DAY FOUR

Today was a marathon day. As I look at my pictures, I can't believe all the things that we did. Each one of them had significant meaning. Our first activity was to visit the neighborhood that our children lived in. It was interesting as Roselyn and Romeo both talked about things that happened when they lived there. As we walked into the neighborhood, people were looking at us. An oddity to be sure!! At first they didn't recognize the kids because they have grown and are thriving. But once they figured out who they were, they were very excited to see them. It was no big secret that we were the adoptive parents and really, they were all very happy. The longer we stayed, the bigger the crowd became. It was fun for Roselyn and Romeo to see some relatives and some old friends. We actually felt welcome as all of these people seemed very pleased to know that the Romano children had been adopted into a new family.

After lunch, we had a medical meeting, a meeting with the house parents and a meeting with the teachers. All of it was very helpful and interesting. At around 5 p.m., the CSC family gave us their traditional farewell. All the children and the staff sing "God will take care of you" then one of the house parents prays a prayer of blessing. Oh! We had to pack the kids up as well. It was also very interesting to see what things they chose to bring along. Let me just say that... it wasn't much.

After we got to the hotel, the work started. The first order of business was to go to the shopping mall. OH MY GOODNESS!! Imagine Allen in the boys swimwear and underwear department while I was upstairs helping Roselyn to try on swimsuits. I guess you could call it "power shopping" and we did a good bit of damage. It was crazy!! We then stopped at McDonalds for our first family dinner together (special!!) and headed back to the hotel. It was showers, story time and sleep. They talked and giggled for a long time after the lights went out and seemed to be doing pretty well...considering...

I (frankly) am exhausted, but feel pretty good about how this day went. I cannot imagine what must be going on in the minds of our kids, but they seem to be so trusting of us. It's kind of mind-boggling to think that in the room next to us are three sleeping children...who are ours!!! I am very proud of how they handled this day. It could not have been easy.

A quick explanation of these pictures...the one with the two Filipino adults and our kids is a picture of Tarex and Puriza, the house parents. These people are amazing and are so good with all of the children. We are indebted to them. There are two pics of us during the "farewell". The last one is of Rigo after his first shower in our hotel room. He's a busy one!!

Well, I am going to bed because no doubt someone will be up at 5:30 (their normal wake-up hour) wanting to go swimming. That seems like a good activity for Allen, don't you think??? So, that's all for today. This is hard, but I can't tell you how much your comments and prayers have meant to us. It means more than you can know! We'll let you know how the flight to Manila goes tomorrow. We'll be there for three days before we head home to Cambridge. Thanks for reading! GOOD NIGHT!!