Meet Us in St. Louis

Our last stop on the Midwest road trip was St. Louis, where JieJie got to see the arch, jump with her friends on their trampoline, play with George and Toto the dogs, go to a children's museum called The Magic House, go swimming and get a crash course in anime. She also baked heart-shaped cookies, made a giant strawberry pop tart and got her first Ted Drewe's concrete. Pretty good for less than 48 hours, and the sugar consumption surely set a record.

Our referral documents were sent to our friends' house in St. Louis, but we did not get to photograph the Fedex man, who dropped the package, rang the bell and sprinted. We sent back the documents posthaste to ensure our best chance of travel to China soonest -- before the big Guangzhou trade fair.

It's a good thing we were with Jane, who is a first-class mom to anyone who needs mothering -- and much more besides. She was there to take charge, escort me to the local copy shop, help me copy, count, collate and fax the documents, find credit cards I left in machines, then prepare the precious acceptance package for shipping back to the agency. So many friends have stood beside us through our two adoptions, and all of them are aunts and uncles and cousins to JieJie and now to MeiMei. There is a supportive, loving circle of children and grownups surrounding our girls, and if I teach them nothing else it will be that enduring friendships are matchless treasures.