November 2, 2006 - Gotcha Day!

November 2, 2006

We have arrived in Guangzhou and are waiting to go meet our son this afternoon. We checked into the hotel yesterday afternoon and are feeling quite pampered in this incredible Holiday Inn-Shifu. We have two adjoining rooms that are very spacious and nice. The roof top pool is beautiful and we hope to have a warm day to take Caleb out there to try a dip in the pool. The buffet breakfast this morning had many western and Chinese favorites. We are situated on a famous pedestrian only street with many shops and our teenage daughters about had their eyes popping out of their heads. The prices are amazing and they are anxious to bring home some new clothes, shoes, purses, etc. Realize that we live in a small town in West Texas on the border three hours from San Antonio. We went out last night to have some inexpensive but delicious Chinese food in a restaurant just down the street a bit. We had a sample of duck, fish, pork, and chicken dishes. The vegetables are always amazing and delicious. We all have been enjoying the tea as well. Last night it was the green tea. The entire meal was about $17 for five people. In the evening, there are many people milling about and lights on, booths selling foods, snacks, drinks, very much like a carnival or party atmosphere. This is slightly different from going to our local Super Walmart or our very shopping mall in Del Rio.

Our guide's name is Bob and he is 24 and a really funny guy. We enjoyed meeting him yesterday and we will be glad to have him help us through all the events in the next few days. He will also take us shopping and has all ready told us about all the amazing deals we will be able to find.

This afternoon we will go to the Civil Affairs Office and finally meet Caleb YuDong Day. He has been telling his friends that he is going to meet his Mommy and Daddy and is all excited. Of course, he probably has no idea what it will be like to leave his entire life behind and move to a new land with new kinds of foods, a new language, new smells, etc. We will be able to visit the orphanage next week. We feel so blessed and are so very excited to meet our new son. Please pray for him to feel safe and secure and know our love as quickly as possible.

Note to friends and family: We are unable to check our blogspot (easily) here in China, so if you want to communicate with us, please email us at f16dday@stx.rr.com. We can check our email easily and would love to hear from you.

Update: We have Caleb and he is wonderful! He cried for a while when we received him, but then cuddled with Mommy on the van ride back to the hotel and relaxed. He then played and had fun in the room with his new toys. He enjoyed playing with the girls and Daddy. He also ate a little and drank a bottle. He did not want to have his clothes off and take a bath, but we did accomplish that and got dressed for bed. He has stopped crying now and we are trying to get him back to sleep. He does have a lot of bug bites on him and a bit of a cough. We love him very much and are so thankful for this wonderful blessing.