This morning we had to be in the lobby at 4:45am and off to the airport. We arrived in Xi'an around 9:30am. It took approximately 45 minutes to get to the hotel. You would be amazed with the driving in this country! There are cars, buses, mopeds, bicycles, pedestrians and trolleys all sharing the road and merging and blowing horns like crazy. They do not have many traffic signals and they do not seem to follow any rules. The amazing part, we have yet to see even 1 accident! That is unbelievable!

We arrived at the hotel, checked in, and our guide, Michelle, told us she would meet us in the lobby around 12:00pm. We met her and she took us and showed us where the grocery store and shopping areas are. Let me tell you if we thought we were being stared at in Beijing, we are really on display here in Xi'an. I must tell you I miss home already! We barely left the front of the hotel and Mike was approached by a little girl begging for money. Then as we walked a little further, an older lady was begging Mike for money. Michelle said just keep walking. Well this lady was persistent, she continued following Mike and basically through herself on his feet. Very uncomfortable.

We went on down the road for lunch and ended up at Pizza Hut for the American special which is how you order pepperoni pizza here. I must say the Pizza Hut did not look like the ones at home, much nicer and it was very good! We then headed to the grocery store and got 3 cans of Coke Light, 3 bottles of Pepsi and 6 water bottles for around 3 USD. Very good price!

We then went back to the hotel. The room here is much smaller. Kind of like being in a New York City hotel room. They have set the crib up in the room and we are as ready as we are going to be right now! At the time I started writing this part of our entry, it was less than 4 hours until we would get Sadena, it was very unreal to me! I wanted to take the time to thank all of you who have shared this journey with us! These moments are what we have been waiting for! Pray that she bonds well and adapts to her new family and surroundings...

... Ok, so we have her! YEAH! It went very well. At first she clung to the nannies and wanted nothing to do with us...

... so I got down on the floor and tried to win her over with toys... still not working.

After a few minutes I just took her and she cried for a minute and then was fine.

She still looks soooooooo serious but they gave us a photo album of her and she has a very cute smile!

We are back to the room now and she is in her pjs. She had a bowl of rice cereal, and 4 or 5 McDonald's French fries...

... and she is currently drinking from her sippy cup the formula that she still takes a few times a day. Mike and her are having their bonding time now. It seemed at first, if I was right there she wanted me. But she is on the bed with Mike now and doing fine.

Well, I am going to go and spend time with Sadena and Mike. Enjoy the pictures!