Ellie-Kate is OUR'S!!!!!!

We had a terrific day here in Guangzhou!! After our last breakfast in the elegant and elaborate hotel dining room, Britti, Chelsea, and Emmy went to Starbucks and did a bit of shopping. We met our friends from Kunming at the waterfall and then the legendary red couch for pictures. Around noon, we went to the Swan Room and played for about 45 minutes. It was so nice to hang out with our friends, and the girls had a great time playing with the other kids. We sent Britti and Chelsea for one more take-out lunch from Lucy's and then Roger and I took Ellie down for more pictures, this time with the woman that we met on the plane from D.C. and her new daughter.

At 2:45, we met our guide and traveled to downtown Guangzhou with the other adoptive parents and their children to pick up her passport and visa and immigration papers and, of course, for the oath. It was a really special ceremony, and I have to admit to tearing up as the immigration officer spoke and then administered the oath. Eliza Kate Beck-Aden is really, truly, officially OUR daughter now!!

After the ceremony, we went out to dinner at the Italian restaurant with two of the Kunming families. We enjoyed an amazingly relaxing and fun time with our new friends. We've shared so much of this incredible journey with them, and it's hard to believe that we've only known each other less than two weeks. We exchanged addresses, and we'll definitely keep in touch.

We returned to the hotel, stopping at Jordan's for one more quick purchase as well as at another shop near the hotel. I took Ellie to take pictures with Kailynn (Ellie's friend from the Kunming orphanage) and her parents while Roger took the other girls to the Swan Room for one last play time with our friends from New York. We're really going to miss them!! We said good-bye, and we were all sad as we walked back up to the room.

Right now, we're scrambling to pack. We leave at 6 a.m., fly to Beijing at 8 a.m., and then leave Beijing for Chicago at 4:10 p.m. We'll arrive in Chicago at 4:30 p.m. CST on Wednesday (but it will feel like 4:30 a.m. on Thursday in China for us). We'll go through immigration (where Ellie-Kate will officially become a U.S. citizen!!!!!), pick up our bags and then check in for our flight to St. Louis. We should arrive in St. Louis around 8 p.m. and get to the hotel around 10 p.m.--around 28 hours after leaving our hotel in Guangzhou.

Please pray that we have safe flights, that we have patience with each other and with the various people around us along the way, that we'll be able to manage Ellie w/o too much trouble, that the jet lag won't be too horrible, and that we won't look too awful when we walk into the Millennium Hotel for the CSCA conference on Wednesday night. It's going to be the very first time that I've ever stumbled into a conference wearing sweats, but I'm not going to dress up for 28 hours of travel!!

Thanks so much to everyone for all of your prayers and support!! We are truly grateful to God for His infinite wisdom and provision and to all of you for everything along the way!! We can't wait to introduce Ellie-Kate to everyone when we get back to the U.S.!!

I'll post again on Wednesday night, just to let everyone know that we got in okay. However, longer posts will likely have to wait until Thursday or Friday. Finally, I'm opening up the blog now so please share the address with others that you think might be interested in reading about our journey.

More soon from the U.S.!!

Christie