Day 16 Saturday June 13th

Aren't these bright colors and beautiful faces on these kids just great! I took this picture after lunch yesterday Friday...the kids are Miley (9) and Brandon (7), birth cousins to Jacob. We took Jacob's birth mother Eomi, her husband, their two little boys, and these two cousins to lunch. This was taken sitting outside and waiting for a taxi in the downtown area. The four big kids had such fun together at one end of the table playing travel sized connect four, cards, coloring, mazes, etc. It is amazing how quickly the kids connect and how well they all get along.

On the taxi ride back to the hotel after our errands and lunch, the lady in the front seat told me that she was 2 months pregnant and would come and visit me tomorrow at the hotel to talk about making an adoption plan for her baby to one of our friends in the States! I had note paper with me and so wrote down the facilitator's name here. She can work directly with her and I am not part of that process. Obviously there must be a big sign outside the hotel that says "Peter and Lois are in Room 341!" Even strangers seem to know who we are, why we are here, and where to find us!

I have to share a battle that has been going on here. And, I don't mean the NBA basketball game (which was on LIVE satelite tv via ESPN yesterday during our lunch!). Peter decided that he wanted to start having cereal for breakfast in the room several days back. So - he chose a box of Raisin Bran for $5.50 at Payless, and we already had some milk in the frig in the room. We also bought a plastic bowl, and had brought plastic ware from home - so he was all set. He really enjoyed that bowl of cereal one day a couple days ago. He carefully closed up the inner bag tightly....but the ants here are especially sensitive and have a big sweet tooth. The next day he went to have his cereal - the whole bag was crawling inside with these tiny ants. Okay - 1 for the ants, 0 for Peter. So - we decided we must need to use these heavy duty Ziploc storage bags we have (not just the freezer type bags - the heavy thick blue ones). Peter purchased a 2nd box of Raisin Bran and again enjoyed just one bowl of it one day, before finding that even tightly closed, without the box, and inside the heavy zipped bag - his cereal was crawling with ants. So now it is 2 for the ants, $11 spent for 2 bowls of cereal, and Peter is done with this project!!!

Yesterday morning we had a lot of waiting and standing in lines - got a cell phone for one of our kids' birth mothers, made a trip to the bank for more singles, then opened a new post office box for the birth mothers to use so that we can keep in touch with them

I guess we should be thankful it is only ants we battle in our room. In the post office yesterday we heard lots of stories about critters while we were in line. One man said his son sent them some special flour via the mail, and something miscommunication happened so that it was not picked up from the post office here for a week. In that time - rats dug holes into both ends of the box and ate all the flour!

Boston seems to be feeling better after a whole day on his meds for the pneumonia. The big kids spent time in the ocean just past our hotel pool yesterday at a small sandy area. The hotel hosted a big dinner around the pool for 100 people from the Ministry of Education here, so the kids were asked to leave the pool (so the staff could prep and set up) soon after Peter took them down there yesterday afternoon. They were just as happy to try out this little beach area with Peter and 50 new Marshallese kid friends while Boston was napping upstairs and I was sorting papers, and trying to stay a little organized! I'll leave you with this new picture of Boston - a laughing and fun guy.

Last night we ordered a pizza from the hotel for dinner in the room and were going to get the kids to bed at a good time. Hannah's birth Mom and son stopped by for a visit which the kids love. She brought us coconuts from their yard. Can't you see this excitement through a kids' eyes - bed time is looming, but then you hear a knock on the door and know that you get to play more and with a new friend! Although the surprise visits are not my first choice - Peter and I are very thankful for all the time we have had with our kids' birth families during this trip. Our papers are still in Hawaii as of this morning - so I hope the lawyer can contact someone there and get the papers moving toward Manila soon.

Today we plan to visit Boston's birth family, get some more supplies and maybe rent a car again for the weekend. Tomorrow is church and then a boat trip to an outer island with our lawyer and family. Signing off for now - Love, Lois for us 5