Born May 18, 2008! So Young! 7 1/2 months!
She is in the Gaozhou SWI, and is Active and a deep sleeper!
When I come down a little bit from cloud 9 I'll write more...but right now, I am just head over heels in love and can't to much but stare at her little photos and feel my heart grow!
Mary's brother & sister in law and nephews, and some other friends were there as well. Here is the new glowing Mama Mary...
And a little bit stunned looking Emme Qian Hui!
She is just beautiful! She definitely has the "deer in the headlights" kind of look, but after such an ordeal, who wouldn't? Within just a few minutes of arriving she was laughing and even played a little bit with Sadie!
Sharon just started a new job that same day, so she wasn't able to make it, but everyone else did make it! We sure missed you Sharon! Below: Me, Heidi & Sadie, Mary with Emme, Cindy, Dumpling (Standing) and "Little Pink" (I've decided this will be her Blog name!) in the baby Carrier!
Imagine, TWO new little village girls in less than 2 weeks! And if we add Sadie, THREE new little village girls in less than 6 months! It's truly amazing, and we are all truly lucky this holiday season to have such joy in our lives! Now if I could ask for just a tiny bit more joy in the form of my referral....... 
Of course I jumped when she said Ladybug (As I hadn't seen what she was opening) and said, "what did you say?" My other employees know enough by now to know what the Chinese adoption community thinks about ladybugs, so they both stopped too and said, "did you say ladybug??" I had already told them the story of my 7 am potato ladybug encounter, so having this one happen just a few hours later was quite a surprise!
Mama Cindy said she slept like a champ all night and throughout the flight! What a lucky Mama to have a 3 week old sleep so soundly!
The newly enlarged Family! Just in time for Thanksgiving!
Dumpling & I made a sign for the airport- I made the sign, Dumpling decorated it with stickers- good Auntie/Dumpling teamwork!
Each color coded stack represents dossiers from a different agency. Imagine, these are just dossiers in the matching room!
Once a family's dossier is in the matching room, that is where the magic begins! They can use any sort of information in your file or physical characteristics to match families with children. Sometimes it's a birthdate and an anniversary, or birthdates, or a similar look in the eyes. Whatever criteria they use to match, Every single parent I've ever met has told me that the child they were matched with was the perfect child for their family.
After you have been "MATCHED" with a child, the referrals are sent to waiting families around the world. The referral tells you the name of your child, how old they are, what province they are in, the circumstances of their arrival at the orphanage, a daily schedule of your child's eating and sleeping habits, some brief information about your child's personality, and most important, Photos!!! 
Right now the rumors are that the CCAA are matching families, and that referrals will cover February 20th, 2006...that would put me as nearly a "sure thing" for a December referral...we'll see! Cross your crossables!
After a pretty shaky flight (wobbling left to right on the way up, and kind of a severe "upwards" swing when we thought we were preparing to land...) we made it and Jess & Grant & Little D picked us up at the airport.
And of course, the Brady Bunch House!
On Sunday we all went for a hike, I think it was through Laurel Canyon...Little D was sleeping in the stroller, so I managed to get the camera balanced on top of the stroller for a group pic: L-R is Grant, Jessica, Jeremy & I.
Then it was up to the HOLLYWOOD sign!!! Very exciting, but seriously, I loved the little signs almost as much as the big sign:
Okay no, it's not as cool as the real thing...fortunately I got some pics of the real Hollywood sign too!
Jeremy & I posing with the sign...
And Jessica & Grant holding a squirming Little D!
Grant & Jessica are both very very sweet! Both seem just enthralled at the very aspect of being parents- they are both actors so I have a feeling Little D has a very entertaining life!
To be continued...see below!
Jeremy & I went to Huntington Gardens in Pasadena a few days ago. We were both a little surprised by the admission and didn't know what to expect, but understood the reason for the price after we saw it all! The garden was actually multiple gardens- a desert garden, lily ponds, a Japanese Garden, an Australian Garden, a Chinese Garden, and a couple of buildings with permanent and rotating art on display. It was really quite amazing!
