Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Jim, Vickie, Amber, Anagrace and Austin!
Please email us.......
March 9 - 11, 2006
March 9 --
Hello,
We are now in Beijing. We left our friend at the Guilin airport and flew up to Beijing where we met up with the rest of our FTIA travel group. Our flight was delayed for 2 hours, which was fine because we were going to have to wait on everyone in Beijing anyway. The hotel that we are staying in is wonderful and they actually have soft beds--yeah!! The temperatures are in the upper 50's and sunny. Just perfect weather for all of the walking that we will be doing.
There are 16 families in our travel group and there are 2 families who have already received their babies because they were in the local orphanage here in Beijing. So we've yet to meet them as they were busy doing paperwork while we were all flying into town.
There is lots of construction going on, as Beijing prepares for the 2008 summer Olympics. Our hotel is brand new, only opening last October. There are lots of hotels being built, in addition to upgrading their subway system from 2 lines to 13. This city is so different than what we've seen up to this point. Reminds me of NY City, only cleaner. The people don't seem to stare at us as much as they are use to seeing westerners more often. Also, the locals tend to speak more English.
Sorry this post is so short, just not much to report as we were in transit most of the day. Please continue to keep Anagrace and Austin in your prayers. We feel so blessed to have these children in our lives and there is not a day that goes by that we do not thank God for choosing us to be their parents.
Vickie
How long can I hold it?
Beijing - Outside hotel window
Travel group meeting for first time
Beijing - Outside hotel window
March 10 - 11 --
Happy Birthday Anagrace!!!! We love you and miss you!!!!
Our baby girl turns 2 years old today. Who would have ever thought that we'd be in China getting another baby on her 2nd birthday. God certainly has different plans from ours doesn't He?
Well today we visited The Great Wall. It was truly an amazing experience. The weather was cold and as we started to load up the bus to leave the snow was flying pretty hard. There were several groups of tourist there from southern China and they were so excited to see the snow. It was fun watching them dance around in it and hold our their tongues trying to catch the snow flakes.
We did our best climbing the wall, and Amber was ready and willing to go much further. But these old bones went as far as they could--which wasn't too far, ha!
The pictures of the wall do not do it justice. It is very much like The Grand Canyon, you have to see it to believe it and to truly grasp it's size. There were a few people in our group who actually made it to the top. Once up there they had staff who would engrave your name in a golden plaque and present it to you.
After the wall we went to another Chinese restaurant. The food was good, but we're starting to get a little tired of it now that we've been eating nothing but Chinese food for 7 days now. We may have to be making a KFC run real soon.
After lunch we headed to The Summer Palace. This is where the Emperor went to vacation in the summer, along with his family. It was really beautiful as it was surrounded by a huge lake. There were lots of streams and trees that covered the grounds and many walking paths. There were many shops that you could go through, but because it was so cold we decided to head back to the bus.
We're now back at the hotel, we've had our dinner and are packing our suitcases that need to be sat outside our door by 9:30 tonight. Tomorrow morning we leave for the airport bright and early to travel to Austin's home city, Nanjing. It's hard to believe that we are finally getting so close to holding him. There are two families in our travel group who have already rec'd their children. One is a 4 yr old girl and one is a 5 yr old boy. They are both doing really well with their adjustment and it seems like the orphanage did a great job preparing the children for their families arrival. We are all encouraged to send a photo album of our family, our house, etc. over to our children so that staff can start working with them on who we are and talk to them about the changes that are going to be taking place. I'm not so sure how much Austin is going to be able to grasp only being 2 1/2, but we're praying hard that he's not going to be too afraid of us.
There are not going to be any other families with us while we are in Nanjing for the 5 days. We'll be doing the necessary paperwork for the Chinese side of the adoption as well as doing some tours and sightseeing. We are scheduled to head back to the orphanage for a visit on Thur morning (Wed evening US time). We have a few children that we will be looking up who have families waiting on them back in the states. Please be praying that we'll be able to locate these children for their families.
Well I have got to keep moving so I can get our suitcases set out and this laptop loaded up.
Thanks you so much for all of your emails. They mean so much to us and are helping to make the trip better. Anagrace continues to do just great and has still not asked for us. My mom says that she is starting to get a little clingy, but is still sleeping well throughout the night and is having fun playing with her grandpa and being spoiled. Keep sending those prayers up for her, she needs everyone's support.
Continue to keep Austin in your prayers as well. He only has 2 more nights in the orphanage and then his little life will be changed forever, but for the better. Amber is getting so excited to play with her new little brother. She has always wanted a little brother and has waited for this day for a very long time.
