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Deb Grima,

Could you please email me at saraadzic@yahoo.ca. I have a question for you. Thanks!

Sara

LIAN'S HOME FOR THE FIRST 10 MONTHS

Yesterday we visited Lian's orphanage and finding spot. It was a very long and emotional day. The orphanage is a four hour drive from our hotel and we went there and back in one day. Lian did quite well on the bus, with the exception of a minor blowout (no not the bus tire, Lian's diaper). We had to change her clothes and borrow a pair of pants for her from someone in our group (thanks so much Marnie). Before we went to the orphanage we visited the place where Lian's first mother left her. It was an intersection on a small street. There were quite a few people around when we got there at about 12 in the afternoon. It was quite a poor area of the city. The people looked very surprised to see a bus pull into their neighourhood (not to mention the white people with cameras). The first photo is of us at Lian's finding place. We visited six finding places for children in our group. The rest of the group, unfortunately, could not visit their babies' finding place as they were too far out of the city. We then went to the orphanage. We received a very warm welcome from Mrs. Yu, the orphanage director, and the rest of the staff at the orphanage. It was a very clean place. There were about 20 babies in the orphanage, with about 10 of them being adopted next month to an American agency. Lian wanted to get in one of the cribs at the orphanage so I put her in and she was quite happy. The nannies held Lian for a short time. She was a little hesitant to go to them and then wanted to come back to me. It's amazing to see the transformation in this baby. We know that she was very well taken care of in the orphanage and we can never thank those who took care of her for the past 10 months enough. We gave the orphanage a gift of little girls' clothing which was bought over here. It's amazing how cheap it was so we got quite a lot of outfits.

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A DAY AT THE ZOO

Today we visited the Guangzhou Zoo. It was a beautiful day - sunny and much less humid - about 70 F. Tomorrow we have a very long bus ride to Lian's orphanage (4.5 hours each way). We leave at 7:30 a.m. and return at about 7:30 p.m.. We're off to the mall this afternoon to pick up some necessities - diapers & food.

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PARTY IN THE HALLWAY!!!!

It started with 2 babies and ended with about 8 of them and their parents having a party in the hallway. There were a lot of laughs! The babies had a great time being together on the floor. We plan on doing it often. Lian is in the pink and white flowery pants.

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VISIT TO THE BUDDHIST TEMPLE

Today, we visited a buddhist temple. The babies received a blessing from one of the monks. Unfortunately, our videotape ran out right as he started the blessing and, by the time Nik put a new tape in it was over. It was a very serene place and very calming. As I bowed my head to receive the blessing from the monk, I noticed that he was wearing Nike socks. Quite funny! I have posted some photos of a few other babies and parents in our group today so that their friends and family can see them too. The 1st baby is Lian, the 2nd is Bob and Marnie's baby, Hailee, the 3rd photo is of Alisa and Ivan and their baby JuJu, the 4th is of France and Marc-Andre and their baby Yasmine-Li and the 5th is Nana and Lian. It was a very humid day today and we had a storm in the afternoon. Lian is asleep in her crib right now. She held out as long as she could but is finally down for a nap. She is starting to get upset when she loses sight of mommy or daddy and cries when strangers talk to her. This is a good thing as far as attachment and bonding go. She can crawl and she walks when daddy holds her hands. She gets more and more talkative each day. We can't wait to get home to introduce her to everyone.

THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Thank-you all for you best wishes. It is so nice to hear from everyone that they are happy for us. We are ecstatic! Lian is becoming more and more dependent on us as every day passes. She looks for us when we move too far away from her and puts her arms out to be picked up. We had a nice dinner tonight with our group and earlier in the day went to a shopping mall. We purchased some very cute shoes for Lian.

PRECIOUS

Lian is getting more and more at ease with us. She's smiling a lot more today and loves to play with her daddy. She has a stuffy nose but other than that she is perfectly healthy. She likes to hold onto anything and experience new textures. She's so easy going - just like her dad. We are both in love with her. Life will never be the same!!! and that's fine by us.

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