Some New Pictures

Abby likes to play with her new F.P. store.

Ready for church

All ready for her first time in church.

We Made it Home

We did finally arrive home on Friday, March 16 after too many hours of travel. We were supposed to fly into Pittsburgh Thursday night but as we were going through the customs line at Newark International Airport we found out that our flight had been canceled due to the weather. What weather? As we had flown in there was no mention of bad weather and it was 50 degrees. All the chatter in the lines suggested that a winter storm was headed for New Jersey and no one would be getting out on their flights until Friday afternoon at the earliest. One of the airport employees at the counter suggested to us that we rent a car and drive home ahead of the storm, since we may not be able to get out until Saturday, possibly Sunday. So thats what we did. Of course, no one was up to driving 8 hours home after all the flying we had been through, but we took turns and arrived home around 3:30 in the morning. We had beat the storm. And it was great to be home and even better to see Amy and Bailey who had come home earlier in the evening. I sure did miss them. No more time away for me for awhile.

Wednesday

Here is one more really nice picture from yesterday:


She's such a pretty little girl:


But she doesn't like mornings too much:


Today they took pictures on the famous red couch at the White Swan Hotel. Mom said Abby wouldn't cooperate at all, but Olivia was just fine. They are so cute in their little dresses.

Tuesday

These gardens they went to see at White Cloud Park in Guangzhou today are just incredible looking.










Abby with Ketchup for the first time. She used enough to make Aaron say "That's my little sister." Meaning, each fry must have had more Ketchup than French fry.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday

I did not get any new pictures for a few days now, but here they are, starting with Saturday. They went to a martial arts show, but it was so crowded they could only stand in an entrance way. They went back to the first city, Zhengzhou City.



Sunday they flew to Guangzhou, where they are staying at the White Swan Hotel. They say it's the fanciest place they've been ever, and it has quite a view out over the water. There are lots of light shows and such at night.




They had to go to a hospital for a required medical exam. There was also a picture of someone getting a look inside of Abby's mouth. She sure did not appear to like that too much.

They are glad to be able to get some American food, like cheeseburgers and Starbucks. The other family working with LaVida is there also, you can see them in the picture. Mom and Dad had already met up with them once on the flight over, before they went to their different provinces.


Dad says they've already had Starbucks twice. They have been doing some shopping, getting silk and such to bring gifts back for people. They only have a couple more days now. Their consulate appointment is tomorrow, so they will begin whatever still needs to be done with the U.S. consulate there in Guangzhou. They'll begin their journey home on Wednesday, night our time, and get home about 24 hours later.

Friday's pictures

They went to see a peony garden, but it wasn't in bloom quite yet. They also went to some place called White Horse temple. It doesn't sound like either was too interesting, so there are not too many pictures today. This one is from the peony gardens:


She got another pair of shoes. Abby loves her shoes. I love them too. I wish they were big enough for me, but then I guess they just wouldn't be cute any longer if they were:


Here's a video on YouTube of Abby playing with her shoes: Abby loves her shoes

Thursday and Smiling some

They gave Abby this stuffed pig at the orphanage when they went to visit there:


Soooooooo cute:



At the Longmen Grottoes:




It is nice to see her smiling, as cute as she is when she's all sad and scared looking, it is even better to see her smiling:

Wednesday

In my e-mail that these pictures came with, Mom said,

The one pic is hillside life. All along our way from Zhengzhou to Luoyang, in the hillsides, people live in caves. We stay in Luoyang 3 nights. We did all the provincial paperwork today and got to go to the orphanage... Tomorrow we get to go to the Longmen Grottoes... I've definitely have had enough Chinese food and can't wait to get home for good old American food. Both hotels we've been at have been pretty nice. Abby has done much better with us today and smiled a little and even giggled a couple of times.

New Shoes and Tuesday's pictures

Mom sent me a picture from when they went to get Abby new shoes. All the little shoes look so cute. No wonder Abby had fun.


Abby likes Aaron. How could she not? He will be such a great big brother. She has her cell phone in her hands here. Mom says she likes playing with it, as well as her ball.


She is going to steal my daddy. I don't like sharing my daddy. I'm supposed to be Daddy's girl.


She is just so cute! I can't wait until they bring her home.

Gotcha Day Pictures

Abby has not been too happy at all yet, but boy is she cute.


Mom says Abby likes clothes and shoes. They went out and bought her some new shoes. She also like her toy cell phone and ball, as well as her big brother.

Made it to China

Mom called at 9:00 our time and said that they had made it to China. Everyone was very tired, so they were going to find their luggage and their guide and get to their hotel to sleep. They will be meeting Abby in the morning (8:00 pm tonight for us). I will put up pictures once they send some.

On their way to China now

Mom, Dad, Aaron, and Uncle Howard should all be on their way to China now. I saw them off at the airport at 7:00, and their flight was at 8:40. They stop first in New Jersey, and then they should be in Beijing by 2:00 am Sunday (my time, 3:00 pm their time). They have a five hour layover in Beijing, before their flight to Ghaungzhou. They should have Abby by Sunday evening!

I can't believe their actually gone. We have been waiting for so long it seemed like it would never actually happen.