Abby

Abby was brought to our hotel room by a SWI nanny, the SWI director, a driver and the driver's mother in addition to the four of us. Our room was full!

Abby had been car sick on the trip, which was 5+ hours long. So, not only was she upset about being given to complete strangers, she was dehydrated, hungry and exhausted.

Lucky for us everyone loves Emma.

Lanzhou

We had the whole afternoon to fill before we met Abby, so we walked around Lanzhou.

took some photos

pig skin rafts

The Yellow River

waterwheel on the Yellow River

It was Mid Autumn Festival, so everyone was at the temple.

incense smoke at the temple

Chinese characters on the sidewalk

Datong

We took the bus from Taiyuan to Datong the morning of the 9th.

The Great Wall on the way to Datong.

Our view from the bus.

We checked into our hotel, ate lunch, then went to the Social Welfare Institute.

Emma and her foster mother.

Emma's foster mother was waiting for us when we got to the SWI. We sat and talked for about an hour before she had to get back home. We asked a lot of questions about what Emma was like as a baby and found out she is pretty much the same. Emma was born a singing, dancing, talkative girl who likes to be the center of attention. We also learned that Emma went into foster care when she was about two months old, which was different than we had been told earlier.

Emma's foster mother's main concerns were if Emma was happy and if she was able to walk now. Since both answers were yes, her foster mother seemed happy.

After our meeting with Emma's foster mother we had a quick tour of the SWI. Most of the children and staff were gone for the holiday weekend, so it was pretty empty.

September 7th-8th Travel Days

We left for the airport dark and early on the 7th. From Atlanta we flew to Chicago. We had a two hour lay over in Chicago then flew to Shanghai. We had a three hour lay over in Shanghai, which was good, because we flew into the international airport then we flew out of the domestic airport which are about an hour apart from each other. Then from Shanghai we flew to Taiyuan.

We spent the night in Taiyuan.

Emma did GREAT!

China Itinerary

September 7, 2011

Leave Atlanta at 6:25 am

September 8, 2011

Arrive in Shanghai

Fly from Shanghai to Taiyuan

September 9, 2011

Take the bus from Taiyuan to Datong

Meet Emma's foster mother at the orphanage

September 10, 2011

Tour Datong

September 11, 2011

Take the bus from Datong to Taiyuan

Fly to Lanzhou

September 12, 2011

Get Abby

September 13, 2011

Paperwork

September 14, 2011

Tour Lanzhou

September 15, 2011

Tour Lanzhou

September 16, 2011

Fly to Guangzhou

September 17, 2011

Abby's doctor appointment

September 18, 2011

Tour Guangzhou

September 19, 2011

Consulate appointment

September 20, 2011

Tour Guangzhou

September 21, 2011

Drive to Hong Kong

Fly home

Santa Train

Gingerbread Train

Seattle Children's Museum

The zoo by our home has a holiday light display every year and Emma and I went last week. There were a few stations where children could do activities. One station had a reindeer that you could get your picture with. Emma did not like the reindeer at all. I hope this isn't an indication of how she reacts to Santa.

Fourth of Four Halloweens

No pictures from the third Halloween. It was at her Little Gym and there were a lot of people in a small space, so she was a little overwhelmed. I ended up holding her most of the time.

After swimming today we went out to lunch with Grandpa. All of the waitstaff was dressed up in costumes. Our waitress was a witch with dark make up. Emma first commented on her hat then told her that, "No color on your face, color on paper."

We started our trick or treating by going to downtown Puyallup with two families from Emma's old childcare. Emma quickly caught on to the concept of saying "trick or treat" then receiving candy and was so happy each time she got a candy. Emma loved the bouncy house and band playing at an empty lot. Two things Emma loves, jumping and music. She was rocking out.

After dinner we went around the neighborhood. Again, she got so excited when someone gave her a candy. She was very good about taking only one candy. One man told her to take a handful after she took one, so she took one more. As we were crossing the street his wife came running our of their house with a huge handful of candy and said that she was so cute and that she should have more candy and pretty much filled Emma's bucket up.

Another woman said that she was so cute and took her picture. Luckily Emma doesn't truly understand the power she has over people.