December 9, 2008

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.--Mother Teresa

Last night was a rough night for both of our girls. Alayna was grieving hard, and we just couldn’t get her to stop crying. Poor little one. Amelia was up for most of it. I asked her if she wanted to go sleep with Grandma, but she said no. I thought not to push it as I don’t want her to feel, ”Alayna’s here, I’m out.” So our little family unit persevered. Tom and I woke up exhausted, Amelia wasn’t cheerful, but Alayna was full of smiles!

We were up and at breakfast early as Fion was picking us up for our AIT (American Institute of Taiwan) appointment. Since the United States doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan as a separate country from China, we cannot have an embassy here. AIT takes the place of an embassy and handles immigration matters. We had a few more forms to fill out…really, what’s a few more at this stage of the game? We then waited for awhile and had a quick and easy interview with an immigration officer. We were told everything was in order, and Pei-Shan’s visa will be issued tomorrow. Yeah, the final pieces have all fallen together, and we will be able to leave Friday with our daughter, as scheduled.

While we were in our appointment, mom and Amelia went to a huge nearby park. The weather was sunny and low 70’s, so they had a great time walking around the lake, people watching and playing at a playground. It sure beats trying to make a three year old sit still and behave.

Following our AIT appointmen,t we went to Taipei 101. It is the tallest building in the world with the fastest elevator in the world. We ascended over 400 meters (90+ stories) in 37 seconds. It was a beautiful day, and the views of Taipei were incredible. The city is huge! I’m not sure of square miles, but 2.6 million people live in the city, with almost 4 million working here. Crowded!

We didn’t get back to the hotel until 3:00. Both girls did well, despite the rough start. I fed Alayna and put her down for a nap with Tom, Amelia and I went exploring the neighborhood, found a place for Chinese “treats” and went to a park. She loved the one on two time--Grandma came too.

On both adoption journeys we have met some really nice people. Today at our AIT appointment, we met another Journey’s of the Heart (JOH) family from Cincinnati. The were adopting their fifth child. Their oldest was also 17, and child number four was a three year old from China. I had to laugh to myself when I heard their 3 year old ask for warm milk. For those of you who know Amelia, she won’t drink cold milk. This evening we were able to have dinner with Michele, Byron and Andrew Couey--another JOH family. It was a really nice evening, and they will be picking up Brooke in the morning. I can’t wait to see another cute baby when they get back to Taipei. We will be praying for all of them tomorrow!

All in all, another great day in Tapei!