Back for more Beijing and Bye Beijing

Day three in Beijing.  Have I mentioned how much I like it here?  And I know I haven't even scratched the surface of it.  We had a leisurely morning and then set out for Tiananmen Square.  It was bigger than I had imagined and even more crowded.  Just like the thousands of Americans who come to visit the Capitol building, thousands of Chinese come each day to Tiananmen Square.  

This enormous, gigantic humongous flower/ fruit basket sort of stole the show as it was in the center of the Square.  But it's not always there- it's decoration for China's National Day which was last week and is recognized this entire month.  I'm so glad we got to see it.

There's Chairman Mao's picture way back there.

The monument behind us recognizes China's fallen heros (servicemen) and the large building behind that is The National Museum which our guide said is their history museum.  It serves as one side of the square.

The flowers were made up of individual pits of yellow mums and red poinsettias.

This is directly across from The National Museum and this is their Parliment building.  Pictures do not do justice to the scale of these buildings.  The size of Tiananmen Square is incredible.  We stood out as some (I didn't see any others but I'm sure there were) of the only Americans and again, the girls probably posed for 12-15 pictures with strangers.  They never ask for me and Brad....even we we offered. 

Afterwards we headed to a silk factory.  We learned about the life cycle of the silkworm - they grow from eggs to adults in just 25 days!

And we got to see some up close eat Mulberry leaves (their favorite).  Just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, they eat constantly for 25 days and then stop.  Then they create a cocoon of silk around their bodies and emerge as a moth that I turn mates and lays eggs.  The coccon is where we get the silk.

Then we saw how they harvest the silk by boiling the cocoon to soften it, delicately brushing it to get a thread of silk started and then allowing a machine to unravel the rest.

There are also double cocoons with two worms and more than twice the amount of silk.  They harvest this silk by hand and braise of its special weight, it's used for denser products like pillows and comforters.

Next we headed to The Temple of Heaven.  This gorgeous building and surrounding park was built in 1420 by the reigning emperor as a temple to worship the God of Heaven for plentiful harvest.

There is so much symbolism and meaning in every aspect of this building.  For instance, the building is round to represent Heaven but the wall around it is square to represent Earth (the belief at the time).  

The colors are exquisite!  My iPhone pics just don't do it justice. 

Blue is to represent Heaven and green for the Earth.  I love this design!

Red is for good luck and gold was reserved for the Emperor - no other house could have gold on it.

I have more pictures of the grounds surrounding the Temple but loading pictures is a chore here.  There were people dancin for exercise, children running and playing, and many older adults gathered in groups to play cards.  It was a beautiful park!

Baby this time we were so hungry!  And I didn't want to leave Beijing without trying its most famous dish- Peiking Duck.

We got a feast!!  A feast that included every part of the duck you can imagine. I can say I tried it all but I can't say I loved it all.  So glad we tried it!

Meanwhile, these two.  Only one tried anything duck related.  Brad and I are just so thankful they love fried rice- they've eaten it twice a day for here days now!!

While there is still so much to see here, we decided to come back to the hotel for some quality time as a family.  We said good-bye to our guide and new friend Jack and left him with a red Arkansas State shirt.  Which cracked me up since he had never heard of Arkansas.  (He knew more about America than I may ever know about China!)

We took the girls swimming and then spent dinner sharing our favorite parts of Beijing and how we are feeling about the next part of our trip.  For me, these last few days have been such a blessing.  Exactly what I had hoped for, we were able to rest, learn, and laugh together.  We made some wonderful memories and it's really felt like a vacation.  At the same time, it's not the reason we came to China so it's also been a bit surreal to go about these days so normally when I want to hurry them up to get to James.  Tomorrow, Sunday, we will fly to Chongqing and settle in to our hotel.  We will sleep one night and wake up to go meet James.  I can't wait!  And yet, I can't believe its really happening.  Overwhelmed with a flurry of thoughts and emotions, I am thankful to be this close to bein united with my son.

Beijing just keeps getting better

After 12 glorious and much needed hours of sleep, we woke up to another beautiful day in Beijing.  We met our guide at 8:30 and headed almost 2 hours North of Beijing to see the Great Wall of China!

The girls have really been amazing at keeping up and enjoying all that  we've done.  

Hard to tell from this funny picture but Ebug and I are riding a cable car/ ski lift up the mountain.  Again, it was very beautiful and and very peaceful as we rode up, up, up.

Stunning views!! Can you believe what a gorgeous day?!  Can you believe the wall is 6,000 kilometers long?

The girls may look like we told them we are going to walk the entire thing but really they just can't open their eyes from the shining sun.

How many little girls can say they have danced along the Great Wall?

So as fun as the ride up was...the ride done was so much better!!  We rode sleds down a very long aluminum slide!  It was so great!  Lillianna's first question at the bottom was, 'Can we do that again?'

