Visiting a Tea House

Friday was a planning day for us so we spent the morning meeting with our Beijing advisor to go over paperwork and procedures for receiving Fujing. We leave very early Monday morning to fly to Jinan where we will check into our hotel and immediately head to the state offices for the adoption. Every province and orphanage is a little different so while some require a 24 or 48 hour waiting period for parents to spend time with the child before accepting them, we will receive Fujing and complete her local adoption in one meeting. By Monday evening she should be with us and stay with us for the remainder of the trip. 

It's hard to believe we are only a few days away from the big event. For the past several days we have really enjoyed being around the other families who adopted in Beijing and already have their children. There are now three in our group who have received their children. In some ways it's been a great learning experience for us and fun to spend time with the group here in Beijing. But when we leave for Jinan, we will be on our own except for our local guide. 

Until then, we spend our time completing paperwork, getting to know the other wonderful families, doing some sightseeing and enjoying the Beijing people and culture. This afternoon we visited a grocery store to check out all of the interesting products and to buy some candy and gifts for the orphanage. And afterwards, we strolled down the street to a local tea house to buy some jasmine tea to take home to family and friends.