Arrived in Guangzhou

Yesterday (Friday) was moving day!  We left our hotel in Changsha about
2:30 and took a 30 minute van ride back to the airport.  We had to say
good-bye to Vicky after she helped us buy a lap seat for Ashlynn and
check-in for our flight.  Vicky has been very helpful to us.  She has been
working with adoptive families for more than ten years.  She is also a new
mom with almost six-month-old son.  It was fun to listen to her talk about
her son and her life in China.

At the airport we again met up with the family of eight from Kansas.  We
had plenty of time to visit while waiting for our flight which was about
30 minutes late in taking off.  We talked how well our new daughters are
adjusting to their new families and heard about how adoption has so
wonderfully touched their family.  Ashlynn was entertained by their
children but the wait got long for her.  We made several trips walking
around the terminal to try to keep her happy.  Thankfully she did very
well on our two-hour flight.  She slept during takeoff and played on our
laps after she woke up.  We hope our 12 1/2 hour flight next week goes
just as well.

We arrived in Guangzhou at about 7:30 and were met by Molly, our rep for
this leg of our trip.  She too was very kind and spoke very good English.
She helped us load into the van to go to the hotel.  She stayed at the
airport to wait for another family.  She will be working with four other
families all from our same adoption agency this week.  We are looking
forward to having other families to be tourists with this week and we know
Ashlynn will enjoy having other kids to watch.

Guangzhou is a much larger city than Changsha with a population of 10
million.  It was already dark when we arrived so we haven't yet since much
of the city.  One noticeable difference from Changsha is the humidity.  It
is warm!  Our hotel room is smaller but more modern.  We are hoping to get
out more here and spend less time in our room this week.

We were all very tired when we arrived.  Troy made a quick trip to the
7/11 which is next to the hotel to find us a late night snack.  The pops
tasted great but the Cheetos were steak, rather than cheese flavor which
made for an interesting surprise.

Ashlynn didn't sleep as well last night as she had been.  It took her
quite awhile to settle down and fall asleep.  She was up several times
during the night and seemed to sleep best in our bed.  We are hoping this
is a good sign for our bonding as our first few nights together, she
wanted to be in her crib.

Tomorrow morning we go to the Ashlynn's medical exam.  This is a necessary
step in getting her VISA.  We look forward to seeing this new city in the
daylight.