August 1

Today is our last day in China. We have a brutal 4:30 AM wake-up call tomorrow and will fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to San Francisco, SF to Seattle. I am so not looking forward to the trip. Don't get me wrong, we all really want to get home, we just don't want to travel 20 some hours to get there.

China has been amazing. I knew I wanted to present a positive image to Maya of her birth country and I really worried that I might not like it and would always feel like I was lying when I'd say, "Really, China's great." But China is great and I can tell her in total honesty that she should feel proud of her heritage. We'd love to bring her back some day so she can discover China for herself.

We just got back from the swearing in ceremony at the U.S. Consulate. We're all so tired and ready to go home and are beyond all of the official ceremonies. There was an incredibly short man conducting the huge group swearing-in and he said, "First I'll answer the two questions that people always ask..." Lyle cracked us all up when he leaned over and whispered, "Why am I so short and where do I get my suits?" Actually, those weren't the questions--something to do with citizenship.

Maya has had a rough day. I think we've filled her with too much rice and not enough liquids. We tried to remedy the situation at lunch with lots of prunes, but still no success. It could be a VERY long plane ride tomorrow! Probably enough said.

I know many of you at home have expressed your interest in China adoption. If you want to be dissuaded, we're probably not the ones to talk to. The whole journey has been amazing and we have been blessed with a wonderful new daughter--loud, but wonderful. We can't wait to introduce her to her fan club! Maya Qiuju is heading HOME!