The Bostrom Family

Almost to Atlanta....won't be long now and the family will be back together.

Day 17: August 11, 2014                   Today was the big US consulate appointment day!  We got all dressed up per our agencies recommendation and excitement for the important day.  Jeff and I wore the same clothes we did on Gothcha Day, but sweet Miley wore a beautiful red floral traditional Chinese dress.  She was beautiful!  Before our consulate appointment, we had to do a quick stop by the doctor’s office for the physician to make sure that Miley and a few other kids didn’t show any signs of Chicken Pox.  Thankfully he cleared everyone good to travel to the US!!!!             The actual consulate appointment was very informal and quick.  One parent, Jeff in our case, repeated an oath basically saying that everything that we wrote in our paperwork is correct to the best of our ability; then an officer called each family up individually and asked to see our “clear envelope” of papers that we had previously organized; and lastly one parent had to be fingerprinted as a

Day 16: August 10, 2014                    Tomorrow we have our US consulate appointment…that’s what’s been on my mind all day!  Tomorrow is the big day! So besides what been going on between my ears, we also did some shopping.  Today we went to Shamian Island, which is the place that adoptive families use to stay while in Guangzhou which resulted in a lot of tourist shops popping up.  We bought lots of things that we just couldn’t live without…hehe.  It was fun just shopping for the fun of it.  We came to one shop, that another adoptive family was at, and they told us that we needed to shop there because the store owner (Judy) is a Christian.  When they told us that the lady just beamed from ear to ear.  She was so excited to talk to us about Jesus and how she reads her Bible every day.  She said that a taxi driver that came from the US became friends with her and shared God’s love with her.  She regretted to say that she is the only Christian in her family and that it is v

Day 15: August 9, 2014             Today on our agenda was to visit a folk art museum.  It was nice to walk around and look at some traditional Chinese art.  The embroidery was amazing, but the most interesting was the “palm painting”.  The artist actually uses his hands to paint beautiful pieces.  We purchased a small paining of some bamboo with five panda bears.  It reminds us of our bamboo girl.  Our adoption agency has named the group of wonderful children with Down syndrome the Bamboo group.  Bamboo will always have a special place in our hearts and home now with our Miley girl!              We also visited a Buddhist temple.  Honestly it was really sad be there.   It’s human nature to worship something greater than oneself, I just wish those people knew the God who created the materials and people who built those Buda’s.  One a funny note, our little Miley is getting quite a little Buda belly herself with all the amazing food we have been eating!  She is no longer

Day 14: August 8, 2014               Today was the big doctor’s appointment day, but before we got on the bus to see the doc we had to fill up on breakfast.  Shiyan (our Bethany contact here in China) met us for breakfast at our hotel today so she showed me how to order rice noodles from the noodle bar.  She helped me pick out which meat I wanted added and then showed me how I needed to add a little soy and then some broth to the bowl for flavor.  I have absolutely loved learning what new food I enjoy eating.              So now to the big part of the day, Miley had to see a nurse station for temperature and measurements, then to the general doc, next she saw an ENT for throat and ears, and then lastly to have blood drawn.  The nurses would not allow parents to go with their child to have blood drawn, so that made me nervous.  All the kids were coming back to their new parent’s with huge tears, except our Miley girl.  She was carried out by the nurse and babbling somethi

Day 13: August 7, 2014               The city, Guangzhou, is where the US Embassy is and is the last stop for all US adopted families.  The hotel, The China Motel, Marriott, is full of other adopted families.  It has been so fun walking around and seeing other families in the same part of their journey as we are.   This hotel caters to adopting families so well.  When we got into our room, a lady knocked on the door with a pink basket with some Johnson’s baby soap, a little bear that is wearing a shirt that says “Take me Home”, and a flyer explaining all the hotel and city offers for children.  This hotel is huge!  It has a kids playroom and outdoor play area with slides, tunnels, etc. It has a game room, gym, outdoor pool on the 4 th floor, tennis court, many restaunts and shops where anyone can buy snacks, jewlry, nice clothing or even get your nails done to name a few things.  I even think there are stairs that take you to the subway from inside the hotel…but we haven’t