We're Still Here!

Lots of stuff happening. Saturday was a trip to the Liurong Temple to have the babies blessed and climb the tall pagoda. Then we went to the Chen Family Temple, which is now a museum of Chinese arts and crafts. It was lovely! Sunday Mom and I went on a trip to Maonan to see the orphanage where Lilly lived before we got her. It was really interesting to see the Chinese countryside. You go from the big city...riding along on a new, nice expressway...and then bam! There are the Chinese farmers working in their rice fields just like you've seen in countless pictures! Peaked straw hats, rolled-up pantlegs, and an ox pulling a plow! Then, after four hours of that, we arrived in Maonan, which was a beautiful modern city. Mom and I were really surprised. We were expecting some sort of small village, not a clean, bright city of 600,000 people! Go figure. The orphanage was interesting. Rows and rows of babies in cribs, all but four of them girls. The staff is very loving and attentive, but they have a LOT of babies there so I think the babies spend most of their time in the cribs. A lot of the moms (and grandmas) got choked up when they saw all of those baby girls who needed parents. I did ok for that part. Then we went and saw all of the sites in the cities where the babies were found. THAT part was hard for me. Still and all, I'm glad we went. It was good to see more of the country and to see where our Darling Lilly came from. Heather and Lilly stayed back in Guangzhou for that day, getting to know each other better and seeing the sites. Here are some pictures from our Saturday adventures. - Aunt Leslie