GOTCHA DAY

We met in the lobby at 8:30 to head to the Shanghai Civil Affairs office. We had a great "western" breakfast, and you could tell the nerves were high.

We started with the never ending paperwork process that took abot 1 hour to complete, and with a total of 19 families (14 from Bethany)- it took awhile.  Then the workers brought the kids in one by one and introduced them by their Chinese name to the parents. It was amazing to see all the kids, and not one cried. We have adopted the youngest child from our group, and before they brought Anna in, they told us she is so shy and will probably cry alot. It was the moment we both had been waiting for, for 3 years.........

She welcomed us with open arms. She was so hungry, and ate 2 bags of fruit snacks, stole some crackers from some of our friends, drank water and had a 6 pack of peanut butter crackers. I was running out of snacks. She did great while we were inside and was walking around checking everyone out, until we left the building. Then she had a melt down, but quickly calmed down once we got on the bus and started driving. New sites for her, as she had NEVER been out of the orphanage. We brought her back to the hotel and went across the street for her first Happy Meal at McDonalds. We then spent the next 3 hours at 2 different banks exchanging money- and all she wanted to do was walk around and eat, and not 1 meltdown. Pretty amazing I think!!!!  She already can say Bye Bye, and has melted our hearts with her laugh and giggle. We are still however, working on the whole potty training thing. So off tonight we are to shop at a like- Wal Mart store for diapers, juice boxes and shoes. Thanks everyone for your nice commens and keeping up with us. Please keep us in your prayers, as I am sure the next couple of days could be challenging.