- Today was a good day. The best we have had so far. The morning started early with our consulant appointment at 7:35. We took a quick picture outside, went through security and found our way upstairs. After we were all in the room (about 15 families) we gathered to say the oath. I admit it. I have no idea what the oath was because I could not hear it. But I do promise to follow it. :-) As one mom said, it sounded like the Charlie Brown teacher. Not the best aucustics in that place. Elise was whiny but she was tired. Understandable. Plus she knew this was getting closer to home. She's a bit nervous. She wants to go but she's not excited. We came back to the hotel and rested a bit. Well, I packed while they rested. We then headed to Subway, on the 6th floor of a huge shopping center, then on to the fun place! We found a mixture of Pump It Up, Air U, and Chuck E Cheese right down the road! Elise loved it!!! We were joined by our new friend Paige and her son Andrew. This place was FUN! Slides that went into this massive ball pit, one room totally devoted to guns that shoot the balls, a zipline, trampolines, a piano on the floor, you name it, they had it! It was well worth the $20 and 2 hours we were there. She played so hard. We were very proud of her because she left the play area without a fit. That's a first! As we left, I noticed a little book stand. We got a few books, mainly for the flight. I am very excited to see how much she loves to learn. She was repeating all the English phrases the book was saying to her. We bought 3 books and she wanted another one. I told her no. She started her whining and I say no way. I got a thumbs up from all the Chinese women around! WOW! That never happens. She whined a bit again later (checking out in China takes FOREVER) and I started making whining sounds and told her to hush it. Again, thumbs up all around, along with cheers. She stopped, grabbed my hand and was a complete angel.
We rested again and then headed to the pool. The pool that is about 40 degrees, maybe. Why did we head there? Because Abi was baptized! She approached Eric and I a couple of weeks before we left and asked us. We talked about it, Eric talked to her and we were both convinced she knew what she was doing, why she was doing it, and why she chose here. Because it's illegal here to baptize, we had to be careful. It's not illegal for us but we need to really be careful not to give our agency a bad name. Elise got in too and was oblivious to what was going on, which is what we wanted. Some hotel higher ups had followed us out to see these crazy American's try out this frigid water. They left after watching them splash their feet and act silly. The lifeguard was watching but I got in his line of view while I video'ed. Our friends Tracie and Tommy, along with their daughter Lillie, joined us. We played it off like Eric was dunking her. And just like that, she made her faith 'public!' To some that sounds strange but Abi has such a love for this country. She felt that call to be baptized here and we wanted to help her honor that. We are so proud of her and look forward to seeing how God continues to use her. She's becoming quiet a young woman of God. Great job Abi-Cakes!
Tonight was the dinner cruise on the Pearl River. This is always fun. We knew Elise would love it. Well, love it doesn't really describe it. She started whining when we pulled up. We think she was nervous and didn't know how to tell us. We ate a buffet dinner, (the Chinese are confused about how buffets work) the veggies were awesome, went up top to look around then back down so we could watch the clown show. Elise was more concerned that she could not have a balloon when she wanted it. She's a little focused on getting what she wants when she wants it. She was thrilled when the clown let her spin the ball on one finger. Very cute. After that, she joined the babies of our group and taught them to pop balloons with their feet. I'm so thankful the parents here have a great sense of humor. We're with a great group of people this week.
Bath is done, games are being played before bed and we have 2 more sleeps here! Woo hoo!! We will be having a welcome home party. We are hoping it's between 7-8 p.m. Thursday. We will send a message as soon as we are on our way from Dallas which should give everyone a 2 hour window. We hope you can come!! We know school is the next day but the welcome will only be 20 minutes. It would mean so much to us to have you there. Peter loved his and we know she will too.
Tomorrow is Shaimin Island and GRACE day!! We get to see Grace! We're so excited!!! Please start praying for our flights to go well. Our ticket was fixed (we have the most incredible travel agent ever) and we leave the hotel at 7 a.m on Thursday for Hong Kong, a 3 hour drive. We depart at 1:40 for DFW!! We land at 2:55 Thursday. We're so excited that it's only a 20 minute flight. ;-) Your prayers are so appreciated. Love ya'll!!! - Lynn Akin Prayer for all of you that everything continues to go smooth and the flight home is safe too.
- Melanie Richardson Marsh I love hearing your stories, Aimee... Praying for your family-all of you:)
- Sharon Weir Mirick Way to go Abi! So very proud of you
- Stacey St Romain Cornett Congratulations Abigail Grace!! That is wonderful news! So glad you all had a great day!
- Casie Cowden Love reading all of these updates. Yall are amazing. And congrats to Abi. Continued prayers for your family.
- Sarajon Hart I look forward ever morning to getting to read your adventures and how things are going. Sending prayers.
- Kimberly Wilson Webber We'll Done Abi
- Kimberly Wilson Webber Praying for y'all to have a safe journey back to the US
- Debbie Langley Paden I'm so happy for all of you. Congratulations Abi! Have a safe trip home.
- Eric N Aimee Thanks y'all! I just talked to the boys for about 45 minutes. It's time to come home! We didn't get a hold of Chels. Maybe tomorrow. Thank you for following our journey!
- Danielle Wooden Congradutlations Abi!!!:) Btw, if you haven't already you should go back and read the conversation between Abi and I when she was telling me about it, I was have a SERIOUS dumb moment!!
- Kim McGregor Brockwell Wow , what a time you have all had! We look forward to meeting Elise. Congratulations to Abi - I'm so happy for her!
- Carol Rempel You're a great communicator, Aimee, and we feel SO connected with your reports! Keep up the good work, and discipline smile emoticon
- Patti Flowers Praying
Carol Ledbetter So
happy and proud of Abi for making her wonderful decision public. I am
so looking forward to see how God will use her and what he has planned
for her. Love you guys and can't wait to see all of you. Praying for a
safe trip home.
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