This morning we woke to an entirely new breakfast buffet!  You start to feel like “Groundhog Day” when you are here because every morning is the same breakfast over and over.  But, since we are in a new city, the buffet is (relatively) new!

I do have to admit that you cannot complain about noodles…

… and a sugar donut with chocolate and strawberry sauce to start the day!

Might probably gain all the weight back that I lost last week.

Kelly put her beautician skill set to the test this morning and did some fancy work with Madison’s hair.

And it is a good thing because we got to meet Aleda Madison, the fonder of our adoption agency, and Ming, the China-based advocate for Madison Adoption.

Aleda is in the back and Ming is in the forefront.  Any of you that have prayed through the challenges we have had getting some of these children out of China will recognize Ming’s name.  She has been extremely instrumental in breaking through the red tape in China to make sure orphans find a home.  We have several girls that might not be here if it was not for Ming’s loving and yet determined efforts on their behalf.  What a great honor to finally get to meet such a wonderful woman.

Waiting in the lobby, Riley took a quick picture of Peyton and I.  I am once again amazed at how quickly these kids bond to complete strangers and love and trust us so completely when their entire world is turning upside down.  We have done this thing enough times to know that the emotions can bubble up later and have to be dealt with, but these girls have been just wonderful.

All the Madison families loaded up on the bus for the trip over the International Medical Office so the kids could get their physicals and any outstanding immunizations that are required before they immigrate into the United States.

Up first are the pictures that will be used by the US Government to process their VISA.  Of course, it isn’t as easy as you would think with a little girl confined to a wheelchair!  Sometimes momma has to step in and explain to people how to get the shot done!

Peyton jumped up, had the picture completed, and jumped down before I had a chance to take my own shot!

After the photos, it is up to the clinic.

First are the vision check and a test to check for color blindness.

Peyton went first!

Then it is off to the ENT exam.

It was then Madison’s turn.  For some reason I have video but not a picture of Kelly explaining to them that they were not going to be able to weight Madison the way that they planned.  They wanted to lay her on a baby scale, but she was going to be too big.  After getting Riley involved, they finally agreed to weight Kelly first and then weight her with Madison and subtract the difference.  It isn’t rocket science, but it took them awhile to warm up to the idea.

In the end, Madison had to do the same colorblind test …

… the same vision screening …

… and see the same ENT!

Peyton got a little break while Madison had her physical exam.

But it wasn’t long before she was in the room also.

The girls had to have a TB test done.

Peyton didn’t have to have any immunizations, but Madison had to have two.

It was not TOO long of a morning, but some children did get a little bored.

In all, the visit went as well as could be expected and everyone loaded on the bus for the trip back to the hotel.

We made a stop at the local grocery store to pick up a few odds and ends … mainly water!  You can’t drink from the tap here.

And no trip to the store is complete without buying candy.  Sometimes it is hard to decide what candy you want!

We went back to the hotel for a few minutes to get some things done and Riley again took control of my camera.

We ran up the street to our favorite Chinese food place.  That’s funny. Chinese food place … in China.

Then back to the supermarket to get ice cream!

On the way two high school girls asked Kelly if they could do a video interview with her for their homework assignment.

Kelly represented the United States VERY well!

Surprisingly, Madison had never had ice cream before, so this was her first experience!

Peyton, however, was an old pro!

It had been a long afternoon for a six-year old little girl and she took a little nap on the way back to the hotel.

Tomorrow is a down day for everyone so we decided to spend the morning at a local park.  We will see what the day holds for us.  For now, we are blowing bubbles …

… and resting up in the hotel (OK, Peyton is riding our exercise bike, but everyone else is resting)

Cameron