Four Years Ago, in a Changsha Hotel ...

Four years ago today, we met our baby girl. It was an amazing experience, and the crowning moment of a journey filled with anticipation and even some frustrations as we waited. But finally our baby girl was here, and the memory of waiting was gone.

We arrived at the Grand Sun City Hotel in Changsha, Hunan and did some shopping at a local grocery store across from the hotel. Then we waited, and finally the phone rang. It was Echo, our facilitator, and she said the babies were getting close to the hotel and we could go to the lobby and watch them enter, but let them come up to our floor on the elevator and we would meet them upstairs. Mitch saw the van pull up in front of the hotel, and the cameras of our travel group started rolling. The babies and nannies hurried past us in the hotel lobby, and we followed up in a separate elevator car. The doors opened, and our girls were before us. It was kind of chaotic, and one of the nannies looked at Mitch and said, "Kui Yan?" and he said yes, and she placed Abby in his arms. Abby was not happy about that, HA. So I took her in my arms and she settled down a bit. There is actually a picture of this! Mitch took about the only picture he has taken in the last 20 years of that moment.

Once we got to the room, she settled in pretty well ... and daddy became her favorite in China. It wasn't until after we arrived home that she learned to love her mommy as well, but you wouldn't know that today.

The last picture in the slide show is of Abby in that same hot pink marshmellow suit that she arrived in ... but she has grown a bit! :-)

Happy Family Day, Princess Kui Yan!