One last night! (Hopefully ;-))

Don't be fooled - Travis says Reeds the man.

Last night we had a late night - scrambling to repack so Mason and I would have what we needed for the next couple of days, and Travis would be set for the plane.  I was a bit stressed as we sorted through the stacks of endless paperwork to make sure we each had the correct ones for the correct child.

A tired and slightly stressed Mama.
So thankful for these two and their Daddy.
  And that I only gained 1 lb in buffetland.

I didn't sleep well, as I felt fears creeping in - what if one of our planes crash?  Would Mason and I be safe to take cabs by ourselves here?  What if we get delayed even further?  How much more money do I need to exchange to get us through? What if we get sick?  (One of our guides had to go into the hospital the night before with sickness.) How much more money do I need to exchange to get us through?  It wasn't a good path to start down, and I tried to combat my thoughts with Isaiah 41:10 - "So do not fear for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.",  and Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged."  I finally fell asleep around 3.

At 4:30am we got up to get Travis and the boys out the door.  Back to sleep for a bit and then down to breakfast.  Mason remarked "It's not as much fun without everyone here."  I wholeheartedly agreed.

Mason and I decided that it wasn't cost effective to stay in the bigger, more expensive room, and we could find different meals, so we downgraded our room and got our agencies special rate.  Just across the hall and one room down - easy peasy.

Next, after some reassurance from our guide that it was safe, we got a taxi to Shamian Island - a cute little island we'd been to last week.  One Mama described it as one of her favorite places on earth.

Grace wasn't too excited about the statues.

We had fun picking out a few small things for the boys, matching dresses for the girls, and then splurged on a Tirimasu Frappacino for lunch.  ;-)

We decided to pass on the Early Grey Jelly Tea flavor

Tonight we are going to have a pizza and movie night together.  Just in case you find yourself in Guangzhou on a Tuesday, Papa John's has medium pizzas for half price. ;-)  We may even try to take Grace for a quick swim in the pool, although she screamed in fear when we walked by it last week.  We'll see.

In the morning we begin our 30+ hour trek to MY favorite place on earth: HOME!  We leave at 6:15am for Shanghai, where we have an 11 hour layover.  That sounds slightly  torturous, but it will be one step closer! Mason has been an incredible help so far - I told him he'd be my first choice of someone to be in China with!  :-)

Travis and Company will still be in the air headed towards Denver when we depart, which seems strange.  We'd very much appreciate your prayers for safe travel as we navigate things without him!  I've always known I can have a tendency to rely on my husband, and in my flesh, often before Jesus. This past 24 hours it's become a realization that this is still an area of much needed growth!  (I'm sure he's smiling a sigh of relief.  ;-)  Sometimes it takes this old Mama a little while to catch on.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."  Ephesians 3:20.  Still in awe of all God has done for us to bring home the BEST two gifts from China!  ;-)

And SOO excited to be together again!  For a complete homebody, this has been a stretch!