Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Ni' Hao from SUNNY Guangzhou!!!
Yes, I said SUNNY!!! We haven't seen the sun here in a LONG time due to the humidity, fog, smog, pollution and well, yes, the clouds are up there too! It was just plain ol' good to see the sun and feel it on< our faces today!

This morning we, along with another family from our group and our guide Shiyan, were off to the US Consulate for our 10:00 am appointment to take the oath promising that all the documents we filled out for the adoption are accurate and we were being honest when filling them out. All the families with the 10:00 am appointment stood and took the oath together, about 30 in all. They then called up each family to a glass window where they asked to see our documents and made sure everything was accurate and had us sign our last piece of paperwork to obtain Emma's Visa and bring her home as a US Citizen YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Insert theme song here..."Coming to America", I think that is sung by Neil Diamond, sort of corny I know, but Oh how I LOVE my country, especially after this trip! I pray that Emma Claire will realize what a privilige it is to be an American citizen!

After our consulate appointment we came back to the hotel and grabbed some Subway for lunch and had a picnic outside. We decided to enjoy the rest of the afternoon by the beautiful pool. Emma Claire LOVED it!!! She is a real fish, just like our other kids! We are so thankful she loves the water. We spend much of the summer swimming in Grandpa & Grandma Tolsma's pool and Grandpa & Grandma Kaiser's lake at the cottage. We can't help but look forward to the summer where we will make beautiful memories together as a family of 6! We spent the afternoon swimming with 2 families in our group. They are such sweet families and it will be sad to say good-bye. We plan on keeping in touch through e-mail, and who knows, maybe one day there will be a reunion???

After swimming we came back to the room to get ready for dinner. My stomach wasn't feeling great so we decided to play it safe.........Subway again! I opted out of dinner and had fun watching Emma tackle a 6 inch ham and cheese sub herself! She LOVES Subway and she had fun eating her giant sandwich with her Baba! We walked through a couple shops and decided to call it a night. We are tired physically, mentally and emotionally. We keep counting down the days until we leave. It is hard to believe that tomorrow night will be our last night in China and Emma Claire's last night in her homeland. I know I've said it before, but we are ready to come home. We have truely enjoyed our time here in China, but LONG for our kiddos at home. Two & a half weeks is a really long time to be away from your kids. It makes us appreciate families that have traveling parents or those in the service.

Emma Claire is definitely testing the waters and we are working through some of her behaviors. It is interesting as we learn more about her personality. She loves life and is usually a happy girl, but look out!!! When she doesn't get her way, it isn't pretty!!!! We are grateful for our previous parenting experiences, as toddler adoption is NOT for the faint of heart.

Well, I'm all stuffed up and feel completely exhausted again tonight. Jason and I have trouble catching a full night's sleep. The beds are just like sleeping on the floor. We can't wait to fall into our OWN bed on Friday night, hopefully we are able to sleep a little. We have 2 soccer games, a 5K run and a t-ball game to be spectators at on Saturday! I hope we know we are there!!!!! Please pray that we will be able to make it to the kid's games/run on Saturday. Also, please pray for Jason as he has to be back at work on Monday. We have been told that the jet lag after the trip is REALLY hard to shake and it takes a good week or 2 to adjust. YIKES!!!!

Love to you all!!! Thanks for being faithful readers of this little blog, it means so much to know you are following us and supporting us in this adoption journey!

Avarie, Evan & Ella Fern........WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only 2 more sleeps and you will be picking us up at the airport!!!! We are so excited to hug and kiss you!!!!!!!!! Emma Claire LOVES the water! You will have so much fun swimming with her this summer!!!!!!!!! Thanks for being so good! You make us SO proud!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo