Guangzhou July 18

Today we had a free day . Free from all adoption paperwork, so we decided to take a taxi and go to The Guangzhou City Zoo. It is interesting to see how differently the animals are taken care of here. Disney's Animal Kingdom does not sell plastic lids or straws in the park so the animals are not at risk of swallowing anything dangerous. Well here people were dropping plastic bottles and bags into the monkey exhibit and the monkeys were chewing them up. There were several people who asked Grace if they could take her picture with them . She felt like a celebrity again. She did not seem to mind this time , as in the past when she was younger and people would ask for her photo. We only stayed for a little while because the heat and humidity felt like that of Florida in August and we did not want to keep Teresa out in it too long. We came back to the room and looked at the pictures that China Care had given us of Teresa's life for the past three years. They had given us 4 CD's of her for the three years of her life. It was so great to see her taking her first steps. When she was learning to stand she could not push up with only one arm so she would put her bottom on the wall and use her head and one arm on the ground to stand up. She does not let anything stop her . Her personality is so funny , this morning at breakfast she told the waitress to take her plate away because she was all done. She is like talking to a mini adult.

I now understand why we could not adopt Josiah at the same time as Teresa. We had tried to bring him home too,but now I see why it did not all come together and work out. Teresa's care involves so much time and constant supervision of her heart and breathing , it just would have been too much right now. Tonight we took her to the pool for just 15 minutes and her lips and hands turned purple and we had to take her out. Last night in the play room she had to continuously stop and lay down , it was just too much trying to keep up with all the kids . We are constantly monitoring her heart rate , breathing and oxygen to make sure it is all in check. Even though her health is so fragile she continuously is smiling and loving life . She is so happy all the time .

Teresa (AKA "Lucy" while in the orphanage) has had so many people praying for her all over the world. I can not tell you all how thankful we are for all of the prayers for Teresa. Teresa has touched so many lives already . I am in awe at how one little orphan can touch so many lives and bring so many people together for the good , I know GOD has a special plan for her life.