China is fun. I liked the Great Wall, and climbing the pagoda at the temple was really fun. We got my sister, Katie, too. I am coming home tomorrow so I will be back at school soon.

Today we had a quiet morning and just finished up some minor souvenir shopping near the hotel. This afternoon Dan, Katie and I headed to the US Consulate for our appointment, while Grandma Hale and Alex elected to stay at the hotel. Alex was more interested in watching the Asia X Games (extreme sports) on TV. I have to say how thankful I am to Dan's mom for all she has done for us on this trip. I definitely don't think we could have managed both kids and gone through this process without her help.

When we arrived at the consulate, we found out that a Reuters/CNN TV crew were going to film our swearing in ceremony today. If you happen to see a segment about adoptions in China on the news, you may want to look for us in the background shots. If anyone does come across it, please let me know as I am curious about the content of the story since they did not give us any details.

The swearing in ceremony took about two minutes after an hour of sitting in the waiting room. I had been told not to expect much, but this was even less formal and less dramatic than I had anticipated. No cameras are allowed in the consulate so we won't have any photos to share. The most important thing, however, was that we got Katie's passport/visa and immigration packet so the last step is officially done.

Tonight Alex and Dan made one more quick trip to the waterfall pool while I worked on packing. We are heading out in the morning to catch our first flight which leaves around noon local time. We should arrive at DFW around 8:30 pm Thursday night.

Keep your fingers crossed that we have an uneventful journey and that both kids and all three adults do well. We are fluctuating between dread and blind optimism for what tomorrow might hold. We can't wait to be home soon and talk to/see you all soon!

(PS - Since I have had trouble loading photos for most of the trip, Amanda, our webmaster, has kindly offered to update our posts with pictures after we get home. Be on the lookout for these as soon as we can recover some from the trip!)