REVENGE OF THE CHINESE!

I keep asking myself, "what did I do?" After carefully pondering the subject I have realized that my sins have caught up with me and I almost hear the still small voice of God saying, "How's that working out for you"? Either that, or the chinese have a master plan and here's how they are going to take over the world. Natalie might not be the leader of the New World Order, but I think she's going to be in the connection. But, my final thought is also the answer to the biggest question that Steph and I had when we got our precious Natalie, which was, "How could such a beautiful girl last for almost 2 years in the orphanage?" and now we know. SHE IS A TOOT. Of course, Steph won't be hurt in the taking over of the world because she will be the Queen Mother. I feel like a sperm donor.

Today was a most relaxing day which we needed. Abuse takes a lot out of you, but, still, seeing Nat and Steph love each other, it makes everything wonderful. I hate to sound like a wimp, but I find myself misty eyed watching them and seeing the trust my little one gives to Steph (did I say I think Steph is in on the take over) says so much about her life before us. I know that the care givers at the orphanage have been very good to Natalie and we can't express how much we love them (really)and admire what they have done and with the exception or spoiling her rotten, she is absolutely wonderful!

We ordered "hand made" traditional dresses for Natalie today. I went a little nuts and we got three. I have a picture in my mind that when Nat is 16, she will stand at the front door and I will just throw money at her. She, when it's just Steph, Nat and me, play together and she actually hands me stuff to throw that she will fetch. I started thinking, "Hey, I don't have a retriever, this is going to workout great during bird season!" Now Charlie and I don't have to invest in the dog! So anyway, we did the dress deal and our guide took us on a local tour of another budda temple. Yesterday, our guide gave us a note to show the "locals" when they inquire, which happens a lot, about our little one. The note, written in chinese, tells the inquiring minds something along the lines of, "We have adopted Natalie and are taking her back to the USA to raise and give her a great life"! I am pretty sure that there's something in there about the take over and to wait for the sign, but since I can't read chinese, I can't tell for sure. The temple was within walking distance from the hotel and Nat slept thru most of it, which again gave me an opportunity to spend some time with her. We were almost thru with the tour before Natalie woke up and looked up from the stroller, saw me and was calling down the wrath, but thankfully Steph wasn't far away, so she cancelled my annihilation. While walking to and from the temple, the street we were on was filled with little shops and street vendors. It amazes me how hard these people work, for so little. We had several people come up and look at Natalie and we showed them our little note, which they read and then gave the "thumbs up" and some said, "Thank you"! I am pretty sure that these are the cabinet members of the new regime! We took a few pictures of the locals. They were quite cute! I asked them in sign. I held up the camera and pointed at them and they all shook their heads yes (I am guessing since none of them chased me down). We bought some baked bread from one of the vendors and 2 pieces was 1 RMB or about .14 cents I think. We stopped by a local store, got lots of stares and bought some pop and finally, we stopped and Tiffany's. Steph had read about Tiffany's from some other parents who have been here before. Tiffany is getting us the copy of the paper that had Natalie's Found Notice for free. She also gave us a gift for Natalie and we got some small gifts and memorabilia for Natalie. If you come here, find her place. She is very appreciative of what we are doing.

We ended the day with a nice dinner at a local restaurant. When we got back to the hotel, we gave Natalie a bath and played with her till she wore us out and then we put her to bed. Natalie gets better with us everyday and everyday we love her more.

We hope the pictures make it to the post and we hope the you enjoy them.

Have a great day! God Bless!