Day 10 - Guanzhou

Today was another day off, as our guide had the appointment with the U.S. Consulate here in Guanzhou to turn in the paperwork. So, we had to stay in our room from 10:00 am to noon, just in case there were any problems. Fortunately, everything was fine, and we met up with everyone for lunch at Lucy's. Lucy's is a cafe right down the street from the hotel. We've eaten most of our meals there because it's fun, simple, and really informal (which is nice with all the kids).

We got to talk to and see Alex and my mother this morning. Alex seems to be doing well, and I think my mother is holding up, too. Hannah was still asleep when we called, but she woke up in the middle, so they were able to see her. We've also been showing Hannah pictures of our family, so hopefully the transition will go smoothly. We really think Alex is excited about meeting his new baby sister. And Hannah has a lot of playful energy, so we're sure they'll be great together!! Hannah has even bought a few new toys and souvenirs for her new big brother.

Darese, Hannah and I walked around quite a bit today. We did some shopping at some of the local shops. We want to be sure we have some really good memories of Hannah's home country as she grows up. There are many, many families here with children. Basically, when families from the U.S. adopt children from China, the last stop on their journey is Guanzhou for their Consulate appointment. And, they typically have to stay about 3 or 4 days while their visas are prepared. Since everything went fine today, we'll go to the Consulate tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon for our swearing in, and will pick up Hannah's visa & passport that will allow her to travel to the U.S. Once she touches down in the U.S. (in our case, Wednesday afternoon in Detroit), she will officially become a citizen of the United States. Yeah!!

Tonight, we all went on a dinner cruise on the Pearl River. It was really nice. The buffet was okay, but the atmosphere was great. After dinner, we all went up on the top deck to enjoy the scenery. The weather was beautiful, and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was a nice way to wind down our trip.

Bill, Jill and their family leave tomorrow right after our visit to the consulate. It's been so nice to be able to meet these families, and share our journeys together. The other two families each had already adopted from China before now, so we were really fortunate to be with them, as they provided some great insight on what to expect (as well as how to deal with blue mouth disease!! Yes, I can poke fun at myself, too!!).

Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow night will probably be my last entry for a while. We leave here bright and early Wednesday morning, and arrive at the Ithaca airport around 3:30 Wednesday afternoon (assuming everything goes okay). Our flights take us from Guanzhou to Tokyo, then to Detroit, then in to Ithaca.

Hope everyone is well!! We look forward to seeing you soon!!

Joe, Darese & Hannah