When we arrived, the director walked us into a sort of sitting room with couches and served us tea. Broken tea leaves were floating on the top of each cup and it was difficult to drink the tea without swallowing tea leaves.

Eleven of us then piled back in the van after tea and drove a couple of miles to a quaint restaurant. The director and her assistant and all of us then sat down for a genuine Chinese dining experience.

We had several dishes: meat from pig head, chicken feet, river shrimp, and bok choy to name a few. I sampled everything, while my seven-year-old son watched and thought dad was out of his mind. Our twelve-year-old son decided the event needed his photography skills during the entire meal, even though up to this point he had been content to leave all the photography during the trip up to others. Our daughter, Anna, just smiled and looked beautiful and ate very little.

The director told us that Kayli was one of the most cheerful orphans she ever worked with. She said that Kayli started talking clearly soon after her cleft palate and lips had been repaired, and began walking at the age of thirteen or fourteen months.

We also met Dr. Wong. This was very heart-wrenching. Dr. Wong had been acting like a foster father to Kayli, taking her home with him and his wife for extended periods. Dr. Wong is a grandfather. Kayli saw him and clung to him, wrapping her hands into his suit coat.

Dr. Wong cried a little and called his wife on his cell phone so that she could talk to her one last time. It turns out that Dr. Wong hadn’t known that the special needs kids were being placed for adoption. When he first started partially fostering Kayli, he thought she would always be there. We dreaded the moment the two of them would have to separate, but, then Dr. Wong said something and Kayli reached out to her mom.

After lunch we returned for a tour of the orphanage and saw Kayli’s classrooms and met her teachers. EnMei seems to be run admirably well and the people working there genuinely care for the children.

We also took photos for another family waiting on their travel approval of a handsome young man they are adopting. Their little man had just woken up from a nap. We also took a care package to him from his new family.

Today was a day we will never forget. Lord willing, we can bring Kayli back sometime in the future to see these dear people.