Pictures from Guangzhou

Hey Everyone,

Here's a few pictures from today that we thought you might enjoy. The internet is a little crummy tonight, so I'll try to get more on tomorrow.


Austin Cruising the Pearl River on Our Dinner Cruise!










Connor, Matthew, Austin, and Adam Having Some Fun!













Austin Barters with the Locals (He's Gotten Pretty Good at It)













See you all soon!
Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hello Everyone from Guangzhou, China!

We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and are getting very excited about coming home! It has been a miraculous two weeks here in China, with God's presence among us the whole time. That's not to say that there haven't been difficult times what with jetlag in Beijing, the initial encounter with Jiang Yongxing (Lily Grace) in Nanchang, and the continuing saga of who Lily Grace considers the cat's meow each day. But in everything and in every circumstance, we give thanks to God for what He has done and ask His forgiveness where we fall short of His hopes and desires for us.

Today we went to the zoo (see Austin's blog). It was ok, but we have been spoiled by the grandness of American zoos. Lily Grace pointed alot at the animals(that's what she does when someting peaks her interest). She was most interested in the monkeys, which is funny because 2004, her birth year, is considered by the Chinese as the year of the monkey. We had hoped to see pandas, but they were mostly asleep inside their cages and only one was outside. He too was napping. There were 9 families with adoped children, so we were as much a spectacle to the locals as the animals themselves! But we didn't mind, as the locals are very nice to us. The zoo was very, very hot and extremely humid. They don't report it, but I'm guessing the heat index was well over 110. Everyone was soaking wet by the time we left.

We took a dinner cruise as a part of the Lifeline experience and got to see Guangzhou at night. If you think Las Vegas has some lights, think again. Guangzhou lights up the night with the most beautiful array of lights on every building along the river and surrounding Shamian Island. The food wasn't so good (Chinese buffet, ugh!), but the sights were really good. Austin loved it.

In between, we were supposed to have a group picture of the 9 familes and adopted children, but we didn't make it. Lily had not had a nap (oops, we forgot today) and was definitely not wanting to be party to any picture taking sessions. So we skipped the photo shoot and sneaked in an hour nap before the dinner cruise.

Well, today was Austin's day to be Lily's favorite. She held out her hands for him every time something upset her and cried if she couldn't find him. I think he liked it since both Connie and I had had our turns to be the ones who hung the moon. Several of the ladies on the trip surrounded Austin and Lily on the dinner cruise and wanted to know all about him. He was very much taking in all the attention (it is very well deserved!). There are three other boys his age and all are extremely good big brothers and helpers to their moms. In these boys, God has created something special.

Connie bought some Chinese clothing for both Austin and Lily Grace. The clothing is beautiful and is very inexpensive, so we were able to buy a few outfits for future years as Lily Grace gets bigger. Hopefully, both Austin and Lily Grace will wear something Chinese to Family night next week.

Tomorrow, we go to the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou to request immigration visas for Lily Grace (and the other adopted children). Please pray that all goes well with that. It's essentially the last step here in China before heading home.

Just a little warning to everyone when we get home. Lily Grace doesn't adapt all that well to people she doesn't know well, especially if she's tired or hot or hungry which she probably will be when we get home. So if she buries her head in our chest when approached, please don't take it personally. Sometimes she even does that with whichever of us is not the cat's meow that day! You can even tell if she's not happy with you for something that happened earlier, which is something the Nannys told us about her - they really knew her well! But boy when she does take to you, the little Lilo can make your day in a hurry with her contagious smile and laughter (she sounds like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch).

We will be leaving Guangzhou around 7:30 or 8:00 Wednesday morning and arriving in Huntsville, AL Wednesday 2 August at approximately 4:30 (I think) via Northwest Flight 4701 through Detriot, MI. Please pray for a safe return, as we miss all of you very much and long to see you again.

We will post some more pictures soon.

