The paperwork has been completed and accepted!

Hello all, David here.  We got word on the way home from the zoo that all of our consulate paperwork had been submitted and accepted.  Tomorrow we go to take the oath for Hannah, and then we get her Visa on Thursday and start the long journey home ...

Today we went to the zoo, but before I start those pictures, I thought you might like to see her in her new jeans:

The zoo was fun, and we were able to find most of the animals in her favorite book (one we sent to her in her care package - we also brought a copy with us).  Here are a few from the zoo:

We had a good time, and I think our favorite spot was watching the Giraffe's eat.  For anyone who knows our dog, duchess - well, if you thought she had a long tongue, check this out:



And speaking of eating, this is not very exciting video, but I know that the grandparents like to see video of their new granddaughter, so here is one of her at the zoo enjoying one of her favorite pastimes, eating cheerios :>)



I will say that right after this we had to put the cheerios away to get on the bus - and this time, Hannah had a full-on melt-down most of the way home from the zoo.  The first melt-down at the medical clinic, we think, was more of a hysterical panic/fear kind of melt down.  The one today, we are pretty sure, was more of a toddler-tantrum/angry type of melt down.  Even after the cheerios were brought back out on the bus, Hannah didn't care, she was in screaming mode and couldn't be consoled.  So Lois just held her and let her scream (trying valiantly to soothe her, I might add) all of the other parents looked on with compassion - they've all been there this week ...  After about 5 minutes, she finally started calming down ...

After the zoo, we came home and had lunch and rested, then the Varns and us went over to Shamian Island to the White Swan Hotel, to take our own "Red Couch" pictures.  For years I have heard about this fabled "Red Couch"; well, perhaps there is a fabled one somewhere, but I was disappointed to find out that there are about 6 of them in the lobby area, and none of them looked particularly "special" to us ...  In the end, we just plopped ourselves down on one and started taking pictures :>)  Not sure if that was appropriate or not, but we did it anyway.  Here are the resultant pictures, first one with the whole family:

Then one of Hannah by herself:

And finally, one of Hannah and her friend Rachel (the Varn's little girl):

In hindsight, we probably should have sat the girls on the edge of the couch, so we could see their pretty shoes as well ...  Oh well, that's what happens when you put amateurs in charge :>)

After the pictures we did some shopping, ate dinner at a great Thai restaurant, then came home.  It has been a busy day and we are all tired (Mama and Hannah have been asleep for a while :>)  It's time for Papa to join them.  Tomorrow is a trip to the toy market - oh boy!