Proud Daddy shows his daughter at Work

Off to ValueOptions where Cynthia Henry through an Ice Cream Social party to welcome Madison. She ate her fill, flirted with all after her typical 15-20 checking out period and is really starting to get her balance with walking! She was given a squishy ball, a teddy bear, books, and more! George's team decorated his office in pastels (so him!) as part of the celebration. There are 2 pictures of her lunch just prior to ValueOptions. We're still a bit off on our schedule and some days she just starts napping right then and there in the middle of lunch.

Glorious Guangzhou

Our buddies Denise & Joe Byers with their beautiful daughter Ava Rose.


Red Couch Pictures - an event all Chinese adoptive parents know about.

How many have sat here about to depart to their new lives?

Kelley & Stacie Hrabe with their adorable Zoey (Jin Chun Hua)
The White Swan has a beautiful water fall inside plummeting into a pond with huge coy.

All of this is surrounded by lush greenery.

Red Couch Day with Veronica - our Amazing Guide
Maddie in her little Chinese outfit -

such a pretty little thing.
Hamming it up in the hotel.

So nice - all stores offered to laundry and had

stroller rentals. I wish it was that way here!

So family friendly.

Jade boat all of my family has seen on their trips to China -

from my parents 25 years ago who also stayed at the White Swan.
Spitting with older women was actually a pretty common site.

I think it may be a new sport in the '08 Olympics.

Down the road from The White Swan - a beautiful park.

Again...more I'd love in my garden.

A common site in all provinces we were in with

hacky-sack, dancing, tai chi being practiced.

The Pearl River..at night the buildings glowed with multi-colored lights during a light show
Dinner?

This is adoptive parents paradise. We flew for a bit over an hour from Nanchang to our final desitnation of Guangzhou. Easy flight and Maddie was terrific. We arrived in the evening at our hotel - The White Swan (aka Adoption Central) http://www.lhw.com/property.aspx?&propertyid=257&ext=Gwhtswn&gclid=CNymhLKHopYCFQObFQodnTE35g or http://www.whiteswanhotel.com/...and immiately ordered a hamburger. Here's where our final paperwork would be done, the infamous picture on The Red Couch, etc. We saw the Guangdong Family Musuem and Maddie was blessed at Buddhist Monastary. What a beautiful hotel, gracious staff and pretty surroundings. We found the people to be warm and reasurring. In our hotel room was Adoption Barbie...one of many gifts we have for Maddie as the years go by. We'd go back in a heartbeat. We had a final dinner with our adoption group the night before we left at an Americanized restaurant. Sad to think this part of our journey is done. So reassuring to be surrounded by others...with our days somewhat scheduled and routined. I'm scared to go home and handle all of this...but excited to to introduce Maddie to her family, her home...her new life and ours.