Trip to China
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Monday, July 9, 2007 Today began with a very touching experience. At breakfast, a lovely Chinese woman who spoke beautiful King’s English came over to our table. Taken with Ava, she explained that she was adopted as a child. Her parents did not tell her until she was 36 years old. Roy asked her if she thought Ava would figure it out. After a laugh, she looked into our daughter’s eyes. Ava smiled at her, and the lady said that adoptees have a kindred spirit. She told us of the coincidences in her life and that her family was her destiny, as is Ava Claire’s. It was just so emotional. Each day we are reminded that we have fulfilled the plan for our family. We did some shopping, checking off our list of gifts to bring home. Then came the big moment…the infamous red couch photo. It is tradition in the Chinese adoption community to take photos of the babies on the red couch at the White Swan. We all agreed to dress the babies in their quipaos, the traditional dresses of Chinese girls. Roy and I got into the spirit with our outfits as well. We even found a doll for Ava that is dressed to match. (are we too much?) The only glitch? Naptime for most of the babies. They looked at us like “You have got to be kidding. We just want a blanky and a crib.” You can see from the photo that some of them were not having it. You should have seen 15 adults trying to make raspberries, clap, and make all sorts of noises to make the babies look at us and smile. Yeah, right. It was hilarious and painful at the same time. Nevertheless, we got the shots and will have another story to bring home. Tonight will be our last night in China. Tomorrow night we begin our journey home with our daughter. We will celebrate with the other families in our group at the Chinese BBQ restaurant along the Pearl River. It is Frank’s birthday and we are going to surprise him with a cake. We have truly enjoyed all of the other families. Our group comes from Texas, NC, DC, RI, and FL. We have met families from all over the US and other countries as well. All united on this odyssey of family and culture…and yes, I think destiny.

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