October was a busy and fun month with getting a schedule in place for Grace and enjoying having her in our family. It's been a big transition for us all but Wendy's parents were here for a couple of weeks to help us through the tough times and to share in the joys of watching Grace become a happy and smiley little girl. It was great to have them here when Wendy had knee surgery toward the end of the month. We wouldn't have managed without them!

Fall has brought many new things for Grace to explore. She wants to pick up every leaf she finds on the grass. She is also exploring our house, new foods, new toys and our dog, Bailey. In fact, her first English word was "bay bay" for Bailey and she uses it for just about anything with fur. She's also gotten to meet lots of family and friends this month. She is such a "people person" and loves to talk and play with everyone. We're proud of our cute girl!

Grace celebrated her first Halloween with us in her ladybug costume. We went to Dave's parents' house and trick-or-treated at Mr. Mac's house and some of their other neighbors. She loved getting candy in her goodie bag and of course, her favorite game was to take it out and put it back in again. She sucked the wrappers but that's as close as she's getting to candy for now! Daddy, however, loves having sweet treats from his sweet, little girl. On the day before Halloween, Grace took her first steps without any helping hands. She giggles and laughs when she runs to Mommy or Daddy since she's so proud of herself. Mommy caught her first steps with her camera. Check them out here.

Of course, the month started off with Grace's first birthday and the pictures that we promised are here.

Grace and her friend, Dottie.

Well, it's been a week since we last updated the website and it almost seems to have been a lifetime ago!

We left Guangzhou early on Saturday morning and flew to Hong Kong and on to San Francisco. In San Francisco, we went through Customs and Immigration where Grace officially became a U.S. citizen. Next, we were back on a plane heading home to Dulles. Although we had hoped that she would sleep for most of the flights, Grace was too interested in everything going on around her. She was a good traveller and still in great spirits when we arrived at Dulles to our waiting family and friends. It was so wonderful to see everyone welcoming us back! The posters, balloons, flowers and hugs made us glad to be home again. Grace entertained everyone with her "walking" and her squeaky shoes and hit it off with her cousins right away. You would never have believed that she'd been awake for nearly 27 hours!

	The big welcome at Dulles!
		Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Gibson.

Mommy and Daddy were pretty tired, though. Meg drove us to pick up Bailey from Dave's parents and then, we headed back home to Stafford. Wendy's folks had decorated the house with "Welcome Home, Grace!" and soon, we were all off to bed.

The last few days, we've been helping Grace get used to the twelve hour time difference and building some routine into her day. She is such a good little girl and adapting to all of the changes in stride. She's a big eater and we haven't found much that she doesn't like. Unfortunately for Wendy, two of her least favorites - watermelon and peas - are Grace's favorites. She hasn't had an opportunity to try pickles, ketchup or any of Daddy's other dislikes but we're sure she'll love them, too.

Grace and Bailey are already good friends.

Bailey and Grace are quickly becoming friends. They are good with one another and Bailey looks out for her "little sister" by staying in Grace's room during naptime.

Tuesday was a big day since it was Grace's first birthday and her first visit to Dr. Karp, her pediatrician. We met Grammy Major in the morning and she went with us to the doctor's office. Grace is in the 25th percentile for height and not even on the charts for her weight. She is a little peanut!

After the appointment, we went to Grammy and Grampy Major's for lunch and her first birthday party. Grandma and Grandpa Gibson joined us and we had fun with cake and presents!

Swinging in Grammy and Grampy Major's backyard and having some fun with Grampy.
			Birthday cake and presents! Oh boy!

We'll try to get some more photo pages and news posted soon so check back with us.

Yesterday, we had a restful day and played with Grace in the hotel playroom. In the evening, we went to Beijing Road and checked out more shopping but with a Times Square atmosphere. We ate at Pizza Hut but decided to pass on the special, an eel pizza.

This afternoon, we had our consulate appointment and after a few delays, we had Grace's visa.

This will be our last post on the website since our internet service will end tonight.

See you tomorrow night when we come in to Dulles a little bit after 7 PM!

We went to the shopping area next to our hotel yesterday afternoon and browsed at some of the beautiful brush paintings.

Later, we headed out to Yuntai Park and its magnificent gardens. The park was decorated for the upcoming national holiday on October 1st and it looked great! We even ran across a few couples taking wedding pictures. This park was much smaller than the one we visited a few days ago but it was beautiful and definitely worth the trip! Photos of our time in the park are here.

We went to dinner at a Thai restaurant called The Banana Leaf and had some wonderful food. There was even entertainment with singing and dancing that started out with, of all things, the Day-O song!

It was nice to have a non-eventful day and take it easy. Grace has had a cold for several days and she needed to relax and get in some good naps.

Today, we have nothing planned and will probably explore some more of Guangzhou.

Tomorrow is our appointment at the U.S. consulate and our group picture. We're going to try to get one with all of the babies!

Today, we went to a tea house and learned about everything that makes a quality teapot. Did you know that if you cover the steam hole in the lid with your finger, the tea will stop pouring from the spout? Or that the Chinese never make tea without washing the tea leaves first? Just a few of the interesting things we learned today.

After lunch and Grace's nap, we met up with some friends and visited one of Guangzhou's largest parks, Guangzhou Yuexiu Park. It happens to be right across the street from our hotel. The street, however, is very busy and dangerous to cross so we went through the subway station to get to the park. The subway is very modern and clean - not too different from the Washington Metro. The park is enormous and beautiful! We only covered a small portion. It has everything from lakes and gardens to restaurants and an amusement park.