For Him!
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Guangzhou Shopping Spree

Hello from Guangzhou,

Praise God for all that He is doing here in China. Not just with us, but with several other families as well. And also with the locals who really love seeing the Chinese girls be adopted and given a good home. They also like to see us in their shopping districts! It's funny, everyone says what a great thing we are doing for the girls, but they don't seem to understand that we are the ones blessed - beyond anything we can describe! Many of the stores donate a portion of their earnings to help the orphanages and foster care families. Praise God for that

What a day we've had today. Lily Grace has really begun to open up tonight. Earlier, she had her first elevator ride without getting upset. Then she bolted out of the elevator and began running up and down the hall laughing and screaming! I was afraid she was going to wake up the whole floor, but I didn't care! Memaw and Granny opened their door to see what the commotion was and she turned and ran some more. We had to chase her down. She is also really fond of Austin taking her out for a "leisurely" stroll. Somehow, I think there's some hallway speeding going on.

After dinner, Austin and I went down to the arcade to play pool while Connie got Lily Grace into bed. After a half hour, we came back to find the room full of giggling and laughter and squealing. Lily was having a ball. She called Connie 'mama' and she said something that sounded like Austin - he and Connie went wild! Then she kissed them both several times. God is awesome, awesome, awesome!!!!


That tickles mommy!

Earlier in the day, our Lifeline coordinators took our entire group shopping at the local mall! Biggest shopping mall I've ever seen. Austin and I made a critical mistake by leaving Connie, Memaw and Granny on the Jewelry floor while we went to check out the DVD store. As much shopping as Austin and I did, Connie and Lily Grace way outdid us! And yes, there was another piece of luggage purchased. Can anyone rent a Uhaul to bring to the airport when we get there? Austin and I got lost just before we were to leave and tried to get help from a policeman. Unfortunately, he couldn't speak English, so we just had to fumble around until we found our way back.


Shopping Mall. Has anyone seen Jerry and Austin?


Somebody Call Dave Ramsey, We've Got an Emergency Here!

We spent the afternoon walking around Shamian Island while Connie and Lily took a nap. We found some really neat local shops and got an oil painting of Lily Grace from the picture in her red dress. I can't wait to see it Tuesday.

Well, that's it for now. We will write some more after we get back from the Panda zoo tomorrow. I hope Austin and Lily Grace like the bears!


The Children Were Nestled, All Snug in Their Beds,
While Visions of Pandas Danced in Their Heads!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

A Few Pictures of Lily Grace

Hey Everyone,

Realizing you all would like to see a few more pictures of Lily Grace, here they are. Last two posts were meant to give you some sense of what it is like here.


Hey Bubba, this cup matches your shirt!


Ok. I'll pose again, but hurry up so I can eat my animal crackers!


And I will lift my hands ... I come with a full set of beautiful teeth!


Mmm Cheerios! Thanks for Your Prayers.

Saying Hello to Guangzhou and Rebecca

Hey everyone,

Just trying to get caught up on keeping everyone up to date. First, we thank God for all He has done for us and we pray for the children we have seen in the orphanage in Jiangxi. Thanks to everyone for continuing to pray for us, but please pray also for the children as yet unadopted and for the people of China. We asked for prayer for a friend who was in Nanning, site of significant flooding from two typhoons. Thanks to God and to your prayers, she made it to Guangzhou late last night and is safe and sound.

We made it to our final stop here in China last night. We had a very good flight on China Southern airlines. The flight attendants were extremely nice to us and carried our carry ons off the plane for us (remember all the luggage!). Lily Grace seemed ok with small and large airports and the whole airplane thing in general.

We arrived in Guangzhou around 6:00 pm. Our host here is Rebecca. She is just as helpful and as nice as Sally was in Jiangxi. Rebecca will support 9 different families here in Guangzhou, so I doubt we'll get the personalized service we enjoyed in Nanchang. Lifeline and the local facilitators have done an awesome job of finding people to help with this adoption. Whatever they are doing, it is working. Kudos! Oh my, I've never seen anything quite like the size and density of this city. Guangzhou is a much larger and more modern city than Nanchang (I think a little over 8 million people live in Guangzhou). The US consulate is here.



We do have internet access here in Guangzhou, but still cannot see our own blog site. We get some emails and do not get others. Some emails never make it out and some never make it in, so if we don;t respond, please don't take it personally. It probably just means that we weren't able to make a connection. I have not been able to communicate with anyone at work since we got here, so I'll have some 'splaining to do when I get back! If anyone at my work is reading this, please pass on that we are doing wonderful, but ready to get back to good ol' USA.

