The ups and downs of bonding

After waking up to this sleeping beauty:

We went to breakfast and tried to figure out what we were eating:

Then we attempted to go out and take pictures in the beautiful flowers:

Then only moments later, while I was taking this photo showing how hard they work around here:

Lia had her moment of panic.

David and Tia were walking on ahead with Lia as I was taking the photo. He didn't realize that I wasn't right behind them, but Lia did not see me. She absolutely lost it and was so frightened. I thought something had happened when I heard her screaming, but David said no, she just didn't see me. Even though I comforted her, from that moment on for quite awhile she was very unhappy. It broke my heart to know that she is so frightened of being left again. In her little life she has already experienced great loss and even though she has many smiles, moments like this bring it all back into view what she must be going through.

We continued with our day and went back to the park that was packed with people two days ago on Children's Day. Today it was empty and we had the chance to ride a few of the rides, after trying to figure out how to purchase tickets through our language barrier. Lia was still not too sure of things, but enjoyed the rides after a short amount of time.

It seems that most all children enjoy bubbles and she proved that this was what would bring back her beautiful smile today.

And who doesn't love a good blizzard?or a nice manicure and pedicure with the girls and your daddy standing close beside you?

So we certainly ended on a much better note.

She loves her daddy very much and gives him lots of kisses, but did NOT want him to carry her or hold her hand today. At one point our guide tried to explain to her that mommy can't carry her all of the time. She then let daddy carry her, but had big silent crocodile tears on her face-a heart breaker for this mommy and daddy! We realize that this is a process, so we ask for your prayers as she grieves the loss of one life in order to begin a new one.

After Tia occasionally told her she just couldn't carry her any longer this was the look she got:

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and words of support and encouragement. We treasure each loving word and prayer and feel God's presence throughout the journey. Tomorrow may be difficult as we are getting up at 5 am to hopefully watch Brandon graduate via skype(the greatest technology invention ever). Then we will be leaving Lia's province and the only life she has known behind as we fly to Guangzhou to begin the process of getting her visa so that she can enter the USA and become a citizen upon arrival.