First Flight

It was a long day...we got up early to go to the zoo and see the pandas...temps into 100's, so it was hot!! Ellie went the whole day without a nap, we received her passport, and then we had to go to the airport to fly to Guangzhou.

We arrived to our hotel around 10:30 p.m...all of us exhausted..and have to get up early for visa photos and a medical exam.

How to sum up today? Relief comes to mind as another leg of our journey to bring Ellie home comes to an end...Anticipation as we are nearing the end of our time in China--to be home, to have Ellie checked out, to introduce her to all those we love, and to see our boys!

I am now on antibiotics, also...Ellie has shared her respiratory bug with me.... and given China's policies on H1N1, I think it better to knock it out early :)

The Chinese have a name for little girls from the Sichuan Province...they are first called beautiful..and secondly, "spicy"...which means our little angel has some attitude...well, we can assure you it is an apt description on both parts!! But the spicy for us means that she is a little fighter, and Praise God--that is what has helped her get through her hospitalizations and into our arms...and besides, I think she is entering a "spicy" family quite naturally...enough said :)

We receive lots of looks when we are out and about...I pray that we are a reflection of God's love for the Chinese and that our actions convey to them how much we love our daughter and their people...to travel all this way is not about getting a daughter (though we have)...it is about displaying the love of God for all peoples throughout the nations and making a difference in a tiny girl's life...We are all called to impact our world for Christ..each in different ways. At this moment, we are called to be an impact in this little girl's life...in the future, she will be called to impact others...isn't that amazing? I can't wait to see the plans God has for her--to give her a hope and a future!