GOTCHA!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here they are:






We awoke early in Hong Kong and checked out after a wonderful breakfast buffet. Conversation around the breakfast tables tended to center on the fact that no matter how nice the hotel or interesting the tour the day before, they were not sufficient to distract us from the anticipation and uncertainty around today. We left Hong Kong just before noon, and made the short flight (on an airplane intended for short people) to Nanchang. We were met by our agency's representative, James, and drove the 30 minutes or so to our hotel. On the way, James told us about the province, the city of Nanchang, and informed us that our daughters would be brought to our hotel at 5:30pm. In between, we had to sit down for a few hours and discuss the itinerary for our time in Nanchang and the procedures and ceremonies we would be part of. At 5:00, we were allowed to go back to our rooms and prepare for the phone call that would indicate that the orphanage staff had arrived at the hotel.

After unpacking and trying to get our room ready, we sat down to pray, only to have the phone ring within 5 seconds. Down we went to the conference room, and stood around peering through the partially open door wondering when we would get to go in and meet Sydney. They let all the families in, and called us one by one to receive our little girls. While Amy and I were waiting for our names to be called, we both picked out Sydney as the one smiling across the room in our general direction. Our name was called, and they put her into our arms!

The first meeting went very smoothly, with Sydney being perfectly content to sit and stare at us while some of the babies around us cried and wailed. She even graced us with a smile and a laugh before we left the conference room. Despite crying when we tried to lay her down to change her, and generally not liking being set down, she has been very content, and really seemed to enjoy the Snuggli.

They also gave us back a blanket and a stuffed animal we had mailed over after the Referral in January, as well as two disposable cameras and a questionnaire which we will have to have translated but will hopefully tell us a great deal about her daily routine.

We took her down to the Registration Interview and then went to the hotel restaurant to find her some rice and noodles. Now we are back in the room, having just put her down for the night. Overall, things could not have gone more smoothly, given that we are both newbies to this whole parenthood thing. Fortunately, Deb is along to help out and share some wisdom.

There is a ton more to tell, but hopefully the photos will convey the joy with which Sydney has joined our family. Thank you for all of your prayers. We have felt the peace and comfort of knowing that our God is in control and is hearing the prayers of his saints. There are still some challenges ahead as we see how Sydney will bond and accept us, so continue praying for God's grace and direction.

Tomorrow, we will go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to officially register the adoption, at which point it will be complete in the eyes of the Chinese government. We will spend another 6 days here while the paperwork is processed, and we will continue to keep everyone posted.