In the USA

Photos of LiLi!

Click on the "China Photos" link on the right side of the page to see China pictures of LiLi.

Home...Sweet...Home

Yesterday we finished up a few last minute shopping items...mostly small gifts for the girls to give them as they grow up....then we had our consulate appointment in the afternoon ( a 20 minute bus ride across Guangzhou)...then back to the hotel to pick up luggage and off to the airport. We had no time in between for dinner...so when we arrived at our airline gate we stopped at a small shop and ordered some sandwiches, fruit, rice, etc... THEN we found out they didn't take credit cards ( a lot of places in the airport do) and we had spent all of our Chinese Yuan....we only had large U.S. bills and travelers checks which they either couldn't or wouldn't take...so we told them we were sorry and walked on down to some chairs that were close by. In a few minutes one of the girls from the shop came to us with a bag with some of the things we had ordered...we explained again that we didn't have any Chinese money to pay for the food....finally Wanda told her the only small U.S. bill that we had was a $5 she had found in her coat pocket...she asked the girl how much she could get for the $5... the girl replied only the rice and took it out of the bag and handed it to us... she apoloqized profusely for having to keep the other food. So Lauren and Lili enjoyed their last China rice (at least for a while) and the rest of us snacked on beef jerky and crackers. Between the two of us Wanda and I later counted over $2000 in U.S. funds that didn't do us any good at the time.

Lauren and Lili were both great on the flight from China...we left there at 9pm...flew for 12 1/2 hours and landed in Los Angeles on the same day at 6:30pm ( go figure on that one for a while). Lili never cried or got upset at all...she slept part of the flight and played and giggled the rest of the time. We spent the night in Los Angeles and flew from LA to Houston this morning...arriving there around 1pm. We then had a 4 1/2 hour drive home. Lili never cried on this plane ride either...or on the drive home... She sat in the car seat behind Lori and watched everything that was happening. After we got home tonight, she sat in the floor in the girls room and played with
Lauren and Lori. Lori put her down to sleep in her new room around 8:30 and she did great.

Thanks to all of you again for your thoughts, concerns, and prayers. Our trip was as good as it gets...and much better than we had expected. We know that Lili will still have times that she has some grief over her foster parents....but I really feel that it will be minimal. She has such a happy disposition and has already shown a real comfort level with all of us. She is a real blessing to our family. Hopefully in the next few days we will get some additional pictures on the blogsite...maybe early next week.

P.S. We wiill probably keep a low profile the next 2 or 3 days to recover from the jet lag and to let Lili get comfortable with her new surroundings...but I'm sure Lori will have her out soon to see everyone. Rick

Tuesday in Guangzhou

We've had a 'free" day today to relax, shop, etc. I went with Wanda and Megan shopping while Lori stayed in the hotel with her "girls". The high temperature today was in the 50's again and Lori didn't want to get them outside. We did venture up to Lucy's for lunch....it's much cheaper and more American style food than the hotel. Lili is now mimicking a lot of our words....she is great with the vowel sounds but doesn't get many of the consonants. We're not sure how much of this is her age, the language being so new...or if it is complicated by her cleft palate. But her smiles are wonderful and non-stop. I've never heard a 2 yr. old that giggles any more than she does. Last night she didn't cry at all....Lori is reading books to her at bedtime and tonight when she told Lili it was time to go night-night Lili climbed up in the bed and sat down in front of the pillow...ready for her bedtime story. We are amazed at how much she already understands. Wanda was saying today that she didn't think our trip could have gone any better....We agree.

Thank all of you again for your prayers and kind thoughts....We are certainly blessed. Lauren is pretty much on her best behaviour...as you might expect she feels a little left out of the spotlight occasionally and hasn't shared everything perfectly...but all in all she has been very good about Lili. And it is very apparent that she already loves her a lot....Lauren gets a little upset when we have to correct Lili on anything. Megan and Wanda have had a blast shopping...and so far we've only had to buy one extra suitcase...not two like our last trip.

Tomorrow will be a busy day...we pack in the morning and then go to the consulate in the afternoon for Lili's visa...then we leave the hotel for the airport and start our long trip home. Please continue to keep us on your prayer list...that the flight will go well... we can't wait to get home to see all of you. I'm not sure if I'll have time to post tomorrow or not....but I'll try. Rick.

