We're in Guangzhou...only one night left till Abby comes!

March 1, 11:00 p.m.

We flew to Guangzhou today, about 1,500 miles south of Beijing. Guangzhou is the fifth largest city in China, with about 10 million people. The climate is fairly warm, usually in the 70s and 80s this time of year. It is the manufacturing capital of China. Abby's orphanage is in the city of Shenzhen, about 2 1/2 hours from here. They'll bring her to us tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. We hope to visit her orphanage later in the week. We'll be in Guangzhou the rest of our time in China. All families must come through Guangzhou when they adopt a child in China, since the official office handling all adoptions for the country is located in this city. Therefore, you see so many American and European families with their adorable Chinese children in the hotels, shops, restaurants and walking in the streets. Trevor Hale, a dear friend of ours from Alabama who worked with Linda at Mercedes in Tuscaloosa, now lives in Beijing working for Daimler. Trevor is with us in Guangzhou in the official position of "Ana's chaperone." It's a requirement of our adoption agency that you have a chaperone if you bring another child under the age of 10. We're not sure whether Trevor or Ana will have more fun with the other, but I know that Steve and I are truly grateful for Trevor's friendship and his ability to be with us on this journey.

In about 18 hours we'll have Abby Lin. It's still so hard to believe.