Good Morning from Beijing! Traveling to Zhengzou today!

Hello all! It is Sunday about 12noon here. I thought I would post one more time before we leave today for Zhengzou. We are all checked out of our hotel but we will be here until 2pm. Frank our Concierge has been very helpful since we have been here. He has helped us with all of the small things that make traveling in a foreign country sometimes difficult. He helped us have a late check out so we could rest and he arranged for a taxi to take us to the hotel in plenty of time to make our flight. We were able to sleep in this morning until about 9am. We were so tired after climbing the wall and walking around all day. We are just going to chill today. The whole reason we are here is going to require all of our energy for the next five days. Bill and I are both anxious and nervous to meet our group of kids and translators. We want to be vessels for God and help these kids have a great week full of love and laughter and let these precious children see the light of Christ in us. Here are some things I wanted to share with you. I wish all people in the USA would come over here and see for themselves what it is like to live in a place that is suffering ecologically. With the extreme industrialization of china, It has been extremely Hazy with pollution to the point where it is sometimes difficult to breathe when you exert yourself. I have barely seen the sun since we have been here. Even with all of the initiatives China is doing to reduce the pollution, like odd and even driving days, shutting down construction, factories and pollution causing industry, it has still been pretty bad. It seems worse to me than it was two years ago. Jackie said that most homes and businesses are heated with coal. It is the cheapest energy source for them at 150 USD per ton. It is also one of the dirtiest. China is also having a very hard time finding suitable safe drinking water. Bottled water is the only water you can drink here. I don't want to give the impression that I am complaining about it. I am just so very thankful for the clean safe water, clean air and blue skies of the USA. People have no idea how important it is to recycle and find cleaner alternate energy methods. I need to do a better job of it myself and will. China is looking to us for the answers when it comes to protecting the environment but they are way behind us in that area.I pray that they spend more of an effort to find a way to make things better and safer for their people instead of trying to become the economic giant that they are fast becoming. Jackie said that China is no longer "a sleeping Tiger" They are awake now and working with 100% capacity to be the best. Most Chinese work seven days a week in very long shifts without batting an eyelash. You do not see that work ethic in the USA. If the USA continues to send jobs overseas and do the things that our government is currently doing, rewarding the lazy through most welfare programe etc. we will be surpassed by China and that is a scary thought if they no longer need us. Be wary! Be very wary! I hope to see some more comments from you all. It gives us hope and boosts our morale to see your loving words. Thanks to my family for your continued support. Is anybody else following? Please jot me a note. I hope that you are reading and enjoing our mission expierence. I would love to hear from you. I love you all. I will try and make contact again once we get to our next destination. I hope we have an internet connection?
Here is a short clip of us driving in Beijing.
walking around the neighborhood near our hotel.

Ming Tombs, Great Wall, shopping and Jackie Chan!

