OATH DAY

Sorry we did not blog yesterday.  I was a little under the weather (the China food bug got me). Our apologies. We all just kind of relaxed and enjoyed our last free day in Guangzhou.  Today was "Oath Day" and that took around 4 hours from start to finish. There were 33 families adopting with us and they told us that there have been 3,400 kids adopted this year. This means that there have been 3,400 children's lives saved! We met several wonderful families and two of them have 9 children, more adopted then biological. I think that this is just awesome! Our Oath today went something like this:

We promise to take care of our son.

We promise to love him unconditionally.

We promise to provide a shock collar for him when necessary. Ha!

Not really, it's just a formality that is necessary to adopt a child and he is officially OURS! We pick up his passport on Friday. Collin is calming down some and we can't wait to get him home to some consistency. Oh, how we are loving this little man of ours! We have taken some fun pictures for you to see. Only 2 more days in China! Much love.

MONDAY IN CHINA

Today was Monday in China, Collin's TB test was negative. Thank goodness they did not test for mischeiviousness! As you can see, his pull-up is on the wrong end. Pretty little Sophie is posing like a princess, and we had some fun taking camera shots of the kids. Unlike yesterday, we did not go to church, but quite the opposite, we went to a buddhist temple. Our guide told us that over 80% of China are practicing buddhists. It was eye opening to hear about their religion and watch the people put every ounce of faith they had into a golden statue. It is really amazing as we walk the streets of Guangzhou that almost every westerner we meet is a Christian. I believe that God is calling out His people to save His children more today than ever before. It has been very encouraging.
The food has been tolerable, but Chipotle sounds mouth watering at this minute. We have a free day tomorrow, not sure of our plans yet... maybe we will go shopping for a change. Ha! Doug says he can't bear one more day of shopping, unless he has his Starbucks. We are now counting down the days until we leave. Only 3 more days....where is Jack Waterway when you need him? Much gratitude to all of you.  Love, The Duty's

"GREATER THINGS ARE YET TO COME"

Not unlike any other day, everyone wants a picture with Brooke. She says she has never been more stared at in her life! Gaungzhou has many statues, and it was fun taking a few pictures of them with the kids. Collin brought lots of laughs from the crowd when he tried to kiss the statue of a little boy who would not kiss him back and Sophie was trying to see what the man was taking a picture of. Collin is getting more friendly with me everyday, but still much prefers his daddy. We have enjoyed negotiating with the local shops today.  Those crazy Americans always want something for nothing! Ha. The highlight of our day today was church this morning, Collin behaved very well...he went to sleep. :) I was overwhelmed with emotion as I watched chinese christians take the Lord's supper, worship and raise their hands to the same God that we know and worship. As we sang "shout to the Lord all the earth let us sing, power and majesty praise to the King," it was amazing they could sing this song in a country who does not recognize Jesus Christ as King, but it was awesome! The song "greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city" kept going through my mind. It was standing room only and some were even turned away because of room. God, please save these people for your glory. As I watched them singing and looked into some of their eyes, I knew I would be in heaven with them some day. Wow! What a tremendous experience, I cannot express with words the blessing I received and also seeing Collin in church for the first time blessed our hearts. We recently finished a Bible study called "On Mission with God", this trip was not just about going to pick up our son across the world, but being in the center of God's will and doing exactly what He has told us to do. Oh how we have received the blessing. Thank you again for your prayers and all the emails of encouragement, please keep them coming. Love to you all!

We also would like to take this opportunity to thank two of our dear friends for all of their efforts. The first is Michelle Younger for doing an excellent job of updating our blog because Doug and I are technologically challenged. Thanks Michelle you are doing a great job as usual. Second is Carol Vander Meer for giving us guidance, direction, and keeping us on track throughout our journey. We couldn't have made it this far without you Carol. We love both of you and the rest of our friends!

SOMEONE CALL SECURITY!!!

Hello to friends and family. We made it to Guangzhou, but not without an ordeal. Security was called becuase Collin was acting so crazy, I think they thought that we were trying to take him illegally. Pretty tight security here. Sending a few pictures (everyone wants a picture with Brooke). Collin was trying to escape his stroller and got his first big bump.We are taking bets on when he has his first broken bone! Brooke gave him hair horns, looks pretty natural don't you think. The tree is a Banzai tree and we dedicate it to Jack Waterway and Dave Sternasty. Collin is happy in his time out chair.....we are in trouble! The weather here is beautiful, about 75 and we hear we are coming home to snow. We are going to church in the morning and no other plans for the rest of the day. We sure miss our travel group from our first China visit.  Being here has brought back many memories. Collin passed his medical exam and we found out that he will need another pallet surgery.  We were not suprised by that news and we're just thanking God that he is healthy and full of life. Sophie is doing well, but needing a little extra attention these days. Brooke says that she could stay here for a month, but if that's her decision we are leaving without her. Ha! Thank you for your continued prayers, you don't realize how much we appreciate them. More pictures tomorrow. Love to you all!

SWEET AND RAMBUNCTIOUS!!

Sorry we did not update the blog yesterday. We had a big day of shopping and we were all pooped and went to bed early. Brooke had a blast finding lots of bargains and the best part of the day, was when we found a Papa John's Pizza which was delicious. Sophie has been a great big sister watching out for him and being patient with him. Let's just say we have been seeing more of his personality. My gratitude goes out to all of our friends who have prayed for a rambunctious boy....your prayers have been answered. We are definitely going to need a time-out chair. To all of my Friday lunch ladies, no more mellow lunches at McDonald's. Ha! All kidding aside, we have prayed for a sweet little boy that is all boy and God has given us the desires of our heart. Just hope we can make it through, he is wide open. Collin is still much a papa's boy, but is making strides with us all. We went to the zoo on Thursday as you will see some pictures, then we went to a museum and Collin wanted to help the guide point to pictures. We have had a few more silent tears, but over all he is doing wonderful. Yesterday when he cried, Sophie said, "Stop it! You're making tears come from my eyeballs too!" Such compassion. Still struggling with jetlag and only sleeping 5 hours a night. This is for the birds. Please continue praying for our little man's adjustment. Even though we have only had him four days, he has always been our's, we just had to wait almost 26 years to get him. Thank you Lord for your blessings.