Day 3

I informed you on our last post that we died to the world after Day 2 at 6 and 7pm and woke up in the wee hours.  We were very disappointed in ourselves for not pushing a little longer to try to get on a better China schedule but Day 3 was better.  Day 3 was our Beijing on foot day.  We got up and headed out to meet David and Kathie at their hotel which was about a fifteen minute walk from our hostel.  We trekked with them to the Forbidden City.  Our hostel highly recommended that we take the subway but not us.  Nope we walked it.  I'm glad we did.  We were able to walk down the equivalent of a Michigan Avenue of Beijing with lots of shopping places and we came across a beautiful park with a river and bamboo.

Shopping Center

A little side road off of the avenue.

This picture is interesting for multiple reasons.  First check out what this woman is wearing.  It is over 90 degrees and she is wearing a jumpsuit.  Also, check out the broom she is required to use.  I don't know how they sweep up anything with it but these are standard everywhere.

A pavilion in the park which must be a very common social gathering area because it was packed.

A beautiful downspout.

Real bamboo!

I love this picture because if you look at the trees, they have stuffed wood between the branches to keep them growing apart correctly.

I'm artsy so I enjoyed this.

The beginning of Tiananmen Square.  Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world.

There was no shortage of people and no shortage of umbrellas.  They are everywhere.  One thing the Asians don't like is getting sun.  They were long sleeves and use umbrellas to keep themselves from getting darker.  Ha!

And now a confession.  We never actually made it into the Forbidden City.  We walked as far as we could inside for free and then we stopped.  They charge admission after you go through a few of the first courtyards.  The heat was simply too intense to endure walking more with wall to wall people.  Plus, a great deal of this palace is under construction right now and off limits.  We don't feel bad for bailing because we saw what we really wanted to see.

Chinese military "boys" walking so nicely in a line into do guarding at the Forbidden City.  I say boys because these kids have to be straight out of school.

More Tiananmen Square.

Chinese military "boys" leaving their post in a single file line even all the way down the street.

More shopping avenue pictures.

The hostel courtyard.

Our bathroom at the hostel.  Shower, toilet and sink all together.  And the little blue trash cans is for the toilet paper.  Yep, you wipe and throw it in the trash since the plumbing is new and the building is old per the sign posted.

The view from our room.

Ever since I saw a picture of Jordy eating a fruit with black seeds, I've wanted to try it.  It is called Dragon fruit.

You peel back the outer soft layer and then cut and eat the fleshy part.  It has the consistency of kiwi but there isn't much flavor at all.  It's slightly sweet but barely.  Dustin enjoyed it much more than I did.

Day 4 is just beginning for us.  We are so proud of ourselves.  We stayed up until 8pm and woke up at 5 am.  We are getting closer to a normal schedule.  Last night, we walked back to the avenue and went to a mall and got Subway.  What a disappointment.  Exact same menu but the vegetables had no flavor at all. How can a green pepper or tomato or olive or onion have no flavor.  Don't know but it didn't.

Today, we get to take a fast train from Beijing to Zhengzhou.  We will post more on this later.

Day 2 Part 2

You all have had the opportunity to see our son which was the first part of our day.  The second part of our day was eating at an amazing restaurant and viewing the Great Wall.

This was such a beautiful fruit plate.  Hard to resist!

All of this wonderful food cost a whole whopping $22 and they don't do tips.  AMAZING but we sort of felt like we robbed them.

Ah yes, and the potties.  My second opportunity to use a squatty.  You have to hover over these and pray you don't fall or pee on yourself.  We westerners have it good.  Just sayin'.

And here we are about ready to "mount" the great wall.

Doesn't look too bad when you first start out.

Wish I knew what this said but I honestly don't have a clue.  It was in the side of the mountain next to the Great Wall.

Just in case you had any doubts, this proves Dustin is not Asian.  He's simply too tall.  Although, we did see lots of tall Asians on day three.

You can see two towers in this picture if you look very carefully.  You cannot reach them though because there is no wall currently connected to them.

Love the mountain view from the towers.

The map that tells us which towers we can go see and by what means we can transport ourselves.

