Hong Kong - December 29

We were recounting tonight as a family all the wonderful blessings from God we have seen and experienced this trip.  Some were funny, some were serious, all were amazing.  He has been so near to us as we leaned hard into Him these two weeks.  All of us are grateful to Him for His provision for us in travel, health and most of all in Elsa.  She has made amazing strides these two weeks in becoming a part of our family.  We love her so much!  Tonight we heard belly laughs from her for the first time and it was spectacular!

We left Guangzhou and our guide Connie early this morning, heading for Hong Kong.  Leaving mainland China, we used Elsa's passport for the first time. Its a little unnerving standing at immigration, knowing all the paperwork is correct, but still wondering if there will be a problem.  The only issue was that somehow Elsa lost her diaper on the floor as we were passing through security!  Oh dear!! It wasn't a national incident, but definitely a first for them, I'm sure.

After arriving in Hong Kong, we checked into the hotel and found out how to get to the city.  The last time we were here was when we adopted Annika five years ago.  We knew exactly where we wanted to go this time too.  We found the train station, made it to the central station after a few stops, got into taxis and rode to the top of the Peak.  With a spectacular view of Victoria Harbor, we ate a wonderful meal.  The only thing that was missing was the Lee family, who were with us the first time we did this.

We leave tomorrow morning for home.  That is a great feeling.  We are so grateful for all the prayers and encouraging comments we have received these two weeks.  It will be good to get home and into our own beds.  Our great God has gotten us this far, and He will get us home.  To the praise of His glory......

 On the train to Hong Kong.

 View from the Peak.

 Missing the Lee's here!

 Incredible view from our table.

White Cloud Mountain-December 28

God has been so good to us this trip.  As we walked down the street today, I stepped back and drank in the scene.  Five kids were walking down the street ahead of me, laughing and talking.  Well, actually only four were walking because the littlest Lindquist was being carried by a "ge ge"  at the time.  She planted a "ching-ching" on his cheek and my heart melted.  It is so evident that the Spirit has been at work in our hearts and in Elsa's to bind us together as a family.  Certainly we are not done with the process by any stretch of the imagination, but in His mercy we have a great start!

For our last day in Guangzhou, Connie took us to White Cloud Mountain where we took a cable car ride up to the top to view the city.  The gardens were spectacular and the view from the top was great.  It was somewhat marred by the fog, but with warm temperatures, we didn't care about that!  After walking around the gardens and taking some fun pictures, we headed out to a restaurant.  At the Noodle King, we watched a cook make the special noodles of this area.  It was really fun to watch as he stretched, pulled and cooked them.

Connie dropped us off at the hotel and headed back to the consulate on our behalf.  She returned later in the day with Elsa's passport complete with an American visa.  Accompanying this was a packet that we are not to open, but simply hand to officials of USCIS when we land in the USA on Friday.  After these papers are looked through and stamped, Elsa is officially a citizen of the United States!

We really are excited to get home.  We ate at Lucy's again tonight and enjoyed the American cuisine.  We wake early tomorrow morning and fly to Hong Kong.  After spending the day and the night there, we will board a plane on Friday morning to head home.  Please pray with us that these flights will be good ones for Elsa.  Anything would be better than her first airplane ride!  We assume that with the extra hands she will be easier to keep happy, but it will still be a challenge to say the least.  Thank you all for your kind words and comments.  We are so thankful for all of the support and prayers from all of you.

 The gardens at the base of White Cloud Mountain.

 The rose garden.

 They were ready to go back to the hotel.

 We took cable cars to the top!

 View of the whole city from the top of the mountain. 

 Dinner at Lucy's.

 Taking some family pictures inside the beautiful White Swan Hotel.

 On the famous red couch.

 Massages, yet again. 

