Today was an awesome day! We had breakfast, along with 40 million other people in the hotel. We saw lots of adoptive families and people from all over the world. After we ate, we met our group in the lobby and headed to the Clinic where all adopted children have to have an exam. It was super crowded, but I absolutely loved seeing all the families. We saw kids of all ages and loved catching bits and pieces of others’ stories. You can just see God’s handiwork looking at all those kids who are orphans no longer! Ethan and Reese did pretty well during the 3 stations of their exams. They wouldn’t let me go with Ethan for his blood test and I was a little nervous. I could see him through a window in the door, but when he was screaming, they shut the curtain and I couldn’t see much but shadows then. They poked him in his wrist, which seemed a little odd to me and he had a bandaid that I had to put pressure on for “3-5 minutes”. Several times later in the day, he would take my fingers and make me put pressure on it again, like he was reminding me it was there! They only do bloodwork on the kids 2 and over so we thought Reese was good to go, but then the doctor wasn’t satisfied with her medical report. He thought the orphanage should have been more specific about her treatment. So, Kelly called Grace who was supposed to call the Director and get more information. And they made her have the blood test. They poked her in the normal place to take blood and she also had a bandaid that needed pressure on it. By the time we got done the room had completely cleared out, so apparently they close at noon. We were left with one other family, who I just love. They have 6 adopted kids at home and are here for number 7! The rest of the group was waiting outside. The weather is wonderful here, no need to even wear a jacket. Ethan and Reese dressed in one layer for probably the first time in their lives! On the way back to the hotel, we made plans to do paperwork at 2:30 in Kelly’s room. The kids were ready to nap, so we got them down and Tim went to get lunch. He got rice and noodles and then some kind of wrap that he got from a street vendor for himself- I was very surprised he ate something that he had no idea what it was or where it came from, but he liked it! The paperwork was pretty simple, it was mainly getting everything in order for Kelly to take to the U.S. consulate to get Visas for the kids and the paperwork that we will carry back with us to Chicago, where Ethan and Reese will become U.S. citizens! Of course that is contingent upon us surviving our 13 hour flight home! The kids slept until it was time to go to Wal-Mart. I love Chinese Wal-Marts! They have totally normal Wal-Mart items and then they have lots of other stuff. We forgot to put the memory card back in the camera from the computer, so we had to video. The funniest thing we saw was a little girl peeing right there by the fish tanks (the kind of tanks full of live fish you buy to eat, not keep as a pet). It dawned on me that you see these drains all over China and that is what they are for… to pee in. So kids of all ages (and I suppose maybe adults, too!!!) just squat and pee right there. Another reason to not follow the motto “When in China, do as the Chinese do”! We bought some necessities like diapers and wipes and Reese a new cup, Ethan some shoes for church, snacks, water, and few fun things to take home to the girls. It is cool to be here so close to Chinese New Year and see all the decorations for sale. The kids were really good sitting in the cart and once we got too much stuff in it, Ethan walked and Reese moved to the seat. Ethan helped push, it was cute. He also loved helping put stuff up on the conveyer belt. He is such a little helper! He gets so excited when you ask him to do something for you. He is really smart knowing what you are talking about. Reese still cries every time we are in the van. She just doesn’t like it. I don’t know if she gets carsick or she it just annoys her! We tried a sucker to distract her, but she didn’t care too much about it. We gave it to Ethan and he loved it! He loves watching vehicles go by and making a “vroom” sound. We gave Reese her constipation tea to drink and that helped distract her, so they second ride of the day was better than the first. Kelly took Papa Johns pizza orders and had it delivered to the hotel for dinner. We had a carpet picnic in the room since there is nowhere to sit. The kids liked that. Then we had tons of fun just playing. During bath time, Reese was hilarious. She finally liked splashing and playing. The whole glass bathroom is actually really kid friendly because they can splash all they want. Tim sat on the bed and they threw cups of water up on the glass. He acted like it hit him and Ethan was laughing so hard. It was precious! It was so fun to watch their faces light up. The thought did cross my mind that they won’t be able to go crazy like that at home when there is not glass wall! Ethan and Reese are both opening up so much and I am so amazed at each of them. I can’t wait for them to play with their sisters at home and meet their extended family and friends at church and Bright Beginnings. There are two older sisters in the group who have become friends. Listening to them talk makes me miss the girls even more. I hate missing Becca’s games and it makes me sad to miss all the little things, too. I know Ryleigh has a hard time and it is so difficult to know she is missing us. Isabella doesn’t say much on skype, so I feel very disconnected from her. No doubt about it, it stinks to not have our family all together. But we are on the last leg of this journey. It sounds like there will be some fun group activities to do to help make the time go faster. Tomorrow we are going to the Chen Family Temple and the Pearl Market. We did both the things on Reagan’s adoption trip, but we thought it would be worth going again. Pearls are easy to pack! Feeling very blessed tonight as I type this and think about these babies who did so much giggling today. I am so thankful that God called us to adopt them and I am extremely grateful to all the people who prayed for and are continuing to pray for them. Ethan is so healthy and active. God knew the right timing of each event that led up to these moments. He watched over both of them and prepared all of us to become a family. Praise God for His awesomeness, power, and love!