We are enjoying the country of China, but we are grateful we live in America. It was heart-warming to see the Stars and Stripes flying over the US Consulate office in Guangzhou yesterday. We had an appointment there which brought us one step closer to finalizing the paperwork. Now when Josie sets foot on American soil she will be an official American citizen! We want her to embrace her Chinese heritage but we are excited about this step and what it represents.
After that appointment we visited a huge zoo where we saw a wide variety of animals. While our zoos back home might have one or two of the "big" animals, this zoo has over 25 tigers, dozens of elephants and rhinos, a pride of lions, a pack of wolves, and...whatever you call a large group of pandas and giraffes! It was amazing. They also have three little month-old pandas that you can watch online. They're very proud of them. The babies won't be on display at the zoo for a couple weeks yet.
Josie is blossoming. She has been easy to care for this week. Happy to be held, and happiest to be fed! She loves to eat. While we rode a "safari train" and ogled the huge camels that were ten yards away, Josie gobbled trail mix. She was much more interested in the food than the animals.
Tonight will be our last one in China, Lord willing! A van is scheduled to pick us up at 6 AM Wed. (that's 6 PM Tuesday, Michigan time) and drive us to the Hong Kong airport where we hope to take a 12 hour flight to SF, and another from there to Chicago, where we plan to spend the night. Please join us in asking God to take us safely HOME by Thursday evening! Woo hoo! As excited as we are, we will miss this place. We will also miss our new friends Mike and Dawn and their adopted son Roy. They are from Pennsylvania and we connected with them instantly, sharing the unique intimacy of Gotcha Day, then many walks and meals together since. We expect to stay connected with them.
Thank you for praying! We love you!
 |
| The U.S. Consulate |
 |
| That bear in the middle is catching a piece of raw chicken thrown by a zoo keeper from about 30 yards! |
|
 |
Josie's checking out the panda.
|
| Some of the English translations on signs were funny... |
 |
| ...and some were just weird! |
|
 |
If you must do hours and hours of homework it might as well be outside...
...in bare feet...on the pool deck...near the palm trees...in October...in China. |
 |
| Although still rare, these smiles are being seen more often! |
We are eager to see you all at home. Great to see Josie smile. Terrific zoo. Don't expect warm weather here but we have had a great weekend-Monday the temp. was 75. Thankful that the paperwork has gone well and we will be praying you home. Love, Mom and Dad S
ReplyDeleteAgree with Shirl. We too are praying you home to all your American family!!!! We love all the pictures and of course the narrative. We almost feel like we are there with you. Looking forward to our first meeting with Josie, whenever you are ready for us.
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom and Dad Pro
I love seeing Josie Joy smile. We are praying for you all as well. We are grateful all has seemed to go so smoothly for you these past couple of week. We look forward to seeing you in person soon. Love you all!
ReplyDeletePS My relatives seem to enjoy palm trees and pools,no matter what country they may be in. :)
Be carefully slip and keep your saliva in your mouth. I do believe we may have just gained a few more often-to-be-used phrases in our repertoire, right up there with "fun dough." Love it!
ReplyDeletePraying you all home and praying for Josie as she leaves her native tongue behind and enters a world filled with new sights and sounds. Good thing we've got lots of trail mix and love to share.
It's been so fun to see the pictures throughout your journey!! Praying for safe and smooth travels home.
ReplyDeleteSMILES! From here and us seeing those pictures. prayed at dinner tonight that all travel is happening as planned. We are excited to own you are back in the states and safe. We are excited to welcome Josie to our all star family. Loves and hugs to all of you. The DeLanos
ReplyDelete