The Zoo!

After our consulate appointment this morning (everything is fine :) )we got to visit the zoo with the two families left with us. We had a wonderful afternoon! The weather was great and the company was just as nice :) The kids always love a zoo and the grounds were beautiful. PETA would have had a heyday though. It was hard seeing some of the animal displays and we got much closer than we ever would have gotten at home. The panda display was sad that way. When I think about the great habitat that the pandas have at our zoo and compare it to the cage that the panda was in today - it was sad. We got to hail 3 cabs again - always an adventure. We are learning to be much more assertive though!
Please pray for one of the families in our small group. Their consulate appointment did not go as planned and our guide is at the airport tonight waiting for a new adoption decree with the proper name on it. We are praying that they will be approved tomorrow and still get to go home with us on Friday.
Tomorrow is shopping!!! on Shaiman island one more time. I plan to fully take advantage! We have our swearing in ceremony in the afternoon and then pack, pack, pack. We leave here Friday midday for Beijing and leave Beijing 7pm. We are trying to soak in our last couple of days but are getting anxious to be home. I can't wait to brush our teeth with running water and drink all the ice tea I can without paying Starbucks prices!!

Park, Pool and Goodbyes

Yesterday was supposed to be a day of shopping but instead some of us woke up not feeling so good so we decided to lay low for the morning and headed out to a huge park in the afternoon. This is a park that is across the street from where we stayed when we got Sarah in 04. It is huge and we enjoyed the scenery and great weather. We ate at the McDonalds next to the China Hotel and caught a cab back to the hotel in time for the group photos. Of course group photo sessions are always entertaining and this was no exception. The others headed out to their swearing in ceremony (or as our guides call it, going to the consulate to swear) and we headed to the pool to let the kids splash around. Dinner was Danny's Bagels (again) with the Boggs and Hammonds for one last meal together. We will miss the Boggs a bunch, especially the kids. Jacob and Rachel became good buds to our kids! The relationships we've built on this trip have been special and we thank God for them!

Chin Family Temple and Banana Leaves Dinner!

Today we enjoyed a leisurely morning and went with the rest of the group to visit the Chin Family Temple this afternoon. This is one of my favorite spots in Guangzhou. It is an old family temple that has been converted into a museum for art from the Guangdong province. It showcases lots of examples of intricate artwork from porcelain, painting, bone/ivory carving and embroidery. It is a peaceful place and we chose to stay a little longer than the group and take a cab to Shaiman island to meet up with them later. We were snubbed again by a couple of taxi drivers (guess they don't like us) but miraculously we were able hail 2 taxis and make the hair raising trip to Shaiman Island.
Tonight was dinner at a great Thai restaurant, Banana Leaves. The food was great!! and the entertainment was, well, unique. They sang several 70's songs (gotta love the BeeGees and Grease!) with the kids dancing. Jacob was a huge hit doing "the worm" and the kids had a good time dancing. Caleb ate nonstop through the entire hour which is why I have no pictures of this evening (Ken got it on video though). He has eaten all day long! I think he is coming close to eating his body weight everyday. He is also showing us his ornery side - I'm afraid that the compliant child that I was hoping for is not going to last for long. He LOVES his Daddy. It is so sweet to see him smile and reach for Ken. He is really doing well with all the kids and has not shown the terror of strangers or noises that they had warned us about. When some of you see him on Friday, you will see a frail little boy. But you will have no idea how far he has come in just a couple of weeks!
Tomorrow is the last full day for most of our group. We are going to be so sad to see them all leave. We have grown close to many of them and hope to stay in touch with them just as we have with some of our travel mates from 2004. I'd say that the relationships built during these weeks are a fringe benefit of it all!

Side note - Jacob has been taking some of these great pictures!! I tried to download more but have had to try 3 times to just get these few. When I get home I will upload all my photos into my photobucket account so you can see more!