Hey Everyone!It is about 8pm Saturday night and things are great. We are having a real nice time so far. Our second day started with a 6:00am wake up call this morning. We were able to go to sleep at 11:30pm last night and slept pretty good. Bill said a train came through the room last night but I must have slept through it??? Oh!!! I get it now! I guess that means I was snoring. I am so sorry Bill. I am glad he brought ear plugs. I will try to sleep on my belly tonight. He said that I did not keep him up all night. I sure hope not. We got up showered and went down stairs because we had booked a tour and the guide was picking us up at 7:30am. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It is called Salt & Pepper. It had a pretty wide variety of breakfast foods with a Chinese flare. We filled up because we had along day ahead of us. Jackie our guide from Destination Travel China picked us up at the hotel with his driver at 7:30am on the dot. Jackie is the American name he picked because he is a big fan of the Kung Fu movie star Jackie Chan. Chinese people that work with English speaking foreigners pick those names for easier communication. The Chinese names are usually too difficult for us to pronounce. We took a small bus from the hotel and made stops at two other hotels to pick up some other people. In our group was a young couple from Houston who live in Singapore but are on a vacation through southeast Asia, they are staying at our hotel as well. Another couple was a middle aged couple from England and a another couple from Japan all on vacation. It was a nice small group. During the drive I saw and got a picture of a Fire Station. It was the first one that I have seen in both visits here so far. I also took a picture of Hannah's dalmation. Look Hannah. He made it to China with me. I will take more pictures with him later in the week. We started the tour at the Ming Tombs. On the way Jackie our guide told us about himself. He is married with a young daughter and He lives in Zhengzhou which is pronounced Jung-Jo. It is the city we are flying to tomorrow afternoon, so that is pretty cool. He works in Beijing and he said he works seven days a week so I am not sure how often he is able to see his family. He is a real nice guy and his English was very good. It was nice to get info from him because we had been having a little bit of trouble communicating but everyone has been fabulous to us. He has been a guide for seven years and he says that he speaks more English than Chinese for his work. He said he even dreams in English. That was pretty funny. We asked him about why we could not get close to the Olympic venues. He said that the security is extremely tight and with eighteen Country leaders including President Bush coming to Beijing soon, the Chinese are very concerned about providing enough security for them. It is a bummer for the tourists but it is understandable. Jackie said his company just provided a tour to some American journalists and they were able to get close but that was the only one he knew of. The local Chinese are not allowed in either. After about a 45 minute ride we arrived at the Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs are the only Emperor Tombs in Beijing. There are 13 of the 16 Ming dynasty Emperors buried here. The Ming Dynasty 1368-1644AD was the last of five dynasties that spanned over 800 years. I hope you all wanted to know some background on that? We walked around and saw some real old buildings and relics and some funny worded signs for about an hour and a half or so. It was a very in depth Chinese history lesson. I wish I could recall more but it is allot of information. After the Ming tombs we went to the Jade factory. It was a different one than when Kim and I visited the last time but it was basically a lesson in manufacturing jade and qualities of jade. I did learn that the once beautiful lavender jade bracelet that I bought Kimmie the last time was color injected instead of naturally lavender. It also should not have been graded B it should have been C or lower. Oh well, Live and Learn I guess. After some unsuccessful shopping because I could not find a bracelet there for Kimmie we traveled to lunch and more shopping at the friendship store. The lunch was very Chinese served on a giant "lazy Susan" with family sized portions to share some different foods. It was pretty good though. I was able to buy some silk dresses for Hannah, Kailey and Janelle and some fans for Hannah. She wanted some real Chinese fans. I bought her a couple that I think she will like. Jackie told a very nice story about one of the fans just for you Hannah. I posted the video. It was a Chinese fairy tale. After shopping we went to the Great Wall. It was the Ba Da Ling portion of the Wall. It was a different section than the last time we were here. It was much steeper and longer. We climbed up about three towers or so. It was hot and pretty hazy but we had fun. They were setting up a big stage and sound and light system while we are there. I guess Jackie Chan will be there tonight for a program called Disciple of the Dragon. I think it will be a martial arts competition of some kind. It would have been cool to see him, but it was cool regardless. I am a big Jackie Chan fan myself. They had a ton of Olympic souvenirs at the gift shop here as well. I bought a few things for the girls and the boys at work too. They had some very nice Olympic themed gifts there. After a long day of site seeing we were driven back to the hotel. We had dinner at Salt & Pepper's. It was pretty good dinner but the desserts were awesome. The Chinese like their dessertd but how do they stay so thin??? UGGH! I was able to call Kim and Hannah for the first time. I was having a real hard time with the calling card I bought so the staff came to my room to help me make the call. It was real nice to talk to them and hear their voices. It doesn't feel right being in here with out Kimmie and the little angel that brought me here in the first place. Hannah you are a such a joy in my life and I can't wait to take you here some day so you can see the country where you were born. It is the place where God made us a forever family and we need to come back as a family again. Well,here we are now at 9:30. It has been a real long day. I will close now and post some pictures and video from today. I love you all. God Bless and Zai Jyen from Beijing..

