October 30, 2008

We are in Guangzhou now! Yippee! We flew in yesterday. Guangzhou is our final destination. The American consulate is here. This is where we received AJ's visa to come into the United States. We went to the consulate today and we were sworn in. You raise your right hand and promise to take care of your child. It was rather emotional for Aron and I. It was our last step in the adoption and now we can come home. We are so excited to see our family. The room at the consulate was full of adoptive parents and kids. It was so wonderful. There were 35 families representing 22 states. We met one couple. I would say they are about 55 years old. They are here getting an 8 year old daughter with dwarfism. She is soooo cute. She is about AJ's size. She is their 7th child from China. They have 6 boys at home, all adopted from China. They are incredible. Our 9 families from Bethany are all here together again and we all received our children's visas today... 9 more children have their forever families. Sorry no pictures allowed at the consulate.

We are staying at the most beautiful hotel. It is about 80 degrees here and there is grass and palm trees and sunshine. It is gorgeous here. Our hotel is right on the river. As we drove to the consulate today our guide said that Guangzhou has a lot of millionares here. Also, a lot of migrant workers from other provinces. She said that the gap between rich and poor is growing here in China. She works for Bethany and is a lawyer. Her husband is also an attorney. She has 2 children and they go to university in the states. She is really good and handled all of our paperwork here in Guangzhou. All we had to do is go and swear today... I mean swear in. hee hee. Tomorrow is a free day and then Saturday we fly out for home. China has been quite the experience, one we won't forget. Some things you see in China:

Go Go Boots everywhere

Old men carrying birds

Bicycles built for three

Corn on the cob

moms and
daughters eating lunch