Monday in Guangzhou

Follow up from yesterday... Lauren and I were on our way back to the hotel in a taxi. The taxi driver was reading his newspaper and driving too fast at the same time... it made me a little apprehensive. All of a sudden he started speaking very rapidly and looking in the mirror at me...I knew instantly that something was wrong, but I had no idea what. He pulled over to the curb and started motioning for us to get out. I didn't know where we were but i knew it was still a long way from the Hotel because we hadn't crossed under the freeway yet. He finally convinced me to get out of the cab and he went up front and raised the hood to show me that he had a busted water hose and the engine was overheating. He motioned for us to walk from there... when I asked about another taxi he made all kind of motions and talked for a full minute but I understood that in this spot our chance of catching a taxi was very very low.

Lauren and I walked a few blocks, found the freeway, crossed under it and my good sense of direction (or more likely an angel) told me to turn right...after we walked a few blocks I saw the small medical clinic where Lauren got her very quick exam 4 years ago. I knew we were on the right track...a few more blocks and I could see a tall building that had letters on top that I had seen the night before from our hotel window...we turned and walked a few more blocks to Shamian Steet and found our way down to Lucy's. Lucy's is a very familiar American adoption family hangout in Guangzhou near our hotel. Lauren and I stopped there for lunch...A PBJ sandwich and cheeseburger! A nice way to top off our adventure. Lauren thought the whole thing was great fun. I had enough exercise to do me for a couple of days.

Today, we took Lili to the same medical clinic for her examination. All went well and this time the young doctor could speak some english. He said Lili was a very pretty girl. We have had a lot of the Chinese people stop and tell us how beautiful she is. This afternoon we went shopping near the hotel. The weather has turned cold... the high today was 53 with wind and some light rain....now the sweatshirts feel pretty good.

Tonight we went over to Pat Dexter's home and had dinner with Pat and family. They are missionaries that have lived here for 3 1/2 years. Pat was in Lori's original Novy group when we were adopting Lauren...and they have been communicating via email ever since. Pat and her husband and children are really wonderful people... It was nice to finally get to meet them. She had a great meal prepared and we had a very nice visit.

Tonight when I left the room to come down to the business center, Lori and Lili were laying in bed singing. Lori has a Chinese lullaby song that she has been singing to Lili every night and tonight Lili decided to sing with her....it was so sweet... I will never forget their two voices together and the big smile on Lori's face. There are so many concerns and so many precious moments on this journey that your emotions are on somewhat of a roller coaster... but then you know....I've ALWAYS loved roller coasters! Tomorrow we have a day to rest, relax, shop, and then on Wednesday we get the travel visa and start our long trip home on Wednesday night. I'll try to get Lori to come down tomorrow morning and post some more pictures. Please keep us in your prayers for the flight home...I expect it will be trying for us all...especially Lili and Lauren. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support. We are truly blessed. Rick.

From Rick

Just a quick post...we have to pay for computer time here in 15 minute blocks and I've already been on a few minutes checking email for both of us.

Everyone in our party is doing fine. Wanda and Megan are shopping regularly, our two tigers...Lauren and Lili and getting along better than sisters should... and Lori and I are on cloud 9. Lili is still crying at night... but less each night and not as hard as the first few nights. She already loves Lori and clings to her...and this morning she gave me a big hug several different times. We went to visit a Buddhist Temple this morning...built about 600 years ago. Then we went to an art museum and saw some very pretty embroidered paintings, fine carvings, statues, etc. Afterwards, Lauren and I took a wild cab ride while the others went shopping. I'll fill in the details of the cab ride later...I'm out of time for now. Rick.

From Guangzhou

Well we made it to Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel...and they have great air conditioning. Last night at Nanning we had to leave the windows open because the a/c just didn't produce enough cool ( and the outside temp was only in the upper 70's.). The city traffic noise with honking horns, sirens, etc. was difficult to sleep by...sometime after midnight, the room was cool enough that I could close the windows. Lili has already learned "No" in English and shares it with us when we do things she doesn't like. Today on the bus, we had been telling her she had to sit down.... then she told on Lauren when Lauren was getting out of her seat (quick learner). She has come up to me a couple of times today and given me big hugs... makes my heart skip a beat... we have been very concerned about how long it would take her to warm up to us. Megan and I took Lili and Lauren to dinner last night... and Lili wouldn't eat a thing...not one bite...she just sat there and looked at me with those big brown eyes. Then I remembered that Lori had started feeding her rather than letting Lili do it herself. I asked her if she wanted Mama...and she smiled. I went to the room and brought Lori downstairs and Lili ate everything Lori would offer her. Ahhh, a Momma's touch. We don't have internet in the room here so I'm having to send this from their business center. Lori will try to send some pictures tomorrow. We feel like we're in the home stretch now. Keep the prayers coming. We appreciate all of you. Rick.

