Last full day in Guangzhou

Today was a fun day on Shamian Island, even though it was rainy and chilly. It's a lot of fun walking around seeing other adoptive families out and about with their newest members. Kinley seems to be feeling better today and is mostly all smiles again. Thank God the fever is gone, and we've yet to have another digestive explosion out of her so we are crossing our fingers that is over also! She ate pretty well at today and she has finished her 3 days of antibiotics so I think we are on the right track.

After breakfast we did some shopping and walked around exploring a little more. We had to get mommy a coffee at Starbucks and Kinley got an almond creme puff! Shopping really has not been as fun as I thought it would be. There are no price tags on anything and the shop owners follow you around everywhere commenting on everything you look at. I feel like saying "Yes, I know those are chopsticks. Yes, I know that you eat with them...." Ugg! And they always say that they will give "only you" a good price.

This afternoon we headed to the White Swan, a hotel where the Holt office is located. We opted to stay at the Victory Hotel just around the corner because we got a suite for the price of a standard room at the White Swan. Of course we thought we'd have a baby crawling all over, but the extra room has still been nice here. We met the other 3 Holt families to take pictures on the red couch, which has become an adoptive family tradition. Kinley did pretty well holding still and smiling; I swear she knows what to do when she sees a camera already! Some of the other children were a lot more wiggly! After lots of pictures and trying to get kids to hold still, we headed to the Holt office to get our paperwork ready for traveling and Kinley's citizenship paperwork.

We are so ready to come home! China has been an absolutely amazing experience and we have a great respect for the Chinese people and the culture. We hope that we have captured enough pictures and memories to share with Kinley as she gets older. Leaving China will be bittersweet...but we are ready to stop living out of suitcases and get back home to introduce Kinley to her amazing family and friends!

I am convinced we will be back someday soon...I'm already asking Jason when we can start the process to complete another adoption. He just looks at me wide-eyed and says we need "time to financially recover". Ho-hum. It makes me sad that money is an issue when it comes to orphans....I will continue to pray that God's will be done and He will find a way to provide if we are meant to return to adopt again. Until then I cannot shake the image of the many pairs of eyes staring up at me during our visit to the orphanage, as if asking me "what will you do"...



I asked God, "How much time do I have before I die?"


He replied, "Enough to make a difference"................

--- Unknown
 
 
 
xoxoxoxoxo


Heather