Wow, the days are flying by so quickly now! The best part of our trip has been here in Guangzhou, and there is not enough time to do all the things that we would like! As Elizabeth has already shared with you, this is a fantastic city and we are feeling very emotional about leaving it in just a couple of days. My heart has been in China for four years as we have waited for our Riley, and we are thrilled to get to take home a real living piece of China. As awesome as this is, we still feel like we are leaving a part of ourselves here. There are so many wonderful Christian people here who have been so kind to our family. We feel very drawn to this place; David has jokingly said that we will tell Riley when she is older that this is the province where she was born.
Despite our lack of sleep Sunday evening, we had a pretty good day with Riley. This girl has the stamina to wait on us while we are shopping; maybe she knows how much stuff we are purchasing for her. These shops definitely know their market of new adoptive parents and their desire to spend money on their little one! Riley made friends with many of the shop owners, and I made friends with Mimi, one of the shop cats you will see in the pictures. After shopping in the morning, we finally found the Subway shop today and had a nice lunch. Also, this evening we went to another authentic Chinese restaurant with our new group of friends. Once again, a great time of fun, food, and fellowship! One disappointment for me on this trip is the food. I really thought I would lose at least five pounds by being careful of what I ate and being stressed with a new baby. Yea, that didn't happen. The food was great everywhere we were, and I think we have all gained some weight! I know Riley definitely needed to add some to her tiny frame. I can't wait to see how much she weighs on Thursday when I take her to her pediatrician.
Another interesting thing that we have seen here in Guangzhou is lots of Chinese couples posing for their wedding pictures. Their dresses are so beautiful and unique; Elizabeth says that she is now going to purchase her wedding dress in China one day! I've included one of the pictures that we took of one of the couples. When we were in Taiyuan, we witnessed a bride coming down out of our hotel with her wedding party following her. She wore a beautiful red dress and the car was decorated with lots of beautiful flowers. I got so emotional watching her walk out with her groom and seeing all the fanfare. Oh yes, one more thing they do here for Chinese wedding tradition is they set off major fireworks. We heard a lot of them in Taiyuan.
The most important thing that happened here today was our Visa appointment at the U.S. Consulate. Thankfully, for us we didn't even have to attend in person as our guide, Shiyan, takes all the families' documents over and makes sure that everything is processed correctly so that our babies will have their American visas to fly home. Much of this paperwork is done before we leave the states, and the last few tidbits were completed Saturday at our document meeting here at the White Swan with Shiyan.
Our last full day is tomorrow, Tuesday the 15th and then we prepare for the long journey home to all of you!
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