Day 8

Wow! There is SO much to blog about I just don't even know where to start and I really need some sleep, so I'll just have to do my best to get you caught up on the day.

First we went back to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize our adoption in the eyes of China...it was a very simple, yet big moment for this little girl.


And an emotional and proud moment for us as her family.


Then we headed over to visit the orphanage she spent her 1st few months and last couple of weeks in. As we pulled up and she saw out the window where we were she melted down instantly, and we weren't sure if we would make it off the bus. Then she settled down and was fine from that point on. She didn't even seem to have any connection to the place.



This building is only about 3 years old and is considered to be one of China's model orphanages...and it really was...for an orphanage. Complete with Mickey Mouse greeting everyone as we drove up.








Then they presented each family with a care package where we got her health records, developed photos from the camera we sent her, CD of other pictures they took, copy of note given from birth parents, and a few other things...SO glad they did this for her!





Then Mark found a picture of Hannah hanging on the wall with pictures of some of the other children who are still there, and it was a happy moment to hold her in my arms knowing she is not an orphan in this place any more.


Then we began our tour...while wearing blue shoe covers (It's a very well kept place).


First stop....a classroom.








Then on to the bedroom where all the children were sleeping. Charlie and I spent most of our time walking around talking to and touching the children. This part was not easy. Charlie had a hard time with this part, but the good news is that most of these kids already have families coming for them. This was Hannah's old bed.


Then on to the playroom that is used when the weather is bad and the children cannot go outside.


Where we met her nanny.


Then is was time to go, and oh how great it felt to walk away from here holding her in my arms listening to her say, "Bye Bye" and wave her hand. This was the only time I started to tear up. I just didn't feel any connection to this place, I guess because of how little time she spent there. Now if this had of been her foster parent's home it would have been a whole other story...they probably would have had to build a dam to hold back the flood.

Next stop of the day was the silk museum here in her province.


We had a little tour of how silk is made, then were taken into a room for a real fashion show...with a real runway and loud music. :)



It was really fun for us girls, and Hannah was mesmerized!


The most beautiful model was this sweet little asian girl dressed in a cute dress...just a real beauty who really knew how to work the crowd, and the crowd loved her!!!


Funny, she looks like someone I know???


Oh wait a minute, that's MY daughter! :)


After lunch we were finally back in our rooms for naps. :) Busy day!!!

Hannah is starting to loosen back up and let the 3 boys in a bit more...baby steps right??? I've been letting the 3 of them be the ones to feed her, and that seems to be helping. Mark was so excited tonight when she let him feed her the whole banana. Y'all, I cannot tell you how much this kid loves his new sister!!!!!! So the banana thing was HUGE to him.


We all really enjoyed our last dinner here at our favorite Pizza Inn.


Then because of the rain we let Kevin hail his 1st taxi (yeah Kevin), and we all piled in like a bunch of clowns at a rodeo to head back to our hotel for more packing. Good times!


I cannot tell you just how happy we are to be leaving Hangzhou... EVERYTHING about this place has been SO HARD (except getting Hannah of course). However, I can't believe we will soon be in the last leg of our trip. Tomorrow we hop on yet another plane to Guangzhou...where every child adopted from China has to go through to finalize the adoption with the US Consulate.

It is a little sad to think that Hannah will be leaving her home here, and all the things that are familiar to her. The next province will be very different from here, and they even speak a different language. Please pray for her as she makes more changes, and flies on her 1st airplane.

We are all just praying she does not have one of her melt downs while on the plane...poor girl still has several uncontrollable crying spells every day (these are so hard on all of us). All I have to say is, "Hannah, lets go bye-bye" and the poor girl instantly starts screaming with a panicking fear...SO SAD!!!! She really has a great fear of being left, and understandably so. :(

P.S. I did not wake up sick today. Just sore throat and heavy chest from all the smog and cigarette smoke here...way worse than in Beijing! So nasty!!!
Everyone else seems to be on the mend. :) Thanks for the prayers.

P.P.S. Our video camera fell out of our bag today and no longer works...this makes me SO SAD!!!! Praying for a miracle on that one too.

Good night!