Its official, we have 6 kids!

Hard to believe we have 6 kids now!! So today we made the adoption official as far as China is concerned. We spent the morning signing papers, then went to a notary office. At the notary office we were handed a letter written by one of her birth parents. I could barely write through my tears as it was being translated. I hope and pray this will be precious to Bethany one day and help give her some understanding. We also got her twin sister's birth name which is precious to know. I haven't fully processed or grieved all of this yet. So our daughter's full name is Bethany Grace Jiang Lan. Jiang Lan was her birth name, but in the orphanage they called her Lufen. So you may hear us still calling her that for a bit after we get home. I don't think I have shared publicly that she had a twin sister who died in Jan. 2013. They were both born with TOF, a serious but correctable heart condition. By the time their birth parents left them in the hospital at 9 mos. old, they were weak and sick. So the orphanage was waiting for them to get stronger before they had surgery. Bethany had surgery one year ago. We did know most of this story when we were matched with Bethany, but had no idea her birth parents had written a letter. After we were done with paperwork around noon, my new friend Carolyn ( a fellow Bethany adoptive family) and I decided the guys could take the kids back to the hotel for naps and she and I were dropped of at a HUGE shopping area. We also enjoyed wontons in broth and spring rolls for lunch. We spent some time in a pearl market which was amazing. It took us 20 min or more to hail a taxi but we did make it back to our hotel. This evening our family walked a few miles back to the Bund to have Subway and ice cream for dinner. It is neat to be out and about and experiencing the culture. Bethany did not care for the sandwich but enjoyed the ice cream. She is still very happy with lots of giggles. Today at one of the offices it was neat to see her sing and do hand motions to a couple of songs she had learned in preschool, with one of the workers from the orphanage. And to have our translator ask her questions about does she know she is going home with us, and that she talked to her brothers and sisters back home this morning. Tomorrow morning we get to do a city bus tour, do some shopping and then have a traditional dumpling lunch. Shanghai is famous for dumplings. Looking forward to that! Then in the afternoon we go to the airport to fly to Guangzhou. While there Bethany will have to do a medical exam and TB test. She has to pass these before she can come to the US. We will get to do some sightseeing and shopping. The last step will be the US consulate appoint on April 7th, where they check all adoption paperwork and grant a US visa, so that when we touch down see will be a US citizen. The next day we drive to Hong Kong then fly out the next morning. So we still have a ways to go! It will get harder each day to be away from our other children. So thankful for those that are caring for them!!!