We finally have made it to Guangzhou--the third of our four-city China excursion. It's been a rough 24 hours but I'm thrilled to report that we are doing better. God has helped us so much since my last post--he is truly guiding every step of this journey or we'd still be stuck in Wuhan. Awesome news: we can now read you messages and how special and needed they are are to me tonight. Darrin and Caroline are already asleep and I've cried so hard as I read them. Thank you so much for praying for us from the other side of the world. I'm confident that it's those prayers that got us through the last day.

Darrin had been feeling green since Beijing and he woke up at 1:30 a.m. yesterday vomiting. He couldn't eat, sleep or barely move. Someone in our group gave him a Phenegran which helped the nausea, but he was still so weak that the thought of him getting on a plane looked bleak. God gave me the strength to get us packed and take care of both Darrin and Caroline. Some wonderful people volunteered to carry him if need be (I know they would have too), but ended up just helping with Caroline and carrying our luggage. He missed the first day of activities here and slept for 12 hours and is doing much better (7 on a 10-point scale up from about a 2--I can write all of this because I've discovered from his lack of writtng here that he does't know how to check the blog, hee hee). He's planning on going with us on a tour tomorrow.

So since our official photographer and videographer was down and out the pictures aren't that great today. Too many hats for me to weat today but I kept telling Caroline (mostly as reinforcement to me throughout the day) that we are strong women. Caroline had her exam today at the clinic. Lots of tears (Darrin owes me big time for this one). She checked out OK although some of the girls in our groups have scabies. She weighs 20 pounds--just where I thought she'd be. After that we stopped at a really nice six-story department store that also sells groceries. Caroline was such a trooper--not crying once while we were out. She is a very contented baby and is getting more vocal and lively. She's turned very active. She loves getting tickled, jumping and turning upside down--the rougher the better for her. But she's sweet too--she loves getting neck sugar just like Drew does.

Darrin being out of the picture has been a blessing for us to bond. She didn't really have a chance. All of my efforts to win her over have paid off. Darrin felt like going to dinner with us to a Japanese restaurant (interesting, I know) and Caroline reached for me to take her when he was holding her. Yeah! I think she still prefers him for snuggling, but she like me for a good time. She's actually wanted to walk today with me holding her hands and she got the biggest smile when we calpped for her. It won't be long know before she takes off on her own. She's eating well--three formual bottles a day plus congee thrown in when it's available. Diaper changes are easier, but bathtime is painful for us all. She's like bathing a monkey.

We're back in the land of the living : ) McDonalds is right next door to our hotel. I've already tried it out and it tasted sooo good--although as stingy as they are with ketchup you'd think it was some precious commodity. Starbucks, Gucci and some other well-known stores are on the ground floor. Tomorrow we're going to a temple and a tearoom. I'm anxious for some cheap shopping coming up. Six days until we'll be home. Caroline can't wait to see you all. Post more since we can see them!