first cousins

Our oldest niece Deanna and her daughter Tori met Emmy on Sunday after church. There are more than 30 years difference between Deanna and Mary Elisabeth. It was a lot of fun seeing them together. It looks like they've been one happy family all these years!

Hello from the Buffalo family

We can honestly say that the last 2 1/2 weeks have been some of the most hectic, scary, apprehensive, rewarding, of our lives. When we got Mary Elisabeth on Sept. 14, our lives changed forever and in the most positive way possible.

Being a first-time parent for both me and Linda is something we've always dreamed about and wasn't always sure would happen. But when we finally saw Emmy on Sept. 14, the realization of what was happening hit us like a ton of bricks. But there is nothing in this world that we would change!

Emmy is the light of our lives. We know that things will be different for us, especially when we go back to work. I'm heading back next Thursday and Linda is taking off until Oct. 19. We know, financially, that things will be tremendously different but it is that way too for a family that has a baby naturally.

We've been blessed by a wonderful family and wonderful friends. It was a lot of fun to go to Wal-Mart on Saturday and be able to show off our little girl. So many people we might have known at one time or another or people who knew who we were came up to us, just to catch a glimpse of our little sunshine girl! It is overwhelming.

We'll post more stuff later on and I'll have a follow-up story in the paper in the coming weeks.

Love to all
Mark, Linda and Mary Elisabeth

photos!

Sorry we havne't had a lot of time to update the blog since we got home. This will be short. Got home on Thursday at 11:30 to the LR Airport. since then, we've been on the go for the most part. Emmy is meeting family members and playing with her new first cousins Orion, Kaycee, Devon and Heather. Here are some pix from the last couple of days. We'll update more later on with some more details.

Love to all

final update from Guangzhou

The last 24 hours for us have been extremely stressful. An important piece of paperwork wasn't processed by immigration at home. Melissa at America World got it straightened out for us and we get to leave for Hong Kong tonight before flying from Hong Kong to the US of A on Thursday!

We'll update more, with photos, when we get home. Thanks to everyone who has shared our journey so far.

Love to all,

Mark, Linda and Mary Elisabeth

Monday in China

Monday was a light day for the family. We ate breakfast then we went to an outdoor museum. It was a lot of fun but extremely hot. We then left for the island again. We had to get Emmy's TB skin test checked and it was good then we went to eat and shopping again. We found a few more things to bring home as we are getting gifts to give Emmy each year on Sept. 14 – her Gotcha Day.

We came back to the hotel and took a two-hour NAP!!! We went to Pizza Hut for supper. I would just like to say, for the record, that Pizza Hut in China is not Wing Street like in Arkansas or Lonoke for that matter. I'll miss it here in China except for the lack of pepperoni.

On Tuesday, we have to wait in our hotel room from 10:30 to noon in case the US Consulate calls with questions on our paperwork. We're going on a dinner cruise on the fourth largest river in China on Tuesday night. We then fly to Hong Kong late on Wednesday night then fly to America on Thursday!!!

Try to update more tomorrow. The computer is still acting goofy.

Love to all

Sunday in Guangzhou

Today was not a typical Sunday for the Buffalo family. We ate breakfast in the rotating restaurant then had to be to the bus at 9:30 to go shopping on the island here in Guangzhou. Next Sunday, we plan on being in church at Palm Street Church of Christ in Lonoke!!!

We stayed on the island until 1 p.m. We walked all around and bought some stuff all around the place. Each time we stopped, we were "stalked" by salespeople trying to make a sale to us Americans! One time the salesperson followed Linda around with a fan!!! Emmy and I tried to stay in front of the air conditioner because it is HOT!!!! We were so lucky with the summer we had in Arkansas. Linda and I are paying for it right now!

We kept our string of not eating Chinese food and had lunch at Subway, eat fresh! Not too bad. We found out that Emmy loves Lays potato chips. We don't know if that is a good thing or not.

During our walk around the island, we saw several brides getting their photos taken. I was jealous of some of the lighting equipment they were using. Oh, and all the photographers were using Canon. And the brides were all beautiful, some wearing traditional Chinese wedding dresses and some wearing American style wedding dresses.

We came back to the hotel and I had to go to the "paperwork party" while Linda stayed in the room with Emmy. The paperwork took about 2 hours and we got the stuff done we need to be able to get Emmy's visa and bring her home later this week.

We then went to the Italian Restaurant down the street from our hotel. We had garlic bread and pepperoni pizza. It was pretty good. Linda and Emmy then went back to the hotel while I crossed the bridge and went to McDonald's to get us a Coke and some chicken nuggets.

We've noticed that Emmy is having trouble eating at times. She hides her food some or stuffs her mouth. We think it might have something to do with being in an orphanage and being afraid that she might not have enough food. Hopefully, this is something she will grow out of when she finally figures out that she doesn't have to worry about food or not having any.

Tomorrow, we go back to the medical exam office to have Emmy's TB skin test checked. It looks good right now so hopefully, we won't have any problems. We also go to a local museum tomorrow.

And yes, I'm wearing a Lonoke Jackrabbits' T-shirt, the one I got after the Jackrabbits won the 2008 state basketball championship. And for you Bison fans, I've got a Carlisle one ready to put on!

Love to all.

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corn on the cob

Tonight for supper, I made a run to the Colonel, which is next to our hotel. Emmy, as you can see, loves corn on the cob. I can't wait until she gets some real corn. She would have loved Papa's corn from the garden!

The other photos she is playing with her cheerios!

Love to all