Friday, May 28

Today we had our "red couch pictures". This is a tradition with all babies adopted from China. In the lobby of the hotel that we are staying at there are many red couches. Everyone in our travel group met and we took family pictures, pictures of just the babies and then pictures of everyone together. There were several Chinese people who stopped to look at us as we were doing this. It was quite comical. After the red couch pictures we talked about going home and how that was going t work. Some of the people in our group left tonight and went to Hong Kong. If I knew that was an option we might have done that to break up the very long trip that we are about to embark on. We left to pack our things- harder than we thought- we bought more than we knew but after some creative packing we have gotten it all in the suitcases that we came with. We still have the last minute things but we will work it out. We picked up our final paperwork for Olivia to enter the country this afternoon. It was a joy but I wasn't as relieved as I thought I would be. I think I need to get through customs with Olivia before it will happen. We went to dinner at the Thai place- again..... We will be glad for more choices when we get home- no Chinese or Thai for quite a while at the Gray house. I can't remember if I have told you about the Pearl River that surrounds this island. It is gross and when I say gross I really mean it. think of the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is that color and has garbage floating in it everywhere! We have see several people swimming in it- I think we would turn green if we tried that!!!! Our guide told us that it has actually gotten much better in the 8 years he has lived here. He said it used to smell all the time- now it only does in the summer. I guess that is improvement. That is the beautiful scene outside our window. The best part of today is that WE GET TO COME HOME TOMORROW!! We get up and leave the hotel by 8am. We fly to Hong Kong- wait 4 hours, fly to LA- wait 4 hours, fly to Boise!!! We hope to see some of you there! It will be so nice to see friends and family again!!! This is our last post- thank you for following our journey. There will be more to come when we get home and settled.
Love to all,
Patrick, Donna, and Olivia