US Consulate and Goodbyes

This afternoon we went to the US Consulate where Mavery was sworn in as a US Citizen. When we touch down in Chicago it is all official. It is a pretty quick and painless appointment. The odd thing was this time the room was not even half as full as last time. And the interesting thing is that I would think it is safe to say that more than half the families there were for special needs kids. There were not many babies at all, the majority of them around Maverys age.

It was a very emotional thing for me though holding Mavery and being surrounded by all these families who have come together in the exact same way. All these families who have traveled half way around the world, and fallen in love with children that 2 weeks ago we had not physically even touched. It was just another reminder of the amazing God we have, who forms families in this way. I wish everyone could experience it.

After we returned we said goodbye to the Crawford family that we had met here in Guangzhou with our agency. They were staying at a different hotel so we did not get to see them as much as we would have liked, but we sure enjoyed getting to know them and their little girl Ella.

We had our last dinner with the Chisum's at the Chinese restaurant here in the hotel that we had enjoyed so much on our last trip. We once again had the fried pigeon and it is really good, but just so much work for so little meat.

**One sidenote for you. In china, they do not serve the food as they do at home, where everyones meals come out at one time. Here it is all served in the middle of the table, and dishes come out one at a time. So you might get your pigeon, and once you are about done with that your rice might come out, then about the time you finish that, another meat dish comes out, then noodles. It is different. I do like the family style though, you always get to sample everything.

They had put us in a room by ourselves (I wonder if they heard rumors from the breakfast staff about the wild child, so when they saw us coming they knew we needed our own room!) Plus we had 2 ladies that carried in our food, and just stared at us the whole time. Talk about unnerving. How do you eat pigeon with chopsticks anyways, and try to look neat about it all? Plus trying to control Ms Mavery (who was full of it tonight at dinner, have I mentioned how far she can wing a chopstick across the room!) At one point Mark tried to take Mavery for a walk and the lady walked over and covered up the table with a napkin where she had been sitting and made a mess! Maybe this place is above us! haha! But the food is really good if you are coming here. It is called Jade River, FYI. The Fried corn with pine nuts is great as were the noodles with soy sauce. The meat is good to. And try the pigeon! ;0)

We hated saying goodbye to the Chisum family, their flight out is early and though we love them, we told them we will not be getting up at 6am to see them off! I know it is not a forever goodbye, we will see them again. But it is hard to think that Ming Ming and SongSong will now be apart for a very long time. It makes my heart sad to think that SongSong may not remember MingMing as time goes on. Of course we will do all we can to help her remember, we can skype and we plan to visit as often as possible. But I wonder if when she sees her again if we will hear this little high voice screaming Ming MING while she runs to her. The next time they see each other they will not be speaking the language they know now. I really wish we lived closer, that they could see each other all the time. But I am forever thankful that the Lord allowed these 2 little "sisters" to walk out of their "home" together, into their mamas arms together, and spend this time in China together. I have often wondered what must be going on in their heads when they look at each other. "Can you believe this is happening to us! Did you ever imagine this is what the world was like outside of Jinhua? What is going on here!" We know that the Lord once again had the perfect plan laid out all along as we have been able to be with this sweet sweet family.

So today was again emotional for me. We pulled out our suitcases tonight and started packing. Mavery and I sat at looked at her pictures of Jinhua. I am back to tears again. I miss my kids, I want us all home together, but it is hard to say goodbye.

Tomorrows Agenda: R E L A X!! Adoption stuff is all over. We have NOTHING to do! I think Mark wants to taxi to the electronics market. I have some more shopping to finish up, but sadly no space to put anything else. An extra suitcase is on the list. We are going to sleep in, sit back and enjoy our last day in China. And try really hard not to think about the flight home with Mavery. I was telling someone before we left that I could not imagine Sage on this flight and if Mavery acts anything like Sage... Well they said "she won't be as comfortable with you, so she is not going to be as wild." HAHAHAHA! Is it us? Do we just make wild kids? I can promise you this one is not shy, not calm, and will have no trouble what so ever running down the aisles of the plane. Leigh told us today we need to just take on a case of earplugs and offer them to our neighbors before we sit down!