Having a great time, wish you were here!

We did arrive safe and sound in Beijing on Wednesday and have been trying to access our blog with no luck. We are hearing that it is because Hilary is in town and they shut everything down while she's visiting......we'll see if it works when she heads for home. Until then, we are very grateful to have a friend posting for us - thanks Kami!

Beijing has been amazing! We are staying at the same hotel that we were in for our last trip here & it is beautiful and within walking distance of a lot of shopping and restaurants. We arrived to the hotel at around noon and relaxed for a bit in our rooms. We have connecting rooms, which is great for the kids....they're having fun going back and forth. Not so sure how well Ash & Aimee like it :).....the kids end up spending more time in their room then in ours. We realized pretty quick that we needed to keep moving otherwise we'd all fall asleep, so we hit the pool and then did some shopping and had dinner. We were out by about 7 and up at 2:30....that was fun. We're getting closer to China's schedule after last night, though.....out at 9 and up at 5. 

Yesterday was the Great Wall tour, lunch at a jade factory and a Hutong tour. The weather was in the 90's, but its not as humid as it has been our past two trips. Our guide says the heat is about a month early, as it should be in the 70's in early May. The heat made for a tough climb on the Great Wall, but we did it......we made it to the top, or the end of one section of the Badaling portion of the wall.

I think we took a different route than we did last time we did the tour, because we didn't remember the steep, really steep, uneven and often narrow steps we were met with on this route. It was crazy, beautiful and amazing to realize how long ago the wall was built. It wasn't very crowded when we arrived, so the trek up was nice, but as we were coming down, there were a lot more people and that made for some tight squeezes. The kids did so great....I can't believe their little legs made it the whole way. Some of the steps were so high that if they sat on them, their legs wouldn't reach the next step down. There was a little ice cream cart at about the halfway point (really? how did they get that up there?) so the kids got a treat on the way down. Oh, and one group of boys thought that Aimee was Lady Gaga :).

On the bus ride from the wall to the jade factory, the a/c broke & we were all about to melt, so walking into the air conditioned factory where we were served an amazing lunch was heavenly. After lunch, they gave us a tour and told us all about jade and how they carve these giant, yet intricate pieces that were on display. One was a ship that weighed 4,000 lbs.....it was so detailed and beautiful...and all one piece. It took 5 masters (as they call the carvers) 2 years to complete.

After the factory, we headed for the Hutong, which is an old village originally built by the Monguls (Mongolians) for the common people when they chose Beijing as the capitol. We all hopped in rickshaws (instead of them being pulled on foot as they did in the early days, they are pulled by bicycles) and it was fascinating, again, to wander through this little village and see how the middle class people of China live.

The homes are very small, but very expensive. We were welcomed into one home by a very hospitable family.....they served us tea and told us about their lives. The father and his two sons are KungFu masters and the father said his wife stays home and practices KungFu in the kitchen :) He had a wonderful sense of humor. He spoke so proudly of his sons, his eldest who now lives in Houston and teaches at a prominent KungFu school. Their home consisted of one very small kitchen, a dining area that was about 10x10, a sitting area (like our living rooms) that was about 10x20, a small bathroom (which they are fortunate to have, because they live close to the main road), and an upstairs sleeping are that we weren't able to see. Their home had been in their family for 150 years and we were told that if the government wanted to buy it, to get an idea of how much they would have to pay, one meter square would cost them $35,000US. Many of the homes in the village don't have a wash room, as they call it, so the government put in many community ones throughout. Makena & the girls got to experience their first "squattie potties".....Makena is not a fan :)

Traveling throughout the Hutong, it struck us how many of the people were just hanging outside, many playing games, many just sitting and talking. There was a common area, like a small park, that there were some playing their version of hackysack, and doing exercises. We thought, wow, if we all took the time to just sit outside and visit with our neighbors and family, we'd probably lead much less stressful lives! They live so simply, so un-extravagantly, and they are happy....it reminds us how much we could live without and how much we take for granted.

We were exhausted by the time our day was done, and we ended up having McDonalds for dinner....a Chinese cheeseburger tastes pretty much the same.

Today we have our orientation where we should get the coveted red folder that has updated information about Leah. After that, we tour the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square. We are traveling with 4 other families from across the US (FL, AL and TX), so it has been fun meeting and getting to know them. The kids have become fast friends with the kids of the other families. Tomorrow we fly out to Guangzhou and the next day we meet Leah!! We'll send more to post later today! Miss everyone back home!

The longest leg of our trip is over!!

