The best Christmas present we received (probably ever, actually) was the news that we were "matched" with a precious little Chinese girl. We hope to complete the paperwork and go finalize everything this Spring, bringing her to the USA over the summer to complete her citizenship. It has been a long road, with the paperwork starting over a year and a half ago (probably closer to two years). Once we head to Nanjing to do the provincial level paperwork, I'll have plenty of great pictures to post of her! More to come...
The Renaissance yard.
A shot of the pool, good thing about the weather was that basically only the laowai got in!
We were upgraded to a villa due to too many nights spent in Marriott hotels! This we the private pool and Riley demonstrating how the other .05% lives.
We headed out to visit one of the hill people minorities.
Our friend Brad noted how convenient it was that they built their traditional homes on stilts. Makes for easy parking.
Most of the kids, there were a few others lingering in the background.
I thought this was a cool picture, but upon walking up I noticed it was a wide open well! Yep, totally exposed other than a couple of rails...
Hmm, are we in Colorado?
I bet you that you forgot the first three words before you got to the end.
I ran up ahead to ensure this was OK for the kids. Thankfully it ended up being a bad translation for rock garden...
Fresh coconuts!
Snake head wine, good for man.
The walking on glass show. Also, we saw some coal walking and licking.
Mmmmm, meat on a stick...
Good times.
Sadly for me, this was the best photo of several that Reid took for us.
Don't zoom!!!
Riley "manning up" and body surfing directly onto the beach. He was plenty skinned up, but enjoyed it.
Yes, it really was the same size as a 9 year olds' hand.
I think she was worried they would fall in, either that or she wanted to talk to them without us around...
Reid poaching a Hainan chicken. The cooking lesson ended up being one of the highlights for all of us.
The chef at the Renaissance showing us how to make mango and coconut sago.
Riley said it definitely needed more sugar.
Hainan chicken and rice, delicious!
Zoolander approves.
Another highlight, surfing lessons! Riley rode the wave all the way in on his first ride. I think he and Reid both may be hooked.
Action shot of dad's killer wave.
I found this on the camera that Rowan had control of when he took a tea break; the rest of us were surfing.
Nice Ro, real nice. I may be in trouble when he gets older. His pockets were full of candy too.
Riley got an underwater camera bag for Christmas, below are a few shots testing it out.
Back home for Christmas day. As usual, Legos were a common theme.
Fear the beard. Yes, that is a tiara.
