the intentions of the people. As I listened to the monk's musical chant, I felt peace for the first time in a few days. Hopefully this peace will carry through to tomorrow. Right now Mrs. D is at a meeting filling out paperwork for Abby's visa (since no one can read my handwriting) and tomorrow is an interview with the American consulate. See you soon. . .

~Posted By Mike