Travel Journal - Day 10

Day 10 and looking forward to day 14! We are headed home in just three days.

Today was a quiet day for us. Mike and Kara went with the group to a Museum and a traditional Tea room. I stayed back with Meri and Lani. Meri is already much better but we wanted to give her a day of rest and she didn't need to be around all the other babies! We were so blessed by this decision! Meri and Lani played and played. Meri would blow bubbles and Lani would pop them. Then Lani got the bubble wand and put it up to Meri's mouth for her to blow. They played hide and seek in the closet. Meri growled at Elaine like a puppy and Lani growled back! Such joy in little things like that! They colored with crayons and then watched a video. Little Lani literally played herself to sleep. She fell asleep sitting up with a crayon in her hand! She napped for over two hours!

We had a church service with 3 other families in one of their rooms. It was great to sing and share together. One of the families, The Korsons, have a little boy that was Lani's roommate. We try to get them to play together every day. You can tell that Elaine recognizes him and he runs to her and hugs her and always wants to give her a toy! We have already arranged their marriage. haha

I saved the best news for last.... Elaine let Mike hold her today! Our guides took us to a traditional Japanese resturant. We sat on the floor and Lani let Mike put her in his lap and feed her. She sat there for about an hour. As soon as the last bite was over, she was off his lap and over to me. But hey, we will take every little step we get! Mike was so thrilled. He hardly ate anything but he said he didn't care. She ate so much! She ate veggies, noodles, steak and rice. Her little tummy is bloated and she has the hiccups. Now I hope she doesn't get a tummy ache. She is over the "I don't want to eat stage" and onto the "I don't know when to stop eating stage". We will have to monitor her a little better tomorrow. She kept reaching for animal crackers today and I let her have a lot. It's hard though to turn her down! She has never been able to sit and eat as much as she wants whenever she wants. But, I know it's not good for her. One day won't hurt.....

Tomorrow is the long anticipated shopping day! I hope everyone is healthy and we can go. I still have lots of things on my list to buy. We have to stay in our room until noon because our guides are taking our paperwork and Lani's passport/visa to the Consulate. We have to be available for any questions. It's nice that we don't have to go in person tomorrow. We will go on Tuesday for a group oath and then we head back to pack and we are out of here Wed. am.

Thanks for all your prayers. Please keep praying that little Lani will have more and more trust in us and she will know she is loved!

The Goff Gang