Beijing Day 1-Our Group

We ate lunch at a restaurant near Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was pretty good food, TONS of it! and we all left stuffed to go walk around Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City in the heat. I go really sick and had to get a Popsicle to cool me down. I really did feel sick, and pushed myself a little too hard, but it was good.

We have 15 families in our travel group, 9 of them heading to Henan Province with us on Sunday. Each is adopting a child with Special Needs....though their special needs are very different from ours. We have a lady adopting with cleft lip/palate, another with albinism, mela??? (lump on the back othat has been removed), and many others. One lady is here after waiting for 5 years for her little girl in the traditional program. Most of the kids are 18-24 months. I'm trying to get to know them all, but I haven't met them all. Pretty incredible families. It has been fun to get to know them. We all can't wait to meet our little ones!

Beijing Day 1-Silk Factory

One of the required stops in Beijing is the Silk Factory. It is a large industry that makes silk (of course). We were able to learn about the process and then help pull the silk. They have the coolest comforters, sheets, and clothes. We walked out with 3 outfits and 2 ties. The outfits are for Ryann, Lizzie and Nathan, per their request. I felt better about the price after seeing them for 3 times more in a local gift shop. You'll see photo's of them later as I take pictures of Lizzie modeling (if she'll let me). My mom bought some scarves, and my dad picked up some ties as well.

Jake checked out the custom made suits, but our tour guide was in a hurry, so we passed this time and will check in our next city. $350 for a custom silk suit....not bad!

Beijing Day 1-Hutong

We began our tours by visiting the Hutong Area, a collection of very old homes along the river, by taking a famous rickshaw ride. Our driver volunteered to take the "big guy" and we made sure he was tipped well. We were hackled along the way to purchase several items. Thought they asked us to ignore them, we couldn't help but buy a couple of fans. The proved worth-while in the very hot sun.

We were able to see how some of the upper-class in China lived. Mr. Huo's home has been in his family for 5 generations. His mother-in-law, wife and son live in the home. He has a small art studio, she is a retired teacher and writes beautiful calligraphy. The wife works for a major Beijing art business.

In the center court of the home, you found cucumbers growing, pigeons, and beautiful flowers. The rooms were tiny, some of them being re-done. It was neat to see their humble homes....yet this was a home much larger (though very tiny) than most enjoy.

My favorite part-they had 2 caged cats, and a cat box in the kitchen that was "made-in-China" that looked very similar to mine. Actually, the artwork was our favorite.

Beijing Day 1-Favorite Translated Signs

We had to enjoy the Chinese to English translated signs. It gave us something to take our minds off the heat:)

Gotta Love It!

First Class Flight

Jake & I-We are on our way to Beijing!

My Parents, Dave & ReNae-they had a great flight,
my dad slept better than I did.

Our first experience on First Class on a 12 hour flight was quite nice. I slept like a baby in my recliner, brushing my teeth and wearing socks provided, eating great meals (which I couldn't finish), and arriving refreshed.

Jake, however, arrived very motion sick, took off the plain as soon as we landed (my dad helped me with the luggage), and was told not to let the Chinese Immigration officials know, or they may detain him. So, after moving around for a minute, stopping in at the restroom (I saw the hole-in-the-ground toilets and thought....oh yea, we're in China), we made it through immigrations and to the Jianguo Hotel.

After a great night's sleep, we were all doing fine, but everyone keeps talking about their smooth flights. Ours was rough, two of the 15 families here were on it and agreed. I was sleeping!

Stopping in Seattle

We are sitting in Seattle, Washington, looking at Mt. Reinier and playing games with my mom and dad. We have about one hour to wait until we board, heading toward Beijing!!! Only 5 more days (4, really) until we get Lizzie. It feels so good to be going.

We had an exciting morning dropping the kids off, one of them starting a fire in our garage (luckily, we caught it before it was too large), forgot the "Pillow Pets" to bring my little monkey comfort (an emergency stop to Wal-mart to stop the tears), dropping the car off for repairs, and Athlete over to his friends before heading to the airport. It was good to stay busy.

I left my cell phone with Princess and Monkey, and we've received continuous texts. I finally had to tell them that I missed them, too, and that on the plane we cannot text, so we'd text them in the morning before we go to bed (10 pm in Beijing) to let them know we are safe. I'm wondering if it was such a good idea. But, at least they feel connected.

Bags are Packed

2 days and counting. The house is clean (I'm sure it will need a pick-up Wednesday morning), Lizzie's quilt for her bed is just about done (THANK YOU GRANDMA)-I just need to finish the flowers, and the kids and I are packed (except for the few things we use every day). I have a little laundry to do tomorrow so we don't leave any dirty clothes, and I'm waiting to see how much room we have to bring clothes to the orphanage. Today is a celebration of Independence, a day of play! We wish Lizzie could be with us, but we know she will be so soon. I am so excited!!!!