Yesterday (Sunday in China) was our last day in Laibin. After breakfast, we strolled the streets for a while before our driver came to pick us up. While walking around, we came across a middle school and an elementary school. They are definitely different than the schools I am used to seeing! They were at least gated, but they were located right in the center of the block with shops all around. We did not go into the complex, because we didn't feel that would be appropriate, but we did take pictures!! We left Laibin a little sad, but completely grateful to have had the experience. I can tell you that visiting Laibin was the best thing that we could have done. We are looking forward to sharing our adventures with Danielle - it is going to be so incredible to tell her how much we loved her birthplace - I hope that she will enjoy hearing about it. Anyway, our driver picked us up as scheduled and drove us all the way to the Majestic Hotel. We were suppose to stay at the Wharton, but we found out right before we left Guangzhou, that the government needed the hotel for something and we got bumped - everyone got bumped! But all is well, the Majestic is absolutely beautiful. When we arrived at the hotel we found out Aisha Cooper, who works with us at Hope For Children in Atlanta, was already checked in. So we stormed Aisha's room, having Meg yell stuff in Chinese. I think Aisha was too scared to open the door! We met up with Michael, our guide while we are in Nanning, and the Pinson family to head out for dinner. Once again, we were fed like kings! I have been loving the food...although I will be ready for a nice juicy steak when I get home! After dinner, Steve, Aisha and I went for a massage! Oh yeah!!! It was a fantastic hour long massage for $12!! They found knots on me that I didn't even know I had, but boy do I feel good now! We will be meeting Danielle today at 3:30 pm (2:30 am your time) today! I just can't even believe it! We are going to run out to get some clothes laundered and to get diapers and snacks, but other than that, our main focus will be on our little princess. Please pray all goes well & pray God wraps His arms around her in order to make her feel safe in such a scary situation. We have no doubt in our mind that God has orchestrated the entire process and that He destined Danielle to be our daughter since the beginning of time, but we still want Danielle to feel as safe and secure as possible. Please continue to pray that we can go back to Laibin to tour the orphanage and especially to meet the foster mother. God can do anything - we just pray He wants us to meet the foster family as much as we do!! Thank you all for your posted reply comments (they're very encouraging), love, support and especially your prayers - we couldn't have done this without them!!
P.S. We are having some difficulty downloading pictures, basically because it is taking a ridiculous amount of time. We are having to jump through a lot of hoops to even access our blog! I have sent some pictures of Laibin to a friend, and hopefully he will be able to post them sometime on Mon (your time). When we get back to the States, I will post even more!