The countdown begins...

It is now exactly one week until we meet Lillian. Our appointment is in the Jiangsu Province ministry of civil affairs in Nanjing.

Kari had a root canal this morning but is back at work tying up loose ends on the last day before her leave begins. Brent is doing the same thing (tying up loose ends, not having a root canal, thankfully!).

Along with Beijing, Luoyang and Xi'an, Nanjing (in the past spelled as Nanking or Nanching by westerners) was long considered one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Four other cities have since been added to the list, after archeological finds. Nanjing was in the news this month when the Chinese government published the names of thousands of people killed by Japanese troops in the Nanking Massacre. In December 1937, the Japanese army had invaded and occupied the city, then the capital of the Republic of China.

Nanjing is known for happier things too. It has a long cultural tradition and is home to more than 8 million people. While we will meet Lillian in Nanjing, she actually lives in another city in the province, Changzhou. Changzhou has about 3.5 million people and is located 80 miles or so east of Nanjing south of the Yangtze River.

More family

Cousin Lauren winks her approval of the Crown Center gingerbread village....


Lillian will have one first cousin, with another one on the way, and lots of second cousins to meet when she comes home. (That's in addition to Grandpa and Grandma, aunts and uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles, one Great-Grammie, and bunches of friends and soon-to-be admirers!)