Some Photos!

I'm not going to try to put these in order, it's too hard to do right now. 

In Nanchang, we visited the Tengwang Pavilion.

Also in Nanchang, there is a park nearby named Bayi Park.  Bayi literally means August 1st.  It's a date in history when power changed hands in Nanchang.  This is the memorial.  Also at this park is a great fountain show at night.  Doug, Marion and Rose went one night and got soaking wet.  We have video, but no pictures.

Little Miss Lily is so content sitting on the bed and playing and watching us.  She loves to eat baby dry cereals, but we think she loves the containers and packaging more.   She is laughing and smiling alot, and Marion and Rose are good at making her laugh hard.  She is feeling so much better now, she no longer has the previously mentioned issues thank goodness.    We can tell that she was very well loved and cared for with her foster family.  She is such a sweet girl.

One morning I went next door to Marion and Rose's room, and I could hear them scheming behind the door.  They both had hotel robes and slippers on and bowed when they opened the door to me, it was pretty cute.

The famous White Swan Barbie doll.  It's tradition for the hotel to leave a Barbie for the newly adopted child.  It's a caucasian Barbie holding an asian baby.  They left one for Rose as well, she is pretty happy to have a 2nd doll.

We got a chuckle out the baby potty chair...

Today (Sunday) in Guangzhou we were taken to the Seven Banyan Buddhist Temple.  It was pouring rain, but it was still very beautiful.  This is a photo of the priest getting ready to bless our babies.  We adults also got blessed and made wishes to the various buddha's throughout the temple.  You take incense in groups of three's, light them, stand before a buddha, make a wish, bow three times, and then place your incense in a holder in front of the buddha.

This is our entire travel group.  Everyone is doing pretty good, we are amazed the babies are so content for the most part.

We also stopped at a super market to replenish baby supplies.  The Mid Autumn Moon Festival is coming up, and moon cakes are everywhere!!  This is a GIANT mooncake.  Our hotel is even known for their mooncakes, and many people are stopping by just to buy their mooncakes.

We also went to a store that sold jade and porcelean.  I actually bought a traditional jade bangle, necklace and earrings.  Rose bought a tea set, a small folding screen and a jar with painting on the inside.  This man has been carving "chops" for 42 years.  Chops are blocks of stone (can't remember which stone) that they carve your name in.  We got one for Lily with her Chinese and American names on it.  They are used as signatures in China, seen as a red "stamp" on paperwork and artwork.  Rose got one from a shop near our hotel.

Two more photos from the Buddhist Temple.  Even though it was pouring rain, it was still so beautiful.  That's Rose in the front with the white umbrella.

We have a photo at home from when we were here in 2004 adopting Rose.  Rose and I were under this same Banyan tree.  Now we have one with me, Rose and Lily.  I really love the feel of this place, and would love to go back when the weather is better.  In 2004, it was about 100 degrees and such high humidity that we had problems with our cameras and glasses fogging up, and there was so much water in the air it was almost misty.

Tomorrow our guide is walking us to a shopping street.  I am so horrible at bargaining, I actually loathe it.  I'm so bad at it, it's actually become funny.

I am so happy to say that I have gotten to see the dear Barrett family two days in a row now here in Guangzhou.  Yesterday we ran into them at the health clinic for our medical exams.  I got to meet Erin!  She is a very polite young lady who smiles and actually recognized me today when we saw them in the lobby of our hotel.  They are staying at a different hotel but were meeting up at our hotel for a tour.  It is fun to see people you know here.  Rose got to say hello to Monika and Jenny, and she got to meet Erin.  Katie and Dave stayed back at the hotel.

We finally got our laundry done.  It's something we normally take for granted, but traveling for so long has given me an appreciation for the ability to wash our clothes whenever we want to at home.  

Thursday we rent a van and driver to take us to Hong Kong, and we spend the night in Hong Kong.  Then Friday we fly home!