We have a new letter!

	Finally, I'm Home		Feeding Time at Home (Don't know who's more tired!)
	Gifts waiting at Home		Lots of Gifts waiting at Home!
	Lily		Dad and Lily
	A walk in the Summer Palace		The first picture of the whole Family!
	Dad, and Daughter at the Great Wall of China... Kind of odd, seeing Lily at the site of the largest man made object, while Kirk is holding one of the smallest... well, you know what I mean...		Mom climbing the Stairs
	Mom and Lily .. Looks like Lilly is wondering just who is going to wear those shoes!	This spot intentionally left blank.
	Mom and Lily, Ready to Roll!		Finally, One without the Old Guys! (I know I am going to get in trouble for that one!)
	All Bundled Up Ready for Tomorrow		Mom Holding Lily
	Dad and Lily		Mom and Lily
	All Bundled up and ready to Head out!		Why do they keep pointing these machines at me?
	Our Daughter Lily		Mom, Dad and Lily
	Changsha, Lily's Home Province		Mom and Lily
	On the plane from Toronto to Vancouver		In our Hotel room in Vancouver
	This is our group (70 and 71) in Vancouver airport, getting ready to go!		Us posing in Stanley Park.
	These are most of the people in Group 71, with whom we will be traveling to China  on the 24th.		We have been stock piling toys for some time now, and are just about ready... Do you think we are biased towards Charles Shultz?
	The nursery is just about ready.... Just missing one important thing....		This is where our little Lily will be spending her hours upon hours of nap time...The first child always sleeps during office hours don't they?

Here we are in Beijing. Our 3 hour flight from Changsha to Beijing was a "test flight" for the 10 babies in our group. They all made our really well but the 11 hour flight from Beijing to Vancouver and then the 5 hour flight from Vancouver to Toronto will be the "real thing." Already things have been busy in Beijing. We went to the Great Wall this morning and had a great time. It is truly an amazing site as you can see by the pictures. No wonder it is one of the Great Wonders of the World. We didn't make it to the top of the wall as some in our group did. The steps are twice the length of a normal steps and extremely steep. We stayed close to the bottom and took pictures of the energetic ones who made it to the top.

There are still a few sightseeing things to do before we head home. We are going to the Forbidden City, Tianemen Square and of course shopping at the famous "Silk Row." We also are scheduled to visit a doctor in Beijing who will give Lily her final medical clearance. We have had touches of home since we arrived in Beijing. Last night we had Pizza Hut pizza (delicious) and one person from our group had a Blizzard at the local DQ. It's a nice change from Chinese food.

Will probably write again before we make it home. All is well. Lily is doing well but we are anxious to get home.... and show off our precious little one. We also can't wait to show off her "baptismal outfit" we picked up at the local "Friendship Store."

Better run..... See you soon.

Here we are in a beautiful hotel in Changsha. We are making out fine. Lily is adapting well to her new family. Already we are finding that Lily has her own little unique qualities. For instance, she shakes her head to put her self to sleep. This is a sign to Mom and Dad that she is tired. Another thing that she does is move her feet like the propellers of the helicopter. It's funny to watch.

She is making so many adjustments. She loves riding around in the backpack with Dad, even falling asleep in it. She is eating well after not having any thing to drink for the first 24 hours. Now she is eating formula, rice, congee, and the occasional arrowroot or piece of a roll. We had to visit the local grocery store to buy Chinese formula after trying dairy based, soy and even cow's milk. Now she is a happy eater especially enjoying the 1 am feeding...needless to say that is not our favourite time but she does go right back to sleep.

Monday was our big day...Lily became officially ours. After a whole morning of paperwork and interviews. After that we have been free...to explore Changsha, to visit the local shops where we were mobbed by salesclerks, to visit a local park where we were again swarmed by interested onlookers. We must remain here until Friday for our paperwork to be completed. Then it is back to Beijing for more paperwork and sightseeing. Yesterday we visited a world famous embroidery school and Kirk and I succumombed to purchasing a beautiful piece with the Lotus flower (lily). Their work is amazing and we could not resist the temptation of having something so special to Lily's name and province of birth.

Changsha is a busting city of 1.5 million but still not as busy as we expected. There are cities lots of people and cars, pedestrians, bicycles and buses all seem to work together with fewer accidents I am sure then downtown Toronto. We will do some more sightseeing for the next couple of days, visit the tomb of the 2000 year old woman ( I hope she is expecting us) and maybe do a little more shopping. Beijing will also be enjoyable as we visit the Great Wall, Tiaenamen Square, the Forbidden City and others. We will make sure to take lots of pictures. We have enjoyed our journey as much as have enjoyed sharing it with you. We hope to write again and send more pictures when we are back in Beijing.