Sorry again for the delay in the post. It is taking me about 2+ hours to get all the pictures downloaded and then put onto the blog. We visited the Chen Clan Temple here in GZ yesterday. It was beautiful and so full of rich history. The colors were amazing and the gardens so peaceful. The local artists display their work here also. We saw embroidary pieces that were incredible. I guess needlepointing a belt is nothing compared to the embroidary they do. It's stunning. The ivory carvings were incridible also. The detail is amazing. I know the pictures don't do justice but these are true artists. We went to the pearl and jade market but it was hard to shop with the little ones. I did buy pearl neclaces to give to each of my girls for their wedding (someday!). Thank goodness we had our guide with us to help navigate. We ended the night with the Pearl River Cruise. Going up and down the river gave a completely different view of the city. All the buildings and bridges are lit up and you see a much different economic situation that what is all around us at the hotel. The view was wonderful and we really enjoyed the cruise.
Anna is really coming into herself now. She is a little stinker to say the least but so full of energy. She has a great smile and infectious laugh. She can easily charm anyone when she wants to. She is also becoming an expert at temper tantrums and can turn tears off and on in an instant. She is 2 1/2 !!! Seems right on track to me! My mom tried to take her to play without me today and she would not go. She calls me mama and recognizes Brian on skype as Baba. Today we are going to take the famous red couch pictureat the White Swan. I should have it in the next section of pictures. We only have one more day with the other families after today as they are leaving on Thursday morning. I can honestly say I will miss them deeply. The one family has a 7 1/2 year old daughter they adopted here 6 years ago and came back for a son, age 5. Their children are awesome and in the pictures above. Anna loves them and Xiara, the 7 1/2 year old is my new BFF. She is funny and such a great kid. She has done such a great job going from only child to all attention surrounding her new brother. Xiara has kept me grounded and light spirited about life here and I love her for that. My heart will always be with our other family too who went through such an incrediable ordeal but in the end got their precious daughter. I'm hoping to stay in touch with both families. A week ago if you would have asked me about going home, I would have cried and asked to get out of here as soon as possible. What a difference time makes as with everything. Now I'm sad to be leaving our new friends and feel comfortable here, not so anxious. I am very looking forward to going home to my family, my babies, but am sad that these are the last couple of days that Anna will have in HER country, with HER language, and what is recognizable and comfortable to HER. She has a rough journey ahead but one that will be filled with so much love and attention. I've said it before but will say it again- WE ARE BLESSED!
Know what you mean about feeling "sad" for our DDs who have left China. When it was our last day in Nanning, Guangxi, the place where we adopted our DD at 21 mos. of age, I felt sad. Bittersweet moment whle standing at the airport looking outside. Knowing it was soon to be her place no longer as it had been for nearly two years. Leaving her country. Fortunately, that day of bittersweetness left quickly when on the plane to Beijing, our DD cried the entire time practically as she was teething, and probably scared of being on a plane!!! I stood for the entire 3 hour flight with her in an Ergo carrier as she would not let me sit down! Zoe, Brian and Alexa
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