Keepin Up With The L.Perry Family 2: Lia's "Gotcha Day"!!!

At the Civil Affairs office...

She is just walking in...

Sisters!!!

She loves the ipod and music like Lorelle...

Barbies...

First family photo...can't wait to add the boys!!!

Giving "baba" a shoulder massage:)

Monday, January 7^th: We have Lia!!! But before that… Lance, the girls and I enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the top of our hotel…great buffet with a viewJ Then we went over to Starbucks to get me some energy for the day…LOL!!! And yes it was DELICIOUS!!! I shall be going back every morning until our departure. We sat at the window seat for a while just watching Guangzhou go by and sipping our coffee… We have lots of good discussions with the girls and I am sure many more are to come. We saw a disfigured man laying on the sidewalk yesterday that the girls are still trying to processL Life is just hard here…<sigh> We walked the city blocks around our hotel and scoped out possible clothes shopping stores (if needed) and places to eat. We them explored the hotel…it is HUGE and has a gorgeous garden area that I took some pictures of but now am having trouble unloading from Lances phone (maybe later;). Better yet…I will take more but with Lia in them. Soon it was almost 2PM and time to go meet Lia, we arrived a few minutes before her so we got to see her walk in. She walked with her head down and with her glasses off and you could tell she was very nervous and could not see well. They told us she was very shy around new people. We sat down and the girls started interacting with her and it did NOT take very long before she started to come out of her shell. We were probably only at the office for 30 minutes today before we headed back to our hotel. The girls have been absolutely AMAZING with her…especially Lorelle!! God spoke to me VERY early and strongly about bringing them and it has been a God-sent for sure. Thank you Lord for your guidance! The girls and I continued to play back at the hotel. She always wants to keep an eye on Lance and you can tell she really likes him. She is also fine with me…thank goodness!! She is taller that we thought…just a little taller that Lilyan. I would NOT say her behavior is that of a typical 13 yr. old but I did not expect it to be. She is very behind socially and mentally. LOTS of hard work ahead and catching up to do…she will keep me busyJ She came in dirty, stinky boy clothes and brought a bag full of others…I have seen nothing I sent except the backpack they came in. I DO feel like they did a good job preparing her for us. She left her foster family a couple weeks ago and was sent back to the orphanage…I do not think we will be able to meet themL We are going to go visit the orphanage on Friday. She spent the first 8 years of her life there with hundreds of other kids. I am sure it will be an emotional visit for us. Please pray that Lia (Jing…as she wants to be called for now;) will continue to bond and learn quickly and that the rest of our trip will be a good one for everyone. Love you all and thank you so much for your continued prayers. Oh...and Happy 16th Anniversary to the man of my dreams and best husband/father in the world<3

Back at the hotel...