Shihe Guest House Xinyang

Happy Birthday Gary and anyone else we've missed up to now!

Well it's Monday here - and we had a great start to the day. Our adoption agency has a private room called the Mattel room and it's filled with kids toys for parents and their children to play. Spent most of the morning watching Emma getting acquainted with other children from our group. She's a bit shy at first until she sees a toy someone else has then she's like a tiger and crawls ...

... beautiful place and one I'd recommend to anyone in that region of China. It is rapidly turning into a big tourist spot for Chinese holiday makers and Westerners alike. We saw 3 other whities in our time up there. It's also a place very popular with young artists. With dozens of them dotted around the tiny village and placed strategically in the most picturesque of positions on the outskirts.

Words really can't describe the ornate beauty of Guoliang, the pictures don't do ...

... these and so many other possibilities open to us. Yet most people continue to say 'I wish I' or 'I would love to'. When you meet them they are also full of 'Oh you are so lucky to have'. How do I know? Because I used to say them all. It takes but one open and honest moment with yourself and the courage to follow it through and then all of your dreams will lay before you. You may hurt others along ...

... slept the day away. Now I can't sleep or hear the TV so I thought I would waste some time telling you all about my boring day. It is times like these I could do with a good hostel common room or bar! Meeting people and talking until the endless hours about past travels and future dreams! I could turn the fan off and have the air-conditioner turned on but that is a waste of time. The owner won't leave the ...

... us that there is a minority group in that part of China where their courting traditions go something like this; if a boy likes a girl then he will stand on her foot, if she likes him she will stand on his and that means they're in love. Then the guy has to do housework at the girls family's house for 3 years and then sit an exam at the end of it, if he passes they can then get married. The girl then has to cry continously ...

This morning all the paperwork went to the consulate with our guides. There was no problems so we should have Jaymee's entrance visa tomorrow. It has been a good trip. All are tired and a little cranky at this point. Tomorrow while we wait for the visa ...

We are now safely in Guangzhou. This is a big city with many Western influences. Even during the time of Mao when China was closed to all Westerners some were here in Guangzhou. We did her medical check today and LOTS of shopping! Hope you are all doing well! I will write more soon! Amber

We went on a tour of the orphanage today. It was nicer than I was expecting. It was obvious the staff and the Director care for the children very much. They will not allow us to meet the foster family but they have taken good care of her and that is evident. We got to tour a 400 year old Buddist temple, eat some more Chinese food ...

This has been a very emotional 2 days. Jaymee was terrified of us at first and cried some. She did better than we were expecting thanks to lots of prayers from many of you. She is now taking a nap with Grandma after a long day. Today we went back to the Adoption Affairs office and signed all the paperwork. Tomorrow it gets notarized and is offical. She is mostly ours now. We have her dressed up in some cute outfits we ...

We arrived here on Sunday, 1/15 @ near midnight. The flight was delayed for "big fog in Wuhan." Monday Morning we left the hotel (which is very, very nice by the way) and drove across town to the adoption center @ 9:00. We took her back with us to the hotel and she has ...