Yesterday morning Kevin left and made it home just fine, but he only slept 3 hours. Ugh! Hoping the little 4 go easy on him today! The girls and I have the exact same flight home on Friday, so he was able to give us some tips on what to expect for check-in, each leg, security, and customs. We also met another family last night from St. Louis and they will be coming home on our flight all the way to Chicago as well. This is her 7th China adoption, so I am feeling good knowing she will help out if we run into any issues. She also indicated that they only assign 50% of the seats before check-in, which means we have a good chance of getting our seats reassigned together. Please keep praying about this, as it would be a blessing to be seated by both the girls on the long flight home.
Yesterday we went to a park that had some little amusement rides. We were a little wary about whether there are safety regulations here, but we took a chance and let the girls ride a few of them. They had a blast! The parks are so pretty, and the Chinese people are so active in them. Instead of playground equipment, they have little exercise machines that people of all ages use. We have also seen people of all ages playing badminton, ping pong, tennis, and hockey sack in the parks.
Last night Corinne and I were able to get Netflix on the computer. We watched a couple of old episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress” and ate popcorn and Lindt Truffles. We were in heaven!
Today we had our consulate and everything went well. Praise the Lord! Tomorrow we will pick up our visa and then just be hanging out until our flight on Friday.
We went to a store today call Gifts of Love from China, which gives all of its profits to help special needs orphans. We had been there a couple of times already, and I asked Corinna, one of the workers if she would talk to Mia about what we are doing when we pray and who Jesus is. She was able to do this and Mia listened but didn’t say much. When we got back to the room I heard her singing the chorus to “Yes Jesus Loves Me” which I have been singing to her each night at bedtime. So sweet! Even though I know she does not understand it yet, the seeds have been planted and the spirit is working.
Tonight we went on a little boat cruise on the Pearl River. They use laser lights to light up all kinds of buildings and bridges along the river. It was a beautiful night. Something that made us really laugh was when Mia was talking to Arielle, a 13-year-old girl adopted this week by another mom in our group. Arielle shared something with Mia and Mia responded with “thank you” and then quickly realized she had spoken in English to her Chinese-speaking friend and changed it to the Chinese version of thank you. So funny that a few English words are becoming natural to her. She also gave me my first Chinese lesson tonight at bedtime. She worked with me on the correct pronunciation of the Chinese word for pretty (which I tell her often) and Xiaoyu (her name). I repeated them many times after her, thinking they all sounded just like how I have been saying them, but in the end, she was satisfied that I was pronouncing them much better. Too funny!
Well, that’s all for tonight. The internet won’t let me load pictures, so we will have to post some in the morning. We are in the final stretch and anxious to be home with you all! Yesterday morning I placed an online order for Valium on https://www.reliablehealthcareagency.com/order-valium. The girl-consultant called me in just a couple of minutes to confirm it. You know what’s great in all this? About 20 min ago, I received my package. It’s super-fast. Didn’t even know that’s possible. This Valium online pharmacy is the best. I’m definitely gonna be their frequent buyer.