Bill and I conquered 4 towers but the Wall beat us in the end!!!
Jackie telling Hannah about the story of the girl on the fan.

Mutton, Birds nest and sorry no English.

The Hotel is really nice. Very comfortable, a good wireless connection, and a very friendly staff. Once we got settled, we went to lobby and exchanged some money for Chinese Yuan. One US dollar gets you almost seven dollars Yuan. Bill and I headed out and had some dinner at a local recommended restaurant in town. We were probably the only Americans there. We had some Fried Rice with pork and duck, fried shrimp with the heads still on and a spicy Sichuan mutton which is lamb. We also had a couple of 7ups and Pepsi's. We were filled up. The food was pretty good and it only cost us 16.00 usd. Bill is not as adventurous as me when it comes to eating. LOL He seemed to enjoy the food though.We walked around the town and saw a three fish statue that remineded me of my tattoo. Pretty cool. Afterwards, we went back to hotel and took a taxi to the olympic venues. It was crowded with all kinds of people.Most were wearing nametags and olympic clothing, I am guessing that they were rehearsing for the ceremonies. We were only able to see the birds nest stadium from a distance. The whole place is fenced off with very tight security. There were many Chinese soldiers everywhere. It was a challenge to attempt to talk to them. They either didn't speak english or maybe refused too. The only thing I could understand was NO, Stop and Sorry. WE took a few pictures and went back to the hotel. I tried calling home but was unsuccessful. I will try again later. Today we are headed to the Ming tombs, Great Wall and some shopping. I will type more when we get back. Love you guys.

I Forgot to add rest of the pictures from our day yesterday. Enjoy!

We are in Beijing!!!!! It is 3:55pm

After arriving in Newark ahead of schedule, Bill and I had some time to spare. We both were able to call home and Bill even found a place for us to relax for our two hour layover, because all of the gates were very crowded. We went to the Continental Presidents club. It was a very swanky upper class club. We had to check in first but looking in they had snacks and drinks available, TV’s, nice leather couches, places to spread out and do little work, charge the laptop, enjoy a wireless internet connection and more. It was really a great place for us international adventurers. Bill went in and checked in first, gave the receptionist his ticket and was admitted in. When it was my turn, I handed her my ticket and she told me” I am sorry but the club is only reserved for first class passengers”. Well, I never!! LOL. Bill overheard this transpire and approached the counter again. She said to Bill, “ He is with you? Ok, you can accompany him on his ticket then, go ahead.” We were a little surprised but said thank you and made ourselves at home. As we were walking in, I asked Bill, “ Hey wait a minute. Are you holding out on me? Did you buy a first class ticket after all to leave me in the cattle car?” We both looked at each other and smiled. He is not sure what she saw on that ticket but it was the same as mine. That was some nice favor on our side. Thanks G!!! We had some fresh fruit, bagels, coffee, and juice and had a chance to do a little journaling and call home. Once we boarded the plane and found our seats we were so pleased to have the extra room with the bulkhead seating and an added bonus the seat between Bill and I was empty. Thanks again G, that was pretty ideal. The flight was slightly delayed so as we were waiting to taxi out, we talked to the people behind us. It turned out they were on their first journey to China to go and get there waiting daughter in Nanjing China. There little girl is 6 years old and her name is Gracie. I pray that these fine folks have a wonderful experience in China and have nothing but an easy peaceful transition into a complete family. I am reminded of a teapot we bought in Jiangxi that said in Chinese, “All will be smooth like flowing water.” That has been our prayer since day one and God has shown us his awesome grace and mercy with that little Princess of ours. I am already missing my two girls immensely. I want to share this experience with them but I am truly honored to be here with my Brother Bill. He is a genuinely kind and good man. I’m in good hands with him by my side. Sorry, I was getting off track a little there, back to the people behind us. They both already have grown biological children and have grandchildren as well. I think it is so awesome that they are doing this. There is a great need in this world and people from all walks of life are answering G’s calling. We talked with them about our adoptions, the camp we are going to work “Bring Me Hope” and gave them some tips and ideas for them for when they arrive in the different cities. We also got on the subject of websites and how fun it is to share our journeys with others and maybe inspire some to adopt that might not have. The wife said oh we have a website called http://www.weloveyougracie.com/ . Since Bill does websites he had to ask them, “Who does your website?” Bill has done hundreds of them including ours http://www.journeytohannah.com/ and is always looking for others to follow. She says, “ his name is Bill!” Are you kidding me right now? Bill does these folks website and G put them right behind us. What a small world that G has made for us that we would be placed in these peoples past. You just never know who you will meet. As we prepared to take off I just laughed inside and told G , “ You rock, thanks for being so cool! “…..As I am typing this on my laptop We are about to fly over the western edge of Greenland into the artic circle. We are traveling at about 33,000 feet with almost 9 hours and just under 5000 miles to travel. It is 4:45 am in Beijing right now and I have not yet slept. I am going for that right now. More from me will be posted later. …… We are just settling into hotel now. We are going to get cleaned up and do a little wandering around hotel. I will post pictures and more later. Everything went perfect getting here. Love you all.

