US Consulate Appointment

Today was our US Consulate appointment!

Kelley has a couple of family photos I will need to snag

because we ended up getting in trouble 

for taking photos in the building.

They temporarily confiscated our cameras.

Rebels, I know...

Jacques and I took an oath, and then had a quick interview.

Lily and I were singing Liang Zhi Lao Hu (Two Tigers)

while the woman was looking through our paperwork.

She said, "Oh, you speak Chinese?"

And I said, "No, I only sing in Chinese!" 

She was impressed

nonetheless...

Here is Mackenzie on our way to the US Consulate

 

Here are the girls with our AMAZING guide Eva...

the girls call her Ayiya (Auntie)

The Chinese children add the sound, "ah" to the end of words,

and this is referred to as cute baby talk.

Lily does this a lot. 

She says, "ba-bye ah", "Mommy ah" "princess ah", etc.

Yesterday I was repeatedly calling Lily's name, and she was

ignoring me.  Finally she looked at me and said,

"Lilya".

Ever since, whenever I call her Lilya,

she responds right away!

She really is a hoot...

Here is Lily splashing in the pool...

yes, this is before we discovered she had a fever!

When we took Lily out of the pool and wrapped her in a towel, 

her lips and face turned really blue.

The pool attendant came running over, very concerned, 

and in very broken English asked if she was alright.  He kept saying,

"She is REALLY cold".

We told him that she was ok, pointed to her heart and her huge scar

and his eyes welled with tears.  He thanked us for 

"being good parents" and taking her to the USA for help.

We assured him that WE are the blessed ones

to be able to call this sweet princess our daughter!

 

Mackenzie has NO FEAR when we hold her in the water

and spin her around, splash, etc..  She will even put her face in!  BUT...

she does not like to walk alone in the water up to her thighs.

Silly girl

Yes, we decided to give them ice cream two days in a row...

don't judge :-)

Tomorrow is our last full day in China.

A big piece of my heart will definitely stay here...

and it's safe to say that I will have to come back soon to visit it!