It's Official! Hong Wan Yun is now Annabel Wan Yun Locke

Guess what Mom and Dad? Your family officially grew today.


I keep getting distracted though. Grace and Wan Yun are in the shower together again and Grace is showing her how to wash her hair and I keep hearing Wan Yun say "Ow!" Last one was a big OWWWWWWWWWWWW! I don't know if I want to know what is going on.

Back to our story.

The young girl whose picture is in the slide show was a stand in guide until our regular one returned from South America. Guilan arrived last night around 9:00 pm and was back up with us ready to go. Wow! I would have slept all day.

We had the breakfast buffet and must say it was the funniest meal I have had until tonight's.

Grace and Wan Yun got this spaghetti looking stuff with a green vegetable in it for breakfast. Wan Yun ran back quickly and got a second full plate of it. Grace keeps picking things that are black in color to eat. Today's looked like black rice, bugs, coconut? Anyway she decided she did not like it. Wan Yun would not drink milk, but had a bowl of hot soy bean milk? I'm sitting there trying to eat a piece of toast and they are slurping strange foods and looking satisfied. The money on the buffet for me is a waste! The coffee today had to be from an Army coffee pot.

After breakfast we went to the Civil Affairs office to handle the official adoption documents. We met with the director of the SWI. Our guide, Guilan, had asked if we wanted to visit the orphanage that it now cost $1200, I don't know if that is US or RMB but would rather spend it on things we need. She asked if we wanted to meet Grace's foster mother. This has still been a HUGE issue for Grace. While she loved her dearly, the foster mother put a LOT of guilt on her, telling her she would die if she ever left. So I explained that I would like to meet her and give her pictures, but that Grace did not.

When we got to the Civil Affairs office Guilan was told that Grace's foster mother was very good. She spoiled her. This is not the story I was originally told. I was told she was going to be removed from that home regardless of whether she was adopted. So I don't know if 4 years have clouded everyone's memory or what?

I think Guilan has it set up for us to visit the group home that Wan Yun was in. I promised her we would take a cake and have a party. We will see. Wan Yun wants to see her foster mother. She has pictures and they appear to be a much older couple. One is of her foster father and she told the guide he was drunk! She keeps wanting to use the phone to call them, but Guilan has been very good at explaining that she is now my daughter and that the foster mother can see her, but she needs to get close to me. She will try to arrange it on Monday right before we leave.

I know the role of a foster mother is difficult, especially since these children live with them so long. But they are the "foster" parent only. I read someone else's post about they understood they had needs, but her responsibility is to her child. This is how I feel as well. For Grace it would be very traumatic to see her foster mother. If it was not, then she would have asked to see her and she knew I would support it.

I don't know as much about Wan Yun's background. She told the guide yesterday that she was removed from her foster home when she was going to be adopted. She has evidently stayed in touch with this family and because she is asking, I would want her to be able to tell them goodbye. She insists that is all she wants as she promised her foster mother she would.

There are still a lot of days in Nanchang, so we will see what happens.

After we did the Civil Affairs, we applied for her passport, and then to the Notary. Some felt familiar, others were completely new.

Paperwork done, we came back to the hotel for lunch, Jana style, tuna, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and crackers. We had some workbooks for Wan Yun and gave her the addition one. She wouldn't stop until she completed the whole book!

This go fish game is so cute. Grace is practicing her Chinese, Wan Yun answers "go fish" like a seasoned veteran, and I am left out! I have to do hand signals and then I don't know who has what since the rest is in Chinese.

After that we took a break and had ice cream in the lobby. I think I spent way too much on that. I wish I could figure out a simple way of knowing how much I am spending. The rate if $1 to 6.75 RMB, so would I divide their price by 7? I think I am missing decimals and zeroes in all of my calculations, so I either have spent $500, $50, $5, or $00.05 for things! I really don't know.

We walked down the street, I keep looking for the man that James, our guide from 2004, took us to for wall hangings with the girls' names on them. We made it all the way to the grocery store. Grace is overwhelmed with me spending cash. It is much easier with a debit card. But she asks constantly how much something costs and since I can 't seem to do the math, I don't know. Either spent $20 on noodles, water, chopsticks, and blow up floaties, or $200! I don't think it was $200 and almost sure we didn't get a bag of stuff for $2. So I guess it was $20.

We got back to the room, had another snack of a pastry we bought at a bakery, played some more competitive go fish. Good thing it is not for money as I would be broke!

The girls are quite remarkable. Wan Yun is so much like Grace when I adopted her, wanting to lead the way places she has never been, easily excited (no wonder, right?), and open to everything. She throws her arms around us and gives us big hugs. She and Grace have opposite roles at the moment, but on the street she wants to be in charge of Grace and me, making sure we are where we should be.

Grace has shown more patience than Job and feels she is responsible for Wan Yun making a good impression. I will continue to work with Grace so she knows she is not the disciplinarian. Wan Yun says something that sounds like "Oh god" and I heard Grace tell her to never say that again! It is quite amusing for her to go through what Gillian did for her. But I am also having to be extremely vigilant on Grace being taken advantage of too.

Guilan arranged for us to go to the park this evening and walk around. It is really pretty. The girls only got to ride the carousel. I was ready to do all of them, but Guilan doesn't want me to spoil her. :) If we slowed down we drew a crowd, which I really wanted to avoid. They all try to make Grace speak to them and she just doesn't understand what is being said. Now she knows how Darcey felt last time.

We had dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant where we had to pick the fish we would eat. I will just have to post the pictures. The girls started with chicken soup, which Guilan said had the "dark" meat in it. Ok, dark meat here is not the leg and thigh, it is the gizzard and stuff. They both loved it and I tried to talk Grace out of eating the nasty looking pieces but she thought it was delicious!

We had several courses and again I think the pictures will do it more justice. At the end, I think I paid less than for our ice cream earlier.

Wan Yun had nothing to wear tomorrow so afterward we went by the Jiangxi Hotel, where we stayed last time, on our way to a department store.

We walked through the dining room and I saw the table where we sat and had a similar meal with Jana and the girls. I couldn't help but cry and then Guilan felt terrible about taking me there.

We bought Wan Yun another outfit. Nothing I brought for her fits. Shades again of Grace. As much as she is eating I think she will catch up very quickly though.

I'm going to try to get some pictures in here quickly before I fall asleep. I can't thank Mom and Dad enough for buying us this camera. The only bad pictures have been as a result of the operator!

Sorry, pictures later, sleep now!