The step sizes constantly change from barely a step to three steps in one.

The view really is breathtaking . . . or maybe that's just the freaking heat.

I could sit here and type about how wonderful we did climbing the Great Wall but it would be all lies.  It is stinkin' hot here.  When I say stinking, I mean we sweat like pigs and plain out stunk!  It was totally worth visiting but it kicked our butts.  We did two towers and my legs were visibly shaking.  Sad but true.

We were so exhausted from an emotional and physical day that Dustin fell asleep at 6pm and I went to bed at 7pm.  We both were bright eyed and bushy tailed at 1:30am.  Dustin managed to fall back asleep.  I made calls to family, did FaceTime with the kids and then attempted to rest.  We will get this time thing all figured out and then we will be back on a plane home.

Day 2 Part 1

There is so much to tell you but where to start?  Day 2 was packed full and happens to be one of the best days of my life ever!

We checked into our hostel Fly by Night after travelling for over 24 hours to get to Beijing.  By night, it didn't feel any different than any other large city but once we woke up and the light hit it.  Wow!  The hostel we are staying at is in a very very very old district in the center of BJ.  It's over 400 years old according to the signs posted.  Before I describe our surroundings first let me share with you what a Chinese couple living in Columbia City told me.  I asked them what advice they could share with me about travelling to China and they said two things.  China is dirty and it smells.  Now that I've share what they said to me, I feel comfortable telling you, the area we are in is very dirty and it smells.  However, I wouldn't trade where we are staying for the world.  This area is very real, very dirty, very poor, and heartbreaking to say the least.  Our standard of living back home is leaps and bounds better than here.  I'm so grateful for the life God has provided for me and my family.  We are blessed beyond measure.

Our hostel courtyard by dawn.

Our room.

Hutong the street we are staying off of.  Very tight squeeze and yet vehicles fly up and down.

Trash in the middle of the road . . . everywhere.

Front entrance to hostel

Our first order of business today was visiting the home that our son has been raised in since a baby.  The director of his home was more than welcoming.  The volunteers were welcoming.  It was an overwhelming experience that is hard to put into words.  Without holding back any longer, here are pictures from our hours at Angel Home.

Baba and his boy!  You can't tell as well in this pictures but there are definitely not dry eyes on this big guy.

The director and founder of Angel House, Eva.

There was no shortage of children to hug, hold, and love.  They knew we were mamas and babas and it was heartbreaking knowing that most of them do not have families yet.

The girl in the pink dress is being adopted by a family in the US as well and she is such a happy girl.

This lady has been one of Jordy's primary caretakers.  Meeting her was a very emotional experience.  She and I both cried tears of happiness and tears of mourning for the loss of their close relationship.  I'm crying just thinking about it and must move on.  She is a hero to me.

We have been blessed by God's timing to be able to spend this day at Angel House with another couple in Indiana that are also adopting from the same province.  David and Kathie have been wonderful company and we are thankful for our time here with them.  Plus they only live a few hours from us.

We sent Jordy a bear in March we he received in May and it was laying in his bed when toured his bedroom.

Our hero Eva!

David and Kathie with their little ray of sunshine.  David is holding another little boy who needs a family.  He was so very affectionate and craved all the attention we provided.

Another volunteer that has spent a great time with Jordy.  We were at Angel House so long, we were able to see them eating lunch.

This poor sickly little kitten was waiting for us when we entered Angel House.  David and Kathie's daughter couldn't resist it.  Not only does AH nurse children back to health but also this scrawny little kitten.  I see a bright future for this cat even if I'm not a big fan!

There is more from today but this all you really cared about anyways.  Consider this Part 1 Day 2!

Day 1

We started off at 4ish in the morning on Wednesday getting ready to depart for Ohare.  We are so thankful that our friend Tim Davis drove us all the way there, got us to our gate.  We checked in, and it was seamless.  Our flight left on time from Chicago and we spent over 13 hours in the air.  What do you do for 13 hours?  Well, we had books to read but we elected to watch movies.  Dustin was able to get in 5!  I watched 4 and a brief nap.  I was so tired of watching movies and having in earbuds!!  And oh my did they feed us.  They fed us like every two hours for those thirteen hours.  I'm ready to burst.  And boy was it hot.  We both sweat the whole flight.  Some people were actually using blankets.  Crazy people!!!!