Flight canceled.....What????

Our evening was winding down tonight after a hectic day of last minute arrangements. My parents had us over for a nice Italian meal and they got to watch Hannah swim in their pool. Every time she gets into the water it is like watching a world class Olympic swimmer, in my mind anyway. I can’t tell you how proud I am of her swimming. It was a real nice evening. My parents gave me some prayer cards earlier in the week to take on the trip and I will use them. Thanks again guys, I think I forgot to tell you that. I know this will be a blessed trip. I went to bed around 11pm on wed night. I was very tired. I was dead to the world as soon as I hit the pillow. We had set the alarm for 4:30am. At 1:30am Kim woke me up and said that our flights were canceled. What??? I did not even hear the phone ring. I logged on to the computer and sure enough they were gone. They rescheduled us to fly out the next day. I could not believe this. I started to panic a little because I had hotel reservations and another flight to take to the camp and started to think the worst. A whole day in China was going to be lost just like that. This couldn’t be happening. I called Continental and asked what our options were after being put on hold for 30 minutes they told me unless I wanted to travel out of Orlando there were none. I called Bill and we agreed to change to Orlando and take the 7:20am flight out of there and still make our connection to Beijing at 12:10pm. I found later that there were some bad T-storms that stranded our original plane in Newark so they were not able to get down to Tampa for our morning flight. Once we made our arrangement to go to Orlando and everything was on schedule our minds were at ease. Of course G is not going to let this mission be deterred. He is in control and this is part of his divine will. I kissed Hannah goodbye and she reached out and hugged me while half asleep and I kissed and hugged Kim goodbye. I think she was a little relieved that she did not have to drive at night. I am so used to it; I did not mind making the trip solo. I left for Orlando around 4:30 and made it in record time in just over an hour. There was no traffic at all at that time. The only thing is that Kim will have to make arrangements to pick up the car. She said she will go to OIA with her Brother tomorrow and get it. Anyway, I met Bill at the airport at around 6am. We checked in without a hitch and were able to still get our original bulkhead seats for the Beijing leg of the trip. I am so thankful for the extra room. The flight to Newark was nearly empty, but on time and in fact running ahead of schedule. I hope the Beijing flight leaves early as well. That would be good….Bill and I have both decided to go with the Indiana Jones rugged adventurer look for this trip. We have sworn off a razor for 10 days. Why shave when the wives are 10,000 miles away. LOL, I will have to shave if I want a kiss when I get home and even Hannah will say Daddy your face is too rough!! …I will try and post this in Newark. To be continued!!!.......ahhhh!