Medical Exam Day

Today we had to head to the Medical Exam that is required in order to get Hope's Visa to come to the United States. There has been a big change in the process since we were here last time. The change involves Hope having to get shots before she can enter the US. We didn't tell Hope about them at all because we didn't want her to get nervous or upset. So off we went to exam office. First stop they checked her hearing, her throat, teeth, and her nose. She was all smiles, especially since they immediately told her she was beautiful. The second stop was the whole body check. They checked her heart and then we had to take her pants off so he could check her body. I warned him that she is ticklish, and she laughed through every bit of it. All the kids before us had come out of that room crying so we were tickled with her giggling. While we were waiting in line for this room and little boy from Hope's orphanage was right behind us. Hope called him by name. It was sweet to see how much she cared for all the little kids at the SWI. Here is the all important eye check. It appeared to us that she failed it miserably, but they told us she did fine. Then we sat and waited for shot time. Our guide, Rebecca, came over and explained to Hope what was getting ready to happen. Paul had them tell her that if she was a brave girl and didn't cry then he would take her to get ice cream. This is the same deal he makes with all our children when it is shot time. They looked at her shot record from Baotou and decided that he only needed to get four shots. She was so brave and didn't cry a bit. She also had a TB skin test done too. We will get the results of that in a few days. Since she was so brave, she got her reward! She LOVES Haagen-Dazs just like her daddy!

Please pray for Hope that she doesn't have any reactions to her shots and that her TB skin test is negative! Please continue to pray for my family back home. I miss them as much as they miss us! Also begin to pray that Hope will blend well with our children at home.