Sad but Thankful

Tonight, Peter and I are saddened and stunned by the news out of our children's province. If you haven't already seen the news of the tragedies there, you probably will today. This is the very location we left just three days before the rioting started.  Our guide has sent us a text message and has already left town on a planned vacation in another province. We have not heard from our other friend yet, but have heard there is no internet there now. We are so very thankful that we have been spared being in the city during this tragic and frightening event.   Again, we are thankful for the many, many prayers for this boy and for us that have now been covering him and us for the past 2 1/2 years and especially during this often unpredictable trip.  There is a long list of "might have beens" that could have prevented us from bringing our son home.  Please keep praying.  We are thankful that he passed the TB screening today.  We heard of another family today that did not. We are thankful that we did not get quarantined for being near someone with the flu. Today, we met a family (for you RQ fans out there - Lola Granola...) that sat near someone with flu on their flight to Beijing. They spent 7 days in a quarantine hotel -- dad was sent to the hospital. This is the second family we have met that was sent to a hospital. Please continue to pray for our health. We cross the border into Hong Kong tomorrow by car and fly home on Wednesday. Joshua got car sick again today and we have a very long car ride tomorrow.  We have a pretty tight connection for getting through customs on Wednesday in San Francisco, so prayers there would be great too!    We arrive Wednesday at 12:43 in PDX and are coming in on United. Some of you have asked about coming to the airport.  I think Joshua will be fine with that. We may be weary, but can't wait to see our kids and friendly faces!  Not that we haven't had friendly faces here, we have been blessed beyond measure by opportunities to see friends and make new ones every day.   After Joshua got car sick on the way to the medical clinic (it was lovely to have him throwing up in the garbage cans in the middle of the crowded clinic), our guide decided she could go to the consulate without us and have us sign papers at the hotel so that Joshua wouldn't have to get in a car again so soon. We walked around Shamian, ran into Jordan (one of our favorite shop keepers) and then headed to Starbucks.  The building Starbucks has is like something out of Casa Blanca. We ordered one drink and sat on their porch in big cushy chairs under big fans and next to tropical looking plants. That is where we ran into Lola Granola and family. We didn't have our camera with us because we had been planning to go to the Consulate where they aren't allowed. We really wished we would have had it when we decided to wander off of the Island by foot to a shopping area. The walk is really amazing. We had done it last trip too. We walked several blocks through these alleys that are like something out of a movie. Crammed with venders with their products sitting on the ground - bag after bag of spices and nuts and dried lizards on sticks. It really is impossible to adequately describe, but we did soak in more culture.   Tomorrow, we will go back to Shamian Island again. We are hoping to meet up with a friend I only know through email.  She runs the foster care program that sponsored Anna and we have been in contact ever since we adopted Anna. Her organization has a charity store in Guangzhou -- my favorite shop -- A Gift From China. Their program also sponsored Joshua for camp last summer.   At 4:00 tomorrow afternoon, Joshua will have his citizenship swearing in ceremony at the American Consulate. He will officially become a US Citizen when we touch down on US soil in San Francisco.   I will try to post from Hong Kong tomorrow night. I will definitely plan to do a closing post from home. Since my body clock has finally adjusted to China time, I'm sure I'll have some quiet time for a blog post while everyone else is sleeping...   Thank you again for following our journey and for the many prayers and encouraging words. We are so very blessed.