The Big Day!!

Happy parents
Originally uploaded by Isabella Youlan.

Today, May 9, 2005 was the day we first met our daughter Isabella. We left Guangzhou very early for a short flight to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province. We checked in to our hotel then had the whole middle part of the day to kill (and be nervous) before meeting our babies. The bus bringing them was delayed due to traffic, but finally around 3:30 they arrived. The staff had things really organized and we each had our daughters brought to us one by one. We were second in line out of seven couples. They walked up to us, checked our passports to make sure we were the right parents for the right child, then handed us our baby. She wasn't so sure about it at first and cried a little, but soon settled down. We were able to ask the orphange director some questions about our daughter's history, and he gave us a disposable camera we had sent ahead some weeks ago. He indicated there would be pictures of important sites in Tonggu and we think there will be a picture of the foster mom too. We are lucky enough to have her name and we are encouraged to write to her via the orphanage and send photos of Isabella once a year or so.