US Consulate

We woke up early this morning, ate breakfast, and then headed back to the medical clinic to get Mason a stronger anitbiotic. The Dr. that works there is very nice and he gave us a powdered version of the Z-Pack (3 packets that we mix with water). Already, we can see that George Mason is feeling better. He is starting to let his personality show more and more. He loves walking on and off the elevator and then marching down the hallway to our hotel room. It is really cute because I can tell he feels like such a big boy. :) He also has shown us a few temper tantrums. And oh my! He does a backwards body slam to the ground when he doesn't get what he wants and screams and kicks his legs. Not pretty. But, as soon as we scoop him up and tell him "ha la, ha la" - he stops. I can't imagine he got away with that too much in the orphanage, but I could be wrong. After the clinic, we rode in a van to the US Consulate appointment. We made it in plenty of time and we were able to be sworn in with all the other families this time. David and I did have flashbacks to our last trip to the Embassy, and we were thankful that Helen had already secured transportation for us so we weren't standing around waiting on a taxi to magically appear. lol! While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin, we chatted with a nice family from NC - and then we were called first to complete the paperwork. So, now when we land in Chicago - George Mason will automatically become a US Citizen! :) After the Embassy, we drove around for a little while waiting for Helen to help two other families and David decided to celebrate Mason's US Visa by buying a Coke for us and the driver. :) Helen's son stayed with us in the van and we both laughed when we saw the book he was reading. A comic book of "Tom & Jerry"! lol! Can you believe it?! I think that has to be theme for this trip.  We decided to eat lunch at Subway and we ran into the same couple from NC and they spoke with another family who is also staying at the Victory and we were so surprised to find out that we live like 30 minutes from each other! This is also their 2nd adoption and their son from their 1st adoption was from Chengdu too. It was great fun meeting them and we were so blessed to run into wonderful families to share the last few days of our trip with. We met them all at this wonderful restaurant that is on the 5th floor above Jordon's gift shop. We shared a private room with them and enjoyed fabulous Chinese food! It was amazing! When we were leaving, we saw the doormen from our hotel enjoying their dinner there too and they asked David how did we find out about this place. Dave said, "From our friends!" They smiled and said, "Good food and low price!" Now the secret is out! lol! George Mason ate and ate and ate. He loved the fried green beans, the rice, the noodles. We think he is finally feeling almost 100%. After we were finished eating, the kids all had fun running around the room, and Mason laughed and laughed at the other kids. Dave and I are so excited to see him at home playing with our kiddos. I think he is going to LOVE them! On the way home, we made plans to swim the next morning and to eat Chinese again at the same restaurant for our last dinner on the Island. Tomorrow afternoon, we will have to wait in our room until Helen picks up the "brown envelope" full of immigration papers and Mason's US Visa and delivers it to us. We are almost finished and we are so ready to come home! We miss you so much AJ, Hollyn, and Jessa! We can't wait to give you all big hugs! :)