The White Swan Hotel is probably the most upscale hotel we have ever experienced. It reminds us of the Opryland Hotel, but maybe not quite as large. We are on the 26th floor. The hotel staff are dressed in full tuxedo and nice evening dresses and are some of the nicest people we have met thus far. There is an attendant for each floor who learns every client and tends to your every need. They even get the elevator for you, often saying "Please, to step this way!"

Lily Grace has had some wonderful days here. Each day, she becomes more and more beautiful as she begins to learn that we are her family - forever. This seems to comfort her and she smiles more and more. Her skin is becoming soft now, like a baby's skin is supposed to feel. Connie gives her a bath often and applies Chinese herbal medicine and American prescription medicine - what a difference a week makes! Lily Grace has become accustomed to riding around in the stroller, even likes it when big brother gets up too much speed for Momma and Daddy's comfort. She's learned to sit in a high chair and feed herself - she eat's everything we put in front of her. She's still very attached to Jerry and gets whiny sometimes if he's not holding her. But she's beginning to get out of that a little.



Connie got her first kiss from Lily Grace this morning and reports that it was very wonderful. Last night, Connie had Lily Grace dancing in the hotel room, wiggling and wriggling her little body to something that sounded like rap music in Chinese. Austin and Jerry were rolling with laughter! She likes to sleep with a Panda bear that Austin gave her for valentines day.

Austin has met some American boys here with their parents and has enjoyed spending time with them shooting pool. There are 8 other families in our group and each has adopted a child from some province in China. Some brought their children, including the boys Austin has met. He is excited about having some new friends and reports that he is looking forward to getting home to some good ol' American food! I think he's probably lost 5 to 7 pounds since we got here. It's really good to see him playing and enjoying their company. One of the boys is from Huntsville, AL and another is from Montgomery, AL. Look out China, it's an invasion of the Bubbas!


Lily Grace had her physical this morning. It went about as well as could be expected. She saw an ENT, was weighed and measured, and was inspected by a team of medical doctors and surgeons (all Chinese). There were probably 20 or so babies being evaluated, so it was a little like an assembly line. I think we'll get some sort of paperwork back tomorrow. I think tomorrow is Sunday, not sure. (I really miss going to church and can't wait to get back to Isom's Chapel!)



While Connie and Lily Grace napped this afternoon, I went to a meeting with our facilitator and spent two hours completing and going over paperwork in preparation for our visit to the US consulate. They leave no stone unturned. It was grueling and Connie was glad that I drew the short straw!

Well, that's about it for now. Tomorrow, we have a group trip to the shopping mall. Oh no, will I need another suitcase? More later.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Saying Goodbye to Nanchang and Sally

Asian Arts Festival at Teng Wang Pavillion in Nanchang.

Hey Everyone,

We've had a busy few days and were without Internet service Friday as we left Nanchang and arrived in Guangzhou. We flew on China Southern. Lily Grace slept most of the way - awesome!As you can tell from Austin's blog, we now are back in business! BTW, Nanchang is a small city of only 4.8 million (Anybody know how many we have in Alabama total?)

The only problem in getting out of Nanchang was luggage, luggage, luggage. With three ladies and a little girl on a shopping spree at the porcelean store, our luggage grew exponentially! We had to get a couple of more pieces of luggage. But Connie got some really nice porcelean for our house and a very nice vase for our church. Even Austin got in on the porcelean act, selecting a beautiful red vase with gold dragons on it. Lily Grace got a little porcelean as well. I got a suitcase carryon to put it all in!


God cleared the skys and gave us a beautiful view of Nanchang on our last day there!

Our guide in Nanchang was a lady named Sally and we cannot say enough about how wonderful she was and how helpful she was. Anyone from Lifeline reading this, make sure Sally remains a part of your team forever! She had many stories to tell us about China and always had a timely recommendation for whatever we needed. She and her driver took us anywhere we wanted to go and anytime we wanted to go ther.

Even to the very end of our time there, she was doing her best to make us comfortable and make sure we got on our way to Guangzhou. When we got to the airport with our 15 pieces of luggage (between all of us), Sally said go over there and sit down and I'll take care of everything. And she did! All we had to do was get our boarding passes from her and proceed through security. Austin had an opportunity to witness to Sally and she was touched by his faith. Later, she asked many questions about the charity of our church and others. We gave her a nice umbrella along with other parting gifts because we noticed that she often shaded herself with a newspaper or magazine. Many ladies in China carry umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. She was very touched by even a small show of generosity. Thanks Sally and please take care of yourself. We will always remember you and pray for your well-being.


