Missy's Birthday!

What a happy birthday I had!  Samantha (Ya Ping as she is called) was brought to our hotel room Monday afternoon by the orphanage workers.  They picked her up this morning from her foster home she has been living in for over a year.  She had a 3 hour drive to get to where we are.  She was bashful at first and hiding from us in the hall, but wasn't crying.  She had the photo book we had sent her so I think she recognized our faces.  Samantha was interested in a zoo book with flaps to open and look at.  She warmed up to us fast and began playing and laughing.  She has such a great and fun personality.  We heard her speak a lot of Chinese to the orphanage workers and our guide.  When our guide asked her, she said she liked all of us but that she liked Kris the most.  He let her play with his iphone, watch videos, threw food in the air and caught it in his mouth. (I just couldn't compete with that!)  It seems she is a Daddy's girl already.  Kris took her to the bathroom twice!  I was even impressed.  Kyle has been such a great big brother.  He has shared his toys, snacks, french fries, and let her color on his picture.  A couple of times she has spoken to him in Chinese and he just says "yes".  We did have one mishap though:  walking to KFC tonight, she tripped over Kris' foot and hit her forehead on the concrete.  Kris held her for a little bit, but then she let me hold her as well.  The crying didn't last too long but she has a good knot to show for it.  She has given us kisses on the cheek and waved and blew kisses to several family members on skype.  Kris, Kyle, and Samantha went swimming at the hotel pool.  At first she didn't want to change and put her swimsuit on, but when she saw Kris and Kyle in the pool she decided it was worth changing for.  She enjoyed splashing Kris.  Before going to bed she got really sad.  I think her foster mom would rock her to sleep at night and she was missing that.  She didn't want anything to do with me at the time, but Kris laid down with her and they watched all the fireworks out the window from her bed.  Today is the latern festival so fireworks have been shooting off nonstop for 4 hours.  Kyle knew the rollaway bed was for Sammi tonight so he fell asleep on the couch kind of early.  I am so thankful for how well everyone has done today.  It will be one birthday I will never forget!

Missy