Another day on the Island

Sorry about the pictures but they loaded backwards and I don't have the time to reload them so we are going backwards in time.

Anyway, things have been going well. We are continuing with the bonding experience with Finley and she is doing amazingly well. As you all know, she is a daddy's girl and has had absolutely no problem attaching and bonding with him. As you all also know, it has not been as smooth with me. I have had all kinds of advice and I appreciate it all and even Ethan and Owen have told me to talk softer and maybe she will like you-- thanks boys but didn't help much, but with all that said, she has taken major leaps over the last few days and today being the most. I am actually thinking that by the time we fly home that she might think of me as a mom-- not sure but maybe. She now lets me take her to the potty and will let me hold her some of the time. She reaches for my hand often and will be left in the room with me while Kevin is in the other room or in the bathroom-- sounds like no big deal but it is huge!!! She also gives me hugs and kisses all the time which just makes my day. I am loving finally getting to know our little Finley and she is amazing in every way. She is a bit mischievous and we have had to crack down on her and she has not liked it much, but overall she is a sweetheart who is just a joy!!!

Kev was on the computer and I was sitting on the couch and she let me hold her and she snuggled with me. Luckily Kev had the camera close and we were able to get a pic of this monumental moment!!!

This girl would spend every waking moment at the park if possible. She love to play with other kids and we are actually thinking that maybe we should consider preschool earlier than we had thought. We were going to keep her out until fall but she is so social and so smart that we are thinking maybe start her for the last few months of the school year-- hmmm.....

Mastering the wrong way up the slide trick-- she is really good!

A better view

We went to church today. It was great seeing all the believers in one place and how much their relationships with the Lord means to them. We enjoyed most of the service until one young unnamed girl decided she had to pee and we had to leave. It was almost over but we were happy we got to be there!

Kevin Skyping with the kids at home. She loves seeing herself on the computer. It is so great to hear the kids. We miss them so much and cant wait to get home!

She will wear the earphones and talk to Gu gu and jie jie but she got them off before I could get the picture.

This is Jenny and we did a lot of shopping in her shop. She is a wonderful Christian woman and her husband is too. They were great people so we gave them a lot of our business!!

More play time with mommy-- love it!!!!

Saying goodbye to our guide Eva. She has been our guide until yesterday and we now have Ike until the last day when we get Judy. It is all screwed up because of Chinese New Year but we appreciated all Eva did for us!!

More play ground time yesterday

Daddy catching Finley

Love that look on her face-- she loves being outside and loves playing.

Caught her in the tunnel

Too cute!!

Tomorrow we have our consulate appointment which we actually don't go to but just have to stay around the hotel in case they need us. Then we have our swearing in ceremony at 3pm so I will make sure to take pictures of that event. It is very cool!

Kids, we love you and it was great talking to you today. We miss you and will see you soon.

RUBY, I wanted to answer your question. We knew the children in the orphanage and their names and ages because we have become friends with a couple that volunteer at Fushun each year. They send gift and had a list of the names. They also are the only reason we were able to visit the orphanage before we got Finley. They love and respect Bob and Pat so much that they allowed us to visit the day before Gotcha which is unheard of. We were so thankful. So, my BFF Laila decided she wanted to buy gifts for each kid and she and I shopped and were able to make it work. It was a wonderful experience and Laila's generosity made a lot of kids very happy :)

Last but not least Kevin wanted me to post this picture for the purpose of showing Steve, his partner at work, that he has world domination in Spider Solitaire---- that's right, that says "you won" in Chinese-- beat that Sid!!!!!

Oh ya-- WORLD DOMINATION!!!!

BTW-- most of you have no clue what this means-- and neither do I -- but Kevin is currently laughing his head off in the hopes that Steve will look at the blog. Apparently, this is really cool-- OK, I guess I will take your word on that one. Hmmmm.....