In Guangzhou!!

We arrived at our hotel here in Guangzhou close to 1:00 am.......The process getting here was not exactly fun, but now that we have arrived we are so excited about being here in this beautiful part of China!!

Guangzhou (pronounced Gwong-Show) is a lovely tropical sourthern part of China. Beautiful palm trees, flower garden and greenery abound! I LOVE it! It's so much more restful than Xian, no honking horns & motorcycles. and much more family friendly here. I think we will just love love our time here. I'm so excited about it!

Yesterday morning, our last morning in Xian, it was rainy and cold. We were all so ready to get out of THAT hotel. the toddlers were cranky, and various ones were feeling sicky...tummy trouble that we guessed may have been from some street food we had the night before. Steve had a really bad head ache and as we looked at the agenda for the day we just looked at each other and said seriously, we have no idea how we are going to survive this day....EXCEPT for God! And you know what, at the end of the day, exhausted though we were we just wanted to worship God, because again, he was SO SO faithful and he gave each one in the family strength that we did not have at the beginning of the day. We were all so aware of God walking with us, and it was beautiful to see the older children aware of Jesus giving them strength!

It took a couple hours to get our room packed up and checked out. Javonn was crying and upset most of this time. We ate a hurried lunch then met our guide & group in the hotel lobby. Our guide gave us Javonns packet of paperwork that had been prepared during our stay in Xian and the paper work that we needed to move to the final stages.
We made a quick stop at the City Wall in Xian and some of the group got out to see it. Steve & I stayed in the bus since we each had a sleeping toddler and it was drizzly with rain. After that was a stop at the police station to pick up all the china babies chinese passports. And from there we drove an hour to the airport.
Till we arrived at the airport all the babies in the group were awake and getting fussy. Long lines to get our tickets....long lines to check in luggage...long lines to go through security. One of our suitcases needed a security check which took longer. All this time we are passing out the cheerios and goldfish crackers trying to quiet the toddlers. Javonn is throwing cheerios all over the place then screaming and thrashing if we try to stop him. Cleaning ladies keep coming with their little broom sweepers to clean up the crushed to powder mess. Lot's of people stare, and not exactly with friendly compassionate faces. I had this thought that I hope to never again judge "That MOM" you see in a grocery store with a loud unruly child. Show compassion, not disgust. You never know the reason. I sure felt like "that mom!" today!
Everyone down to Kianna got a thorough pat down. I had to hold her still because she was scared of the wand. I watched amused and some what holding my breath as dear Derek had to unload his pockets. I stood there having no idea what sort of treasures he may pull out as you never know what sticks n stones he may be hoarding in there!
Oh, once at the airport we found out our flight was delayed by an hour. After security, on the way to our gate we found a little kids play ground. That was a life saver for the children. A good distraction and to run of energy.
We sure prayed a lot about Javonn's first plane ride, and came armed with a back pack of entertainment. God answered those prayers and he did amazing! Glad it wasnt longer than 2 hrs though! Steve held him and kept constantly busy with masking tape that he used as stickers, trucks, cheerios etc. He was so exhausted but fought to stay awake. It was a weird set up in Guanzhou. Once landed on the run way, the plane taxied for probably 15 minutes then stopped kinda out in no where. We walked off the plane into 77 degrees and humid! We had to jump on a crowded shuttle bus (Around 11:00) and it was half an hour till we got to the terminal. Waited awhile on our luggage then met our new guide and hopped on a new bus for the 40 min ride to the hotel. Javonn didnt go to sleep until we were on the bus to the hotel! We all collapsed into bed around 1 am. But like I mentioned....dispite the hardness, We totally felt God's GRACE to stay calm and to be strong for everyone. How often I thought of "When I am weak, God is Strong!"

We are staying at a five star Merriot. It's lovely and has a  lot of sweet amenities like a lovely pool, hot tub, kiddie play area with water fountains and garden pathways and a HUGE breakfast buffet thats included with  our room. Steve & I have a king bed which is wonderful after cramming in a tiny twin for the last wk.
 Steve & I had to meet our group in the lobby at 9:15. We were all so tired and not able to get around fast this morning because of our late night so we just grabbed some thing real quick from the buffet before rushing to our appointment with Javonn. I'm really hoping for a relaxing breakfast tomorrow because it's the best buffet yet with lots of fresh fruit and american food like pancakes, french toast, bacon etc. AS much as we enjoy trying out new food our pallets are very happy to see some familiar things again!
 Because the US Consulate is here in Guangzhou all American families adopting chinese children need to come here. So our hotel is just filled with adopting families. I'd guess about 20 families? It's such a sweet common bond that draws us together. Fun to connect and share stories. We all feel compassion when a child acts out at the buffet or on the bus because we are all in the same stage together. I met an adoptive mom on the elevator from Lancaster PA and another mommy from Albany NY.

Our app. was Javonn's medical exam that all adopted kids need done so they can get their visa. Our guide got us an early app. because this place because very busy with all adoption families from all agencies coming  here. It again was so interesting seeing so many different families with their new children. Javonn did great except for shedding big tears when he needed to have a blood draw for a TB test. All kids over 2 are required to have this TB test, and it is why we need to stay one day longer than those adopting a baby because we need to wait for the results.
Javonn loves his gold fish crackers and loved to share them with everyone in the waiting room who would take one!
We were able to find a kids laxative and also apple juice to help Javonn with constipation. He is getting a bad rash on his back from the top of his pull ups.They really irritate his skin. Soft underwear would be much more gentle but he has regressed enough with his potty-ing that he needs to have a pull up on. Another mommy shared some Desitin with me, and we are trying to roll the back of his pull up down so the scratchy band isnt right on his skin.

Our guide for this city is a sweet older woman named Helen. She has been a tour guide for 30 years and an adoption guide for 10 so she is very skilled. She offered to take any laundry we need washed ot a local person to get washed who does it for a good price, at least mush cheaper than the hotel. It will cost me like $35 to get a basket of laundry done, but I'm done with hand washing :)

The children enjoyed time in the pool. It's 80 during the day. After a 6 mo winter it feels way awesome to feel such warmth!! Kianna has been fevering off and on all day and Derek has sore throat and fever tonight as well. Please pray with us for health!

We had a late lunch at McDonald's and though I'm not a fan of such unhealthy food we all enjoyed it so much! lol. They have a Starbucks right by our hotel and Steve surprised me with an ice cold white chocolate mocha this afternoon. What a treat!!

Tomorrow we plan to leave at 9:30 and go touring on Shaimen Island, a big shopping area for tourists

It's 9:30 and Steve & I had hoped to get to bed real early like 8ish to catch up for our short night but we are still both up on the computers. I think we are both unwinding because all the kids are sleeping, and the quiet is so peaceful and no one actually needs us at the moment :)

We are starting to get excited at the thought of seeing some of you again in a wk! We are on the last leg  of the journey!

Happy Easter Sunday to you all!!  .