RED COUCH DAY!!!!!

Can our smiles get any bigger?

We have had the BEST DAY today that we've had since GOTCHA DAY!!!!!  I don't think Molly Kate has cried once today----not even on the shuttle ride to the Pearl Market this morning.  That was our first destination of the day.  I came away with a strand of pearls for Molly Kate on her wedding day!  I also bought a couple of other gifts.   We were in an area of shopping that stretched for TEN city blocks.  After the Pearl Factory shopping spree, we walked the streets with the Greg and Tami and their beautiful adopted daughter, Marissa, one of the other families in our group.  Our window shopping was interrupted by rain, though, and the fact that Tami and I REALLY needed to use the bathroom, and the squatty potties in the public restrooms just didn't appeal to us!!!!

We took a taxi back to our hotel and lounged around awhile, and then we headed back out on another short shopping adventure.  We had laundry to pick up, as well as a couple of more items we had specifically intended to buy.  We made our stops, and then headed back to the hotel to get Molly Kate ready for the RED COUCH picture.  I think I explained that this picture is one that is made of all the babies in our travel group, as well as individual family pictures.  I will be perfectly honest---I had prepared myself for Molly Kate to be the ONE baby out of the group who would cry when the picture was made.  WRONG!!!!  I think our sweetie was actually the only one who DIDN'T cry.  In fact, she seemed to enjoy all the cameras flashing!!  I wonder if that could possibly be because we have taken no less than 500 pictures of her in the nine days we've had her!!!!!



Girls, the camera is this way!



Hey, Mom!  How do I look?

Do you see that cute little boy?

Dad, he's got his arm around me.
 Mason was adopted from Korea last July. 
His family is adopting a new sister from China.

I can't explain how much Molly Kate has changed since that first moment I took her into my arms.  She really is no longer the quiet, shy baby in the group.  She babbles and laughs and smiles, just like the other girls do.  She's actually becoming quite a clown, too, and she LOVES to snuggle and be smooched on!!!  I know I've said this a MILLION times, but she is just SOOOOOOO precious!!!!

"Mona Lisa Smile"
Oh yeah.... I'm loved!

Tonight, four out of the five families in our travel group ate at Lucy's, an American food restaurant by our hotel.  One of our families, the Newbill's, will be leaving tomorrow for Hong Kong.  This is sad for all of us.  There is no way to explain the bond that has developed among five families who, thirteen days ago, had never met.  Even though the rest of us will be going our separate ways on Thursday, we will be connected in our hearts forever and will have friendships that last for a lifetime.  There will be that invisible thread that stretches from San Antonio, Texas to Denver, Colorado, to Benton, Kentucky, to Woodbridge, Virginia, to Raeford, North Carolina.  It is a connection that only those who have adopted internationally can understand.  My life has been changed PROFOUNDLY since we first decided to adopt.  God has blessed me with true friends all of the country who have already been where we are now.  God IS so good!!!!!!

Our travel group.