And now you know the rest of the story...

When we left off, the three of us, our driver and guide were back in the van, "Where too now?" As prepared as were thought we were, we needed a run to the store. Wanda's friend had told her about Carrefour, a local grocery store. The guide said the last time they took a group there the store was having a big sale and the lines were thirty deep with people waiting to check out, it took them about an hour and a half to leave. That didn't deter us though, we have no fear now, unless of course you consider we have a new baby in our arms, thinking on our feet of what essentials we need and the fact that we do not know the METRIC SYSTEM! Our education system has failed us... or the fact that we did not bother to learn any conversion techniques prior to our trip. Oh well, too late now. We pull up to the high rise building and get out of the van. Off we walk to an escalator going down, then to the right and then a quick left and we are in what appears to be a mini mall. We wind through the halls closely following our guide... and we happen upon strollers. This is a good start. We found one we really liked, but we already have one at home, so we just need an umbrella stroller. Looking them over, we find one that will work. The assistant goes grabs it from the back, brings it out, puts it together and off we go pushing and empty stroller through the store because LJ is sitting tight in her mommy's arms. What does she eat? Everything in the store looks similar and different at the same time. We pick up crackers, cookies, cookies for me (chips ahoy!), potato chips (Lays), a coke, sprite, water, water, water, baby food, milk powder, rice cereal and then we find the diapers. Foiled by the metric system again! How many kilograms does she weigh? As we ponder this thought.. I feel like the Jeopardy theme is playing in my head. My brilliant idea? Buy some of each... we narrowed it down to small or medium. Still not convinced, Wanda and the guide get one of the assistants to come over and ask her... she holds the baby and says medium will work. Now we go to get in line... an empty line is available and we pay. The feeling of rushing around is slowly beginning to fade as we make our way back up to the street.

For dinner, we decide on pizza. Papa John's is across the street and we order a pepparoni pizza to take back to the room. The van pull up, in we pile, the grocery bags, stroller, pizza, the three of us, our guide and driver... pull back into traffic and on the way to the hotel. Pull up, out we get, and we have more paperwork to do for Wednesday. The guide says she will be back at 6 to help us complete the papers. We go up to the room to unpack. Lexi sits on the bed while we scramble about trying to find places to store all our things. Before we know it, the guide is back and I am completing paperwork while Wanda plays with Lexi. Around 7 we finish up and the guide says to meet her at 9 in the morning for our ride back to the adoption office and more paperwork.

We finally came to end our journey. As the notary said the following day our dream realized. The three of us a family at last, but it is not just the three of us. We have been helped through this with family and friends, who have grown over the years and we hope will continue with us as we move forward from here.

And lastly, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has waited with us over the last six years of us trying to get to this point. We've had our ups and downs but every step has been worth it. We can't wait to share her with you.