Going smoothly!!

It is Wednesday morning here in Hebei Province. We have had Abigail with us for the last two nights. It is going extremely well, better than we could have dreamed. She is happy and full of energy. We are getting a little better at communicating as we learn more Chinese and she learns some English. She is very intelligent and inquisitive. At times she has tested the boundaries and refused to obey when we tried to get her to stop messing with something, but overall her behavior is very good.

Yesterday was a day filled with paperwork. We went to the office of Civil Affairs to complete the legal part of the adoption. Then we traveled to the office of the Notary and had more paperwork and interviews to complete. Finally, we went to the police station where Abigail had her picture taken and more paperwork for her passport. We can't leave this city until we have her passport. Then we will travel to Guanzhou and she will have a medical exam and complete the U.S. side of the adoption paperwork at the Consulate there. Our guide told us that if her passport process is progressing well today than we will be able to tour the city here tomorrow. Otherwise we have to stay close so he can make sure nothing falls through the cracks. We are beginning to get some cabin fever and want to get outside and let the kids run.

McDonalds and KFC are about 3 blocks from our hotel. We had McDonalds last night. The menu is quite different, but you can still get a good burger, Big Mac, McNuggets and good fries and Coca Cola. The food in the restaurant at our hotel is buffet style and overall is very good, but we miss American food. The hotel as you will see from some of our pictures is very nice, actually probably the nicest we have ever been in. It is only one year old. They have an amazing pool that we experienced last night and the kids really enjoyed themselves. Abigail was pretty big eyed and it was pretty evident that she does not know how to swim, but she was brave and seemed to enjoy being carried around in the water.

Overall things seem to be going smoothly. We feel very blessed and feel our prayers our definitely being answered. Sleep well tonight in the U.S.A.!