More Photos!

Friday Update

I guess I got too busy yesterday or too lazy and didn't post anything...but I think Lori gave you a little update on the orphanage trip. The orphanage was a large two-story rectangular building with a courtyard in the center. We saw a small group of the children with a teacher working with them. A few of them looked out the window at us and smiled. They seemed well taken care of...and were very interactive with the teacher. We also saw some of the real serious special needs children and they make your heart ache... but the orphanage workers were very attentive to them and their needs.

Wanda, Hannah, Lauren and myself went to a Pagoda in the afternoon. Hannah and Lauren went all the way to the top...9 levels up. Four levels was enough for me and I got some great video from there. After we came down, Lauren and Hannah fed goldfish in the lake nearby. The water was churning with hundreds of very large gold fish and Lauren was thrilled ( I'm sure she was secretly wishing for her rod and reel). Lori and the other girls stayed in the room to nap. We have eaten most of our meals in a nice restaurant in the hotel that serves "western" food. (They also play John Denver instrumental music a lot...kind of a hoot when you think about it). Keeping LiLi in the same environment (the hotel) is supposed to be a good thing for her (less stimulus) because as you know toddlers take in everything around them.

LiLi is a very quick learner... she dresses herself...including socks and shoes... and even puts on her own coat AND zips it! One of the times we left her in the bathtub with no toys, she pulled her pants into the tub and washed them by hand very meticulously...wringing and all. (Wow...and in the U.S. we can't even get teenagers to drop them in the washing machine). I think she is bonding very well with both of us... I know we are both completely in love with her. When she has been crying at night, we have often pulled out the stacking cups to cheer her up. Last night at one point Lauren was upset about something and fell down on her bed pouting...LiLi immediately ran and picked up the stacking cups and held them out to Lauren. She also follows Lauren around quite a bit so I guess the sister bonding is working too.

Today we went to an open market that sold everything...plants, flowers, fish, carvings, jade, etc... At one point Wanda was bargaining with a man for jewelry and Hannah jumped in the middle of it ( she thought he was overcharging) she told Wanda not to make any offers without asking her first. To us, everything seems very inexpensive...but nothing is price marked and often the street vendor ups the price considerably for the "rich American". Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel... we can't wait to get there... our rooms here have been hot the whole time...not enough air conditioning. Hopefully, we will have a computer in the room there too...if not, we will try to do updates from their business center. Most of the paperwork is done now...we just need travel visas. Rick

From Wanda

We started our shopping today. It will surprise you to know I only spent $2 for myself and bought Megan a small gift. I hate to say this but I don't enjoy shopping as much as I use to. We fly to Guangzhou tomorrow and we plan to do more shopping. LiLi slept most of the shopping time and of course that was tiring on Lori but it was nice that she got her nap out. And Lauren loves looking at everything as she takes such an interest in things. So many people pay attention to the two small girls and let me tell you, it is fun walking behind Megan and watching all the looks she gets. When we went to a department store for her to try on pants, the sales clerks would walk around her and check her backside to tell what size pants she should try on. She decided she was too large for any pants she could find. And of course, all of you knows she is not a large girl.

Short Update

We visited the orphanage and visited with the foster Mom, Dad and Brother. Things went pretty good. LiLi did well with the meeting and did pretty good with the separation from the Foster family; however, instead of the family really leaving they drove a little way and waited for us to leave and then flagged us down to tell LiLi bye one more time. (this behavior is against the rules) This was hard on LiLi and hard on them too. It would have been better if they had not done this, but I think it is just one more sign of how attached they are to LiLi. She is napping now and seems to have recovered so far. I know even though this was hard on her, she will get through her grief in time. She seems to only show hard grief at bed time. Last night was the easiest so far and we are crossing our fingers for tonight....Hugs to all, Lori

