Goodbye Changsha-Friday

**Will fill in pictures tomorrow. To tired and we have an early morning medical appointment for kids! But we made it to GZ and my brother is here!! :-) 

Today we had nothing on the agenda but to pack and leave for Guangzhou. We have been in Changsha for the last 5 nights and we are ready to move on.

**Just for reference. Your children come to you in the capital city of their province (state) for adoption. You have to wait 5 days for their passports. Then you move onto to Guangzhou where the US consulate is and you finish the process of getting them a visa. Once we land on US soil, my kids are citizens! Nothing else has to be done for the adoption once we are home, which is why the trip is so long on this side.

If you remember I started with 4 suitcases, SMALL suitcases. Our guide Amy even commented how little luggage we had! Mark was insistant we get it down to THREE for this journey. So thankful we did..

We spent the morning skyping the kids and packing. Mercie continues to be up and down. She loves me, she loves me not. BUT it is a huge improvement and we are seeing much more calm than sad.

We left our hotel around 230pm. Mercie went into panic mode then, I think she is sensing the change.

One thing I have to note… We stayed in the same hotel that we were in back with Sage in 2006. The Dolton.  I would almost swear I was in the same room! It has been such a strange feeling. The only thing missing is all the other families! We have seen ONE family here on a heritage tour. (And the mom’s name was Mercy, by the way!) In 2006 the hotel was overflowing with families adopting. It actually makes me sad. The breakfast buffet is still impressive. AND our favorite doorman is still there! His name is Dean and he is the happiest nicest guy! We told him (through the guide) that we remembered him and were so happy to see him again!

At the hotel Amy told Syler he had to be a big boy and help with the luggage and he was having so much fun

pulling a suitcase. He took his jobs seriously!

After leaving the hotel we had to go by the Civil Affairs to get the kids passports. It took FOREVER. Syler fell asleep waiting.  Mercie actually did well in the car sitting on my lap, playing, in a happy mood.

We started for the train station and hit traffic. A WHOLE LOT of traffic. The clock started ticking for our 4:25pm train. It is a holiday weekend so they said it was busy.

I start praying, God please just let us get on this train.

At 4:05 I started to panic. At 4:10 I thought there is no way because we still had to go through security once we arrived.

And then I am thinking what in the world will we do because it is a holiday weekend and we barely got tickets for this train as it is.

At 4:16 we pulled up to the train station and Amy said RUN.

Now, imagine this if you will. I already had Fei Fei strapped to my chest. We had our backpacks on. But we did have 3 suitcases with us and 5 of us to get through security. (backpacks off, thank the Lord they just send it through a scanner) We get through security and Amy is RUNNING. Syler is pulling a suitcase, I have a baby strapped on, a backpack AND a purse. Our gate is about 10 down and I am thinking NO WAY. 

I hit that moment of paralyzed fear where your legs feel like lead. I am watching my 8 year old pull that suitcase as if his life depended on it and I just wanted to pass out.! But watching him knowing he KNOWS how important it is to just GO we are moving towards HOME, I keep moving.

Amy is already at the ticket counter yelling RUN come on you can do it! We get through and then we see the steps! NO Escalator just 100 steps but the train is at the bottom! She is cheering us on, just GO, GO!  So Syler and Malaine are dragging one suitcase down the steps while Mark and I each have another. Through all of this Fei Fei is as calm as can be!

We get ON the train, I look down and one of Mercie’s shoes is GONE! (the only shoes that fit her)  UGH! But there is nothing I can do but find my seat.

We sit down and literally the train starts to move. And I immediately burst into tears. 

God continues to surround us and carry us through. He proves himself big all the time.  He is showing me through an 8 year old boy that we just need to keep moving, even when we feel paralyzed with fear. He allowed me to bring Malaine who has been a huge help and I don’t know what we would have done with out her on this trip. Not even kidding. She NEVER complains and I know she is bored at times but just keeps smiling.

We will be in Guangzhou soon. My brother will be there to meet us tonight for the weekend. (my brother has lived in China for the last few years teaching English) We are so excited to see him! We had Amy tell Syler he would meet his uncle who is VERY tall! J GZ is always a very welcome relief for all adoption families. It is very westernized and it is where ALL families have to go, so you get to meet others. Personally I am hopeful that our room will be cool (SO hot in Hunan!) AND our bed might be a bit softer. I literally have bruises on my hips you can see, from the hard bed!

Many families look forward to the food and while of course we are excited to try out Tequilas and the Irish Pub we have heard about (though Chinese Mexican, hmmm) we actually love chinese food so that is not such a big deal for us. People talk about losing weight on their trips from not eating. HA! I thought I was losing at first but I really doubt it. We eat and eat and eat, cant’ get this food at home!

That is another thing Malaine has done great at. I brought some food, just in case. I have ALL the food I brought still. She eats everything. Now I won’t say she wasn’t excited when we ordered pizza this week or had Mc Donalds. But she really does well trying everything and for the most part likes it. Another kind of funny… We eat everything. We brush our teeth with the water, we aren’t so careful. Thank the Lord we never get sick. BUT we had American food one day and guess what? We both felt sick!

This has turned into a very long post and we should arrive in GZ soon. Hopefully I will get this posted once we are settled in our room!