Funny Story ... and Prayer Request

The other day Maya was tired after doing some shopping. She leaned against me in a taxi as we were going back to our hotel and said, "Mom, there sure are a lot of Chinese people here!"

I said, wondering if the driver knew English (probably not), "Yes there are, Maya ... 1 billion!"

We are ready to come home. There is one small problem with our paperwork, unfortunately. When they did Ella's adoption certificate they forgot to put her American name. So our CCAI rep is trying to get it fixed right now. By the time you all wake up and read this, we will probably already know if we will be able to fly out on schedule Friday .... This typo affects when Ella can get her passport. So you can see how important this is.

One more story. At breakfast when I was feeding Ella I was trying to get her attention ... I stared into her eyes and slowly moved my head forward to gently butt against her forehead. To my surprise, she moved HER head forward and butted it against mine. Then she reared back and did this funny quiet chuckle she does when she is pleased with herself. I was congratulating myself on teaching her something new, when Jasper saw us and said, "That's what I do with Ella!" So I guess I know where she learned that.

OK, I can't resist. One more story. I posted a message online asking the new parents of Ella's little friend Chun Yun to contact me, saying just that I had a photo for them. It was such a long shot. It was entirely possible that they would not even see my message, and I did not know their names or how to contact them. I had no idea that his mother would respond right away! They are from Boise! Amazing that they live so close! They have four daughters already, and they sound so excited to be adopting Chun Yun.

OK, just one more story. Maya got attacked by another mosquito, this time just under her right eye. It is really swollen, about half shut. When we walk around together, people see her and actually recoil. I can just imagine they are thinking I am here to adopt her, an older Chinese girl with a terrible rare eye disease. The funny thing is, Maya has no idea. Her smile is so sweet.

We miss you all and can't wait to see you.

Barbara, thanks for the tip in bringing the kids' favorite snack food. We have plowed through most of it and it really helped. I just wish I had brought more Cheerios and applesauce .... I didn't think about Ella eating it, too!

Stephanie