Our pictures from today are here.

Yesterday was Grace's physical exam and the end of the paperwork required for her U.S. visa. We will have our appointment at the consulate on Thursday morning. Until then, we'll be bonding with our little girl and seeing some more of Guangzhou.

Pictures from yesterday's physical exam and shopping on Shamian Island are here.

We've been in Guangzhou since Friday evening and need to get you up-to-date on what we've been up to over the last few days.

Grace did wonderfully with her first flight and played the whole trip even though we'd hoped that she'd sleep. The airport in Guangzhou is immense and not all that close to the city so we traveled for some time before we arrived at our hotel. We rode past more skyscrapers, construction and lots of neon. Guangzhou is the fourth largest city in China and like Beijing and Nanchang, it's continuing to grow. It is also the most western city that we've visited and it feels the most like home. As we pulled in to the hotel's entrance, there was a tent with a very surreal event - a Chinese Oktoberfest celebration! Complete with an oompa band and beer flowing freely, we didn't see anyone who wasn't Chinese.

After a dinner of McDonald's, we called it a night. McDonald's has some similar menu items to home but some very different ones, too. We tried something that looked like McNuggets but was made with shrimp. Pretty good, too!

We had nothing scheduled for Saturday since some of the other families wouldn't arrive until later that evening. We decided to take a cab ride to Shamian Island with some friends. The cab ride itself was an experience as we darted around vehicles, buses, bikes and pedestrians. We visited the White Swan Hotel and shopped at the stores nearby until a storm blew up and forced us back into the hotel. All of the clerks and shopkeepers fussed over Grace and gave us special gifts for the "lucky baby".

Sunday, we visited Chen Jia Ci, a temple with large courtyards built by the Chen clan in the late 1800s. The Chen clan were very rich and powerful in China, particularly in Guangzhou. The temple is now a museum dedicated to Chinese art and each building houses amazing examples of wood, bone and ivory carving, furniture, brush painting and embroidery. The courtyards held beautiful bonsai trees and sculptures.

Next, we headed to the Guangzhou Friendship Store, which was much larger and more modern than the one we visited in Beijing. We were able to find a teether and some other things for Grace and stock up on a few groceries, too.

Sunday afternoon brought a "paperwork party" where all the families got together for about two hours to complete the required paperwork for the U.S. consulate. Afterwards, we went to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner.

Our photos from Saturday and Sunday are here.

That brings us to today, Monday. Our morning was free so we took things at a slower pace which was good since Grace is developing a cold. In the afternoon, we headed back to Shamian Island for Grace's physical examination. She did so well! Next, we went back for some more shopping in the White Swan Hotel area that we visited on Saturday.

Yesterday was a busy day with getting to know Grace. She has a sweet spirit and it's amazing to see her change almost minute by minute. She was a scared little girl when we first met but she has really opened up with us and is smiling and playing now.

We also went to the office of the notary in Nanchang and completed some more paperwork and an interview. It was very quick and painless. Next, we hit one of the local malls and went to Wal-Mart. This store was a Super Wal-Mart and two floors! We picked up some clothes for Grace (very inexpensive here), some Coke Light for Wendy (the only place that we've seen it for sale in Nanchang), and some other odds and ends. The Wal-Mart had lots of products that we'd never seen before including a Icy Mint flavored Sprite and fried rat in the deli section! There was also a KFC in the store which sold buckets of chicken and various Chinese specialties as well. When we got back to the hotel, we decided to take a break from Chinese food and ordered out from Pizza Hut.

There's a photo album from yesterday here.


Today, we explored some more of Nanchang. We went to the Tengwang Pavilion, which is just down the street from our hotel. The first tower was built on this site over a thousand years ago. The tower has been destroyed over twenty-five times and rebuilt, most recently in 1989. We went the top floor where we saw a short program of traditional music and dance. Afterward, we checked out the view from the balconies where we could see just how big this city is. On the other side of the Gan Jiang river, Jiangxi's major river, we could see lots more construction. As in Beijing, the skyline is filled with cranes erecting tall buildings. In the river below, we saw eveything from barges to small fishing boats.

We came back to the hotel for Grace's nap and instead had a fun playtime with her. She is just opening up to us more and more each day! We're having fun watching the changes.

Check out some video of Grace here. It is about a minute and half long, so it may take some time to download.

We flew to Nanchang this morning and arrived at our hotel around 2:30 this afternoon. A little bit after 4:00, we got Grace and she is a precious little girl! We are so grateful and blessed to be her parents. It's been an emotional day and we are doing well. Grace is sound asleep now. We'll post more tomorrow when we can take some more time. Enjoy these pictures for now.

Yippee! We received our referral today!

Allison from America World Adoption Association(AWAA) left a message for me at work. When I received the message, I called Wendy and we made a conference call to Allison so that we could hear the exciting news together. Allison told us that we had a beautiful daughter. Her Chinese name is Fu Mengqing. She is in foster care in the Jiangxi Province of China. Her birth date is October 4, 2004. She weighed 6 kg. and was 64 cm. long at her six month checkup in April, 2005.

We are overjoyed and praise God for all that He is doing to create our family!

Tomorrow, we are going to the AWAA offices to get photos of our little girl and her translated medical report.

We are starting our web journal with a ladybug and a red thread to follow as we journey toward bringing Grace, our daughter, home from China.