day 17

Today was August 30th, our Consulate Appointment Day. It's a pretty big day in the adoption process. It's basically the end of it. We left our hotel at 7:30 this morning to get to the U.S Consulate for our 8:30 appointment. We took an oath with about a dozen families to care for our children and promised that all of the info on our paperwork was true. I kind of smiled at that point because the paperwork had been checked by the U.S and Chinese government ten million times over the last 10 months. It better be true.

While eating lunch at Subway, we met a family that lives in the Indpls area and just adopted their son from the same orphanage Caleb was in. Such a small world. Then Andy spent an hour and half standing in line at the bank to exchange money while I started packing for our trip home and Hope watched some Chinese shows on t.v. Then it was naptime and dinner. We had dinner at our new favorite Chinese restaurant here. I still don't know the name of it. It's referred to as "the restaurant above Jorden's store". And anyone who adopts from China knows who Jorden is and where his store is so I guess it doesn't really need a name. There were 10 of us that ate dinner together (our Madison friends and our new Indy friends) so we were able to eat in our own little private room that had a large round table. We are appreciating getting to know some new families here. Two weeks of semi-solitude will make you very grateful for things you usually take for granted. Like social interaction. And sharing life together with other Christians. Life just isn't as good if you live it alone.

Our adoption guide goes back to the U.S. Consulate for us tomorrow to pick up Hope's visa and then we're done. Like really done.

And how fitting is this...Hope's 4th birthday is tomorrow. August 31st. Our last day in China. We're going to get a traditional Chinese cake from a local bakery and celebrate with our new friends at dinner tomorrow night. Dinner at "the restaurant above Jorden's", of course. And thus will end our three week stay in China.

And our new life as a family of seven will begin.