Longing for home

We're ready to come home! Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful here. We have enjoyed our time in Guangzhou. At the advice of many friends that have come before us, we have chosen a great hotel to stay in while in Guangzhou. The food here is good. The shopping is great (more on that later!). We're just ready to come home. I'm personally ready to sleep in my own bed, do my own laundry, drink my own coffee in the morning in my own kitchen. I'm ready to take my daughter to the park in the city where I live. I'm ready to get back to my corps and worship with the believers that God has blessed my life with . I'm just ready...
It won't be long now!
Today is Wednesday (I think). Today, our guide, XiXi, goes to our consulate appointment on our behalf. My understanding is that basically, the US consulate goes over all of our paperwork to make sure that it is in order, and issues AbbyGrace's visa. Tomorrow afternoon, we will go to the consulate to swear an oath (not sure what we're swearing, but I guess I'll find out), and then tomorrow evening, we will leave Guangzhou for Beijing. After spending the night in Beijing, we will leave for home on Friday.

NOW, about the shopping. THIS PLACE IS A SHOPPER'S PARADISE! We shopped pretty much all day yesterday. Our group started out at the pearl market, which is a 5 story indoor mall with nothing but jewelry stores. Row upon row of jewelry. Any type of jewelry, it was found there. We wanted pearls (of course, you can't come to China and not buy pearls!). Every store was about the same - you walk in, there are HUGE bags (I mean like tall kitchen garbage can size bags) FULL of strands of pearls. Not just one bag - but bags LINING THE WALL FULL OF PEARLS! It was almost unbelievable. I've posted pics just so you'll believe me. So, the bottom line - how much did they cost? I bought a strand of white pearls for AbbyGrace to give to her on her wedding day (I got a strand for myself for the same occassion) - I was told that they are the best quality pearls (they were the most beautiful to my eye), and paid $60 US for the strand to be strung and added a clasp. I thought that was pretty good. AbbyGrace is my daughter - SHE LOVED SHOPPING HERE! She loved pulling all of the pearls out of the bags, and has love putting all of the pearls on and standing and looking at herself in the mirror. So Cute!

NEXT - ELECTRONICS! This was a great place to shop as well. We ended up getting Ethan 4 GB mp3 player and spend about $93. We also bought a TON of DVD's at 12 RMB (about $1.50) each. We bought several movies that aren't even out in the states yet (or at least they weren't when we left for China) - Cars, Pirates of the Carribbean - Dead Man's Chest, Happy Feet, and a few more. That was LOTS of fun!

THEN - to the TOY MARKET! We didn't do a whole lot of damage here. Ethan found some cool wheel things that strap on his shoes to turn them into those roller shoes. I think he paid 60 RMB (about $8) for them. We also picked up a few other things in the adjoining "antique" market that caught our eye.

We purchased traditional Chinese dresses in every size for AbbyGrace today. We want to have her photographed in these dresses each year and send a picture to her foster family with an update each year. So, now the shopping is pretty much done. Now we can go home.

We miss all of our friends and family. Thank you to all of you that have emailed and/or left comments on our blogs. There is no way that you ever know how much it has meant to us to have your support and your prayers for so many months, and now while we have been here. THANK YOU - a thousand times - THANK YOU!

Now, let me see if I can post those pics!