Lily's Celebration

 Before we headed back to the USA for the summer, we had a quick party to celebrate Lily.

 Lily especially had a great time and it was wonderful to celebrate with some wonderful friends!

Nap Time

I guess it's time for me to wake up from my long summer's nap and start blogging again!!!

Devin - Shanghai Slayers Football

Devin decided to go out for football for a local city team.  It was just spring training but he was excited.  They had a game at the end of the season to get them pumped up for the Fall.  They won and Devin was psyched that he passed(threw) the football for a touchdown!  I tried to load the video but it didn't work.

Devin is the one on the far left with white legs.  It made it easy for me to pick him out:)

Strawberries & a Crane

I was shocked to see that we had actual strawberries on our plant on the porch.  Jin Di and I rescued that plant from the trash last year:)

I saw a beautiful white crane flying outside our window.

Lily Mei Hui Marchiondo

The day finally came!!!!  Lily officially became a part of our family on May 7, 2012.  We traveled to Zhenghou to do the registration paperwork and obtain her Chinese passport.

Our CCAI guide, Rita, helping me with the final paperwork.

Lily and I with the orphanage director from Pingdingshan.

The official document stating Lily is a Marchiondo!!

We celebrated with a Merry go Round Ride.

During our walk, we saw that the local exercise park was quite busy!

It was nice to walk along the river and get away from the hustle and bustle a block away.

We had to go to the notary the next day and take our picture with her.

Outside the notary office with the other family with us - Joe, Allison and Lily too.

Trying not to be run over by the scooters.

An interesting bird along the river.

We did a day trip to the Yellow River.

Allison was able to get a picture that is quite common for us.  We get surrounded by people looking at Lily and looking at me because I'm not Chinese.  They also comment on Lily's eyes because they are big.

We had a great meal at this restaurant. 

We took a walk in the park with Rita, her son and mother in law.

Lily playing with Emma, just adopted by a nice couple from New York.  We have flown to Guangzhou to handle paperwork for the Visa process to get into the USA.

A visit to a local temple.

Lily having a good time on the swing at the hotel.

Lily giving her new friend Lily a hug.

There was an artist at the market next to the hotel.  We purchased a beautiful stone "chiseling" to remember this wonderful time.

She did that in less than 8 hours. 

3 Gorges Dam



On our last night, we arrived at the 3 Gorges Dam.  We couldn't stay up while we went thru the 7 or 8 locks.  It took a while and was a bit noisy at times.

The next day, we actually visited the dam.

It is something what they have done and how cities were relocated.  The picture on the right shows the model of the elevator that is currently being built to transport the boats/barges to the lower level.



A picture of our boat.

Miscellaneous pictures along the way.

A new boat being built.

Not much water fowl on the river.  A bit weird.

I wonder how they got up there to erect that little thing.

Our waitress.

It is hard for me that during certain parts of the year, the water gets that high.

Our cabin.

Devin can be so funny!!!  He was dying to use the restroom.  So we asked the bus driver to pull over.  This is very common to see men relieving themselves along the roads, sidewalks, etc.   FYI - we are on a full size bus for the 7 of us and no one else was on the bus.  Instead of going to the back of the bus where he couldn't be seen by anyone, he goes there in front.  We couldn't stop laughing.  Poor guy, he got stage fright and couldn't go.  He had to hold it for another 20 minutes until we got to the airport.  His reasoning for it all - "Didn't want to go on the vegetables growing on the side of the road.  It was someone's garden."