First day Guangzhou and the trip there (ugh)

Our last day in Harbin (Friday) was rather uneventful. Our flight was @1410 to Guangzhou and our guide picked us up @1130. Nathaniel is getting to be quite the handful @times as I'm sure Denise would agree. He is very stubborn and hard-headed. He's encountered SEVERAL time outs for throwing, talking back to Mama, and other disagreeable things. Through it all we (try) to remember what he has been through and even what he is going through now. Our flight was delayed out of Harbin by about 45 minutes, which actually turned out to be a blessing because one of our checked bags triggered security. So, there I was going through our assortment of dirty laundry, foods, toiletries, etc. w/the Chinese security guard wondering what he was looking for. Turned out we had several liquids that were scanned and needed accounted for. The Off mosquito spray Denise had stowed away threw us for a loop! Anyhoo, we made it to our gate and waited around for take-off. Nate did well w/taking off and even settled down for a nap. He was NOT about to wear his seat belt however! About 1 1/2 hours into the flight, we become that stereotypical American couple w/the Chinese child that is screaming at the top of his lungs and we are clueless! Only through the grace of God did Denise finally figure out that maybe his ears were bothering him. We gave him some Graduate hand foods to eat and all was (relatively) right w/the world.

Nate trying to make a getaway! Actually he and Denise were playing w/one of his cars on the moving sidewalk to pass the time.

We arrived in Guangzhou about 20:00 and were promptly met by our AWAA contact, Amy. We loaded up the bus w/other returning families which was another blessing. To be able to connect for that brief time w/others going through this journey was soothing.

Today was check-up day for all the children. We are staying @a 5 star Marriott and, brother, you know it! We actually ordered room service last night for a burger, fries, and Diet Pepsi. Amazing! You surely miss the simple things as you go down this path. Moving along, the breakfast is very good, Nate is not as big an eater in the morning as he was, but still manages to kill off about a half a cow's worth of milk! I don't have any picts. of the visit to the clinic for their check ups. That experience could only be done justice w/video. So I have three short sections of video saved showing the madness that is encountered during these checkups. Nate passed w/flying colors but, since he is over 2 he had to have a TB test which will be checked Monday. Mama was there through the whole thing trying to reassure him that we were there for him and this was to make sure he was healthy! I did manage to snap one of these doozies though!

A squatty potty in full effect! According to Denise this is actually a REALLY nice one! I have yet to encounter one for my own use.

After the clinic we travelled over to a multi-purpose store, is the best way to put it! Toys, groceries, perfume, they carried just about everything which is good because we were running dangerously low on pull-ups for Little Man. Currently we are back @the hotel, we had some lunch, and Denise was trying to put Nathan down for a nap. He was not happy about that @all! You have to pay for the internet in your room, however it is free in the lobby so that is where I am sending this post. Sounds as though we are going to have some pretty busy days ahead of us, but I will try and post when I can. Thanks again to all our friends and family that are praying us home through this. We appreciate it more than you will ever know! Unfortunately due to the slowness of the connection and the fact I have to haul the camera and assorted cables down to the lobby, I probably will not post nearly as many pictures as you would all like. Sorry :-(

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe what MY son did...."

Nathaniel a self-portrait