Faith and Kendra Sighting

Since there is so much concern about the whereabouts of Kendra and Faith, I figured I'd post a picture of both of them to confirm that they are still with us :)

Halloween in Guangzhou

One of the biggest blessings on this trip has been the kids. Over half of the families brought some/all of their other children. In addition to that, 4 of the families have adopted older kids. All the kids have gotten along so well and as parents we keep thanking God for this bonus.
Last night we decided to celebrate Halloween with all the kids. We all bought candy and some of the kids dressed up and we went trick-or-treating to each other's rooms. It was a blast!!!!! It was especially fun to watch the newly adopted kids. One little guy, Scott, is 4 and I could have just watched him all night. The way his face lit up every time he went to a door and got candy would have just made your heart melt. The pure joy in his face was amazing to watch. We even got our guides Maggie and Fontana to join in - they admitted it was a first for them :) This will probably be the most memorable trick-or-treating my kids will ever have!

Settling into Guangzhou

Yesterday was the medical exam and visa photo - Caleb hated both but we survived. I got to enjoy a 2 hour paperwork party while Ken took the girls to the indoor pool - He said it definitly was not warm but they enjoyed the diversion :) Jacob went with some other boys to the game room and he had a sleepover last night with his new buddy Jacob. It will be interesting to see how much sleep either of the boys got!
We had started the day with a HUGE breakfast - french toast with syrup, doughnuts and all sorts of other goodies. We were like pigs in slop! I won't be able to eat like that all week or I"ll find the pounds I've lost!!
Speaking of pounds, our little guy weighed in at a whopping 7.5 kg or 16.54 pounds. I am anxious to get him home to get the surgery done so we can keep putting some pounds on this little guy!!!
The big news is that Caleb is crawling!!!! Ken plopped him on the bed last night and he crawled around for almost an hour. He is pulling himself up in the crib and cruising but we are not convinced he can walk on his own. His little legs don't look big enough to support even his 16 pounds!
We are liking the hotel - quick elevators though. We are on the 33rd floor so I try not to think about how high up we are. Kendra has a neat view from her room though and I sat and watched all the traffic creep by. The driving here is insane. Lanes are merely a suggestion and sidewalks are not just for pedestrians. I have yet to see an accident though - I guess you grow up with it you learn to drive defensively and not do 20 other things while you're driving like we do!
Today is church on the island and shopping. The service is not in English so I think we're going to have our own little service tonight instead. The kids all hit the wall yesterday from lack of sleep so we're letting them settle in this morning and sleep in.

Goodbye Taiyuan, Hello Guangzhou

It was a bittersweet day today. We had to say goodbye to our sweet guide, Summer and to Caleb's province, Shanxi. We really had a good visit in Taiyuan, much to do in part to our wonderful guide Summer. She bought the kids gifts today (you too Nathan!) and there were plenty of tears today as we left from all of us. Yesterday she had taken us to a local noodle restaurant (this province is known for its noodles) and we were able to convince her to eat with us. That was an experience! Our entire meal for 9 people cost us 35RMB or about $5. Yes, you read that right. The noodles really were good and we made quite a scene everywhere we went in the restaurant!
This morning I had a panic moment that God used for another miracle. Our ever dutiful syringe broke in the middle of Caleb's morning bottle. I about cried. So before I freaked out too badly I decided to try the cleft bottle one more time. He took it!!! He is now drinking out of the cleft bottle on his own. It was such a life saver on the plane and we are thankful that we "accidently" forgot the extra case in Kendra's suitcase for the orphanage.
We had a 3 hour flight from Taiyuan to Guangzhou and it was sooo sweet to see all of our group back together again with all the new additions. Everyone seems to be doing well and we celebrated with a pizza party with one of the families whom we got to know in Beijing.
I will try to post photos tomorrow afternoon some time. The usb cable is still packed somewhere and Ken had to go exchange money and make copies for the medical visit tomorrow. I'm so very thankful for Kendra and Faith - they have been so wonderful on this trip. The kids have done well and Kendra and Faith are earning lots of "good aunt" points :) Thank you also for all the prayers - each of you who have prayed for Caleb and for us are part of the miracle of this child. From the very first day, I have felt God's hand on this child and our trip. It has been awe inspiring - I give God the complete praise for it all!!!!