She loves her noodles!
Today was a rainy day in Gaungzhou, and at 2:45pm we traveled by bus to the US Consulate where they "interviewed" Grace and then had all of the adopting parents in the room take an oath committing us to caring for our new little US citizens. We were not allowed to have cameras in the room, but if we had cameras you would have seen about one hundred families participating in this ceremony. After the oath taking ceremony we all pretended to take pictures and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Grace has officially been ours since the adoption was complete last week, and nothing could change that, but now Grace is also an American. Officially, she changes from being Chinese to being American when she sets foot in Newark, NJ. At the moment she has a Chinese passport and a visa from the United States government allowing her entry into the states.
We are thrilled with our new little American. To celebrate, our adoption group went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant on the island where the White Swan Hotel is located. One of the little girls reached out and grabbed piping hot rice congee - spilling it on herself and her father and igniting a small squabble between the parents, a waiter yelled at Sharon when she gave Grace a chopstick to hold on to, and not only were there not enough high chairs in the restaurant for our littel group, but none of the high chairs had any straps to hold the kids in. The food was good and the conversation was great, and in the end, as tired as all of us were, we had a grand time. Most of the group is leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Hong Kong to spend a night before flying out on Friday. We opted to stay in Guangzhou until Friday morning. Bright and early on Friday we will be flying from Guangzhou to Beijing and then on to Newark before heading to Raleigh.
Our time here has been great, but we are both missing our boys, and we can't wait to be with them.
Thank you all for your continued prayers!
Pat
We are thrilled with our new little American. To celebrate, our adoption group went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant on the island where the White Swan Hotel is located. One of the little girls reached out and grabbed piping hot rice congee - spilling it on herself and her father and igniting a small squabble between the parents, a waiter yelled at Sharon when she gave Grace a chopstick to hold on to, and not only were there not enough high chairs in the restaurant for our littel group, but none of the high chairs had any straps to hold the kids in. The food was good and the conversation was great, and in the end, as tired as all of us were, we had a grand time. Most of the group is leaving tomorrow morning and heading to Hong Kong to spend a night before flying out on Friday. We opted to stay in Guangzhou until Friday morning. Bright and early on Friday we will be flying from Guangzhou to Beijing and then on to Newark before heading to Raleigh.
Our time here has been great, but we are both missing our boys, and we can't wait to be with them.
Thank you all for your continued prayers!
Pat
Grace's fascination with the hotel room key
Breakfast at The White Swan
The foyer of The White Swan
Posing with the store owners of Michaels in Guangzhou - our favorite store on the island.
