Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 3:35pm China time 3:35am NC time

Hello Everyone!

Well, it's been a few days since our last blog. We apologize! Our last blog (on Friday) was also our last day in Chongqing. We flew from Chongqing to Guangzhou early Saturday morning. We were unsure about the flight because Bin Bin has never been on an airplane and we were in a small space with "lots of people". He did not like the airport. However, he did OK on the plane once we took off. This was our shortest flight. We have two more flights to go!! Please continue to pray that Bin Bin does well. Thursday evening we have a three hour flight to Beijing. Then we leave early Friday for our long journey home (about 17 hours total). Enough about flying!

The past two days have been nice, but very busy. We have been reunited with all of our travel buddies and families. There are fifteen families total. The children are precious!! Most of them are girls. There is one other family who also adopted a little boy. Our two little guys have already had a playdate! The other families are very nice! It is an amazing sight to see God's hand in the lives of these families now united with their children!

Samuel Ty has done much better here in Guangzhou. I think he likes being around the other families. Maybe he doesn't feel quite so different. In any case, he is doing better each day.

Yesterday (Sunday) we toured the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum. It was beautiful! The wood carvings, ivory carvings, ceramics, and embroidery were beautiful. Bin Bin enjoyed this museum because we spent time inside and outside. Enjoy the pictures!

Later we went to the Friendship Store. This store had everything! It is seven stories tall. It's kind of like a mall and grocery store all in one! We bought a few groceries for the week. Still no Mtn. Dew, but we did buy a box of Cheerios and a can of Pringles chips!

My afternoon was spent doing paperwork. I wish I had taken my camera! Twenty adults in one room for over two hours trying to finish adoption paperwork for our meetings this week! We are in the home stretch and oh so tired of paperwork :o)

Supper was a special treat. All of the families went to a very nice Japanese restaurant here in the hotel. It was delicious! You would think this was the first time we offered Bin Bin food. He ate and ate and ate and ate!!! He really enjoyed it. We were glad to see him eat! Breakfast has been his biggest meal until now! Steve was finally able to fill his stomach, too. He had steak and really enjoyed it! I decided to stick to my veggies and fried rice. It was great!

Our Monday began with the medical exam. We are so glad that is over! It is really just a formality at this point. Something that is necessary for the final paperwork. However, on this day, our group and another adoption group were there at the same time. The area is very small. It was really hard on the children to be there for so long in such a small, loud place. It was overwhelming, even for the parents.

After the exam, we went shopping! We were on the Shaiman Island (sp?). All of the shop owners speak English. We met some nice people and bought some neat things. We enjoyed our afternoon walking around the island. We enjoyed a nice lunch. We even had onion rings! Bin Bin tried them. He liked the onion rings, but liked french fries better! Of course, rice is the staple he wants at every meal. So he ate rice, too.

Samuel Ty just finished his nap and little fingers are finding the keyboard! We love you all and miss you very much!! Enjoy the pictures!

Steve, Toni, and Samuel Ty (Bin Bin)

The Guangdong Folk Arts Museum