Our entire family slept in today and we feel like we are getting used to China time. After our delicious breakfast, Ethan, Olivia, Sophia and Ainsley played in The Swan Room for about 1.5 hours. There were many children to play with and they had a blast. We went back to our room and had a snack and rested for a little while before going for a walk. The weather has been in the 70's and gorgeous. Ainsley's "red couch" picture was taken today with 2 other girls from her group. We could not get the sweet girls to smile, but they were adorable in their Chinese dresses.
After the picture, it was off to the US Consulate for her visa.
There were 48 families present from 27 states in the United States for this swearing in session. November is "National Adoption Awareness Month"
and we had a special presenter for this session. We don't remember who he was, just a man who is high up in the burecracy here. They also mentioned that to date, approximately 50 thousand Chinese orphans have been adopted.
We are so excited to think that when we land in Dulles Airport in Washington, Ainsley is automatically a United States citizen. It is that easy. (Was it that easy, ha!) All our families we talk to are also anxious to return home. We are literally counting down the hours until we blast off. We are excited to show Ainsley her new home and that she will not have to live out of a hotel room and have her clothes washed in the bathtub anymore. She has been quite content and even happy with the current arrangement. We feel quite bonded together and that God has helped make our family complete with the addition of our Ainsley Faith Bingyan.
Ethan, Olivia and Sophia have been so well behaved and received many compliments from other families. Sophia said she missed her AWANA cubbies program today and we look forward to returning to our home, school and church.
We had our last dinner at Lucy's and not sure if we will be missed after the mess Ainsley left with her egg and noodle soup. The noodles stick to everything like glue. Just wanted to make sure there were no tears at Lucy's with our departure.
Packing was finished and we arranged for a 5:50 am bellboy pickup for our luggage. We were happy to hear that we get an extra 1 hour of sleep and get to leave the hotel at 6:50 am instead of 5:50 am. We will travel from Guangzhou to Beijing, have a 7 hour layover, and then travel from Beijing to Dulles. We leave and arrive the same day. Pretty cool! We are so very thrilled to be returning home with Ainsley, no matter how long it takes, we are coming home and praying for God to provide safe and swift travel!!! |
