It has been an amazing few days. I still can’t believe how much effort has gone into this reunion. In addition to the tour group staff there is approximately 30 local volunteers helping to coordinate the activities. After the orphanage visit yesterday we went to a very upscale buffet restaurant followed by a night cruise on the canal that connects Beijing to Hangzhou.

Claire is holding up much better than we thought she would. There are 36 girls on the tour, 34 of which were adopted as babies. Claire is the most recently adopted girl and therefore has been getting a lot of individual attention. There have been a lot of cameras in her face, one of the pics from yesterday shows a local anchor woman trying to interview her for the news. It is at those times she is most overwhelmed. Luckily she has made several really good friends with the girls on the tour so she is able to relax and play with them during our down time.

We started our day by visiting a very large park/zoo that is located next to the orphanage. Not only did the orphans visit this park on a very regular basis but Claire’s foster mom works in the restaurant at the park. In the past, Claire has shared with me so many memories of her time at this park. It was so good to finally see what she was talking about. When Claire was little she would often entertain herself at the park while her foster mother was working. We bumped into several people that worked at the park that recognized Claire but luckily we did not run into her foster mother. Claire decided that the time she spent with her yesterday was enough.

After seeing the monkeys and the pandas we strolled through some very scenic parts before we came upon a large area that they had prepared just for us. They had brought in a stage and chairs so that we could watch a series of puppet shows and other short performances. After that we were free to roam about to 5 or 6 stations that they had set up where the kids could fly kites, make a plaster handprint, watch an elderly gentleman create very unique candy suckers, watch a fried rice demonstration etc…

After lunch the rest of the group went to tour an English school to be followed by having dinner with a local family. At this point we took a taxi along with a guide to visit some things that were familiar to Claire. I will let Claire take it from here.




Here is a word from Claire: The beginning of the day I had a rough day again. I did not like the camera stuff all over my face. Lots of people asking me if I remember them and if I remembered my Chinese. It made me very nervous. My favorite part about the park was hanging out with my new American friends. In the afternoon time I showed my mom and dad where I lived with my foster mom. We took pictures of the outside doors. My mom told me that it is hard right now to think about these things but I will be glad that we did it so that I can remember it when I get old. Next we went to my 1st and 2nd grade school. The bossy nanny from my orphanage was waiting for us at the school and it made the visit really hard. I got to see my old math teacher and my main teacher. The math teacher checked out my thumb because she remembered that I used to suck it. The main teacher said that I was getting taller and skinnier. After that we went to see my preschool and kindergarten class. I remember my old teacher. She is getting older now, she used to be very young. I also saw my preschool dancing teacher. I got to see my kindergarten class room and my nap room. Our family decided to skip the local dinner. We came back to the room to relax for awhile and then we walked downtown to some stores. It was really fun because I could translate (Kelly “ Claire was amazing – when she was not nervous and under pressure she was able to speak in Chinese very well – she was very proud of herself talking to the local vendors – the positive attention she received this time did not bother her at all”). When we got back to the hotel I had a big surprise. Our friend Suzie come over to see us. (Suzie is the daughter of a worker at the orphanage that has been e-mailing us since this summer). We sat down and we talked for 10 or 15 min. We talked about her job and how special she is. She said my English is very good for being home for 1 ½ yrs. We took pictures and taped a little video. It was really nice to visit her, that just made my day. I’m tired now and I’m exhausted and I’m going to bed.


I’m not really sure how many people are reading this. This blogging thing is not really my cup of tea we just feel so blessed to be on this trip and we want to share as much as we can. We really appreciate all of your prayers. As we look back at all of the detail we can see that Gods hand has really been on this entire trip.

(Still waiting on the family with the camera cord to get back - I'm not sure if we'll get pictures posted tonight)