We solemnly swear.....to love and protect Meili forever

Today we slept in and it felt great. No place to go until afternoon and we just took it easy. Meili slept until 8:45 and we didn't get up much before that. After breakfast we decided....(well I decided), I didn't get quite enough shopping at the LiWan Plaza. It's seriously amazing. So I gave my best puppy dog eyes and Russel hailed the taxi down and off we went. Today was actually more successful than yesterday and we had a good time. It was a short time as we had to be back at the hotel at 2:30 to leave for the consulate. Now, if I would've known we were going shopping....the sleeping in thing would've never happened. We all would've been down in the breakfast hall by 6 a.m. :) Anyway, we grabbed some McD's and headed back to the hotel.
We left for the consulate with the other wonderful families in our group. There were no cameras allowed....at all....not even for a picture out side of the U.S. Consulate building. So we have no documented pictures of the official day where Meili got the "okay" to head to the U.S. where once she sets foot on American soil will automatically become a U.S. citizen. Yea! Russel and I had to hold up our right hands and swear that we will forever love her, take care of her, and never abandon her. We were there with many groups of families and it took about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to get through everyone's interviews, etc. At the end one of the U.S. Consulate ladies stood up and told us some pretty cool statistics about how special needs adoption has been increasing greatly over the last few years and this year 67% of the adoptions were from the special needs program. Amazing. They also announced that there were 3 babies with birthdays just recently. They announced that Meili McKenna turned 3 on August 1. Everyone clapped and I raised her little hand so everyone could see who she was and she scowled and squealed a little and went right back to playing with the toys in the room. I think she was just so stinkin' excited to have some really cool big toys to play with that she just couldn't be bothered with the birthday wishes from everyone in the room. It was very sweet to see the room filled with all these parents that were absolutely in love with all these beautiful amazing children......there was no doubt that God played a role in the lives of these people and helped us all to find our sweet little ones. It was also a little sad to know that it is all coming to a close. We can't wait to be home but at the same time, it will be sad to see this all end. We have met such amazing people and made friends that we will have forever.
So after that we came back to the hotel and decided to take Meili for a little swim. At first she was a little timid....didn't quite know what to think but before long she was dunking her head in the water, splashing dad, kicking her legs, and actually trying to swim all by herself. She'd push away from me and just start splashing around. She'd watch her dad and then try to swim like him. It was pretty funny. She likes to do most everything you will let her by herself. So I let her on this one too......didn't work out so well. She may have thrown up just a teensy bit in the pool. :) Not too mention, she may have leaked a little down below too. I swished around real quick though......no swim diapers in guangzhou....but hey it's definitely no worse than what we've seen on the street.
Anyway, then we headed back to the room, ordered room service and then it was time for bathtime, lotion, pjs, prayer and bed. She loves to sing and she has the sweetest little voice. We love to just sit and listen to her sing. She sang a lot today and it's oh so sweet. What a sweetheart.
We were able to skype with all the kids together today. With Josh in Logan with Sheri, Abi in SLC with grandma and grandpa, and the little boys with Grandma Jo and no skype, it was awesome to see them all back together (even for just one night). It was fun to see them all and even better to see them sitting in our house having a little together time. The three younger kids head to SLC today and Josh will stay in Logan to practice for the golf team.....then they will all be back together on Saturday at grandma and grandpa's. And that means we are almost home!!!
Miss you all, love you all!!! We can't tell you how much we have appreciated the words, thoughts, and prayers. It has given us strength and encouragment, especially on the hard days. We have the best family and friends in the world!!!
Here is a view out our window of the hotel.....one at night....one in the day. We have loved Guangzhou.