Consulate Day - December 27

Today we had the last official visit here in China.  We were met by Connie at 7:30 this morning to head over to the US Consulate.  We brought all our official papers from the medical visit as well as papers we filled out and haven't seen since we sent them off to China months ago.  When at the consulate we gave an oath on behalf of Elsa that all the information we provided was accurate, had an interview with a consulate official and signed more official papers.  With this last visit completed, we now only have to wait for Connie to pick up Elsa's passport tomorrow afternoon which will have a US immigrant visa inside. It was amazing to be in the same room we were in five years ago with Annika.  She took it all in.  So amazing!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and shopping.  Connie took us to a pearl and jade market where we saw amazing amounts of precious gems.  We also found an amazing within walking distance of the Victory Hotel.  We walked through the "pharmacy" market first with all of its herbs and dried things.  Next was the pet market with fish, turtles, snakes, rabbits, dogs and cats.  Last was the merchandise markets with purses, clothes, watches and the like. Everywhere we went we did not see one other foreigner!  It was such fun shopping and bargaining.

We ended the day with a short dinner at our new favorite restaurant which is actually Thai.  After all that walking we had definitely worked up an appetite!  God continues to guide us as we blend our family together.  We are so grateful to Him that we have had this chance to all be together here.  It truly is amazing how Elsa loves her brothers and sisters.  As we walk down the street she yells to her "ge ge" or "jie jie" to hold her or to show them something.  All I can do is praise the One who has put all this together and smile.

I can't believe that tomorrow is our last full day in Guangzhou.  Our time here in China is quickly drawing to a close.  We are happy for our time here, but really ready to go home too.  We continue to ask for your prayers as we end our time here.  We know that so many of you are lifting us up and for that we are grateful to you and the Lord.

 Street market in Guangzhou. 

 We bought Elsa her first pets!

Safari Park - December 26

One thing about the adoption process that so thoroughly captures our hearts is that feeling of being totally out of control.  We can do none of this in our own strength or power.  It is only by God’s grace and power that this miracle has happened to our family....twice!  Paul puts it perfectly in I Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for 

my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will bast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

We are winding down our adoption appointments here and are getting really ready to head home!  Today we made a quick visit back to the medical clinic to have Elsa’s TB test read.  Connie just walked right in that crowded place pulling us behind her, headed straight to someone in a lab coat, rolled up Elsa’s right sleeve and shoved her little arm at the lab tech.  We were back on the street with our paperwork in 3 minutes flat!  Todd loves her “get ‘er done” attitude!  It is definitely convenient at times.  Now all we have left to do is the consulate appointment tomorrow.  Soon we will have Elsa’s visa and be able to head home.

After that quick appointment, Connie and our driver took us to the Safari Park for the day.  It is a great zoo complete with lions, tigers, giraffes and pandas.  Connie told us that they have the most pandas here than anywhere else in the world.  The twelve pandas were not close enough to touch, but let’s just say that the enclosures here may not meet US standards.  The kids were able to feed leaves to the giraffes and bananas to the elephants. Then, we happened upon an opportunity to feed a white bengal tiger cub his bottle.  We’re pretty sure that wouldn’t happen back home!  Elsa loved every bit of it.  She kept poking each of us and pointing in the direction of whatever animal was in our view to make sure we weren’t missing any of it.  Too cute. We were able to go on a dinner cruise on the Pearl River later in the day.  It was beautiful to see all the buildings lit up in the night sky.  We ended the day with a foot massage for our aching feet.  Quite a day!

Elsa continues to amaze us in her transition.  She talks to us and most of the time it is just babbling.  When she needs something she lets us know with pointing and other gestures. Occasionally she gets frustrated, as I would too, that we don’t understand what she wants. And sometimes she gets frustrated because we DO understand what she wants and we’re just not doing it.  Welcome back to the two’s!  Honestly though, God is answering our prayers for bonding and a good transition into our family.  She really does love her brothers and sisters.  She goes easily to Baba and Mama alike.  Her brothers can even get her out of a funk if she gets a bit pouty.  It truly is a miracle and only possible through the Spirit’s help.

 The Safari Park.

 Began with a train ride around the park.

 Saw many animals really close up!

 Feeding the giraffes. 

 And the elephants!

 New exhibit?

 These three got a chance to feed a White Bengal Tiger cub.

 Elephant show.

 Pearl River cruise was beautiful.

Foot massage to end the day!