Check out Austin in his new Chinese jacket, real cool!

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

I Once Was Lost, But Now I'm Found

Today was probably the most rewarding and most difficult days of our trip. We were able to visit Lily Grace's orphanage today and meet the director and all her nannys. We also got to see the exact spot where she was abandoned. Many tears. We took pictures for future. The spot where she was found was exactly as we had been told, right at the front gate.

When we first arrived at the orphanage, they set off a round of firecrackers in our honor. It is Chinese tradition to welcome home family members by shooting fireworks. That was cool. They told us that through Lily Grace, we are now extended family members. When we arrived, the orphanage seemed smaller than in pictures we had seen. We visited Lily Grace's room and saw her bed. They had placed a Ladybug in her bed. One of the Nannys gave us back a little book we had sent to Lily Grace earlier. We were happy to receive it and it appeared that it had been well used.

Then her primary nanny came in and wanted to hold her. We gave her to the nanny without hesitation, knowing that God's plan was in full blown action now. After many nannies spent time holding Lily Grace, she turned around toward us and cried. When Austin held out his hands, she came running to him! Thank You God!








A very sad moment occurred when Lily Grace's best friend, saw her and came running to her, with her hands held out. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Even though we couldn't speak Chinese and they couldn't speak English, there was perfect communication between us. They wanted to know if we knew the family who was adopting the little girl and if we could find out when they were coming for her. We will do our best.





There were many kids there waiting to be adopted. The orphanage has sent 85 children to the USA and they were very proud of this. It was a very proud moment for us as American citizens to see how grateful they were to the United States. But we know in our hearts that we're not the ones giving the blessing, but rather the ones receiving the blessing! God himself is orchestrating everything about our adoption and those of others before us or after us. And with God in control, All things are possible!

We were all very quiet on the way back from the orphanage (an hour and a half drive). We got many pictures and created a 1 hour video for Lily Grace to see when she grows up. It was the best thing I think we could do for both her and the Nannys. But, funny how it works that once again, we were on the receiving end of the blessing. We learned many things from the Nannys about Lily Grace and its funny how accurate they all were. It was very exciting and very comforting to see how much Lily Grace was loved by the orphanage staff. They called her the princess of the orphanage!

God has been so unbelievably kind to us, it is difficult to describe. So we will just continue to post pictures for all to see. Please pray for us as Lily Grace continues to adjust to her new family.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Lily Grace Has a Passport

OK. So now the score is Austin 18 and Connie/Jerry 14. Just watching that little man tell the world about his little sister is one of the greatest blessings we have ever received. He is so excited, he's likely to pop anytime! Thanks for responding to his posts. That makes his day!

Wow! Lily Grace now has a passport. Actually, Jiangxi Yongxing has a passport, but that's ok. It'll do to get her to good ol USA. We found out that in China, you only have family name (the first one) and a given name. No middle name. Thus, Jiangxi Yong Xing became Jiangxi Yongxing. We're using Xing as part of her English name "Lily Grace Xing Green" It is pronounced "Sing!" In China, they usually say the name twice for little kids, so they call her "Sing, Sing!"

Lily Grace has had a rough day today, getting up early and visiting the orphanage (see future post). Getting her to rest and sleep has been difficult. Hopefully, she'll have an easy day tomorrow before we board the plane for Guangzhou. Only 5 more days after today till we are able to come home. We really miss everything and everyone greatly. Please continue to pray for us.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace (Sing Sing!)

Some Stories from China

Hey Everyone,

I've been meaning to tell a few stories from China, but it's been really difficult to get time on a computer. I thought about going down to the business center here in the hotel and renting some time!

Leaving Beijing, we rented a van to carry all 5 of us and our 27 bags and carryons (just kidding, we only had 12 or 13!) to the airport. I knew that we couldn't afford to get separated like we did coming into Beijing. If we missed our flight, I wasn't sure what the implications would be. So we rented the van. It cost us 450 RMB (about $50) but knowing we would all make it to the airport together was well worth it. Our driver was a very funny man named Charlie (Everyone here seems to have an English name to go along with their Chinese name). Anyway, Charlie began telling us some stories about his family. He began very serious telling us how Chinese families are only allowed one child and he told us that he was proud we were here to adopt, then told us of his family pets. They have a cricket (Chinese keep crickets as pets) and a bird. After he told us about those, he said he had a tiger also! He was very serious and told us what it required to be fed each day and how it ruled the house - inside and out! After carrying us on for awhile, he busted out laughing and told us that the tiger was his wife and asked me if my wife was a tiger also! He laughed at us the whole rest of the way to the airport for buying into his tiger story. Very funny.

