The Great Wall and "China Town" Food

We had so much fun today touring Beijing! Sorry, I have no pics yet. I am able to post, but the posting page comes up different here than at home. I have tried to get it to work, but so far...nothing:( I got some great pictures of our day...maybe I'll get this worked out soon. I really want to be able to post pictures of Gotcha Day on Monday. We met our guide downstairs this morning at 9:00 a.m., got in the van and went to The Great Wall. What an amazing sight to see! It was beautiful, but very cold and windy!! We got a great workout climbing up and down!haha I never knew how steep some parts could be. After we did this we went inside a hotel down from where we entered The Great Wall. We were to met our guide in 30-45 min. Their was a little area where you could sit and drink hot chocolate. We all got some, and it was so good after being soooo cold!! We walked around a few shops, and then met up with Nicholas, our guide. He took us to a restaurant for...Chinese! It was good , but he called it "China Town" food saying it was more like American Chinese than authentic Chinese food. We have had fun getting to know him...he is really funny. After we ate we went to the Jade Factory. We saw women carving jade, and making beautiful art out of it. The Hutong Tour was next...loved it! We rode rickshaws through the streets and had alot of fun learning the history surrounding Beijing. It was very interesting. We were finished around 4:30, and headed back to the hotel. We all took a little nap. Todd ventured out a little later and found a Pizza Hut. Sam was so glad:) We ate and talked about the day then everyone was ready for bed! They are all asleep...while I'm up posting. I am extremely sleepy too, so I guess that's all for today. Hopefully I will be able to share pictures soon!

The Day That Never Ends!

We are finally in Beijing!! I thought we would never get here. I am so glad i can post too..hope this continues to work. We arrived at our hotel around 10:00pm on Thursday night. We were greeted at the airport by our guide, Nicholas. Everyone is in bed, but me(I need to be). We have had a very exhausting trip. We got up on Wednesday morning at 4:30am. We have been up for over 30 hours! If none of this makes any sense that's why!haha We are going sightseeing and have tours lined up tomorrow(Friday) with Nicholas. We had a delay with our flight today and thought we were going to miss our connecting flight from Seattle to Beijing, which was going to cause a HUGE mess, but thankfully we made it just in time! I think we had 10 min. to get to our gate!! They were literally waiting on us, and we were told this would never happen. If we were delayed we would miss the flight because international flights are not held up, or there is a fine once they arrive in China. Let me just say...tears of joy are flowing right now because of the sweet prayers sent up by friends and family. God got us where we needed to be at just the right time! Thanks to all who prayed us to Seattle:) Iam overcome with thanksgiving!My kids kept asking after we left Seattle...when is it ever going to get dark? It seems like we have been up a solid two days! I appreciate all your prayers,comments, and love! Maybe I can share pictures after our day out tomorrow! Good night:)

Need To Be Sleeping, But...

I can't!! I had to post one more time from home before we leave:) All the bags are packed and ready to go! We are so excited:) We are leaving our house at 5:45a.m. I don't know how much I'll sleep though. In less than one week we will have our daughter! We will meet her for the first time. I pray she has peace , and is accepting of us as her family. We feel so honored that God has chosen us as her forever family. Betsy turned five on Saturday. She will never have another birthday without a family. We celebrated with a cake and can't wait to celebrate many more with her!! Thank you all for your words of encouragement, calls, food, and travel goodies! Most of all we thank you for loving, suppoting , and praying for us throughout this journey. We are so blessed!!

Flight Plans:)

Yesterday Todd received an email with our flight itinerary! We will leave Huntsville International at 8:30am on Wednesday, March 23. From there we will fly to Atlanta. We have about a five hour layover...then on to Seattle! When we arrive in Seattle we will have about 30 minutes...yes I said 30...to get to the next terminal to depart for Beijing, China!! Our flight to Beijing will be about 12 hours. We will arrive there Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. We will be in Beijing Friday and Saturday. Our travel agent is working on hotels and getting us a guide while we are there. I can't believe this time is finally here! Please continue to pray as we get things taken care of here, and finalize all our travel plans.

Got TA...Going to Get Our Girl!!!

Can you believe it? Last night when I got home from church I had a message on my answering machine from our social worker Karla. She asked me to call her as soon as possible. I thought...she can't be about to tell me we have our TA...it's too soon. I called and that's exactly what she said!!! She also told me that they were trying to get our CA(consulate appointment) for April 6th(which happens to be Sam's, my oldest, 12th B'day!) She said if that didn't work out it would be the first of May before we could travel because of the trade fair that will be in Guangzhou. We prayed last night that all would work out according to God's plan. This morning around 10:00a.m. we got a call saying we had our CA for April 6th!!!! We are so excited...can't wait to go! Please pray for us as we have LOTS to do before we leave. Todd is working on travel...probably leaving this coming Tues. or Wed. We have to be in China March 27th. Gothcha Day is looking like March28th!!! That's all for now! Will post again when we know more:)

Waiting on TA!!!! Plus...Betsy Update!!

I found out today that our Article 5 was picked up last Thursday, March 10! I knew it had been two weeks on Thursday since our Article 5 had been dropped off, but never heard anything. I called our agency to see if by some chance they might have heard something over the weekend , and to my surprise I found out I was already into my wait for my TA without realizing it(haha)! Praising God for this wonderful news:) Our social worker told me we have about a 2-3 week wait now for TA. We are finally down to our last wait. I can't believe it! Last Friday I got updated measurements for Betsy. There really is a little person under that BIG coat;) She is about the size of my 31/2 year old. Those cheeks must weigh about two pounds each! I love her sweet smile...can't wait to see it in person:)

Betsy's "Kid" Shower:)

Thursday night some of my sweet friends from our church gave me a shower for Betsy. It was so much fun! Before I left for the party that night my children were talking about it and decided that since Betsy was not a baby the party should be called a "kid" shower (haha:). They are so funny! I got some great gifts, and really enjoyed every minute of it! Ellie and my mother were also at the shower. Ellie had the time of her life!! She said it was like having a birthday party for Betsy. The cake was decorated with a picture of China (in case you looked at the picture and couldn't figure it out;) and the pink heart is where Betsy is right now. Thanks to Laurie who hosted the "kid" shower, and to all who brought food and gifts! I am even more excited now to bring Betsy home:) What a blessing to have such caring, thoughtful friends!