Wednesday in Nanning

It is 3:46 in the afternoon... Lili and Lori are napping, Lauren is watching cartoons (thanks to portable DVD players), and Wanda and Megan are shopping in the mall near Walmart. Lili did very well thru the rest of the night last night and got up smiling this morning. After an early breakfast, we went to the country outside of Nanning about 20 miles. We saw some very pretty mountains and stopped in a little village and walked thru it (mud and all) to see some of the people who live there. In China it seems that everyone that lives in the country is called a "farmer". The average person in the rural area earns about $400 per year... in the cities that jumps to over $1200 per year. We saw cows pulling wooden carts, a lot of very old trucks, and many bicycles and 3 wheeled motorcycle vans... no tractors. These little vans have a driver up front on a motorcycle seat and then a box built on the back that can hold 6 people uncomfortably... but there were often many more riding in them. The country roads thru the village were all mud (March is the start of their rainy season here). All through the village you could see stacks and stacks of small tree limbs and roots that had been gathered for fuel. These are used for cooking and warmth. The village had electricity for lighting but I didn't see any other modern conveniences. We saw several women carrying corn and vegetables in large buckets... one on each end of a long stick that they rested across their shoulders. Cows and calves were tied here and there...no fences. Chickens walked around freely, but the pigs were held in very small smelly pens. We saw a lot of the women at a pond washing clothes by hand...after they washed them they would rinse them under running water from a mountain spring. We also found a group of about 12 to 14 men visiting under a large tree... they spoke to Hannah and all of them laughed...I don't think we want to know what they said. Surrounding the village were several acres of lettuce and other vegetables. We also walked by an elementary school and the kids were outside (their lunch break). They came over to the fence and yelled hello to us and waved so we walked up close to them. They were smiling and really enjoying getting to see something a little different from the ordinary. Lauren had her picture taken standing by a few of them. We had lunch at McDonalds... wow the Golden Arches looked pretty good... a much better experience than KFC last night. Lori and I are both so pleased, impressed, and love-stricken with little Lili... she is wonderful. Lauren has been the perfect big sister. Megan and Wanda have been an incredible amount of help... they have both taken turns with Lauren and made her trip so much better. Lili really enjoys them too and I'm pretty sure that Grandma Wanda is crazy about grandchild #10. Keep the prayers going. All is well in Nanning. Rick.

From Wanda

First night here I woke at 12 midnight, next night 2AM and this morning I made it to 3:00AM. But with all that I am making it better than I expected. Lauren came to mine and Megan's room about 4 this morning asking for some beef jerky--I brought 10 bags with me. We use this for in between times and it really helps. I am sitting with LiLi right now and the rest of the family are down having breakfast. She had a rough night last night so we are letting her sleep as late as possible. She is such a happy, active little girl in the day time but at night she wants her foster mom. Yesterday we went to a park not far from our hotel and our guide went with us. When we got inside, LiLi start talking excitedly and our guide told us she was saying that she had been here before. Also, yesterday LiLi wanted some more Cheerios and when Lori told her no she ran to me and even though we could not understand what she was saying the meaning was VERY clear. She was mad at Lori and telling on her. I don't know how Lori and Rick could get both Lauren and LiLi. And no one could have asked for Lauren to be any better than she has been....Wanda

Tuesday

Today we went to the Notary office and finished our paperwork for Nanning. At lunch Lori ordered chinese noodles for Lili. When the food came, Lili picked up a pair of chopsticks and really went after the noodles... we were amazed at how much she ate and how great she could handle the long chopsticks with her tiny hands. Afterwards, we went to a city park near our hotel. The park had a large lake with paddle boats and an arched bridge. It also had carnival type rides. Lauren rode the carousel and then Lori and Megan rode the bumper cars with her. Lili went to sleep in my arms and we sat on a park bench for her afternoon nap. Later, Megan and I went to the Walmart Supercenter and bought some pants and pajamas for Lili. Most of the ones Lori brought are too big. We searched all over the store looking for a curling iron for Wanda before realizing that we are in a land of straight haired people. We also got Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast in Chinese for Lili. Megan did a little shopping downstairs where there are probably 100 different little stores below the Walmart.

Tonight for dinner, we went across town by taxi to KFC. Most of the taxi rides have cost us the minimum fare, 7 Yuans (about 88 cents). The KFC was a surprise... the menu was all Chinese of course, but the food was also different in the pictures and served with rice and instead of french fries. We opted for the "bucket" of chicken family pack because I could point to the picture to order. It contained several pieces of chicken that barely fed Megan, Lori, Lili and myself... We had to have an ice cream cone to top off the meal. Wanda and Lauren stayed in the hotel and ordered room service.

