Can’t believe that this day has finally arrived. Ceinwen didn’t understand what the day was, and we also thought that somewhere near Nanfeng, Jiangxi Province, there is probably a mother wondering about her little girl whom she left on the steps of Nanfeng orphanage not long after she was born.

We had a great day. Gwion was again excited and wanted to open all of Ceinwen’s presents and have them for himself, and was a bit put out that he wasn’t getting any!

We had a family party in the afternoon, which started a lot later than planned as my sisters and their families got caught up in horrendous traffic jams on the M6 from Birmingham due to two traffic accidents. So about 5 hours after starting out (normally it takes 2 ½ hours) they finally arrived. Rhodri’s aunt Rosie had arrived at lunchtime, and his parents were arriving at teatime from Abergavenny.

So we had quite a house full. In total: 9 adults, 5 children and 2 babies! Ceinwen was quite clingy in the beginning and quite apprehensive having all these people around her, but slowly she did come around and enjoyed the attention she got. She got lots more presents, which both Gwion and Charlie wanted to play with!

Rhodri’s parents stayed the night with us, and everyone else left by 8:30 pm, and we got the kids to bed, over-excited and over-tired! Very hectic but good fun.

Enjoy the photos!

Just a quick message to say that Ceinwen is now officially a British Citizen. We had to apply for citizenship when we came back from China, and eventually got around to sending off: the application form; all the various documents to prove who she was and that we are British citizens; and a £200 fee, at the end of November. From the UK Chinese adopting website we knew it would take about 2 months to be approved, so we were very surprised and delighted to find all the documents (including Ceinwen’s Chinese passport) and her British Citizen certificate in the post this morning! A great end to a wonderful 2005!

Blwyydyn Newydd Dda (Happy New Year) to everyone.

Next....January, 2006