Day 1- Tuesday in China

This was our first actual day here that is not just travel. We got in to Harbin at about 9:15 AM.  We were planning to go to the hotel, and then meet Sheng Lian in the afternoon. After we got our luggage, we found our guide Lynn.  She said we had to go to civil affairs office and meet our daughter NOW because they were waiting for us.  I was like, WHAT?  I had on dirty clothes and no make-up.  Didn't have gifts ready as everything was in the luggage.  But we went.  The ride took forever it seemed.  Lots of traffic and honking.  There were men alongside the freeway and roads in many spots cleaning the road with shovels and big twig brooms. We got to civil affairs and went inside.  Within minutes, Sheng Lian was there with us.  She was very quiet but all smiles.  She came right to us and sat on our laps and let Tim pick her up for a photo they wanted to take of us.  We were there for quite some time.  There were two other families there, from Spain, doing paperwork for their children. Sheng Lian's doctor/teacher was there.  She seemed very nice and she has known Sheng Lian her whole life.  She is going to get photos and some other information for us tomorrow.  She gave gifts to Sheng Lian and Abri (Christmas decorations).  We decided to name her Allee.  Her nickname is Leedy, so we will probably call her that for a while.  Maybe forever, who knows. On the long ride to the hotel she was laughing and getting a little hyper.  Poking us gently with the snowman decorations (Abri started it), and then it got a little more rough.  Finally, we arrived at our hotel.  It is very nice and Walmart is accross the street.  We skyped with gramma, poppy, and Bradyn, but Colton was already in bed as it was 10 PM at home.  Hopefully, we can talk to him tomorrow.  Then we went to McDonald's down the block for dinner.  That was interesting to try to order.  Especially while the cashier is talking to Leedy and we have no idea what she is saying.  Let me tell you, Leedy can eat!  Her teacher said she will eat any food, and she wasn't kidding. We are all exhausted.  Except for Leedy.  I am going to try to give her a bath in a few minutes.  Not sure how that will go. She came with lots of layers of clothes, and a coat and hat and boots.  Very clean. She also had been given the photo album we sent, and we got the disposable camera back with pictures they had taken. She has been playing with all the stuff I put in her backpack and seems to be so organized, putting everything away carefully in all the pockets. I hope we can go to bed soon.  Tim is snoring and I am so tired I am dizzy.  Maybe we will take turns sleeping as it is way too early for Leedy to go to bed.