A Blessing

So we went to a Buddhist Temple today. It was crazy crowded due to some kind of festival. When we got there the Monks were doing a ceremony in the center courtyard and our guide explained they were blessing live animals that people had brought and that after the blessing the people who brought the animals would take them back to their habitats to release them. Then we got to see the different Buddhas and the outside of the Monks dormitory. From there we went to the main hall where there are three Buddhas...one for the past, one for the present, and one for the future. They all look the same but are holding their hands differently. We were all blessed by the Monk as well. I'm very glad we were able to do that.

After that we tried to go for lunch at a Cantonese restaurant across from our hotel but Keeghan was having NONE of that. She hadn't had a nap and was crazy hungry so once I got a bit of food in her I came back to put her down for a nap. Unfortunately...it wasn't a very long nap as we were meeting to do our American Consulate paperwork...read that as 500 forms in triplicate! Two hours and a screaming baby later...we were done. Done paperwork and done paying the last of the money to bring Keeghan home! Now tomorrow our guide brings the paperwork to the Consulate and we wait in our hotel room in case something is wrong, but come noon tomorrow we should be all set.

Other than waiting around...tomorrow is a free day. Tuesday we do our famous red couch photo (pretty much every American adoptive parent who comes through China has a photo of their child on the red couches at this hotel). I bought Keeghan a traditional red dress today for that. After that we head to the Consulate for some swearing in thing...I guess saying that we'll really care for our daughters and not leave them to end up in the care of the US government. No pictures allowed of that AT ALL. We can't even bring our cameras with us.

So after all the screaming during paperwork I brought Keeghan back to our room to change her and feed her a bit. Then we ventured out to shop. We did some serious damage on the stuff I want to bring home. Got dresses galore for the girls, squeaky shoes (they squeak when the kid walks...a bit like the Chinese version of our light up sneakers) for Keeghan, some stuff for our house, chops (stamps) that have the kids names in Chinese characters and English...oh and some coffee from Starbucks!! : ) We also hit 7-11 (yes seriously) to grab some diet coke...YUM...and some snacks. Kennedy wanted oreos and I got a few other treats for the kids. Keeghan actually sat in the stroller for a bit tonight when we went out. I think because there weren't any crowds. We had a really nice time being out and about without anyone else to worry about.

I'll post some of the pictures from our outings today tomorrow morning...but goodnight for now.