First of all we want to say thank you to all of you who have been praying for Kellen and our family. We are happy to say that he is feeling much better today and that no one else has gotten sick. He's not quite back to his normal eating habits yet, but then again, that's not such a bad thing!
Saturday we had a jam packed day. We started off at TianAnMen Square/Forbidden City, which was packed. I think the weather was around the low 80's and it felt just right. I must say I prefer this touring weather compared to the Dec./Jan. cold we toured in last adoption. The boys quickly learned how to say "buyao" (a firm no,I don't want it) to the peddlers selling everything from Olympic t-shirts to Rolex watches (okay, fakes). It was wonderful to be there with our friend Liz Gividen, who was also in our travel group from before. She is back to adopt Luke this time, who, like Kaia did, has a cleft lip/palate. We also went to the Pearl Market and bought Jaelyn a necklace and earrings. We took a very quick tour of the Summer Palace. Much of it was under renovation, as is much of Beijing in preparation of the 2008 Olympics. By the time we got to the silk market, we were dead tired and just waited on some couches for the group to finish shopping. Kellen crashed when we got back, but the rest of us had an entertaining evening. Joshua and Mike toured the local Walmart. The fish for sale at this Walmart are not the type we buy at home for our pond! I stayed in my room and had an acupressure massage. What an experience! She was very strong for such a small girl. I'm not sure if I would do it again, but I couldn't pass up the price. She boosted my ego when she said "you a very beautiful woman," but quickly brought me back down to earth when she saw the veins on my legs and said "you bad circulation!" Sorry mom, but I blamed you:)
Liz, Toni, & Mao
beautiful architecture
dinner waitress
Sunday, May 14 --
This morning we all woke early again. It was a good sign that Kellen came in our room announcing he was hungry. Too bad it was 5 am and the breakfast buffet didn't open until 6. This is when we knew he was feeling better!
The busy day began with a church service at the Beijing International Church. This was the first time the service was given in both English and Mandarin, which was nice to be a part of. All the moms were asked to stand and be recognized for Mother's Day. Being we all get our children tomorrow, there wasn't a dry eye amongst us.
After a quick stop at the Jade Market, we hit the wall. Yes, every present member of the Crebbin Family made it to the top. I'm not sure anyone wanted to sit by us on the bus after we were done, but you can't come half way around the world and not do it! We felt like stars at the top when a group of Chinese girls were giggling and asking us to be in their pictures. Then the hard part; coming down when your legs feel like jello. We should all sleep well tonight.
Mike and the boys went to the acrobat show tonight. I stayed here to post and pack for our trip to Changchun tomorrow. We head to the airport at 6 am tomorrow. I can't believe that after 8 long months of viewing Jaelyn's picture on our refrigerator, we finally get to hold her in our arms. We received a wonderful surprise yesterday morning when we read our email and received updated pictures from our agency that they just received. Her hair has grown out a bit, but not much. She has rosy cheeks and still a little pout for a smile. We'll see if we can turn that around this week.
