The Land of Oz

We're out of the dark, we're out of the woods we're into the light! We feel like we're in Emerald City. We are now in Guangzhou, China

The end is in sight. Only 2 days until Saturday and we're homeward bound. Sorry we have been out of touch- we had a computer glitch and had trouble getting online. We're up and running again. Yeah!

Yesterday we flew from Shenyang to Guangzhou. This was our short warm up flight for the trip home. It was 3 hours and 40 minutes. All went well. We are now at our last stop before we head home. We are here to get a travel visa for Clare. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel which is famous for all the adoptive families that stay here. It feels wonderful. All kinds of people speaking English and lots of cute babies and kids. No one is staring at us- it's great.

Guangzhou is a tropical city- at some point in history the British were here so it seems very different from where we were. It almost has a Charleston feel- somewhat provincial or colonial. But the city has been here for 2000 years- quite a long history.

Today was the medical exam day for Clare and then we went shopping to a very large complex with a huge times square type central courtyard. We had lunch at McDonalds. We never eat McDonalds at home but it was awfully good. We needed an Amercian meal after many Chinese dinners.

Attached are some pictures from the last few days. All is well. Clare is responding to her new name and starting to say a few things in English. Surprisingly, she can sing the ABC's from her pre-school in China. It is very cute. She is quite a character and we are loving every minute of it. Her transition to our family has really been remarkable- we feel like it's really a miracle!

We can't wait to see everyone. We are counting the hours!