Moving Mountains: Made for Me

She was made for me
You gave her to me
For now I'll hold on loosely but I so wanna squeeze
Just right for me and for the life of me
I can't believe I get to call her mine

She is a flower, You are the rain
She gets more beautiful with every passing day
She is my flower and You are the sun
She gets more beautiful because of how You love
How You love

Well I got white skin and she got brown skin
But milk and coffee's always been a beautiful blend

She was made for me
You gave her to me
For now I'll hold on loosely but I so wanna squeeze
Just right for me and for the life of me
I can't believe I get to call her mine

We have had Arayla with us for 8 days now. Listening to the song "Made for Me" by TobyMac, even though the song is written about his wife, we found the words fit for Arayla and us almost perfectly. For now she doesn't want us to hold her tightly, but we SO want to squeeze her! At times she gets overwhelmed by too much holding or touching and pushes us away. But she is like the flower from the song. Even in the short amount of time we've been together she is gradually opening herself up, becoming more comfortable around us and beginning to trust us. It's a process with ups and downs, but God is giving her peace and the sense that we are here for her good and we are NOT LEAVING! She fed a cookie to Mama last night and actually gave Mama a kiss for the first time! It was a moment of beauty. Wow. God is so good. She has come so far in just over a week!

Today was a "take it easy" day. We like when we go places with the group, and we like days to just relax and do nothing. It's good to have a mixture. We got up around 8 AM, which is LATE for us. We are used to waking up around 3 or 4 AM, due to the jetlag still digging in its merciless claws. I guess we will finally get adjusted to China time just before we return home and have to adjust all over again! After a late breakfast we fed the fish, which are just outside on the grounds of our hotel. Very beautiful waterfalls and lots of koi. Arayla loved throwing pieces of bread and watching the koi splash.

The weather is very pleasant here in Guangzhou, probably the one thing we will miss about this place! We definitely will not miss the crowds and, ummmm, fascinating odors. Everywhere we go it is wall to wall people and no personal space. Don't leave any room while waiting in a line somewhere because a person will step in front of you in the blink of an eye! I set my drink on the counter to buy at 7-Eleven yesterday and was in the process of pulling out my Chinese Monopoly money when somebody just jumped right in front of me and started waving their money at the cashier. I don't believe they think they're being rude. It's just a difference in culture than what we're used to. Anyway, back from tangent! Some of the other adoptive families joined us feeding the fish and relaxing under the trees. I went to the hotel gym to do some treadmill running while Keyanna and Arayla hung out more with the other families.

Next we all walked to a nearby park and strolled around. One thing that is very funny about China is the signs! When they translate words into English on their signs it is obvious they didn't get an English speaking person to proofread. I posted one picture of a sign in yesterday's post that said "NO SHOTTING" with a picture of a gun next to it. Here are a few more funny signs we saw at the park today.

Caution: Deep Wate! (water)

Still can't figure out what "No spainting" means. I thought maybe it means spray painting? Oh by the way, no hoopla, either!

No selling and no hammock. Got it.
But why would you combine those two? Do some people sell while in their hammock?

Rubbish somewhere is fine. But not everywhere.

Too manyy Y's.

Take yo' business elsewhere!

More pics of the park...

Walking together.

Walking is so exhausting!

Eating "lunch" which is graham crackers, Cliff bars and water.

We spotted several cats roaming.

This man has a karaoke system setup with his laptop, microphone and portable speakers.
Just sits at the park singing away!

Cat up in a tree

"Tomb of the Martyrs"

Huge flowers growing on a tree in the park.

Made for me.

I'm cute, and I know it.

Arayla is getting stronger every day with her walking. For the past 2 days she has been walking while holding on the stroller with her left hand (her strong hand) and me holding her right hand. (see video)

Today she even walked while holding the stroller only with her left and me not touching her right hand! (see video)

Chinese people walking in the park or on the streets are mostly very friendly. Today a lady in the park smiled, pointed to Arayla, and gave us a big thumbs up! People are usually smiling at us and saying hello (nǐ hǎo) so we smile say nǐ hǎo back! This group of 4 ladies was engaging in an intense card game, but when they noticed Keyanna filming they immediately smiled and waved.

Another interesting thing you will see in Chinese parks are these amateur singing performances like in the following video. Typically these singers are not what we would think of as "good" but they certainly give their best effort!

Tonight for dinner we went out with our new friends to the "Noodle Place". That's what we call it because they have good noodles. We don't know the real name of the place. Most of our new friends are leaving tomorrow and we will be sad! (But happy for them that they get to go home!)

I don't believe I've posted many pics of food, so here you go...