Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Danny, Sally, Daniel and Carmen!
March 1, 2009 Paperwork Preparation….
After breakfast this morning, one member of each family met in Shiyan’s room to go over every piece of remaining paperwork….line-by-line. When finished, we placed them in individual clear folders and left them with Shiyan. What a relief this was!!! That stack of papers was more that Danny has been carrying on his body since we arrived in China. Again, it felt good to turn something else over and we’re one step closer. Tomorrow (Monday) Shiyan will take these to the U.S. Consulate for us and we are required to be in our room at noon in case of any questions or issues. If not, they will process the paperwork and we can go on Tuesday to take our oaths. Late that afternoon, Carmen’s Visa will be ready and good Lord willing, we will be able to leave Wednesday morning (March 4th).
After window shopping yesterday, we were ready to do some bargaining today for a few purchases. We’ve already bought another suitcase for souvenirs! I honestly don’t think we’re buying much----it’s just that we were over-packed to begin with. MANY of the things we brought to China will not make it back to the U.S. :o) They will be contributed to China! OHHHH -- also while out shopping today, we had Starbucks! What a treat and my vanilla crème tasted just like home….yummy!!! And while out, Carmen got hungry so she, Danny, Jen, Shane & Emma went to get some lunch (I kept shopping!) They went to a Cantonese Chinese restaurant where I’m told the babies pigged out. Carmen was also given chopsticks and her attempted use of them made it clear that she has had them before. Too cute!
Did I tell you that when we went back to the Civil Affairs office in Nanning we were given the disposable cameras and video which I had sent in Carmen’s care package months ago when still in foster care? Well, we got those developed today and the photos taken for us by her foster family are priceless! It will be many years before she sees these but I’m sure will mean the world to her one day. We are so thankful for the insight into her life here. It is very clear how much she was loved and well taken care of.
Tonight for dinner, Shiyan took us to an Italian restaurant. Yes, who knew in China??! It’s a new restaurant here and we ordered an appetizer of fried mozzarella and a pizza for entrée. The fried mozzarella tasted like fish and about gagged me but the pizza was out of this world. It was so good to have another taste of home. The group had also asked Shiyan if she could arrange a birthday cake for tonight in honor of all of our girls’ first birthdays. Some have already turned one like Carmen and some are about to. The cake was just beautiful and we gathered the children around and sang “Happy Birthday” to them. Such a special time….. Jen (Waits) had also gotten little onesies made for the girls that had their name and a “1” embroidered on them and all wore them tonight for the occasion. Hopefully, I can post a picture of our special dinner.
After dinner we walked around the town a while then came back to the hotel and took Carmen to the Swan room. This is a play room here sponsored by Mattel basically for adoptive families and their children. Actually, Mattel also gives each adopted child a special Barbie doll but they are out at the moment and have taken our information so they can be mailed to us at home. Isn’t that just the neatest thing?? Anyway, this hotel is famous for the final leg of Chinese adoptions and the staff and hotel are very family-friendly. The Swan room is a perfect example of that. There were huge Barneys in there and we took Carmen’s picture with them just for Daniel (Barney is the lovie he still sleeps with since a baby….). After the Swan room, we came back to our room planning to hurry to bed as it was already late. WELL, this is when little Miss Carmen decided to open up and show some more personality. For a good two hours, she was laughing out loud so hard that she was bending over, she was playing hide and seek games, we were seeing smiles we’d never seen before. It was hysterical and we were so excited and overwhelmed. It’s safe to say the camcorder and camera were getting a workout!
