Her last night in Shanghai.

Mary had a hard time going to sleep tonight.  And I am struggling a little, too..... You see, tonight is Mary's last night in the city of her birth.  For some reason, that is VERY bittersweet to me.  Although I KNOW that we are bringing her into a family full of love and a community that has prayed for her for so long, I'm sad that her beginning has been so difficult.  In 20 months, this baby girl has been through A LOT.  And yet, she's got the sweetest, happiest, easiest disposition ever.  She's got JOY downpat..... But does she know that there has been sadness in her life?  Does she know that we are taking her from Shanghai tomorrow?  Does she know that her life is changing so dramatically?  Well, I know.  And I'm sad FOR her.  Bittersweet.

BUT.... it was a VERY happy night.  Tonight, we had dinner with Joe's cousin and her family.  We had "authentic Chinese"....... They came to get us at the hotel and then we traveled on the Shanghai subway to a completely different part of town.  We went upstairs into a private little room and shared the loveliest and TASTIEST meal we've had yet.  There was a BIG glass lazy-susan in the middle of the table and all of the dishes were served "family style" on it.... you just turned that sucker until you had what you wanted in front of you.  Mary, of course, LOVED the rice and noodles.  Somebody at home better be finding me a fried rice and/or noodle recipe and have it ready when I get there.  Do I need a wok?  Whatever... anyway.... The meal was completely delicious.  The dishes included salad (yummiest EVER), cucumbers in some sort of liquid that made them also completely delicious, a WHOLE flounder (head ON.... you just peel the skin back and take what you want), barbecue pork, fried steak with a sweet sauce (Oh. My.  Gosh. It. Was. Good.), steamed rice, wonton dumplins, spring rolls, greens, and a sweet dessert (we think they were little dumplin balls in a sweet syrup, but I told them it looked like those little cocoons from the silk place....), and, best of all..... Shanghai Noodles.  Mary totally ignored her Cheerios she was so engrossed in the rice and noodles.  I liked the salad and steak best.  Max liked the barbecue pork.  Jack liked the rice and steak.  Joe's favorite thing was.... EVERYTHING.

The best part of the meal was spending time with the Simpsons (Peter, Jeanne, Sara Grace, Paul, and Luke. Their daughter, Claire, is away in NY right now!)  They have been in China for quite some time.  We have all been so excited to know that our Mary is from Shanghai.... and THEY are in Shanghai.  Made me happy to know that she was near family even before we could come to get her!  They talked about the culture, the city, the people, and their "normal."  It gave us even more insight into Mary's first "home" so we can share it with her someday.

After dinner, they walked us to Nanching Walking Road (totally don't know if I spelled that right or if that's even the right name.....).  It's a BEAUTIFUL place at night full of shops and LIGHTS.  It stretches through the city for a mile and a half..... very nice.  We zipped into a HUGE Hershey store and got some chocolate covered almonds, and then they tucked us safely into a cab back to the hotel.  It was the perfect evening with family on the other side of the world.

And now, tonight, now that Peanut is finally asleep, we pack to move on.  And it makes me sad.  Although I feel SO very small in this huge and bustling city, it will always be special to me.

But.. now it's time to face forward and MOVE ON.  Cause after this next city, we get to go HOME.  America.  (We all got so homesick this afternoon that we all started singing, "God, Bless America" in our room...... then we all busted out laughing cause I'm pretty sure the fatigue has caused us to lose our minds.  Mary just looks at us and laughs.  Welcome to the family, baby girl.)

Here are some sights from our evening:

Waiting on the subway!  We must be very happy it's there.... If you look closely, you can BARELY see Mary's face under her little hoody.  It was STILL raining, so we had her bundled up.... And that's why my hair is wonky in every. single. picture.  The humidity over here is eight hundred thousand and eleven percent.  I will NEVER complain about Alabama humidity ever again.  K.  Moving on....

The flounder.  Tastes WAY better than it looks.  Cause I was a little worried when they brought it to the table.  But.... oh.... it's GOOD.  (Joe now says he thinks THAT was his favorite.)

Hanging out in Shanghai.  See the big lazy-susan in the middle of the table.  Very cool.  Very Chinese.

Uh.  Mom.  Could you quit trying to use the chopsticks to feed me Cheerios?  You're dropping them all over the floor and I NEED them.

Family meets up in Shanghai.  Big love.

Beautiful walk.

Happy family.  Lovely evening.

The brick building is a government-run church.  

BIG Hershey store!

Chocolate is the universal language.  That, and Cheerios.

More pretty lights.

And some more.....

As we left dinner, the Simpsons gave us a gift to celebrate Mary's adoption.  The book at the top is a  coffee-table type book with scenes from all over Shanghai.  The set of FIVE chopsticks (get it?  family of 5???) have Chinese characters with phrases about LOVE on them.... "Love each other."  "Share the love."  And then, the chocolate, of course!

Such a thoughtful gift.  Made me cry.

I think I say this at the end of every blog post, but we are truly, truly grateful to everyone who is praying for us and encouraging us through these two weeks.  We are getting tired and this is hard, but, the reward is great.  Our flight leaves Shanghai tomorrow afternoon at around 5:00.  Please pray for Mary to be a GREAT airplane traveler, for luggage that weighs the right amount, for easy airport maneuvering, and for continued health.  We'll blog again from Guangzhou, China.

Goodnight, Shanghai.