One of the shopkeepers gave Claire the jingle bell rattle...Hope has one just like it too.

Well, they had their official ceremony at the NEW consulate Tuesday afternoon. Even when the consulate was only a couple of blocks from The Victory, it took longer to get in and out of the buildings than it did for the "ceremony". Now the consulate is a 40 minute bus ride each way. Claire threw up on the ride back...all over her...all over Daddy...all over their passports. The customs agents are going to have fun with those! ")

The ceremony is really nothing to be afraid of, or truly, it doesn't mean a whole lot either. We were nervous as a litter of kittens the first time...we had all of our paperwork and felt like we should've dressed up etc. Nope. A man came out, a red head with a Texas accent, cracked some jokes about jumping through enough hoops to satisfy two governments and paying enough money to fund a third...asked us to raise our right hands and swear that everything we put in our paperwork was true. Done...see ya! I understand Claire's ceremony was similar, only this time it was a woman...and there were FIFTY FIVE babies plus parents swearing to the truth of their paperwork! Garry said they've encountered Germans, Aussie's, Brit's and of course more Yankees in both Chongqing and Guangzhou.

When he called this morning (his Tuesday night) he had finished all of the shopping and he was all packed. And he purchased TWO more suitcases to bring home. They leave very early Wednesday morning for the bus ride to the airport in Guangzhou. They were able to check out the night before, and The Victory has prepared a bagged breakfast for them to take with them. Five of the families are flying back to Newark together...I can't remember if they go to Hong Kong first or straight back. Garry and The Whitley's from Tennessee fly out just minutes later...and then Zhou flies to Shanghai to spend time with his family before the next group arrives.

Folks, I simply cannot wait to have Garry in my sights again...let alone that precious little angel he's bringing with him. Today, marks the 25 month mark since we started our quest for Claire. Every single minute has been worth it. Thank you God.