Happy Birthday to Davis!

Today our two year old son Davis turned three years old. 

From the time we sent our Letter of Intent in for him last November, our goal was that we would get him home before his birthday this July, so that he would not have to have another birthday as an orphan. While we have not yet made it home, today our sweet boy is no longer an orphan. And somehow it seems fitting that he celebrated his 3rd birthday in the country of his birth surrounded by his new family. 

Our day started off with breakfast, followed by an appointment at the US Consulate office in Guangzhou, where we submitted his Chinese passport and the rest of his visa application to come to the United States.

Then we spent the rest of the rainy morning with four other Lifeline families touring the Guangzhou Zoo in the heart of the city. Someone was very interested in the bears. 

Upon our return, Davis was presented with a beautiful (and delicious!) birthday cake compliments of The Garden Hotel. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him and enjoyed his cake together after lunch (the box was made of chocolate, filled with sponge cake, whipped cream and fruit). 

Tonight we continued the celebration by eating at the Shanxi Noodle House (with the Queen family that we toured with in Beijing). Our sweet boy certainly enjoyed his dinner - he downed two egg custards, a bowl of spicy noodles and several little glasses of a sweet hot tea. 

There were no presents today for our boy to open; instead we celebrated the gift of presence with one another. We are so very thankful to have been able to celebrate this milestone together, as a family, and look forward to many, many more birthday celebrations with Davis Warren Allen in the future.