I'm writing this at almost 1am in the morning...Lili woke us up and hasn't gone back to sleep yet. She is doing absolutely perfect in the daytime...but really wants her foster mom at bedtime. I'm glad Lori read all the info on toddler adoption (and made me read it)... we have a better understanding of what Lili is thinking about all this. This evening while Lili was playing... she ran across the room at one point and kissed Wanda on the arm...needless to say, Grandma was very pleased. We will be in Nanning until Saturday waiting on the paperwork to be finished here. Tomorrow we will take a drive out into the countryside with Hannah just for a little siight seeing. I'm going to see if I can get the little one back in bed... right now she is sitting in a chair behind me...quietly talking in Chinese...wish I knew what she was saying.... Rick.

First Photos!!

More Photos!

More Photos!

Our first night

We made it through our first night very good. LiLi is so brave and such a trooper. It was heartbreaking to hear her and to watch her right at bedtime, and then for a while during the night. She was really grieving for her foster family. She woke up crying this morning, but within 1 1/2 minutes, she was laughing. We had more paperwork to do today and she did great. I have not yet figured out how to upload pictures, so it appears everyone will have to wait to see her beautiful face. I am absolutely astonished by her personality and beauty. Lauren is being such a great big sister. Many of you knew that I was a little concerned of jealousy, and I know it will happen at times, but I am so thankful that she has taken to little sister so well. She loves it when I give her a job in helping to take care of LiLi. Much Love,Lori

From Wanda

You would not beleive the way LiLi has taken to everyone. She looks at me and says "pow pow" the Chinese word for grandma. She plays with everyone and laughs out loud at most things. I still cannot beleive that she did not even cry when we got her. We were all expecting her to really have a fit. She did cry during the night but Lori could tell she was calling for her foster mom and that was hard because Lori felt so sorry for LiLi. We are going to visit the foster parents Thursday and I am really looking forward to that.

From Megan

Monday March 6
we are here!!!!!! it is absolutly crazy over here and grandma says i havent really experienced china yet, im a little worried. lol there are people everywhere! and the smell is terrible, i thought america was bad about pollution......i was wrong. the first plane ride was bad, i felt like i had 2 tons of bricks sitting on my head, but the 2nd and 3rd were good. when we flew to LA i was soooooo tired. lauren and lori had gone over into the corner of the airport and plugged in the DVD player to watch a movie. i walk over there with my little pillow and lay down. and as i fell asleep i thought, i feel like those Hobos you see in the movies who sleep in the airport!!!!!!

Tuesday March 7
from Lili:
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she was sitting in my lap as i was writing. she has been so good! and she laughs at everything! we had to go to walmart yesterday. but we didnt find what we needed so we went to a pawn shop like place. we had to go past "the bad part" of town and it was actually a little scary. ther were people everywhere and they were all staring at us. we walked over this pass thingy and there was an old man sitting on the stairs holding a bowl. he looked so bad. he had like stubs for fingers and his clothes were all ratty and i dont think he had very many teeth. it was so sad to see him there. and when we got to the other side there was another old man standing by a trash can stuffing powdered donuts into his mouth. yesterday when we were playing with lauren and lili, lauren said "sisters are starting to be sisters" and a while later she said "i think she is starting to like us" it was so sweet. The other day when we had gone shopping there was this woman in a shop who keep trying to put this jacket on lauren and when we said no because it was too big she kept motioning that she could cut off the sleeves and sow it back together with the sowing machine they had in their shop. Lauren has been so good and is really acting like a big sister! this morning at breakfast she says- Megan will you save some of your eggs for lili i think she will like them- and she was checking on her this morning when she started to cry. She is taking really good care of her. Lori Rick and LiLi went out go sign more papers and should be back soon
Megan

We Have Her!

We were able to get Lili this afternoon just after 4pm. She is wonderful! So far, she has not cried at all... When the ladies brought her to us she sat in Lori's lap a few minutes and then smiled at something Hannah said. She is very attentive... beautiful... and smart! (Oops, I already sound like a doting father...). We brought her back to the hotel and she wanted to stop and play in the water at the fountain in the lobby. She got her hands wet then looked up at us and smiled... When we got to our room she immediately went for all the electronics in the room. She wanted the computer, the TV remote, etc. She has played and laughed for the last 4 hours. She loves bubbles and flashlights. Her demeanor is certainly the answer to many prayers. We don't expect the whole night to go this well...especially at bedtime... but so far it's been picture perfect. Please keep us in your prayers that she will continue to be calm and accepting of the people around her. We had dinner a little while ago and she sat in her highchair and played with crayons until her food came... she ate a good dinner and even told Lori when she needed to go to the bathroom. Lauren is doing great with her....they are both in the bathtub right now playing like sisters! We have taken quite a bit of video of her today and some still photos but will probably not try to send any photos until tomorrow (we've had more important things to focus on today). She is talking up a storm and doesn't seem to mind that we don't understand. We learned a few important Chinese phrases that we think she understands (but she probably thinks we sound funny..Chinese with a Texas twang). We did get to meet her foster parents...really nice people...they both cried when they met us... they have certainly loved Lili...you can tell. We will get to go back Thursday and visit with them more. Thanks to all of you for your interest, support, and prayers. Rick.

