Hmmm...Not here to see the Great Wall, are you?

It's been a crazy couple of days. Sunday we went to an international Christian church service that only foreigners are allowed to attend (although our guide said she attends another Christian service for Chinese). We climbed the Great Wall and I have pictures and sore legs to prove it. And, we say an awesome acrobatic show. Of course I was exhausted and since we flew to Nanning at 5:30am on Monday...I'm just now getting to the good stuff....Go ahead and scroll down now to see THE BABY!!!!

The flight to Nanning was about 3 hours and cramped, but who cares? I was a bundle of nerves Sunday night, so I'm glad we were exhausted. By Monday morning, I felt a sense of calm... I'm sure the prayers of my small group had something to do with that. After the flight, the plan was go to the hotel, do a small amount of paperwork, and GO GET OUR BABY!!! Right before they started calling out babies names I was overwhelmed with emotion. Bobby helped me pull it together so I didn't scare her with a sobbing red face. When they called out Long Mei Qiao, it felt like stepping into a warm bath in slow motion. It was perfect. She did not cry. She just observed everything going on around her. Out of the 13 families only 1 baby had a really rough time from the start. And, they are all so very beautiful. Kayla came to us in a pink sweatsuit with little bunnies on it, white crocheted socks, and new shoes. The SWI workers brought us the cameras we sent in a care package. I hope the pictures turn out.

Today, we finalized our adoption after a night called the Harmonious period. There was a small interview with an official of the Civil Affairs where we promised to take good care of and never abandon our child. Kayla really hammed it up. Most babies are a little withdrawn and grieving for a couple of days. Not her... she giggled for the officials. Whew! One little red foot print on the paperwork and ta-dah...she's our little girl! We'll have her chinese passport on Friday and then it's on to the US Consulate to get her citizenship.

Hope this isn't too incoherent. If the photobucket slideshow isn't working, try double clicking on it. Somebody e-mail me if you still can't see it and I'll try to post it a different way.