Day 11 – Monday, November 28, 2005 – Changchun, Jilin to Guangzhou, Guangdong

We woke about 7 am this morning to pack and get ready to fly again. We really need that suitcase I bought at Wal-Mart last night! Eventually everything gets squooshed into the 5 checked bags and 5 carry-ons. We can still load all the bags onto 2 luggage carts and if we must - we can actually pull them all! Even with the extra daughter in tow. J We are sad to be leaving Jilin. This is the Province of Juan Juan's birth and her first time to leave Jilin. We miss Jenny before we go and struggle not to cry as we say good-bye. She is a dear friend and we don't know when we will see her again. Our time at the Shangri-La Hotel in Changchun has been wonderful! We will definitely consider staying at any Shangri-La in our future travels. The service, food, and room were all great! At the airport we stock up on some chips for the girls to eat during the flight. I wish they didn't like chips so much, but it seems to be the one thing that helps satisfy them during those times that we seriously need them to be quiet. We're hoping that Juan will happily transition to "our" brand of chips (those WITHOUT msg or shrimp flavor!!!). Someone has to keep Cape Cod Chips, Kettle Chips and Trader Joe's in business, I guess . . . The four hour flight from Jilin to Guangzhou goes quicker than we might have expected. The girls need to nap, but unfortunately they are awake most of the flight. We are the only Americans on this flight and we are quite conspicuous. When we get to Guangzhou and the White Swan we will blend well into the sea of adoptive parents and children. We arrive at the new airport in Guangzhou and are greeted by Shelly, our tour guide. A 40 minute van drive brings us to the familiar White Swan Hotel. We are happy to be at our final destination before heading home! This arrival at the White Swan was bound to be more pleasant than our arrival in January of 2004. When we arrived at the hotel in our China trip for Lilla, we found out that my Mom (Lisa's mom - Marjorie Oravetz) had gone to heaven to be with her Savior. We know Mom is with Jesus, but it was hard to be so far from her and family and know that Mom and Lilla would never meet on this earth. We still miss her dearly and wish she were here to meet both her grand-daughters - Lilla and Juan Juan. Our room is on the river side of the hotel and we view the lighted river boats each night. We were on the city side of the hotel in January 2004 for Lilla's adoption. The hotel is decorated for Christmas and it is beautiful! Last year we were here right before the Chinese New Year and it was also decorated beautifully for that very special Chinese holiday. We settle in as quickly as possible and I run to the Deli and bring food back to the room - yummy buns with meat and a Chinese meal with rice and broth (Juan's favorites at the moment). We brew some tea and enjoy our meal in the room. It is much easier with two 2 year olds to eat in the room or somewhere informal. They are good girls - but messy and noisy at times. We are again exhausted and fall asleep when we should be posting to the Ladybug Journal and getting ready for the morning. So I am writing this post several days late (again!). I'm doing my best to remember important events. Juan continues to adjust to her new life and we are so happy! She continues to be a darling girl and we hope that it won't be long before we are able to introduce her to our family and friends! 

Blessings, 

Lisa, Ben, Emma, Lilla and Juan Juan ><>

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