We made it to Korea! We were all so glad to land.....it was a reallllly long flight this time. Lots of turbulence which made it hard to sleep. Great news is Josh did amazing.....no fear, just total excitement. He wasn't sure about the whole landing thing, but he was fascinated and looking out the window as much as possible. Kids didn't fall asleep until around 1:30am & Makena was so tired, she had night terrors. It was warm on the plane & hard for her to get comfortable, but after awhile she found a good position and was out. Airport here is really clean and there is hardly anyone here since its 6am. The kids are expending some pent-up energy by playing in the indoor playground they have here. Ralph, Ashley & Aimee have already found the Starbucks and, even though the meals on the plane were great, we're being tempted by some udon for breakfast. We board in another hour for the two-hour flight to Beijing....then hopefully we can all get some sleep! We'll post some pics later once we get to the hotel and get all hooked up :) And we wanted to say thank you, though thank you does not seem enough, for all of your prayers and support! We have truly felt God's peace and protection and we are so thankful and so blessed that Leah gets to come home to an amazing groups of family and friends :)

Packing, packing and repacking

I had forgotten how difficult packing for China is.  Our entire living room floor is strewn with clothes, toys, medicine, paperwork and more.  It's all going, we just have to figure out how to put 5 lbs. in a 10 lb. bag.  No problem!  We are allowed one check in for the in-country flight that has a weight restriction of 44 lbs.  The last few trips, we've made it just under.  This time around, I'm feeling packing challenged.....I want to pack everything but the kitchen sink for the kids, especially for Leah.  Thankfully, Ralph is all packed, bag sitting by the front door ready to go.  So we're 1/5th of the way there.....

Our little man is bouncing off the walls with excitement, which is awesome considering that just a few months ago, he wanted nothing to do with getting on a plane and going to China.  His fear has given way to pure joy and we are so happy.  We know its from lots of prayer and talking about how much fun the plane ride is.  I think what pushed him over the top was telling him that the flight attendants would bring him soda.  And he is over the top excited about pulling around his little angry birds suitcase.  Meticulous Makena is making sure that everything is just so and she keeps checking with me to make sure we are taking what we need, especially for Leah.  They are going to be amazing with their mei mei (little sister in Mandarin)

A friend's kids were asking about our trip and she suggested we post some info in case anyone else was curious.  Our flights going and coming back have a layover in Seoul, Korea.  We took the same flights when bringing Josh home & it is a really cool airport, with little indoor playgrounds for the kids to play in.  Our flights are 15 hours going (13 from here to Korea, 2 from Korea to Beijing) and 14.5 coming back (3.5 from Guangzhou to Korea, 11 from Korea, home).  The time difference is 15 hours ahead.....an easy way to figure it out is to take NY time and in China it is the same time, just the opposite (pm vs am & vice versa).  Its always a little confusing when making travel arrangements and trying to make sure we get there the day/time we need to get there.  And I still think its cool that we arrive home a mere 3.5 hours after leaving China!

In addition to all of the "stuff" we are taking, we are also carrying precious cargo to take to the orphanage......photos of children previously adopted from where Leah is.  Contrary to what some might think, the orphanage staff love these children and, while they are happy to see them united with their adoptive families, they miss them and want to know how they are doing.  It has been amazing to see the photos and the beautiful glowing smiles on what was once an expressionless face.  We are also taking photos from a family to a little girl who waits for them.  Hopefully they will be traveling in August, but until then, she will have the gift of seeing photos of her forever family.  Rest assured families, these precious gifts will be carried and presented to the staff with love.

Well, back to packing.  We'll check back in before we leave.  Have an amazing day!

And Leah makes three.....

By God's grace and for His glory, here we grow again! We're packing for China and in a little over a week will get to kiss this beautiful face. Can't wait to hold her tight and tell her how much we love her. We have all of our normal pre-trip jitters - me about flying, Ralph about making sure all of our electronic devices will work properly.....the kids are rollin' with it all, just looking forward to meeting their sister. Well, Josh is also a little concerned that they might not have hot dogs in China. We're headed straight for something amazing.....our adoption of little Leah Hope. Despite having been through this twice before, we're still in awe of God's amazing ways. We have been blessed beyond measure and can't believe we are standing here, on the brink of our third (and for those of you who might be wondering, last) adoption journey. We continue to pray that Leah's transition to our family will not be too difficult. It will be a big adjustment for all of us, but this precious little girl, our daughter, is about to have her entire life turned upside-down. Sometimes, in our excitement that she is joining our family, it is hard to remember what that means for her. It is going to be a completely new world....new sights, new smells, a new language, new foods. And while many will say, and we agree, it is a better world for her, it is different. And different is scary for a 3-year-old. She didn't choose this life. Unfortunately, she is joining our family as a result of someone's else's choice. Poor choice or wise, it left little Shun Mu Yi (her Chinese name) without a family to love her, hug and kiss her, teach her right from wrong and show her all of the wonderful things this world has to offer. And this is where we feel honored that our desire for another child was met with her need for us. If you're checking out our blog, thank you :) We are humbled to have others care enough to share in our journey. We'll try to post daily and include lots of photos!

Safari on Wheels

One of the outings was a trip to the Zoo. The zoo has a driving and walking section. We did both in about 3 hours. It was very crowded because of the holiday. The driving part reflected the driving in China, accepted chaos.