There were a couple of trees we called the "Dr Seuss Trees"- this was my favorite:
And this was pretty Seuss-ish as well...
Some amazing and prickly looking cactus...
Again...as if I didn't have enough reason to be afraid of the ball, here is yet another reason...quite beautiful, but those balls are dangerous! 
***
And what better to go with my etched bamboo photograph collection than a sign prohibiting such an act?
The bonsai were a favorite for both Jeremy & I.
This guy looked like he could have been in the garden at Versailles.
In fact, I better check my photos, because I might just have the same pick FROM Versailles...
What a cutie- Little D loved pushing the buttons on the computer...
I had such a warm welcome into the family from Jessica, I hope she'll forgive me for this pic and not send me packing- I just thought it was a cute pic of she & Little D!
Uncle Jeremy getting some sweet nephew time in...
Little D loved those big glasses, although it was probably mostly because we were drinking from them...
***
Jeremy & I went to Venice Beach for a little walk on Tuesday and had lunch along the boardwalk. We were serenaded by a Johnney Cash cover band while we were finishing up our lunch.
they were cute- it was an awfully hot day to be out there playing, but I guess the Californians are more accustomed to the heat...
The view down Venice beach...
After Venice Beach we went to NBC to meet some friends of Jeremy's and we had tickets to the Tonight show! The guests were Bill Mahr, Dan Norton & (so exciting!) James Taylor! It was really fun- I'd never been to a live taping before & Tim & Pea took us on a little tour to see some of the studios beforehand, including telemundo (the spanish station) and some of the control rooms. We said hello to the weather guy and some of the control room guys as well- everyone seemed so nice! The show was quite a lot of fun and we went for Japanese food with Tim & Pea afterwards.
On Wednesday I had to fly back to Portland as I'm out of town again this weekend to Asia. Getting a little last minute cuddles with Little D before heading out. Jeremy took me to the airport as he was staying a few days more then driving back up. This trip tomorrow is one trip that I can't wait to get home from! This asia trip is not such a long trip, but I will be happy to get home again because Jeremy will be home from LA.
This circus had more camels than horses. seriously, MORE camels. Camels with two humps, campels with one hump, brown camels and white camels...there were camels and more to go around...
And there was a German clown. Actually there were two, but this one was kind of a favorite. What's not to love about a clown in red plaid with a matching red nose? Except for the fact that I couldn't understand anything he said, he was rather amusing!
And yes, there were some horses along with the camels...
And the star of the show (or maybe that was just in my eyes)- the baby giraffe, Hans. (This is the name he has been given in the last couple days, to the best of my knowledge his name is not really actually Hans...)
And the pretty cute zebras, I know that the giraffe was quite young, and I think one of the zebras was as well...
The "trapeze" lady #2- she was pretty good, but I was more enthralled with the great shadows she was casting on the side of the tent. No, this one did not have a sparkly diamond studded bra...
And *this* is who you have all been waiting for! Francois! The Performing Hippopotomous!!!
Actually to be truthful, Francois didn't do much. But seriously, when you weigh as much as Francois and have as large teeth as Francois, you kind of get to run the show- your way. The fact that she wandered in, rounded the ring, stood on the round stand in the middle and tossed an apple back and forth (by letting it roll back out of her mouth) was impressive enough to me. Good job Francois...
These guys were one of those more kind of "sad" acts- you just got the idea that they had this romantic notion to run away to the cirucs and wonder why they ever did. Maybe not- but they had these totally plastered on fake smiles and I just kinda felt bad- like maybe they really wished they were performing about anywhere else besides this little one ring family circus in a half filled tent in a little back woods town in Bavaria.
I loved the paintings on the side of the truck. Very old school circus, with the exception of the tiger holding a coke and a sprite.
