Good morning! Or good evening – whichever the case may be. Keeping track of time, and even knowing the day of the week is something that has increased exponentially in difficulty for us the past few days. Sheila and I seem to be constantly asking each other what day it is. Not much longer will that be the case.

We had another lazy day today. When we woke up, it was raining and we thought our plans to visit Yuntai Garden might have to be canceled, or at best, postponed. Luckily, by the scheduled departure time, the rain had ceased, and left the temperature cool. YES!!! This was PERFECT for the outdoor activity we had in store.

We actually got to visit Yuntai Garden while we were in Guangzhou when we came to China to bring Jada home. We loved it so much and had such fond memories and great pictures, that we asked Helen if she could organize a visit this time. She arranged it, so that is what we did today.

It was SO hard to choose the pictures for today’s journal entry. I can only add 10 pictures to each entry, so therein lies my dilemma – which 10 of the almost 200 pictures I snapped at the garden should I include? Our decision will make no difference to those of you unfortunate enough to be forced, er, asked to join a slideshow get together sometime in the not too distant future.

Anyway, let me describe to you slightly what there is at Yuntai and why I like it so much. I’m sure all of you have heard of topiary. While there is topiary at Yuntai, they take it a step further in what is called mosaiculture. In fact, beginning 9/28, the very first Guangzhou Mosaiculture Exhibition will be held at Yuntai Garden. Several of my pictures have scaffolding surrounding some of the larger pieces, but that is due to the fact that they are busy readying them for the opening of the exhibition.

Ruby and Jada seemed to have a good time. Ruby is getting more and more used to us and the way her young life has been turned upside down. It is so interesting to see how she reacts to different things that she is undoubtedly experiencing for the first time ever. She is quite the trooper though, and we are enjoying her SO much. Her grin is adorable and her laugh is infectious. We love her so much and we already can’t imagine our life without her.

You will see to the left, a picture of Jada in an authentic princess dress from the Qing Dynasty. I took this picture, but she was so professional for the photographer that posed her for the shots we bought. Many people stopped their walking to watch her have the pictures taken.

The picture of Sheila holding Jada in front of the fountain is one that I had to take again. This was the exact spot where one of my favorite pictures of them from our first trip to Guangzhou. This link should let you view the picture from the first trip.

One of the main things I remembered from our earlier trip to Yuntai was the large working clock on the hillside below the greenhouse. The entire clock face and numbers are actual live plants. As you can see, this picture was taken at 10:25.

The family shot I have included was taken near the top of the garden. Laura, if you remember where I took that shot of you and Abbey Grace at the waterfall, this was taken there. I asked an older gentleman to take the picture, and he got so far back that we were but a speck of the actual shot. I had to perform some fancy cropping to get the one you see. We liked it so much though, that I changed out journal site home page family picture to it. I thought it was high time Ruby was included anyway. I also changed her picture at the bottom of the home page from her referral picture to one that I took the other day.

As the time draws closer to the date of our departure for home, we still request your prayers and thoughts for our family. The comments have all been wonderful and we want to be back home with all of you. China is a nice place to visit, but as in the immortal words of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home”.

R-S-J-R