July 11, 2010 Well ,as of today, I don’t know if I will be able to get Jon Milledge and Caryn home. We have English speaking TV in this hotel with ESPN and movie channels. Jon Milledge is watching sports all day, and tonight Caryn found Twilight. They haven’t spoken to me in hours…just kidding! We are all just so happy to have a few amenities from home here in China. It makes our homesickness a little better. Miss Ruthie is coming out of the tiny shell that she was in last week a little more every day. She is most definitely a spit fire. She lets us know very loudly exactly what she wants and how unhappy she is when she doesn’t get it immediately. She is the best eater and will eat almost anything that I put in front of her. There are a couple of other children in our group around her age that will only eat congee, which is a soupy rice mixture with different meats and veggies in it. Ruthie looks at congee like a side dish to her real meal. She does like congee, especially at breakfast, but she also eats eggs, bacon, fruit, hash browns and pastries. She is an eating machine! I would say her two favorite things are watermelon and bananas. Today, after the group photos, we went to the local shopping mall that we were told was air conditioned. They lied. I guess that maybe it was according to Chinese standards, which is basically an oscillating fan. We had fun, and we were very successful. I started at the pearl factory where I picked out some pearls and watched as the lady hand strung them for me to give Ruthie on a special occasion. I’m not sure if it will be for her 16th birthday or her wedding day. Jon Milledge also picked out pearls to make two bracelets, one for his bride and one for Anderson’s. Ruthie’s necklace and the boys’ bracelets all have a clasp on them with the Chinese characters for good luck and long life. They are all three beautiful. After the pearl factory, we were able to grab a few souvineirs for different people. All in all it was a very productive, good day. Please continue to pray for little Ruthie. She is having a few meltdowns every day. I know that this is normal and part of her attachment process, but it is hard to watch her be so upset. They aren’t too bad, but it hurts me to see her struggle. We are pretty sure that she does love us already because she looks for us if we aren’t close, gives kisses, reaches for me when she is upset and wants us to hold and cuddle her, so I know she will be alright eventually. The meltdowns tend to come around nap or bed time, so I’m thinking it is a combination of being tired, fighting sleep, and grieving. Hopefully we can all work through this in the coming days and weeks. I want to say a special “Hello!” to my Anderson today. I miss him terribly and can’t wait to see him. I love you Anderson and will be home soon! To all my friends and family who have called, emailed or entertained Milledge and Anderson this last week…a big Thank You! I really appreciate it, and I know they do! Good night from Guangzhou! Angie   Not sure if I like this outfit or not...     The face of an angel     This would be a perfect picture if it had my Anderson in it!       Our group in the lobby of the hotel in front of the gold paper cutting...it is amazing!     My new friend Mia is not happy...she is a southern girl, too, and our group calls us the bow girls!     Happy girl!     Stringing Ruthie's pearls   Chinese shopping mall         This page hosted by