Hello all from a very raining Guangzhou! As our guide, Miko, informed us, last week was summer in Guangzhou but this week is now winter. So I guess that means it will be raining until we leave for Seattle.

Speaking of Seattle, we are one step closer to getting Priscilla's U.S. visa. For those of you following along at home, Priscilla has officially been part of our family since December 1. However, she is not yet a U.S. citizen even though both Jess and I are U.S. citizens. For that to happen, she needs to emigrate to the U.S. and to do that as a Chinese citizen she needs a visa.

This morning, we joined many other families and went to a travel medical center to get the appropriate medical papers done. The clinic was very busy so the entire thing took several hours. Priscilla did well except for the actual time with the doctors. Then she cried but mainly only because jess wasn't allowed to hold her.

Since she's under the age of two, she was allowed to skip the tuberculosis blood draw so that was nice.

Goofing around at the medical clinic. And just for the record, these smiles we're aimed at Daddy.

After we bussed back to the hotel, we all met upstairs in a conference room to work on our visa paperwork. The number of documents we are carrying around is amazing, and as an expat family, we are used to carrying around a lot of documents.

After the documentation packets were put together we split up, me to go out in the rain in search of lunch, an ATM, Starbucks mugs, and bottled water, and Jess to lay Priscilla down for a nap. We were successful on all accounts. By the way? The Starbucks next to our hotel is open 24 hours a day! I couldn't believe it!

We got hooked up with a local laundry guy (with good prices) so we sent out some things that are difficult to wash in a hotel room, like jeans. Washed, dried, folded and returned for $2 a pair. :)

Priscilla didn't sleep very long for her nap, so she was a little grumpy when she woke up. Nevertheless, she has definitely continued to open up and show more and more of her personality. At times she's super playful and chatty, and at others she reserved and quiet, but in general, she spends more time each day being open to us. I got so many smiles today I lost count. She still won't let me hold her (she screams like I'm stabbing her) which means Jess has to shoulder 100% of that load, but I'm hopeful that before we leave for Seattle she lets go of that mental hangup.

Before we left for dinner, we were finally able to FaceTime with the kids in Madrid! It was so great to see and talk to them. From the sound of things they are doing fantastic in Madrid with LuAnn and Truman. Since it was Saturday morning, Truman ("Big Truman") was making pancakes. Addi made sure to mention that they were big and fluffy and made with actual flour. Thanks babe.

They said they were excited to talk to us, but I'm not so sure. I think they are enjoying Grammi time!

For our impromptu family reunion, we sat the iPad on the floor so Priscilla could see everyone. She was super interested and gave lots of smiles. Henry stole most of the screen time and did his best to amuse her. He's a born entertainer. :)

And finally, the last little bit of news from today is that our house in Colorado closed on Friday so we are officially no longer homeowners. It was a strange feeling to sell it but we are excited to be done with that activity.

As usual, Uncle Doug was the man of the hour and signed all the documents for me and Jess at the closing, making the closing basically effortless. I'd like to say that Doug used his power of attorney to embezzle the millions in proceeds and jet-set to a mysterious island somewhere with a significant other. Unfortunately, with the amount of money we're talking about here, his bus ticket wouldn't have allowed him to outrun the police before he made it to the county line. So, in the end he's giving us the money and we're taking him out for a thank-you beer. I know, he needs to seriously re-think his hourly rate. :)

All our paperwork is in place for our consulate visit on Tuesday so that means tomorrow, we shop!

Dog in a baby carrier. Nothing more needs to be said.