We ARE home...

We are home...I have just been completely exhausted and busy with the wedding. I don't think I have had a chance to recover from the long flight home with a screaming two year old...much less the wedding. I do plan to post many more pictures and updates with Aiden. I just haven't had the chance to get my head screwed on right yet. So stay tuned as I will post more later about the trip home and our beautiful wedding!

Temple Tours and Oath-Taking

Monday we went to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees and the Chen family temple. The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees was quite impressive and currently is home to the Guangzhou Buddhist Association. There is a huge pagoda which appears to be 9 stories high but it actually has 17 stories inside. Shannon, Gavin, Aiden and I were all privileged to receive a blessing from one of the monks. It was really fascinating to hear him humming and to have our boys receive a blessing. After visiting the temple, we moved on to the Chen family temple which was absolutely exquisite. The detail in the building architecture was absolutely unbelievable and I think it was by far the prettiest place we’ve been to. Our bus then made a quick stop at Carrefour which is like a Chinese Wal-mart and fortunately this store was much cleaner and less crowded than the one we visited in Beijing.

For dinner, our guide arranged a group dinner with five Great Wall China Adoption families at a local Cantonese restaurant. One of the other families actually is from Brandon and lives probably only five miles from me. What a small world! Several of the food items were actually very good even though we witnessed some sort of “fowl” dish go by the table served with head and all.

Today was our appointment with the American Consulate for the oath-taking ceremony. We went with several other families to our appointments where we were all called up to the window one family at a time. We first had to sign the necessary paperwork and then the entire room of adoptive parents was asked to stand to take the oath. That is officially the last bit of paperwork - finally!!! Tomorrow I will get Aiden’s passport with visa in the afternoon which will allow him to become a United States citizen the minute he is on land in Chicago on Thursday. Tomorrow is what is known as the “Red Couch” photo. All of the children will be photographed dressed in their beautiful silk outfits seated on one of the red couches in our hotel. This is a tradition for all adoptive families staying at the White Swan before our final departure. We’ll probably then do some last minute shopping and then our final packing! We will be home soon…so very soon!!!

Hot Pot 101 - Recipes for the Stranded

Weanies and Beanies:
2 cans Campbell’s baked beans (make sure they have pop-top lids)
1 bag of Hormel one-bite hot dogs
Fill hot pot 1/3 full of water. Remove manufacturer’s labels from baked beans. Put can into hot water to heat beans. When beans are hot, add bag of hot dogs to the hot water to heat. Then you can heat second can of beans while devouring the first can. Serve on fine paper plates. McDonald’s ketchup is optional for hot dogs. Dinner is served!

Spaghetti:
1 bag spaghetti noodles
1 jar Ragu spaghetti sauce
Fill hot pot 1/3 full of water. Remove manufacturer’s labels from the jar of Ragu and then heat jar in water. When you remove the jar of Ragu, keep it submerged in the bathroom sink filled with hot water. Boil noodles in hot pot until finished. Serve hot spaghetti sauce over cooked noodles on fine paper plates. Dinner is served!

Ramen Noodles:
1 package Ramen noodles
Fill hot pot with specified amount of water. Cook noodles in hot water. Serve in cheap plastic Target bowls featuring lovely Halloween pictures. Dinner is served!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches (no hot pot required):
1 bag outdated Bimbo bread (all bread is past the date here)
1 jar Skippy peanut butter
1 jar blueberry jelly
Spread peanut butter and jelly onto stale, hard bread with cheap plastic knife. Devour on fine paper plate or in cheap Target bowl. Dinner is served!

Cheerios:
1 humongous bag Cheerios from Sam’s Club that you actually brought for your child
1 container of white liquid with picture of cow on label
Use lovely Halloween designed bowls from Target to eat one of the snacks you brought for your child to eat when he isn’t looking. Dinner is served!

Hello Guangzhou

We left Beijing Friday morning and I truly believe that our plane must have bypassed Guangzhou and gone directly to heaven. What a different atmosphere this is!!! There are birds chirping, trees and flowers growing, no horns honking, no cars, buses, trucks, or bicycles trying to plow you over, the food is edible and the hotel is downright luxurious! Guangzhou appears to be rundown, old and very poor but it is different… in a good way. Guangzhou is located on a small island where the streets are paved with brick and it just seems quaint in this vast and busy country.

When we arrived Friday, we had a nice calm drive from the airport to the hotel where for the first time we didn’t feel that our lives were in imminent danger. We then strolled over to the medical clinic so Aiden and Gavin could have their medical checks. And that is where all the fun ended! Aiden was a real screamer! They never did anything to him that would have caused him any pain or discomfort. It all started when they weighed him (28.5 pounds) and then got progressively worse when they looked in his ears and had to do his chest x-ray. He was one unhappy camper by the time it was all over! Nothing a few M&Ms and goldfish crackers couldn’t cure though!

Saturday we had the day off and Aiden and I spent a good majority of the day here in the playroom that the hotel has for the children. I think almost all adoptive families come through this hotel at the end of their stay in China. The American Consulate that processes the visas for our adopted children is here in Guangzhou. The playroom is called the Swan Room and Mattel helped design it. It really is a great feature of this hotel so our children can get out of the rooms and play. Mattel and the White Swan Hotel also give each of the families an exclusive Barbie with an Asian baby. I had heard about it before and couldn’t wait to get mine. My mom said if she knew all I wanted was a Barbie she would have bought me one so we didn’t have to fly half way around the world for one!

Today we went shopping again. We went to one store that had a little of everything and then headed to the Pearl Market. That place was amazing – it was a mall of several floors and store after store selling fresh water pearls and costume jewelry. Amazing but overwhelming! The first store I bought a beautiful painting where the man actually finger paints everything.

All in all we are in a much happier place! We are all mostly feeling better although dad is still suffering a little with that head cold. We have air conditioning and we have Lucy’s Café & Bar (as close to home as it gets here). The hotel is fabulous and one of the prettiest I’ve been to with tropical waterfalls and huge koi ponds. It is relaxing to just walk over one of the bridges and watch the fish. Our guide Kelly is fantastic as well and incredibly informative (she is above and beyond better than our guide in Beijing). And to top it off, we will be leaving for home in just a few short days. Life is good.