Our trip to Taiwan to get Eli!



		After a long plane ride and 5 months of paperwork we finally got the go ahead to go to Taipei and pick up our adopted son Eli. Top Left: the view from our hotel, the Grand Hyatt. Above Right a walk in a nearby park. Left: The new tallest building on the globe, the World Trade Center - better luck to you guys! Lower left: a swim in the pool at the hotel. After the swim we had plenty of time to go visit a great museum (2 pictures below). This is were all the stolen treasures of China ended up. Turns out they rotate the exibits every 60 days, but it would take 15 years to see everything that they have, assuming that they don't add anything! The day was a beauty. We never did see blue skies again. The temperature stayed hot and humid the whole time.




	After flying to Tainan in the South West, we took a cab right to Saint Lucy's Center. We walked up the stairs and in the door where we where greeted. Two seconds later out came Eli! Wow what an experience. In any event, these pictures are pretty close to that moment. Above left: Everyone is excited about Eli. Above right: A family photo taken by one of the Saint Lucy's staff. Left: After a bottle Eli is ready for a nap. Below left: Eli sucks down a bottle. Below right: Everyone is tired after a lot of emotion and a lot of travel. We made a video of our trip. If your ever visiting make sure to ask for a viewing. To help you decide if you really want to let me tell you in advance..... its 15 minutes. I edited most scenes down to realistic lengths. In fact the agency that we worked through to get Eli uses the tape for new adoptive parents before the trip to Taiwan.



		So we took Eli back to the hotel (top 2) then back to Taipei (left and lower left) then on the plane back to San Francisco (below). An amazing trip that has changed our lives. He is a real pistol, it's hard to tell that he is not from our genes by the way he acts.


		Finally back in the house in Oakland California - but wait, we just moved to San Juan Island, and then bought a house and moved again, and we are now building a house and will move again..... I hope that that will be it for a while but our lives seem to be filled with adventure. If we have any length of time when nothing happens, look out!

I forgot to put these picture on the page earlier because...well whatever. Anyway while we spent time in Taipei we went for a walk through a local market. I love the sleeping guy on the right. The guy on the left has a thriving business in chicken feet.