China Update #13

(From Jay)

Eating

One thing that we have had a huge challenge with regarding Lori is her eating. Despite being told that the girl loved to eat, for seven days we felt lucky if we were able to get her to eat her 'hash' (from a previous post) twice a day.

We knew it was a power trip for her...the one thing she could control, so we were just prayerful and hopeful that time would heal that issue. Well...as of Tuesday evening, the problem has been resolved...the girl found her appetite! Wednesday at our late breakfast and our early supper the girl ate and ate. And honestly seems happier because of it! We guess she finally thought to herself, "well I guess these people aren't gonna take me back, so I might as well eat!". It feels great seeing her get more comfortable with us each day.

It's funny how she is, so everyone can be forewarned. In our room, with just us, she smiles and plays (she still doesn't like me or Camille to hold her)...but she is outgoing and fun in a small group. But when we go down to the play room where the other adoptive families are with their new children...she turns into a statue. She stands in one spot, and watches everything, but does not engage with the other children. So at church when we get back or in a crowd, she'll most likely go into statue mode.

The U.S. Consulate

Yesterday we had our appointment that is the last hurdle. If you adopt from China, your hold trip is scheduled around this appointment. On certain days they have an 8:30 and 10:00 appointment slot each for 12 potential adoptive families, so after a 20 minute bus ride, we met several families at the Consulate. We went up to the 5th floor for the consulate, went thru security, and walked in the door past an American Flag. It felt so great to see that flag! Anyway, we walked into a small room with a glass wall of 10 what looked like ticket counters...we sat and waited for our name to be called. When called, we presented our information to the agent who spent 5 minutes looking over everything and filling out forms and stamping things. Lots of stamping things in China. The agent told us everything looked fine and that the visa would be ready Thursday afternoon after 3:30...and then we were free to go.

So all in all, the consultate wasn't bad at all. Fortunately, our agency had helped us assemble all the necessary documents, so it really was a breeze. We took the bus ride back to the hotel, and tried to figure out how to the pass the time by walking around the island.

Red Couch Pictures

One thing Holt likes to do is take some group photos of the kids and the Holt families before people start to depart. Currently, there are four Holt families in Guangzhou, and we were the last to arrive, so Wednesday afternoon was picture time. First we took pictures of the four girls...from left to right we have Khloe Donner from Florida, Livvie Laessig from Wisconsin, Lori, and Leah Kemnetz from Illinois...all in their traditional Chinese outfits. Later we took a photo of all of the four families. It has been a blessing getting to know each of them, and we wish them the best.

Exit Meeting

After our pics, we had our last meeting with the Holt staff. They walked us each through how we will get home. To my surprise, everyone takes different paths home. Some fly from Guangzhou, some ride the train to Hong Kong...all kinds of options. We are riding the train to Hong Kong, and honestly, after the exit meeting, the train station at Guangzhou sounds pretty intimidating. I am honestly a little worried about everything going well there...with the five of us and all our bags. Please pray that it goes smoothly at the station. The one blessing is that we got an earlier train. Originally, we were scheduled to leave at 6pm, but now we are leaving out at noon on Friday and be to Hong Kong at 2pm. We have to go through customs on both sides, and then we take a shuttle to our hotel at the airport. If we have time, we would like to go into Hong Kong, but I'm not sure time will allow.

Rest of Wednesday

Wednesday evening, we were brave and us and another family tried the Thai restaurant again, this time without a guide. We survived. It was another great time...and Lori ate everything! Praise the Lord!

We ended the night in the traditional way...in the Swan Room at the White Swan Hotel. Because of so many adoptive families, they have a 30x30 room with carpet filled with toys where all the families end up at night to let the kids play and tell each other's stories. What a blessing to hear God working in so many lives.

Tomorrow is our last full day...hooray! We miss Chloe and the boys so much! We get our Visa around 4:30 Thursday afternoon. So Thursday is packing day!