Goodbye China

We are so sad to go. China is a beautiful country with beautiful people but most of all, China is Magnolia's birth country. It will always have place in our hearts and we know we will be back very soon. The past few days have flown by and before we knew it we were packing our bags. I'm so emotional about everything. This has been the most amazing experience. I'm even sad to leave this hotel room, where our family became three. We had to go to the U.S. Consulate today and take our oath that we will always love and care for Magnolia. Then we got Magnolia's Chinese passport with U.S. Visa. She will become a U.S. citizen the moment we touch down in Minneapolis. I cried when we got her passport, just another affirmation that this isn't a dream, she really is ours and we're bringing her home. She's such an amazing gift. We feel like the luckiest people in the world to have found each other. I can't wait for you all to meet her! Funny thing is that after 7 years of waiting to have a child, having her seems so natural, like it was always meant to be, like we really were waiting all these years to find each other. It feels like the most normal thing in the world to now be the three of us.

Tomorrow we are up at 4:30am to start our long journey home. I've been very anxious about how this is going to go with such an active little baby. I feel like if we can get through this, we can get through anything! We are looking forward to seeing all of you who are making the trip to the airport to greet us. Can't wait!
Signing off for the last time in China, see you in the States!
xoxoxoxoxo Lucy, George, & MAGNOLIA!
Here are some pictures from the past few days...


Shaquil O'Neal walked into the hotel lobby today. This was the best shot I could get. He looked over because a dad in our group, who's a little person, shouted out to him asking if he wanted to go one on one. Shaq broke into a smile at that.
Believe it or not, he's staying in the room right next to ours. I know because his base was so loud and I asked an employee what that sound was and he told me it was Shaq and his boys, they very happy!

We took the Guangzhou subway to the knock-off mall. Last night's farewell dinner. Hard to eat with chopsticks, harder with a baby on your lap.
Coriander mashed potatoes for lunch.
Love how she licks around her mouth to clean up.Back at the hotel from the U.S. Consulate with Magnolia's passport and immigration papers.