Last Post From China

Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Hong Kong, so this will be my last post from China. I can't believe the trip is actually almost over! Two weeks ago I thought it would never end, but now I feel a little sad- although I'm completely happy to be going home!

Our last full day in China was pretty uneventful. This morning Susan took all the Mommies to the pearl market, which was AWESOME!! We had no idea what to expect, but the prices were amazing and we had so much fun designing our own jewelry! Susan found us a vendor who she'd never met before, and the lady was so excited when Susan told her we were adoptive families- she was so sweet! She gave us amazing deals, extra stuff, and kept throwing in more stuff!

We first chose the pearls we wanted; they were on strands, and you bought the pearls by the strand. They had tons of pearls! I've never seen so many! Here is a picture of all of the strands of pearls, separated in groups by color, size, and quality:

Susan gave us a little crash-course on pearls: what to look for, what determines price, what determines quality, etc. I then picked out the pearls I wanted for Caitlin, and bought 2 strands: one to make her a necklace, and the other they split in half to make her a bracelet, then they made me a bracelet with the other half. We will give Caitlin the pearls when she is older. Then I picked out some beautiful black pearls to make a necklace for me, and some other pearls for some gifts.

The ladies took the pearls off the strand and put them on better quality string, then they did this cool string trick to put a knot between each pearl. I took some pictures of them doing it because it was so fascinating!

While the Mommies were shopping, the Daddies got to babysit! Unfortunately Caitlin was not feeling very well today so she gave her Daddy some trouble. She was not very cooperative, and Paul was exhausted by the time I got back. Poor guy!

Tomorrow morning we're going on one last shopping trip to a purse market, then after lunch we will take a van to Hong Kong. We're spending the night there, then flying home Thursday morning. I am SOOOOO dreading that LONG flight, but at least it will be over soon and we will be home! I don't know if you've heard about the mega-typhoon heading straight for Guangdong Province (where we are right now), but it's supposed to hit Friday or Saturday so we are very happy to be getting out on Thursday. I worry about our other friends who are supposed to leave later, though. I hope they can get out before it hits!

I don't know what our internet capabilities will be like in Hong Kong, but there is a good chance I won't be able to post from there. That means this may be my last post from our trip! I will post as soon as possible once we're home to tell about our flight. I really hope it goes well! Like any toddler, Caitlin does not like to sit still, but she also does not like for me to sit down at all. It's going to be interesting to see what she's going to do when we HAVE to sit still for 12 hours; I cannot stand and hold her for the entire flight! And we didn't buy her a seat, not that it matters; she wouldn't sit in it anyway. She will be in my lap the whole way either way! And since we are flying during the day, she will likely not sleep, other than a nap. Yes, this will be a LONG flight indeed!

Our journey is almost over, and what a ride it has been! Thank you again for all of your thoughts, prayers, e-mails, well-wishes, and words of support and encouragement. You have no idea how much they have helped us along the way!