OUR LAST DAY IN NANCHANG, JIANGXI, CHINA

We've had a wonderful stay here in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. How could it not have been ... it's the city in which we first met our precious daughter, our Malia. We've seen and experienced so much of this area and are truly blessed to have done so because, in some ways, it makes us feel closer to Malia. What a treasure to see where she's come from and experience life in her birth province.

The people here have been so friendly and helpful. We'd like to thank our local guides, Mary and Sally, for making our stay here so amazing and for teaching us about this special place ... Malia's birthplace. Our guides have been willing to answer questions and are very knowledgeable about Nanchang and Jiangxi Province. Their willingness to share and offer information has made our experience much more meaningful.

Here are a few pictures of our current "home," the Gloria Grand Hotel ... but only for a few more hours. Here is one side of the lobby.

And here's the other side, which leads to the dining entrance.

Here's the main dish area of the restaurant. We ate here each morning at their breakfast buffet and on two evenings. We've had the chance to try some very interesting dishes, like braised octopus and braised frog. The choices were interesting to say the least, but there were things we liked and could eat to our full.

And here is the elevator area on the twelfth floor. We visited here a lot.

There wasn't a lot that happened today. We slept in, went to breakfast and then headed to Pedestrian Road. However, half of us turned back due to wind and rain. Rick, Spencer and Cindy went on to find some more luggage, while Malia, my Mom and I went back to the hotel to play and take a nap. Here's a sweet picture of Spencer and Malia from today.

This afternoon I headed downstairs to do more adoption paperwork. We had to prepare our document envelope for the US Consulate in Guangzhou. I will be SO glad when all the adoption paperwork is complete - which will be a year after Malia is home with us.

We got Malia's passport, which we'll need for our flight tomorrow.

After the paperwork was done, our group gathered to celebrate three birthdays occurring in our travel group ... one of which was the first birthday of one of the girls adopted. Our guides arranged getting a HUGE birthday cake that had all of the girls' names around the outer edge of the cake and the three celebrating birthdays in the center. There was an awesome birthday candle lit as we sang "Happy Birthday" - we've vowed to find these candles in Guangzhou. They are so incredibly cool!

And now with much of our packing done and Malia asleep in her crib, it is time to say goodnight from Nanchang.

PS: Malia wants you to know she's ready for her first plane ride, which will take us to Guangzhou, Guangdong Province to make her adoption final in the eyes of the United States of America! Do you like our new suitcase?