Day 1 - Guangzhou

Today was big day as went for our physical check-up here in Guangzhou. She passed with flying colors to no ones surprise as she is a beautiful and healthy baby girl. This is the final health document that will be submitted to the US Consulate on Monday. Due to travel we were unable to update the blog last night. We arrived about 1 1/2 hours late due to weather. All the babies were pretty great even with the late hour and all. Our three families travelled as did 11 other families from Changsha to Guangzhou. It was pretty much a baby flight. We flew on China Southern and it was a very roomy and comfortable hour in the air. We can hardly believe that we are down to the last three full days here in China with us flying out on Wednesday. As has been the case with all of our Hotels this is super. In fact, this is the finest hotel that we have ever been in. It is much busier here however as this is the final stage for all the adoptive parents in China. Needless to say the Hotel is full of Gringo's from all nationalities with adoptive children of all ages. Interestingly, we sat next to a business man from here in Guangzhou and I made the comment to him how blessed we were to have this little person and he looked me in the eyes and said "No, she is the one who is blessed". The Hotel sits on the Pearl River and we can look out our window and see the boats moving up and down the river all day. The White Swan is quite a famous hotel and many celebrities have stayed here. Those include two US President's, Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. Queen Elizabeth has also been a guest. Right now the hotel is quite full of local royalty, our "Asian Princesses". Now to the photos. The top two on the left are from Changsha and are of the Ancient Academy. One was an entrance and the other was the "rock" concert we enjoyed. Picture 3 is Deena and Barbara Elkins of Alexandria, La. She and her husband Brian have adopted a special needs daughter who is absolutely beautiful. This is walking the streets of Guangzhou. Pictures 4 & 5 are of you know who. Believe it or not she is like this about 85% of the time. She is the happiest baby! Tonight we ate American Food at a place called Lucy's Bar & Cafe. A pretty varied menu that served burgers, fries, chicken fingers, enchalades and chips and hot sauce. Tomorrow we venture to another International Church service and I believe we are going for Thai Food. Other than that we have no scheduled activity for the day. I think that Honey has shopping on her mind. Outside our bedroom window on the river tonight there is a Lazer Light Show to Chinese Music. It is a spectacular sight of lights over the water. Well that is enough catching up for now. The local timeis about 9:15 p.m. and when "The Princess" sleeps it's a good idea for everyone to try and rest.

Rick & Deena