Our guide here in Nanchang is also very funny. She laughs at us quite often because of the misunderstandings we have and because of our customs. She once ordered us McDonalds cheeseburgers without the burgers because of a misunderstanding between me and her. She thought I was crazy to go to McDonalds and order cheeseburgers with nothing but cheese and bread and ketchup! When we hide our faces in the taxi or van rides, she is very amused. However, she is very well versed in the local history and has plenty of stories to tell. She told us that the Teng Wang Pavillion is the oldest pavillion in China and was built to help southern China prosper. There are a set of lions, one male and one female, outside the pavillion. The meaning of these is to bring wealth.

Today we went to a park in downtown Nanchang and there were many people there. It was almost like an old Opryland or 6-flags type park, but with much scaled down rides and events. Mostly, people just came to get out of the hot sun and to spend time together. There are many willow trees and some other types which I've never seen that provide much shade. There's boat rides along the river and many families around. We were constantly surrounded by curious people and they are not afraid to come right up to you - I mean nose to nose - to check you out. Poor Austin gets to experience this most because not many American kids have visited here. They have seen a few American adults as adoptive parents, but not many kids.

Look How Tall I Am!!

Inside the Park, an Orchestra Played the Peking Orchestra

Today, a young girl approached us and wanted to practice her English. She was 13 years old. Her parents were very proud of her. Her English was very good - much better than my Chinese. When I joked with her about this, everyone had a huge laugh.


Anna's English Was Very Good!












Lily Grace got to take her first ride in a stroller this day in the park. At first, she fought it, but after a few minutes, she figured out what a great deal it is to just sit back and let someone else do the work while you take in the sites. Austin manned the wheel and was very proud.


I Can Only Imagine!




More later,
Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Our Little Lily Grace

Hey, Just thought everyone would want to see some more pictures of Lily Grace. So here they are!

Lily Grace was born in 2004, year of the monkey, which to Chinese customs means that she will be funny! I think that's right on target!

Wait'll I get a taste of these! Do I take the wrapper off or not?

Austin, you're such a hoot!

How do I look in this dress?

Rolllllllllllllllllllllll Tide!

More later, unless Austin wakes up and takes back the computer!

Look at the eyes of this child. God is awesome! There is no one other than Him that can accomplish so much. He is so good to us.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Finally, an Update!

Sally Welcomes the Greens to Nanchang

Hello everyone. I have finally wrestled the computer away from Austin and Connie is giving Lily Grace a bath. So now, I get to tell some stories. So here we go.

This photograph is of our guide here in Nanchang. Her name is Sally and she has been a tremendous blessing to us, making sure we make all of our appointments, get our paperwork in order, and have the proper gifts to exchange at the various appointments - it is customary in China to exchange gifts at appointments such as the ones we are required to keep. We were given an antique porcelean vase by the orphanage - Jiangxi is famous for porcelean. Sally has a wonderful personality and thinks the Greens are a hoot!

Sunday afternoon was one of the most awesome days we have ever experienced as a family. We got Lily Grace a day early. We already told you how much it seemed she was loved. Three men and a caregiver showed up for the ceremony. They had her dressed very cute and had just cut her hair and put little bows in it. They gave us some paperwork we hadn't seen before, including a copy of her abandonment advertisement (we were able to find an original today!). We also learned the name of the lady who found her and where she was found. It is very difficult to hold back tears as we go through this, especially to know and see the very location that our Lily Grace was abandoned. Tomorrow we will visit the site when we go to the orphanage. We'll be carrying along an extra box of Kleenex!

Monday morning we went back to the Adoption Center to finalize the adoption and receive Lily Grace's birth certificate. The main thing that the Adoption Center wanted to know was were we going to give Lily Grace a proper education. That's very important to the Chinese. So we promised that she would go to high school and the college of her choice. This made them very happy and they gave us her birth certificate. Our guide here in Jiangxi province took us shopping after that (she should have learned better from that episode, but the shopping would continue unabated what with three, no check that, four women in our group).

