Sunday,
December 17, 2006
AAAHHH!!! For those of you that have been to Guangzhou after
being
in another city in China, you know exactly what I mean. For the
rest of you, we are now in a beautiful hotel called The White
Swan
locate on Shamian Island with people that actually speak some
English and cook food that we can recognize. Most of the
families
completing China adoptions are staying at this hotel, so
everywhere
you look you see babies and smiling mommies and daddies. It is
so
amazing to see how perfectly God has joined families together.
We started our morning with a wonderful breakfast buffet in our
hotel. After breakfast, we had to go with our group to a photo
shop
across the street and have the photos taken for the babies'
visas.
Simple and painless. Then Michael met with our guide and other
parents to complete a lot of important paperwork and sign a
bunch of
papers. While he was doing that, the rest of us decided to
venture
out and do a little shopping. OH MY!! We love this place!! We
bought everything from squeaky shoes to smock dresses to Chinese
silk dresses to a beautiful coat for Grace. We had so much fun!!
The prices are incredibly cheap…like $5 for a smock dress for
Sarah
Joy. We also quickly realized that God has blessed us with a
wonderful little shopper. She just sat in her stroller (that we
borrowed for the week from one of the shops) and was so sweet.
We
have been so blessed!!
Around lunchtime, we decided to do some walking and find the
McDonald's. We finally found it and enjoyed a great lunch of
double
cheeseburgers, French fries, and hot fudge sundaes. Yummy!! I
don't know the name of the area we were in at the McDonald's,
but it
was a very popular place. You will see from the picture that
many,
many people were there with us.
Sarah Joy is still doing incredibly well. We have all fallen
head
over heels in love with her. Graham and Grace have really amazed
me
with how well they have done being in a completely foreign world
with a crazy schedule. They are both real troopers! Nana and
Granddaddy are both enjoying the trip. Nana said today that it
is
still hard to believe that we are on the other side of the world
at
Christmas. You just never know where God is going to lead you….
Tomorrow we will have a physical appointment for Sarah Joy. It
will
be very quick and just a procedure for the adoption. Nana and I
are
hoping to go to a local market that has lots of knock-offs…hint!
hint! We are also planning to go to a group dinner tomorrow
evening
at a local Thai restaurant.
Just a few more days now and we will be making that long plane
ride
to GA. As you go to church today, please remember to pray for us
as
we prepare to make the trip home. It was a really long flight
over
here and we didn't even have a baby! We really appreciate all
the
prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf. We truly feel
God's
presence with us and know that we are in the palm of his hand.
This
process would not have gone this smoothly with HIM!
Please keep signing our guestbook! Your comments mean the world
to
us!!
Love you all,
Michael, Leigh Ann, Graham, Grace, Nana, Grandaddy, and the
sweetest
baby…Sarah Joy
P.S. Robyn, I still cannot email. Thank you so much for taking
care of things back home. We would love some 2% milk, eggs,
bread,
applesauce, and yogurt (any kind). Also, will you please make
sure
that Toni and our neighbor Chris have the website address? Thank
you again!! We cannot wait to see you…miss you!! LA |
Dinner at Lucy's
I have the funniest family!
Nana and her baby
Quite a crowd!
Our little shopper
Shamian Island |
