Today was picture day for the group. There are 15 families in our travel group with us the whole way. We added 3 other families with special needs children in Beijing but they started off one week in advance of us and have been back in the US for several days now. Tomorrow the first batch will leave for home while those whose children were in orphanages in the Guangdong province have a few days ahead of us still. We hope you enjoy the group pictures below one with all the families and the other with the children (a little like herding cats). As we have gotten to know the families their stories and the joy they have in their new children I can truly say what a blessing these little ones are to each of us.
We did some more shopping today for some silk clothes for Aliyah as she grows up. We thought we were doing some good negotiating until we compared notes with another friend who has bettered us by some 30%. The key is to start not just low but ridiculously low (Al I should have paid more attention to your advice). Any way the bargains we struck were still a good price compared to what we would find in the US.
Today we also decided to try the Ergo carrier for Aliyah. The carrier can serve as a front pack, backpack or hip pack for the child always with the child facing in. Because Aliyah is always interested in looking out we had not really tried the pack. Now we are trying to define a strategy for the long trip home. Since the stroller will not work on the plane and our arms can not work that long we hoped the she would like the carrier. She put us some fuss to start but figured out quickly how to turn and look about. She also was able to fall asleep while riding in the carrier so this may be a key part of the puzzle of the long plane ride.
Tomorrow we will travel to Yangxi the city where Aliyah stayed in the orphanage. We hope to all make the trip but it is a long one 4 hours driving each way. Aliyah is still battling the cold and appears on the mend, but she still has a runny nose and a cough. We know the orphanage workers will pick up on this. We all really want to go so we will see how the day starts. Our guides want us to pack a lunch since they don’t know any restaurant they can trust along the way. They have been very cautious with us on this trip.
Sight of the day - Man on bike with 4 crates of live chickens and 8-10 tied by their feet on top of the crates. Food must be fresh in this city.
Things are literally heating up here in Guangzhou. The temperatures began with highs in the upper 80’s but by tomorrow they will be in the mid-90’s. You can really feel the humidity and holding a 18 lb heat generator (Aliyah) causes the whole family to break a sweat. Aliyah can sweat with the best of them and by the end of a trip outside or a hot bottle her head has beads of sweat on it.
We thank your for following our journey and am glad we can share it with you.
Ready for pictures
Count the new family members 14 girls and 1 boy
The best cat herding we could do
Emerson and Aliyah from the same orphanage in China to Chicagoland
Nap the baby and yourself
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
