Summary Part 4 - Guangzhou & Gotcha

27 August 2007 10:20pm Guangzhou (10:20am EST)

And finally...

Guangzhou:
Okay, we landed at about 11:15pm Sunday and met our local contact (Li Ping) who escorted us to our hotel, the White Swan. They only had us in one room with third bed/cot added and we knew pretty quickly that this was not going to cut it for two weeks. We made due for the night and after all the events finished this afternoon, we got a second room two doors down to help alleviate the congestion. So picture this if you will………you enter a hotel room and as you walk past the bathroom you have the first bed, then in the space between the two beds you have a crib then the second bed, then a third bed/cot next to it, then the wall. Needless to say, navigating around the luggage and beds/crib/cot was not something we wanted to do for two weeks, thus the change.

But all that is useless fodder compared to the real events of the day that occurred around 2pm. At 1:15pm, we met Liping in the lobby and finally met the other families in our travel group. Two are from Oregon, one from Wisconsin, and one from Florida. The couple from Florida (Pale and Kate) are adopting their second daughter so they are the veterans of the group. We piled into a small bus and headed to the CAB (Civil Affairs Bureau) to meet our daughters for the first time. We rode the elevator to the ninth floor and were all led into a small office room about 15’ x 15’. It was not long before they called Paul and Kate to the door and led their daughter in. Seeing that for another family really started to drive it home for us. After all the waiting, after all the frustrations, after all the anticipation, it was finally about to happen. Next were the Wheelers from Oregon and then they called out Yi Qing and we knew it was our turn at the door. As we squatted down to receive her she was led in by one of the ladies at the CAB. She was not walking, but rather was being held up trying to get her to walk in. Elizabeth took her in her arms and we both stood and walked to a corner where we could soak in the moment a bit more. She did not really fuss and although she is a bit tentative, she was not screaming as though she was in hot oil. She likes to be held and has not shown much interest in being put down yet. Thanks to Gram, we have the moment caught on video an also have good pictures of our short time at the CAB. I say short because we had to get out of the office by 2:30pm so that another group could come in to received their children. Peter (our leader for this expedition) said there were over 40 families who were supposed to be receiving children today at the CAB. I believed him because when we stepped out of the office, the reception area was packed (40+ people) with other couples waiting their turn.

The families all went back to the White Swan where the dads met in Liping’s room to fill out paperwork that would be need for the appointments on Tuesday. Once that was completed, a few of us had to run the local supermarket and pick up some formula and cereal so that we would have something to feed our beautiful new daughters. I was also able to pick up some coke and a few celebratory beers to enjoy with our Papa John’s pizza we had later that night (after not having a real meal for over 24 hours). Little Kate has been mostly quiet so far. She had a brief time where she was fussy and cried a little but eventually she settled down and fell asleep around 7:30pm. We could tell when we received her that she was one tired little princess. As I write this she is asleep behind me and I can hear her as she inhales and exhales.

We got to talk to Zach and the gang back home to share the wonderful news that we have a new addition. Although it is not official until about 2:00pm tomorrow, it is a done deal in our hearts.

Tomorrow we will be free in the morning and have another appointment at the CAB to submit our Adoption Application and Notarization of Adoption Application.

Say a prayer for us. The most important thing we have to do is learn more about Kate and give her as much love and attention that we can Again, we also want to thank our family and friend back home for the support we have received and are still receiving as we work to bring Kate back home.

God Bless,
Kyle.