Dinner Cruise and Red Couch Photo

Last night our travel group went on a dinner cruise. It was buffet style, so I sent my parents to get some food for Hope right away. I took my time feeding Hope and decided that I would go through the buffet line at the end. Unfortunately, by the time I went through the line, all of the edible food (i.e. sweet and sour chicken) was gone. The only food left was what I would consider inedible (i.e. chicken feet and pig knuckles). So, my dinner consisted of mainly white rice. Bummer. After "dinner" we were all able to go out on the upper deck and enjoy the beautiful views down the river. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China, with Beijing and Shanghai being larger. It is quite developed, so we were able to admire the lit up buildings while we passed. It was really nice.

Today we did the legendary Red Couch photo. There is a red couch in the White Swan hotel and for years, travel groups have been taking pictures of their babies on this couch. We all dressed our kids (mostly girls, but a few boys) in Chinese silk outfits and put them on the couch. Hope is in the top row in the purple. Don't worry, I was crouched down behind the couch, holding her in place. All of the children in our travel group came off of the Waiting Child list. Six of the children have cleft lip and palate (all of the lips have been repaired and two of the palates have even been repaired), two of the girls have minor cerebral palsey, one of the girls is post-surgery spina bifida and one girl is missing an eye. There are other medical conditions in our group as well. While their conditions are all different, their need was the same. These are children who needed a home. They needed a mom and a dad to love them unconditionally and to provide them with the medical help that they need. These children represent the small percentage of children who manage to get out. According to one book that I read, it is estimated that there are 1,000,000 children (mostly girls) who are living in orphanages across China. Last year, China only released approx. 2,500 of these children for international adoption (keep in mind that there are approx. 18,000 families waiting in line). It is heartbreaking to think of all of the children who will never find a family. We are thankful that God led us to Hope and that she is not one of the hundreds of thousands who will grow up in crowded loneliness.