Day 15 Guangzhou 2006

Today was our last day in Guangzhou.  It was beautiful and very hot.  We were free until 2:30.  We all went to the US Consulate office to get Eva's passport/visa.  Harrah's clients were not the only ones there.  For some reason I was thinking that it would just be our small group of 9 families.  There had to be at least 100 families there today.  To me, it seemed so impersonal.  But, I guess when you have that many orphans and many people adopting, what else can you do?   I found out that the Consulate is the same thing as an embassy.  It is only called an embassy when it is located in the capital of the country.

After our appointment, some families headed for home and a few others have their flights early in the morning like us.  We had dinner at Lucy's.  It is close to the hotel and a nice mix of food.  I have to say, Eva eats way too much food.  She loves the congee, broccoli and watermelon.  She also eats Cherrios and rice cereal and the prunes that I brought for her, just in case.  On top of that, she has a bottle morning, lunchtime, dinnertime and bedtime.  I really do not know where she puts it all.  She should be putting on the weight soon.  The 6-9 month dresses fit her perfectly.  She is tiny in her waist, so most bloomers fall off her.  Two piece outfits do not work for her.  We tried buying squeaky shoes for her and the smallest pair we found were too big.  We bought some anyway hoping they'll fit next year.

We are all looking forward to getting home.  I can't wait to see my new neice, born 9/13, Violet Catherine Sluder.  It seems like our time in China has gone by so quickly and it seems strange that our adoption process has almost come to an end.  I'm not looking forward to our long flight with Eva confined to a plane.  She's such a mover and I think she may be restless.  We'll have to pray for her peace.  We're hoping to see Mike's family at the O'Hare Airport for our layover so Eva can meet her other relatives.  It will be good to see them all.

We don't have many pictures today because we just stayed around the hotel and there are no cameras allowed at the US Consulate.  We are all excited to see our family and friends and we know you are all excited to meet Eva.  Please be patient with us while we adjust to the time changes and Eva adjusts to her new surroundings.