We are in Korea now where we wait for our next flight to Beijing.  We should arrive around 8am Indiana time.  And then, we'll attempt to catch some sleep before waking up and heading out to meet our son for the first time.  This is not a normal thing.  In fact, it isn't really something that is allowed "technically."  However, the details have been worked out giving us the opportunity to see where our son has lived his last almost four years of his life and we are taking full advantage of it!  The director of his home is an amazing woman and we look forward to meeting her and all of Jordy's nannies and caretakers.  We will not actually get custody of Jordy until Monday with his adoption on Tuesday.

Here are some lame airport photos.  But they are more for our kids than anything.

There is nothing more amazing than lifting off in a big hunk of metal and floating through the clouds.  It shouldn't even be possible!

Keep praying us through.  We feel those prayers immensely.  We love and appreciate you all for the support you have and continue to give us.

How does one get ready for this?

This post is for my friend that just received her Seeking Confirmation letter!!! So excited for her.

I have trouble knowing how to react sometimes.  I've gone from crying to disbelief and everything in between.  I'm leaving in five days to travel with the love of my life to pick up our sweet number five from a distant land known as China.  Pinch me please!  I still can't believe it.  We have our bags packed but it just doesn't seem real.

So what has the last week looked like?  Well, we started off last Friday, July 26th with a broken washer.  A plastic mounting bracket broke off the bottom which allowed all the water in the tub to drain on to the floor.  Of course, because it is a Samsung, the only repair company that would work on it is located in Fort Wayne and they couldn't get to us until August 5th.  No problem!  We aren't leaving for China August 7th.  Well, my husband and I decided to do it ourselves.  We ordered the part, got the part, it was the wrong part, ordered the part again, installed the part and we now have a running washer as of yesterday, August 2nd.  Beat that repair people.  I'm only slightly proud of us for trying to fix it ourselves.  Cost?  Just under $30!

So, while we don't have a working washer for the last week my dog decides to pee on our bed Tuesday.  Why?  Haven't a clue.  Not like him to do it.  None the less, he did.  So, I make plans to head to the laundry mat on Wednesday with kids in tow to conquer all the laundry.  I figure we can make it fun with a card game or what not.  Wednesday morning, I wake up sick.  Do I have time to be sick? I didn't realize I did but my body decided to etch out a time slot for it. :(  What's worse than being sick?  Having no bedding because your dog just peed all over it and having no washer and throwing up.  Okay you didn't want to know that last part.  Sorry.  Well, we have this family of heroes that came to our rescue.  I cannot say enough about the Davis family.  They came over grabbed all of our laundry and took it to the laundry mat and gave it back to us folded nicely just hours later.  If you don't know the Davis family, you are truly missing out.  They are such a God given blessing!

What else?  Well, work for both Dustin and I.  This is my busy week where I work quite a bit.  So each morning, I carve out time to pack, make lists, check lists, pick up stuff at the store, etc.  By evening, I'm off to work.  Work has probably been a blessing because it keeps my mind focused on something else for a few hours.  And Dustin has been rocking out some excellent numbers at work keeping us financially secure while we are away.

Also, swim lessons.  Kids are excited that they just started swim lessons last Saturday.  We decided to switch them over to a sport that is more Jordy friendly for right now.  No complaints on their part.  They love it so far.

So, we are now four mornings away from leaving . . . pause for a moment to freak out . . . stomach still doing flip flops . . . should I run and make another list? . . . Okay, I'm good.  We have our paperwork ready and packed.  If we forget anything else, at least we have our paperwork.  Anything else, we can buy when we get there . . . if we remember to take the money. ;)

Thank you for the continued prayers.  While it seems to me that the devil is working overtime to put kinks in our hose right before we leave, we are leaving regardless!  And we are so happy to be fulfilling God's will for our lives.  By this time next week, we will have already met our son for the first time. :)  No more holidays without him, no more birthdays without us!