Thanksgiving service

Christine and Olivia settled down for about a three hour nap this afternoon. We went to a Thai restaurant, and the service was quite slow. We had the bright idea to buy our Coca-Cola and bottled water next door for about 10% of the price, and take it in to the restaurant. Seems like a great idea, I know. Our guide, translator, and fearless companion Doris got caught in a store talking to the owner who had received a letter in English, and Doris was translating for her. Anyway, when we finally pulled Doris away from the store, she found out that they were charging each of us the price of a Coke if we'd bought it in the restaurant, even though we brought in our own. They pointed to a sign printed in Chinese that says basically if you bring in an outside drink, you'll be charged for a restaurant drink anyway. So much for us enterprising Americans trying to be thrifty.

A bottle of water similar to a 2o ounce Dasani is about $0.18 here in most convenience stores.

I went and had a run at the fitness center here at the hotel, so now I've run in Nanning and Guangzhou, China. I'd like to get in a run here on Shamian Island, but the island is separated from Guangzhou proper by a moat, and it's not safe for us Americans to get off the island. Where we can go alone is pretty small, and it would drive me nuts, even more so than a treadmill, to do laps around a couple of blocks.

We didn't realize what time our Thanksgiving service was, and when our neighbor knocked on our door at 5:45 to see if we'd make it to the 6:00 service, we were in a frenzy. Fortunately, Olivia had just awakened from her nap, so we got her and mommy dressed, and hustled down to our service. It was a beautiful little service that Pat and Doris put on, it's just for the families in our group, and it's a way to thank God for bringing our daughters into our lives. We got some pictures on the red couch, which pretty much every family that passes through here does.

Tomorrow, we have to wait around while Pat and Doris do some appointments for us, then we'll take Olivia to the medical clinic again. Hopefully, we can go to the jade factory and/or the zoo tomorrow.

God said in 1 Samuel 1:27, "I have prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him".
(thanks to Christine and Beth for reminding me of this verse)

Those of you who are emailing Christine; she is getting them. Our routine on most of her emails is that I read them to her while she's giving Olivia her before bed bottle. She's very happy to hear all that you all have written to her, and she will write you back as soon as she can.

Once again, Olivia is playing and laughing in her crib when she's supposed to be going to sleep. She's such a loveable little girl!

Christine is feeling a good bit better now, but please continue to pray for her. Thank you all again for your kindness, and for being a part of this wonderful journey. We are truly blessed.

Michael, Christine and Olivia