The guys had a big day! They met the travel group around 10 a.m. to head to a park. They climbed hundreds of stairs to get to this statue!

The parks are so beautiful in Guangzhou. They are filled with retired people exercising, dancing, and playing games together! Simon told the group that the people retire at a very young age in China, to make room for the younger generation to work. The women retire at 50 and the men at 55. The guys enjoyed watching the people in the park!

It is not as hot in Guangzhou as last year, but Grant told me he was sweating buckets after climbing all those stairs!

Here they are playing hacky sack.

Blake bought a hacky sack to bring home! It is not a bean bag like I thought it would be, but discs connected together with feathers attached to the top.

After the park, the group headed to the pearl and jade market. Tate had fallen asleep in the bus on the way there, so thankfully he was very mellow!

When the guys got back to the room, Tate fell apart. We are so very thankful that Tate finally started grieving all this change in his life. It is so very hard to watch, but also such a very important part of this process. Tate did allow Blake to hold him, which was a blessing too.

Once Tate settled down, they went swimming at the hotel pool and enjoyed visiting with one of the other families there.

The day got the best of our little man! But a nap before dinner was a good thing.

The guys were blessed to be able to borrow a stroller from the front desk of the hotel. They walked to McDonald’s to get some “take away” dinner! Tate LOVED the stroller, and so we are all thankful that they get to keep it until they check out!

The guys laundry was returned to them this afternoon too! Yay for clean clothes!

I got to visit on Skype again as their day was coming to a close, and Tate had his bath, got his jammies on, and drank his warm milk! I like our night time routine already! Tate takes his boat and his stacking cups to bed with him each night. How cute is that? He tucks them under his blanket right before he falls asleep. How I love that he has something to call his own. Sweet boy.

We also got to visit on Skype again this evening as the guys started their Monday!!

IT IS TATE’S BIRTHDAY!!

HAPPY FOURTH BIRTHDAY, TATE OWEN!!

We were showing him how to say he is now FOUR!

Tate was a hoot on Skype this evening! He is calling Eliza by name, Lane by name, and I am now Mommy instead of Mama! Then he tapped Blake to get his attention and said “Dad, Dad, Dad!” We were just giggling with him non-stop. He and Eliza have a great time on Skype mimicking each other and then giggling from their toes. It is SO CUTE!!

A couple more things before I close this evening:

*Lord willing, our plan right now is to spend the weekend at home, and head to UW Madison on Monday morning for Tate to see the neurosurgery team there. We have an appointment at noon that day. If we feel there is a need to do so sooner than Monday, we will go sooner, but right now we feel comfortable with this plan!

Please pray with us for our sweet reunion as a family, and for Tate’s upcoming appointments! Please also pray for good health for my three guys while they finish out this week in China. Pray for Tate’s transition as well, as he is really missing being able to communicate more with someone in his own language right now. Thank you for praying with us!

When we Skyped with the guys this morning our time, they looked so rested and much more relaxed! Did my heart good!

Tate is also getting more rested and relaxed! The more comfortable he becomes with his big brother and his Baba, the busier and wilder he gets!

The guys are with three other families from our agency this week. You really bond with your travel group, and the guys have three great families to do that with. In Hohhot they never saw another American all week long, and now they are surrounded by other American families! I am sure that alone is a great encouragement to Blake and Grant.

Thank you for your prayers for Tate’s medical exam! Simon prepared Tate for what was going to happen, and Tate cruised through his appointed time without one single tear! Tate even had his blood drawn, was taken from Blake to have it done, and came back without one tear to show his Baba his “owie!” Oh sweet boy, how we love your determined spirit!!

Tate fell asleep on the bus after the medical appointments as the group headed to go shopping.

The guys are on the 27th floor of the Garden Hotel. It is the same hotel we stayed at last year, but we were on the 15th floor. Their room is as luxurious as ours was last year! And the views out of the big windows just can’t be beat.

In the evening, the guys walked to a restaurant with the travel group and Simon the guide. They told me the food was delicious, and Tate did very well!! Tate is a great eater. He is eating a wide variety of things and his tummy has not been upset by any of it yet.

If you would like to see a GREAT photo of my three guys, and Tate devouring his soup the fastest possible way he could think of, go to this post here!

We are so thankful for SO many things!!! The families that are with the guys this week, the guide, Simon, and his heart to help these children through this process, for the doctors at the medical exam, and for our sweet little miracle Tate who just continues to astound us each and every day!!

They are one day closer to home, you all! One day closer.

I can hardly stand it!!

Thank you for all the support you are giving us right now! Every text, e-mail, phone call, visit, gift, and most certainly every prayer! The Lord is using each and every one of you for Tate’s sake!! Saying thank you will never seem like enough.

Six more sleeps till I get to hold our sweet precious boy!

Friday morning the guys packed up, left Hohhot, and flew to Guangzhou!

Tate was AMAZING. Such a good boy!!! Never made a peep the whole flight!

They will be spending a week in Guangzhou to work on the U.S. side of Tate’s paperwork to be able to receive his visa to bring him home!

When they arrived there, we had quite the surprise. Simon, the guys guide for this week, speaks Tate’s dialect of Chinese!!!! How AWESOME is that?? God is so good to us.

When they got to their room in the hotel, Tate asked Simon if it was his new home. Simon was able to explain to Tate that it would be only for a week until they would ride an airplane again.

The guys took a long walk around the area by the hotel once they arrived. Blake was thrilled to be back and enjoyed the familiarity of it all! They got some snacks, water, and dinner while they were out. The day had been filled with traveling, so they did not have a lot of time before Tate needed to be put to bed. They had a great night of sleep last night!

While we are heading to bed tonight, Saturday is starting in Guangzhou, and the guys will be taking Tate to his medical exam. Tate will have to have his blood drawn, as well as being checked by different doctors. The medical exam is not easy for these kiddos! It is a new, unknown, scary experience. Please say a bedtime prayer for our little one!