Today our group went to the Six Banyan Temple, a very popular spot to visit for adoptive families). This is where families get their daughters "blessed" by Buddha. Many people do this because Buddhism is the religion of their daughter's birth country. I hear that the temple and park were very beautiful to see but we had no interest in getting Lia blessed there so we decided to skip the excursion entirely. We had a long day yesterday and just wanted some down time.So, we hung out, had laundry done, and had the pictures developed that were taken of Lia in her orphanage between the end of May and the day we got her. We are so fortunate to have these precious pictures and they will be special to her one day but honestly, it made me sad to look at them at this point. I can't see her as anyone but ours now and although that was a big part of her life and journey to us, it is in the past and I want to look forward. It also rained a lot today. We got caught in our second rain storm and the girls got the umbrella while Chris got soaked! It is so damp here all the time (even our sheets feel damp at night) that it will take a while for the shirt that he was wearing to dry out. Tonight went with a couple of other families to have Italian food. Thank goodness. I needed a change! It was SO good. Good like I haven't had in a while.And for the very first time, we ordered spaghetti for Lia and she LOVED it!! yay! She almost couldn't get enough. We took pictures for her Uncle Gianni, who will make her real Italian food very soon I'm sure. :) We had such a good time with the other families and Lia just loved being silly with Bella and Merrin. The pictures prove it! The bond these girls have will be lifelong and the time we all have here together is priceless. Tomorrow we have our consulate appointment at 9:30am.Our guides, XiXi and Bob will go to the consulate office for us to do all of our paperwork while we wait for them at the hotel. It should all go smoothly and is one of the last steps in this process! At noon we meet at the White Swan Hotel to take a group photo and to get the "Red Couch" picture of all the girls, that I talked about before. It's hard to believe that we are so close to the end of this trip. It really feels like we've been here forever. We've enjoyed China but are so anxious to get back to "real life"and whatever that holds. Only 2 more full days ... and then we travel! |
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