Tuesday, we spent the day at the Teng Wang Pavillion. I won't tell you much about that since Austin has already completed his journal on this topic. There was an awesome production of Asian music and dance (Amanda, if you're listening, I have some beautiful photos of the dancers!). But we did have lots of Chinese citizens approach us wanting to take pictures with us. The are amazed by Austin and particularly his eyes - they haven't seen anyone with green eyes before. Many want to touch Austin and Sally told us that they want to see if he is real!! Lily Grace was pretty much a Daddy's girl this day, hanging on to me all day (Yea!).

The Teng Wang Pavillion is over 1300 years old!



I Love Daddy!









Tuesday night, we went to an outdoor water and laser light show. The taxi ride there and back probably took 5 years off mine and Connie's life. There are pretty much no traffic laws and there are 4.8 million people. Hardly any traffic lights and more different types of transportation than you can imagine. They criss-cross each other like ants and move in and out of traffic at light speed and within inches of each other - think NASCAR on a city road course. Amazingly, we have seen no accidents either here in Nanchang or in Beijing. And oh, BTW if you are a pedestrian, you'd better watch traffic - they do not stop or even slow down for pedestrians! The laser light and water show was beautiful and everyone enjoyed it.

More later,
Love Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Lily Grace is Officially Ours

Ephesians instructs us to not boast, so We'll just let the picture speak for itself!


Yesterday we went back to the Adoption Center to complete paperwork. It was really a very straightforward process and lasted only 20 minutes or so. The director of the orphanage and his assistant (both men) came to meet us. They were very nice, but could speak no English. You could tell how much both men loved Lily Grace. When the director held out his arms to have Lily Grace (Xing Xing to him) come to him, she just looked at him and kept sitting in my lap. That was a very good sign.

Lily Grace has had her second bath now and her skin is starting to get more soft. It was very itchy for her and she continues to scratch. We'll keep up the bath treatments with Chinese herbal medicine and American prescription medicine.



Daddy, get that camera out of here!






Lily Grace sleeps well all through the night. She doesn't wake up at all until the morning. She likes to sleep sideways in the bed and just like Jerry, one of her legs is constantly moving. Good luck to mommy and daddy trying to get some sleep!


Are all babies sideways sleepers?







Today we will do some local sight seeing in Nanchang, a city of only 4.8 million! There was a rather unorganized parade of some kind yesterday, complete with firewords and a marching band of at least 3 brass instruments! Our guide has taken us anywhere we needed to go and even helped me bargain for some HP photo paper. Yesterday, she helped me purchase McDonalds for lunch, but ordered all the cheeseburgers without meat because she thought we were vegetarians. She asked whether to have meat inside or outside and I thought she meant do we want to eat in McDonalds or go back to the hotel, so I told her outside. She looked at me strange and ordered anyway. We figured it out before the order came and both had a huge laugh!













We don't eat very much here, even the American food you can find is not very much like American food, except the French Fries - which Lily Grace really likes. Look out Mickey D, here she comes.

More pictures and posts later! Thank you for your continued prayers.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace

Lily Grace Meets Her Forever Family

Hey Everyone,

Here's some more pictures of Lily Grace. She is so amazing. The orphanage director brought two other gentlemen and a lady to give Lily to us. They all said she was the princess of the orphanage. One of the men was crying as they gave her to us and it was incredibly moving. You could tell that they all loved her very much. They gave us pictures of her taken recently. They gave us back the things we sent over in her care package, including two disposable cameras which they had used to make picture. We had given her a bear with a picture frame and our picture hanging around its neck. You could tell that Lily Grace had carried it around with her because it was beginning to show signs of wear. They gave us a copy of her abandonment notice and her abandonment note. Most things were in Chinese. Our guide, Sally, translated them for us into English and the Director of the orphanage gave us a Chinese script of Lily Grace's personality, handwritten by him! They gave us a copy of her schedule and she's following it precisely, sleeping like a baby right now.

Thanks for following our journey. Please continue praying for us. We have been blessed beyond anything we ever deserved. God is so awesome!

The children were nestled, all snug in their beds. While visions of family danced in their heads.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace