Today was a long day of travel.

We left Henan Province which is where Noelle was born on January 14, 2009. It is also where we met her and became her forever family. It is a special part of China for us and we will miss it. Someday we will return with Noelle so she can experience where she is from.

 

In the morning we had one last walk around the fountains in front of the hotel and took lots of time to smell the flowers. She loves flowers so I had to get one last picture of her smelling them. We had a fun bus ride to the airport. Noelle did a lot of waving at Lily and Liz in the seat behind us and also got some special love from our Henan/Zhengzhou guide, Yisha. Noelle just loved her and tried to dance with her all the time.

 

I was solo for the travels today so that was a little challenging. The other dads helped me out but it really wasn't too bad. I think I got good practice and am ready to go it alone next Saturday.

 

Noelle had fun playing with her new friends in the airport while we waited for our plane. Once on the plane she had everyone around us playing with her and she was happily giving out kisses and putting on a little dance show. No napping for her, too much to do. She smiles very freely and it seems everyone is taken with her sweet spirit right away. She loves when they speak Chinese to her.

Once we arrived in Ghangzhou, I was very upset to see lots of mosquitoes. Her bites are just now starting to look better and now there are even more buggers to contend with. So even though it is hot and humid here I bundled her up to her eyebrows so they couldn't get at her. That is why she is wrapped up in her pink blanket and probably doesn't look too happy about it.

 

We checked in at the White Swan Hotel which is a beautiful hotel of Shamian Island and then we skyped with Dad, Kyle, Sean, Ryan, Bailey and Muffin. I miss them all so much that I started crying when I saw them tonight. It is very hard being away from my wonderful boys for so long. Sean went up to the computer and hugged me to try to make me feel better which he did. And Kyle reminded me to hug the little girl siting on my lap so I wouldn't feel sad. That also helped me feel better. Then I decided to let Noelle do a dance for them. Her foster family let her bring her Blues Clues song player toy with her and she loves to press the play button and dance. She is a real natural. Music and dancing are certainly in her future. The boys all got a kick out of watching her dance around the hotel room. I can't wait for them to see her in action and dance and play with her.

 

While we were gone I left a few presents for the boys to open every few days. Today was the last one and they opened it while we were skypeing. It was a package of 4 paintable horses, one for each of them. They said they'd paint Noelle's pink. That will be cute, can't wait to see it.

 

So now it is bedtime. I got to sway Noelle to sleep tonight. It was so precious. The beds here are tiny so I think I'm in for quite a few kicks from her tonight but that's perfectly fine with me. I've waited so long for this magical time I'm just enjoying every single smile, giggle and kick in the night.

 

Thank you all for following along. It is so nice to read your emails and hear from Gene that so many back home are following along. We are living an amazing experience right now with lots of emotions. Sadness for what is being left behind, hope and happiness for what the future holds. More soon....Katy