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Currently we are waiting for Elijah’s adoption registration to be completed by the provincial office, and for his Chinese passport to be issued. In the meantime, we get to do a bit of sight seeing around Fuzhou city. This morning we visited a local Panda Zoo. They had seven pandas, evidently quite an honor for them to have this many. Three of them were from the Sichuan earthquake area and one had a partially amputated leg due to earthquake injury. The lesser pandas also put on a show for us, quite fun for the kids to see.
We also visited the birth place of a very important man to China. Something about in the 1800s he helped stop the opium trade. We also had a tea ceremony at his birthplace foundation and found it quite interesting. We were served four different kinds of tea, each very good. Then it was off to KFC for lunch, and we were free for the rest of the day.
This afternoon we enjoyed walking over to the park around the lake again. The kids had previously seen the “hamster balls” and wanted to try them out. They had a blast and played in them for almost 30 minutes. I was hoping Elijah wouldn’t get motion sickness while he was in the ball! He was having so much fun and didn’t want to get out, but after he got out it was pretty clear that his head was hurting. Shortly after he lost it, and a couple more times this evening. Poor kid!
We ate supper in our room tonight and played some Uno. I don’t think Elijah had played before, but he is quick to catch on to things. We also taught him rock, paper, scissors, so that will help with little rifts over things like who gets to use the card to unlock our room doors. 
All in all things are going very well. Chris and I are praying for wisdom in knowing when to put our foot down on things and how strict to be with Elijah. He likes to run ahead and is a bit independent. He doesn’t always like to be told “no”, so we are trying to gently work on that. We are trying to find the right balance for the right time, when to show more authority and when to let things go. I’d say we are pretty strict at home and expect first time obedience from our kids, so this is a bit hard yet we know that Elijah hasn’t had the same structure that our other four have had. We would appreciate your prayers in this area!
Elijah is a big eater! He eats about twice as much as our other kids, which actually may not mean much since they are such light eaters. He is loving the breakfast buffet and seems to end up with 5 or 6 plates/bowls. He politely slurps his food (as is common here) and is much handier with chopsticks than a knife and fork. He is always offering to share his food for us to try, or helping by carrying our plates, etc. He knows that we pray before we eat. He shows affection and is bringing much joy to our hearts. Michaela loves trying to help him understand things. Benjamin is enjoying getting a taste of his own medicine (teasing that he has given his sisters for years!). Johanna is loving having a brother that returns her affection. Ami thinks it’s pretty cool to have another person that likes to pack her around on their back. Daddy and Mommy are exhausted at times keeping track of five blessings. Our hands are full, but our hearts are very full as well!!
