There was a bit of ceremony for this and the Local TV Station for Beijing was there to film a segment that showed later that evening. If I get a chance, I will see if there is a digital version of this to add to the blog. We saw it viewed this morning, while Lily and I were presented gifts from the Minister of Civil Affairs. It was quite a touching ceremony.
The Minister of Civil Affairs writes all adoption policy for the People's Republic of China. I guess we have him to thank for being able to adopt Lily!
Kathlene presented a gift from FKI to the Minister of Civil Affairs and the Deputy Minister
Groups had their pictures taken with the Government Officials.
JulieAnne gave a short speech thanking our hosts and the Civil Affairs. She did her best not to get teary eyed near the end.
The Deputy Minister gave a welcoming speech.
It was quite a brewha .... There were articles in the paper then next day and we made the news. We were the largest returning group as a whole that have come back to visit China. There have been a variety of other groups, just not one single group this large.
[Grandma Kay and Ericka]
[LeAnne and Tady]
Chessie, Sophie and Lily wander ahead at the Olympic Stadium (Missing is Mya - since she was sick that day). These girls are pretty much hand in hand or arm in arm all the time time. They are very close.
[View down the Mountain from the Cable car as we climbed to the foot of the Great Wall of China]
First view of the Great Wall of China. This section is 3 Kilometers long and had some unique features. It has been nicely restored.
The view out from the Wall on the 'enemy side?'. I figure anyone who can cross those mountain ranges should be protected against.
The Great Wall is amazing. I would have liked to spend more time there. A few of us decided to walk back down to the bus instead of taking the cable cars. All I can say is 'buns of steel' workout. It was a bit of work, but well worth it.
[Grandma Kay and Ericka] 
[LeAnne and Tady][Lucinda and DeAnne - from Australia]
Chessie, Sophie and Lily wander ahead at the Olympic Stadium (Missing is Mya - since she was sick that day). These girls are pretty much hand in hand or arm in arm all the time time. They are very close.
We rode up in the same cable car as Pres Bill Clinton - rofl
[View down the Mountain from the Cable car as we climbed to the foot of the Great Wall of China]First view of the Great Wall of China. This section is 3 Kilometers long and had some unique features. It has been nicely restored.
The view out from the Wall on the 'enemy side?'. I figure anyone who can cross those mountain ranges should be protected against.
The Great Wall is amazing. I would have liked to spend more time there. A few of us decided to walk back down to the bus instead of taking the cable cars. All I can say is 'buns of steel' workout. It was a bit of work, but well worth it.
As soon as we got off the stairs we were accosted by all the vendors. "Mr. Mr. " It was a lot of fun. I picked up some T-shirts and candy covered Pecans. Kathlene and JulieAnne in the meantime, got Lily an ink stamp with her name in Chinese - Fu De Zhen, which is her given Chinese name. All of the girls in our group have the family name 'Fu De'.
That's it for the Great Wall Adventures.
Ciao - Eric
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