I (anne) am very happy to be in Guangzhou.  We are staying on an island right by the American consulate.  There are many other adoptive families here.  It is fun to watch everyone as they get to know their new family member.  It is also nice not to be such an anomaly to the locals.  We were constantly being stared at and commented about in Tianjin.  We felt like we were in a fish bowl and although we were told this was the way things would go, we never got comfortable with it.  Although Guangzou is a city of 14 million, the area we are staying in feels like a small town which is much more my speed.  

We had a great time with Kent, Ann, and the girls.  Family is such a comfort, especially when you are half way around the world.  Lizzie warmed up to Jesse but was pretty hesitant with everyone else.  She did seem to enjoy kent talking to her in chinese.  Sometimes I forget that she can't understand us yet and this was a good reminder that our language sounds just as confusing to her as her language sounds to us.

The next three days we have a variety of official paper work type things to do and will hang out at the pool (see the shamu impression by Kent and Justin) and Starbucks in between.  It is extremely hot here and very humid so doing anything outside is a challenge.  We are having a great time.  Everything has far exceeded our expectations, but we are all ready to come home.  We have been gone 12 days and we miss comforts, conveniences, friends, and family that are back home.  

Lizzie continues to do really well.  She laughs a little more each day and we are starting to see that she has quite a sense of humor.  She also has a very strong will.  She can throw quite a temper tantrum already and she is only 15 months old.  Fortunately, the tantrums don't tend to last very long but they are quite loud.  Ross and I find the tantrums pretty funny to watch but the boys get a little stressed by them.  

Thats all for now.  Hope you are all doing well!