Final days…
December 5, 2005

Today we spent the day just hanging around the hotel and the rest of Shamian Island.  I thought that we had to go the Consulate for our appointment today, but instead our guide carried our paperwork in for us.  All we had to do was wait in our rooms for a couple of hours so Miss Li could call us if there was a problem.  But there were no problems!  So tomorrow we go to the Consulate for our swearing in ceremony.  I'm not exactly sure what we are swearing to; I'll let you know tomorrow.

Janie spent the day look for good buys in children's clothes.  The prices here really are unbelievable.  Gap and Oshkosh outfits for $5.  It's great!  We've also bought a little jewelry and other knick- knacks to remind us of our trip.  And for any of you guys reading this who might find yourself feeling sorry for Kevin having to do all this shopping with me, don't.  He had a two-hour massage today, his second in a week!  And the cost?  A big, whopping 120 Yuan.  For those of you who need help with the conversion, that's $15.  $15 for a two-hour massage!!!  Kevin wants to move here.

Tonight we took a dinner cruise on the Pearl River with the "Pauls".  It was great to see Guangzhou's skyline from a different perspective.  By the end of the 1 ½ hour cruise, JacJac was even saying "boat".  We really had a delightful time, even though the weather has really turned cold here.  It's been in the 50s, so we had to buy a coat for JacJac.  But never fear, Janie was up to the shopping challenge.

We've all got slight runny noses so we are taking a lot of Vitamin C.  We just hope we can make it a couple more days without catching a full-fledged cold!  It's especially tough on JacJac, the scar on her lip is still a bit sensitive and having her nose wiped all the time is aggravating it.  She does not like to have her nose wiped!  And I can't blame her.  We're all very fortunate that we haven't been sick yet (expect for a slight Benedryl overdose earlier today – ooops!).  Many of the other families have been very ill.  We are very blessed.

JacJac has also been using the big girl potty almost every day.  Kevin sat her on it a couple of days ago while waiting for her bath water to warm up and she went!  Ever since then we've put her on the potty and she's gone.  It's pretty cute because she's so small you have to hold her on the seat so she doesn't fall in.  But you can tell that this is just a learned, scheduled behavior from the orphanage because she is nowhere near ready to tell when she has to go, she just knows she's supposed to go when you sit her on the seat.  But hey, whatever works.

Tomorrow is our last day here; it's difficult to believe.  But we're ready to come home…  As they say, you know it's time to come home when you start to look like the picture on your passport.  I think we've already passed that stage.

Blessings,
Kevin & Janie