Beijing October 17, 2008

Wow! What a first day. We are doing very well and can feel all of the prayers on our behalf. Thank you all! We finally got to bed at about 11:00 pm local time (11:00 a.m. your time). We literally fell into bed. We woke up about 8:00 am feeling pretty good. We went to breakfast in the hotel, where we met up with our social worker. She's more than that really, she's our friend. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face. She's here working for Bethany right now. We love her!! Talk about celebrity, she's 6 feet tall and thin with light hair. We then went to an orientation meeting and got the scoop on our itinerary. There are 9 families in our group and all of them are great people. Three couples have no children and are adopting their first child. They are amazingly warm hearted and I can't help but get teary every 5 minutes. But you know me!

We laid down for a while and then our adventuresome friend said "let's go to the open air markets". So, we went. There were 4 of us ladies and the token man, Aron. Thank goodness he was with us. I'm not a chicken, but there are a lot of street vendors who ask if you would like to purchase. I must look like the sucker of the group because I had 900 of them approach me. Don't look them in the eyes or you're a goner. A couple of them even touched my arm to get my attention. I was a bit freaked out, but Aron was my protector. The market was incredible. My sis would have gone nuts!! Aron bartered for a jade ring and pendant for me for 100 yuan, which is about $15 US dollars. We also bought gifts for family back home. We only had a couple of hours to shop so we will try to sneak back tomorrow.

At 4:30 in the afternoon we went to see the Chinese acrobats. They are freakishly flexible. They did everything from juggling to riding 12 on a bicylce. It was really neat. No pictures allowed. Oh I forgot, we also went to the grocery store for fresh water earlier in the day. That was an adventure in and of itself. I had my camera around my neck and our wonderful Joy had to tell me to put it away. No pics in the grocery store in case competition sees them. There is NO personal space in China. If you leave room for a little body to sneak in they will. So squeeze tight. I could count the freckles on the man behind me he was so close. Anyway, our little group all managed to get what we needed, yes Mom we bought bottled water, don't worry! and Oreos too! Well, our little Joy just ordered Pizza Hut for us. Tomorrow we go to the Great Wall and Forbidden City. 5 days until we meet Aron J. Xuyuan Palmer!!

October 16, 2008

7:30 am Leave for Grand Rapids airport

8:30 am Say goodbye to crying Grandma and not crying kids. I wonder....hmm...was Grandma crying because she hated to see us go or because she has our 3 darlings for 16 days?

It was hard for me,too. We'll be home soon kids!! We'll miss you all!!!

9:30 Start your engines... AJ (Xu Yuan) here we come!!!

10:30 Leave Detroit airport for Tokyo. 13 hours and counting.

Oh sometime between 2:30 and 5:30 (time zones are confusing) we fly over Alaska. Wow!! it was amazing! Nothing but ice and snow! We thought of our pastor's ski drops, how he jumps out of perfectly good aircraft on 2 sticks where no man has gone before. Now we know he's a little nuts! Sorry PC.

The rest of the flight is a blur, we slept on and off, prayed a lot and had our knees bashed in from the passengers in front of us more than once.

We arrived in Tokyo at around 5:45 pm your time. I must say, I was looking good. Yikes!!

In Tokyo airport we were difinitely celebrities. We are tall, (well, I am hee hee) and have round eyes and we're chunky with light hair. Lots of staring. But, I must admit, people around the world are a lot like you and me. They are mostly friendly. Isn't it funny how we lump all people of one race into a stereotype. Aron loved the Japanese In Flight magazine. To read it you start at the back and work toward the front, there was an ad for shoes that said "living in simple luxuly". They sometimes mix up their "l's and r's". He laughed and laughed. Maybe he was just punky with no sleep. We stepped off of the plane in Tokyo (403 passengers) and walked briskly to our connection and immediately got in line. We were proud of ourselves. The connection was torture for me. We just got off a 13 hour flight and had a 4 hour flight from Tokyo to Beijing.

9:30 pm (a.m. your time) Arrive in Beijing. We find our beautiful guide named Joy! She is worth her weight in gold. She is a little tiny Chinese girl who speaks perfect English, Thank goodness!! Off to the hotel. The ride is, let me say, SCARY!!!!! My mother would have been crying. The adventure begins!!!

Wednesday October 15,2008

Well, I'm up before 5:00 am. We leave tomorrow for China and I am full of nervous energy. I am packed, the laundry done, the bills paid, football uniforms washed...basically pretty much ready to go and guess what? Aron is not packed and snoozing like a buzz saw in the other room. You know that verse ... Don't worry about tomorrow because today has enough worries of it's own..kind of thing. That is Aron in a nutshell. He is the most laid back guy on the planet, thank goodness, because I can get let's say A LITTLE EXCITED at times!! He's a perfect match for me!

Our kids are a little anxious also. My 150 lb. 12 year old loves me! I mean he hugs me after football games in front of his buddies. He sits by me in church with his head on my shoulder. He told his friends that he couldn't go to camp because his mom wasn't there. I must say, it's fun being someone's favorite! Being gone 16 days will be hard on him.

Our almost 15 year old is extremely responsible, a typical first born, so I think he feels a lot of pressure to kind of make sure everything runs smoothly. He's wonderfully bright and good. I'm sure that we could put him in charge of the stock market and he'd run it beautifully. He'll be a wonderful help to me when we get AJ home!!

Danielle is our princess, and man does she know it! She's funny, outgoing, a take charge kind of chick. She is friendly and helpful and stubborn too. Her teacher said that if there is one of those emergency lock downs, my Danielle is in charge. She knows what to do and is very commanding. She reminds me a lot of my sister. My sis, Jen has laser focus and a get out of my way personality. If you want something done, she's your gal. She is infectious and funny and smart! She's a successful businesswoman. Now why can't our government be run by the average Joe, or Jane as it were, who has started with nothing and built a thriving business using their brain and gut? Beats me!

Well, I have to get my "Sleeping Beast, I mean, Beauty" up. Yesterday was his last day at work for 3 weeks. Now, maybe I can get him to pack and help with the grocery shopping and write thank you cards and take out the trash and feed the dogs and help get the kids ready for school and......

China or bust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October 11, 2008

Well, I got a lot done this week. I'm packed and the kid's medical stuff is in order for my parents. We are fininshing up painting Jacob and AJ's room. My genius husband, who really is a genius, decided that since Jacob loves ships and pirates he needed to have a compass rose painted on the ceiling. Well, move over Michaelangelo, about 20 hours later the ceiling is done, and it is gorgeous. I'll post pics soon. I did get a little irritated at "Michael" yesterday as I feel we need to get other things done. But, he is a perfectionist and would not stop until it was done. The ceiling fan is the needle in the middle of the compass and he even painted an arrow on one of the blades.... It's cool! Now, maybe I can get him to pack!!

5 days and counting!!!!

October 4, 2008

Wow, we were bamboozled! We were told that our niece's birthday party was at the church at 5:00 this evening, so we went. But.... guess what? It was really a surprise shower for us!! It was so wonderful. We really were surprised. There were about 40-50 people there and we felt so loved. My sister in laws planned it and they are truly my sisters. The food was great and my aunt made a beautiful cake. Thank you Thank you for all you did and do for us. We were blessed so much by you.


12 days and counting... I am pretty much a basket case. My 15 year old is reading this and he offered the term for me. Isn't he nice? I feel like I have so much to do to get ready to go, but ya know if the windows and floors don't sparkle, it's OK. AJ will love his new home anyway!!