Finneys in China: Nanning Day 2: Family Day!

What an incredible day yesterday was! That's definitely an understatement but there's too much going through my heart and mind to be more eloquent at this moment.

Justin arrived at 1:00am yesterday, we were so happy to welcome him here with us! After breakfast we showed him the park near our hotel. Everyone was a bit tired, especially Aria, Calin, and Tamsin. Aria and Calin woke at 2:00am due to jet lag, and Tamsin, who is absolutely golden managed to keep them calm and in bed until 7:00. It'll take a bit for us all to adjust.

After a late morning nap for our kids and a quick ramen lunch, we met our guide to head to a government building for family day. On the way we had to stop and exchange money to pay in country adoption fees as scheduled. It took forever and the wait was torture! There was so much anticipation as we waited to finally meet our daughter.

Once we arrived at the government offices we signed some paperwork agreeing to care for Liena for 24 hours and show up to the adoption appointment the next day. We then waited in a small room for her to arrive.

Suddenly she was there, in the arms of her school teacher and accompanied by an official from her orphanage. She was alert and curious, and her teacher explained that we were her new "mama, baba, jie jie, and ge ge." (Mom, dad, big sister, and big brother). She reached for me, and I held her briefly before she wanted to go back to her teacher. During the next half hour we interacted with her and were able to ask some questions of the orphanage staff. They presented us with a baby book and items that were left with her at her finding place. This is pretty rare, most children adopted bring with them only the clothes they are wearing. How amazing that she gets to bring pieces of her story with her into the future!

The afternoon and evening were so fun as we wandered the hotel, played in our room, and went to a mall to eat dinner. She is such an engaged and cheerful girl! We were amazed by her calm and her fun personality. She did not cry, and neither did she shut down as can often happen during this stage. At some point the changes will hit her and she will go through adjustment but at this time she acts very happy and relaxed.

The process has felt exceedingly long and invovled and difficult, but it has been worth every minute of waiting, every worry, and every frustration along the way. We are overjoyed to welcome Liena into our family and look forward to our future together!

Calin gave her a doll that was an instant favorite! She has been carrying it around in her little back pack.

Dad is already teaching her about things with two wheels, though he prefers motorcycles. Nanning is known as scooter city because there are over 2 million scooters in a city of 3 million people.

Riding from Family Day to our hotel. Yes she's on my lap, no we don't have a car seat with us. Taxis and vans driven by hired drivers rarely have functional seat belts, so here we are...

Liena is such a fashionista! She insisted on all the bows, can do her own ponytail (this astounded Aria and Calin who have declared her "amazing, super smart, and epic), and looked in every mirror thought the hotel and mall, asking for jewelry as we passed by stores in the mall on our way to dinner. We love her personality and her sass!