Yesterday was Eliza’s very first birthday with her family. Her cake was completely covered in chocolate! Her Mama really loved that!
I’m sorry I didn’t get to post yesterday. It really was a busy day, and we were dealing with the huge barricades and security around the Garden Hotel, so it really made everything much harder and more exhausting.
We went over to Shamian Island and took some pictures in the park.
I thought this picture of Mark and the girls in front of the tree was such a good one because the man riding the bike with his parcels on the back really is an accurate depiction of the streets and lifestyle of China.
Our group met in the lobby for a group picture with the children wearing their silks. We didn’t get a picture with everyone, but we did get a picture with the girls and our new friends, Ray and Terri.
In the evening, we went on a dinner boat on the Pearl River. It was a beautiful night, and the girls really enjoyed it.
This is a picture of the world’s tallest television tower (if I am not mistaken).
When we got back in the evening, all the protestors had gone home, and there were only a few police and military personnel remaining.
We have had Evangeline for ten days now, and it feels like she has been our daughter forever. She is comfortable with us, and has already begun to learn the language. She is our little translator on the streets of Guangzhou. Her wound is healing, although it is still open, and we would just love to see it close.
Eliza has had a couple of better days, although it has been much harder to get to know her. Mark and I were just looking at pictures of her from the orphanage, and we commented that she doesn’t even seem like the same girl as we saw in the photos. We can only assume that the adoption has been a huge trauma for her.
She wrote us letters while she was in China, and the translators have told us that her Chinese was beautiful. Yet, I gave her the letter from Chloe, a young lady who was adopted as an older child from China, written to children who have been adopted as older children, and she either could not read it, or chose not to. She did not read beyond the first paragraph.
We have many questions about Eliza, but we are going to her orphanage on Friday and are hoping to get some answers while we are there.
We are so thankful for all of your prayers and comments. We value all the wisdom and experiences you have shared and are so blessed by your friendship.
Blessings!
You are probably correct about the ‘trauma’ of the adoption proceedings on our children. Our son was very taumatised by the experience and is now after 10 months home starting to hea. God is so faithful to heal their precious hearts in time. our “Z daughter home almost 3 yrs, is still very wounded yet month by month we see steady progress of trust and attachment. Still a long way to go though (-:
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THe girls look so pretty in their silks…I love the pink (of course). I am quite impressed by the TV Tower! Such beautiful colors. We do not decorate them like that here….
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