We got back in the car and  rode down a very scenic but very curvy road.  (Read: girls turned green and needed to stop) October is my favorite month because it's such lovely weather and of course because of the stunning fall colors.  China's fall colors are just starting to come out and the red vines and yellow trees are gorgeous.  There were so many orchards along the way and then with the mountains behind them, it really did look a lot like parts of California.  Just beautiful.  

So then we headed to a jade carving gallery.  

We learned a little about this beautiful stone and how they carve it and then looked at all the amazing sculptures, jewelry, etc.  The girls each got a figurine

of their Chinese Zodiac sign- Lillianna is Year if the Rooster, Ellenie is year of the Rat, and James is year of year of the Rabbit.  

For lunch: Noodles of course. Sssssluuuuurrrrrp.

No wonder they get so much attention here.  Rascals.

Next we headed to the Hutong district of Beijing and took a tour by rickshaw.  We saw lovely, quaint, truly ancient neighborhoods and got to visit one family's home to see how they live. These neighborhoods are over 200 years ild and are known for their distinct architecture.  Each home is small (size of hotel room) and shares a long corridor with other homes.  My girls were amazed they had everything they owned and did everything in a room smaller than their bedroom at home.  

I still ant get over the amount of trees in Beijing.  Much more than in other larger cities in the US.  Tall Weeping willows line a lot of streets and there are sycamore looking trees planted all along the highways.  

So then...

We went to a China tea room and learned about their delicious tea.  

We couldn't decide which was the best - the ginseng, the rose or the fruit tea.

We learned so much - like how to properly hold your tea cup, depending on your gender.  And that you drink The Emperor's tea in three sips- One for happiness, good luck, and long life.

After a quick dinner (fried rice!) we surprised the girls with a trip to a show.

It was full of acrobatics, gymnasts, dancing, and motorcycles racing around that sphere.  It was beautiful, thrilling, and crazy- just like Beijing!

Whew!  Some day!  We are worn out but so thankful for such a wonderful day!  And even more thankful to be one day closer to James!!

Beautiful Beijing

Oh what a day!  I mean two...or one and a half...it feels like three and a half!  We are officially in China!  After three flights with a lay over in Seoul Korea, we are here.  We had an easy time through immigration and customs and were quickly greeted by our driver.  Beijing is much prettier than I imagined with so many trees!  It was a little smoggy this morning but cleared up into a gorgeous day!  After we checked in our hotel and showered, we met our guide, Jack, and began our Beijing tour.  No rest for the weary in this bunch!

First stop...Lunch

Jack took us to eat Chinese for lunch and we enjoyed every bit.  It was so much better than airplane or airport food.

Second  stop...Forbidden City

 

                        

(Many many people wanted their picture made with the girls- forget the amazing ancient architecture when you have precious Americans)

We loved it!  It was enormous, gorgeous, and incredible to think it was built nearly 600 years ago.  

Next stop...The Pearl Market

The girls got to 'go fishing' for a fresh water oyster and see how many were in there.  We all guessed but were all wrong - surprisingly there were about 20.  

After this we could barely see straight we were so tired.  The girls have been real troopers!  So it's 7 pm here and I'm typing this in the dark- we are all in bed!  Me! In bed! At 7pm!  But we've got another big day tomorrow- can't wait!

On our way!

Oh this day is finally here!!  

We said good bye to Boone and Belle...

Boone is furious and Belle is begging us to change our plans.

Girls, We are really going to China!!

To say they are excited is an understatement!

We are thankful, excited, and ready!

Let's do this!

First flight down, two more to go.  

Praying we get some sleep on this 14 hour flight.  We are enjoying every moment together.  Just so excited!!

GOING TO GET JAMES!!

We are packed.

We are ready.

We can't wait to go!

Our prayers were answered!

We received our Travel Approval on Friday, September 27th - 

the last day possible before China's big holiday!

So we have had 10 days to pray, plan, and pack for this WONDERFUL trip!

It's so hard to believe that after a year and a half,

after months of waiting,

days of praying,

hours of crying,

we will be smiling, laughing, and cuddling with our son.

We will be united with him on October 14.

We leave tomorrow!

 TOMORROW!

Please pray with us for safety, good health, good sleep, beautiful moments,

but most of all, for James.  Pray that his heart will be prepared for all the change he is about to endure.

Pray he will begin to trust us, to bond with us, to attach to us.

Pray that Brad and I will have the wisdom and patience to meet his needs.

Pray that the girls will have the stamina, joy, and patience for this trip.

Pray for love to abound in each of us.

Thank you sweet friends and our dear family for walking this journey with us

 - for all your love, support, and prayers.

We are so excited!

We are so close...

We are so very close to bringing James home.

Just one more step!

We are praying we would get our Travel Approval from the Chinese government this week, 

before their week long fall holiday. (please pray with us!)