Paperwork, paperwork

It's now 10:15am in Nanning. Lori and I will meet with our local guide, Hannah at 10:30 to do more paperwork. It really seems like the paperwork is endless. Lori is so good with all of this and has done an incredible job with all the paperwork. We will also go over Mandarin Chinese phrases we can use with Lili. We have to wait until 4pm to meet Lili and Lori is very anxious but still hanging in there (as she always does). Megan is emailing some of her friends and family with her insights into China. I think she is finding the trip interesting and a real learning experience. Wanda is fine this morning...we were concerned that our 1/2 mile jog thru the airport at Guangzhou yesterday might have given here some problems with her knees...but she says she hasn't had any problems from it. I guess adrenalin and prayers solve a lot of things. It's not really raining outside now...but looks more like a cloud sitting on the ground. We are up on the 9th floor of our hotel and can only see a couple of blocks in each direction. Have to run for now... more later. Rick.

Good Morning

We just woke up this morning with Wanda knocking on our door at 8am... She and Megan were going down to breakfast. Wanda had been awake since 12am...I'm sure she had to get Megan out of bed. Lori and I slept about 11 hours or so. We're running downstairs for breakfast. It's still raining today... same drizzle as yesterday. More later. Rick


From Wanda: It will take me about two days to get use to this time and tonight I will pay for getting up so early but I came wide awake and nothing can change that. Lauren asked me, "Is this really China?" When I told her yes she said, "It is not like I thought it would be." She has watched movies that deal with China a long time ago and wishes it was still the same today. Megan has not gotten a real sense of China as we have mainly been in airports and our hotel. Either today or tomorrow that will probably change. We have tried to perpare her for the local bathrooms but you really just have to see for yourself. Megan has been a great traveler and never complains about anything.

Exploring Nanning

We took some time this afternoon and walked a few blocks from the hotel. We took Lauren in several of the little shops lining the streets. These shops are pretty much the same all over China... very small spaces (maybe only 8' by 12') that sell a particular kind of merchandise... some sell clothing, some sell cigarettes, others are tiny grocery stores with most of the essentials you need. We got Sprite for Lauren, some Chinese version of Oreos, chips, etc.... snacks to keep in the hotel room. These shops are open all across the front and close by pulling down a door similar to a garage door. Nanning has quite a bit of traffic...bicycles, bicycle carts, motorcycles, cars and trucks all mixed in together. Some of the bicycles are so old they look like antiques. It has been overcast here with drizzle and rain for several days. We're hoping for sunshine in the next day or two. Hannah told us today that Lili will be having part of her medical exam tomorrow morning and we may not get to see her until late in the day...maybe 4 or 5pm. Lori had been expecting to get to see her at 9am tomorrow and although she is dissapointed in the delay, we know that getting the medical exam out of the way is a plus for us. It's now 7:30 here and I'm the only one awake... the rest of the crew are all sleeping soundly...(still trying to recover from the BIG travel day). Things are going great so far. Our guide seems to be nice and very capable. We can't wait to get our arms around Lili... please keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly tomorrow.....Rick.

Arrival in Nanning

Just wanted to let you know that we made the 36 hours of travel fine and arrived at Nanning on time. It is now Sunday afternoon at almost 3pm as I write this. Our flight to Los Angeles went great... we had a difficult transfer with luggage to get to the China Southern Terminal at LAX, but managed to pull it off. The flight to China was 15 hours and everyone did fine. Lauren was really good the whole way. We did a mad dash through the airport at Guangzhou to get our checked luggage, go through customs, and then literally run a 1/2 mile or so thru the terminal to make our flight to Nanning just minutes before departure. Our guide met us in Nanning at the airport. Her name is Hannah and she speaks very good English. Our hotel in Nanning is called the Majestic and is pretty nice (at least compared to where we stayed in Hufei last time). We are about to go out to check out the city and take a few pictures. We get to meet Lili tomorrow afternoon. One of us will write more later.... just wanted everyone to know we are here and safe. Rick.