Final thoughts...

We leave TONIGHT to come home...we are soooooo excited!!!

First...PRAYER REQUEST...I guess all of my kiddos at home are sick...would you please pray for their healing?

These are our random thoughts for the last few days....

~Did we tell you, I can't remember???  2 really fun things about Gotcha day???  The room we received Solomon in was called the Dan Feng Chamber...THAT is Cana's chinese name and now her middle name...how cool is that!!  Also, we received Solomon on his baby sister's bday..think I mentioned that already, though.

~Don't chinese people ever get tired of chinese food!  We are desperate for a Farmer Boys burger :)

~Thank God for Papa John's pizza :)

~Have I mentioned that our boy is really busy??

~The traffic is unbelievable!  Cars everywhere, motorcycles everywhere, pedestrians everywhere...the are no traffic rules..everything goes!  The pedestrian does not have the right of way and you will be run over EVEN if you are on the sidewalk.  The lines in the streets are just a suggestion and no abides by them.  There are traffic officers directing traffic at the main intersections but they can do little to control the mass traffic.

~None of the cops carry guns but the armored bank guys have shotguns and automatic guns.

~The rain has been random but when it starts, watch out!!!! The thunder rumbles and the skies literally open up and a flood of rain follows!!! We went for a walk the other day and there was a bunch of thunder but we really didn't think the rain would come...well, uhhhh...we were wrong! (check out the video!)  The streets were flooding within minutes.

~We had a blast people watching at all of the different markets. All I can say is wow! I had no idea that there could be so many things in one place!  Electronics market, toy market...


~We have met some very precious new friends while in China.  It always blessed me to see how the Lord intertwines families from all over the world.  Each of you will forever be a part of Solomon's first days with us and we are honored to have met each of you.  We can't wait to watch your peanuts grow!!

~Day 12...we were granted to opportunity to have lunch with the Amazing Judy as we all so lovingly call her.  Amazing is an understatement!  She is in charge of all of the guides for our agency AND she is the main contact person for anything related to adoptions for our agency.  This mama got very emotional as we spent time with her.  You see...it's because of Judy and Sabrina and our Lord that we have Cana!!  Judy worked VERY hard to get our girl home.  She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and she fought for our family!!  THEN, she did the same for our boy!!  She kept telling us that she was just doing her job and that's when I lost it!! She went above and beyond and risked a lot to help our family...most agencies would have said, 'sorry, we can't help you' because it's very risky to oppose/challenge decisions made by chinese officials. We are forever thankful for all she has done to help us bring our babies home!!!!!

~Day 13...Our sweet amazing Judy took us to visit a local village today.  What a privilege to be able see how the local families live and to learn the history of their village!  All I can say is that we are very spoiled and blessed to have all that we do.  Paul's thoughts on the village...check out the pictures...the buildings were so close.  The government has been tearing down many villages to build high-rise apartments and to expand their cities.  This particular village is right on the edge of the city and the government has tried to take it over but the villagers have fought and have successfully protected it.  They desperately want to preserve their village history & they know it will be lost forever if it's torn down.

We also had our swearing in appt. at the US Consulate today.  This is always and emotional time.  It's the final stage of our adoption...getting Solomon's Visa so he can come home!!!  We aren't allowed to take pictures inside of the consulate but just imagine a large room with over 50 families AND their children...crazy loud but crazy exciting, too!!
 
Day 14:
Today will be packing, checking out, AND COMING HOME!!!!! We are so excited and can't wait to hold our babies and see our family & friends.  We have missed everyone so much!  We are still in awe of all that our Lord has done...I'm still having a hard time processing all of it...this has been an incredible journey!!! Thank you for all of your love and support...you will never know how precious it has been to us!!!

PICTURES: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9350232@N08/?saved=1