Just a couple of days before we started our wait for TA, we got our final update on James.

We knew to expect one but we didn't know when we would get it

 or that it would be such wonderful news!

Since the day we were matched with James, we have not known if he could stand, walk or would be able to in the foreseeable future.

In the first picture we received he is

STANDING!

Standing holding on to a unstable bouncy ball!

To say we were over the moon excited and encouraged is an understatement.

It felt like the sweetest gift from the Lord to receive this at this point in our journey.

A reminder of all that God has done for us and all the beautiful plans He has for James.

Isn't he the cutest ever?!

We were so excited and encouraged by these pictures!

I cannot wait to kiss those angel lips!

It's been a long road.

This road has been bumpy but beautiful,

long but enriching,

touch but incredibly encouraging.

And the best part of this wonderful journey has been the excitement and glory of the destination.

So we keep our eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel 

and wait with patience and hope that we are near the end.

At the end of waiting, waiting, waiting to be with James

 and at the beginning of having him in our family.  Forever.

August 15

 Dear Lillianna,

Today you turn 8.  Oh me.  Eight.  Eight seems like the year of the official...dare I say it...big girl.

But you already are both my baby and my big girl.

You always have been.

Perfectly innocent and quite an old soul at the same time.

At eight years old...

You are curious, cautious, and deeply compassionate.

You love to learn and ask me fantastic questions about the ways of the world every day.

You have always observed the details of nature and amaze me with your ability to remember each detail.

You love animals very, very much right now.

There is no creature too small, too gross, or too strange 

for you to love, to feel sorry for, to want to learn about.

This still includes your jungle, your zoo, your large menagerie of stuffed animals as well.

Oh, how you love them.

You welcome each day with joy and wonder.

I am constantly inspired by your goodness

 and sometimes think, "How does she seem to have life all figured out?"

You desire to be kind, fair, generous, and loving.

You are respectful of rules and don't like being in trouble.

You are considerate of others feelings and try to make everyone feel good.

You are very, very playful.

Many people don't get to see this side of you, at least not right away.

You can still be very shy and love the comfort of home to truly be yourself.

You love to giggle and Ellenie is still the one who can make you laugh the hardest.

Well, Ellenie and the dogs.

Speaking of the dogs, you get in more trouble because of the dogs than anything else.

You love to play with Belle and together so you can make a LOT of mischief.

It drives me bananas but I really do love this silly side of you.

For several years you have mentioned wanting to play the harp.

What?  Did you say harp?  Harp?  Sure honey, the harp.

Those were pretty much the responses from me and your dad.

But this year, at a concert, you said it again and I listened.

We persisted together and found a teacher, a wonderful teacher to teach you harp.

It is such a perfect passion for you and your personality.

Different, special, feminine and beautiful.

I am so proud of you for knowing yourself.

Oh my dear lovie,

If ever there was a wonderful big sister, it is you.

You are extraordinarily patient with your sister.

And all you've ever wanted is for her to be happy.

Which means sometimes you give up what you really want to please her.

It always amazes me and breaks my heart at the same time.

I can't wait to see how incredible you are with your baby brother.

I can't believe you are eight today.

And yet, you are perfectly, wonderfully eight.

You are so perfectly, wonderfully YOU.

I am so proud of you and love you more than you could ever know.

ever.

love,

Mama

LOA

It came.  It really and truly finally came.

We got a call on a Friday that our Letter of Acceptance had been sent

 from China to our agency in Birmingham.

They called the following Tuesday to let us know it had arrived and would be over nighted to us.

We woke up on Wednesday and were SO EXCITED to receive the letter we had been waiting over 4 months for.  We waited and listened for the Fed Ex truck to come.  Near lunch time, we heard it coming down our street and Lillianna and I ran to the window.  Here came the truck towards our house and then...

right past our house.  oh my goodness.

I was not going to wait one. more. day. just because a driver accidentally missed our house.

I yelled," I'll be right back!" and ran out of the house in my flip flops.

Down our long driveway and into the road, I could still hear the rumbly motor of the truck but couldn't see it.

I kept running down our street and up a hill until I could see the truck across another street, in another neighborhood.  I ran like I was in a high school track meet.

He didn't have it!  But he said the next truck, the Express truck would.

Hooray!  We waited some more.

But the truck never came.

So I called, they tracked the package and found out our agency accidentally sent it to Tennessee!

To our old house in Tennessee!

It didn't end there.

The next day it didn't come either.

because Fed Ex accidentally sent it our street address in the wrong city and wrong state!

So finally, 4 days after we were supposed to have it, we did.

Oh me, the journey of this LOA is so representative of our whole adoption journey.

A little wild, a little crazy but all good in the end.

We are just so thankful, so excited, so relieved to be one BIG step closer to James!