Our Gift From Above

Hi Everyone,

We are safely n Beijing! The flights went well-13 hours was one long flight, but we are happy to be back on the ground. :-) We are currently staying in a Holiday Inn with 3 other couples that are also adopting and with our wonderful guide "Uncle Zhou".

Today we went to the Great Wall of China. We walked and climbed one side of the wall. It is truly amazing to see this in person! It took us about 1 1/2 hours to complete this portion. The climb was very steep with lots of steps - we made it though! :-) I'm sure we will be sore in the morning!

We also got to visit a place where they hand-make Jade. They create and carve out the different pieces of jewelry, dragons, etc. We also went to a place where they hand-make pottery/copper vases with such meticulous details. It was really neat to see.

The last place we visited was the Olympic Village where the 2008 Olympics were held. Uncle Zhou said it was all farm land just prior to China being awarded the bid for the Olympics. Once China won the bid, they began to build the village. It was outstanding and extremely busy there, just as if the Olympics were still going on!

Uncle Zhou took us to a very good Chinese restaurant for lunch today. It was yummy! We also tried a pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. Scott stopped eating it when he realized the sauce was ketchup!!!

In the group picture you will see the other families we are with. We are having an amazing time. Trying to take it all in, but really excited and anxious to get our little girl in our arms!! Tomorrow is more sight seeing and shopping. We are really exhausted and are trying to catch up on some sleep and adjust, but we are doing well!

We appreciate all of your prayers. Keep checking back for more updates..

Love everyone so much!

Scott & Melissa