Beijing, Day 2

Our second day in Beijing was full of sightseeing around the city. Our first stop was Tianaman Square. It is a huge open area where many people, both Chinese and foreign people, come to visit.

Tianaman Square with our Beijing guide, Tom.

After we spent time at the Square we crossed the street and visited the Forbidden City. Our first impression was the sheer size of it- it's huge! There are many courtyards that are the size of the several football fields surrounded by beautiful buildings that are centuries old. The architecture and detail is stunning. One of our favorite parts was an inner garden that had unique rocks surrounded by cedar trees and fish ponds. Our visit to the Forbidden City was a highlight of the day!

 This one is for you, Aidan! Do you see the basketball net behind the soldiers??

After we visited the Forbidden City we took a rickshaw ride to a Hutong, which is a traditional Chinese village in the heart of Beijing. They are characterized by inner garden courtyards surrounded by 4 main rooms (parent's room to the north, girls rooms to the west, boys to the east, servants to the south). There are many of these home connected by narrow alleys. In one of the homes we were introduced to the daughter of a local artist who does intricate paper cutting. His work was beautiful. At the next Hutong we visited we were served a delicious lunch by the family who lives there.

Our rickshaw guide tore through the narrow streets, narrowly

 missing the people and other rickshaws that were on the street. 

It was crazy!!!!

 This is the inner courtyard of a Hutong home.

 The alley way that connects the homes.

Everybody uses bicycles for transportation- they are either in use or lined up everywhere!

This is the tiny kitchen in the Hutong. 

Despite it's size (approx 5x8), these ladies turned out an amazing meal!

Lunch at Hutong

Our next stop was a Tea House where we were served 6 different teas.

 They were all unique and delicious- even John joined in!

Leaving the tea house through the beads!

Tomorrow we leave Beijing for Jinan! Maeve, here we come! We feel much anticipation and nervouse jitters as we prepare to meet our little girl. This has been such a long process and it's difficult to comprehend that the day is finally here. We are ready and grateful.

The Great Wall of China

Wow! All we can say is Wow! We can hardly believe that we were climbing on the Great Wall of China today- it was AMAZING!!!! It rained the entire time we were on the wall, but we were not about to let that stop us from enjoying the moment. We climbed as high as we were allowed to go- took us about 1 hour. Our legs were shaky all the way down! It was really an amazing experience!

 For you, Jevon :)

 Tristan and I are climbing up one of the lookout towers.

 These are little locks that people can buy as a symbol of their love.

There were many of them hanging on the section of the wall where we climbed.

 Awesome!!

 Priceless experience for the three of us!

Ella, you would have rocked this wall and left the rest of us in the dust :)

Miss you so much, sweetie.

Wet and tired after the climb!

The olympic village was also awesome! We walked around the Bird's Nest and saw the torch!

We Made It to Beijing!

We made it! The trip went smoothly and we are in Beijing! Here are a few pics from yesterday. Today we are off to the Great Wall and the Bird's Nest! We still can't believe we're really here! Thanks for all your prayers and support. Please keep us in your prayers. We will update after our outings today.

 The start of the 13 hours!

Yum.

 After we landed we took a bus to our hotel in the city center.

 Our hotel is off this main street.

 Street near our hotel with vendors

 Our Hotel (and special pic for Jeremy!)

We're Off

Wow, the time has finally come! We are leaving this Wednesday to get Maeve! Please pray for safety as we travel and for little Maeve as her world is about to be turned upside down- also pray for Ella and Aidan, as we will be apart from them for 2 weeks. We are going to miss them more than I can express. And prayers for our parents who will be watching them for while we're gone! We are so thankful they are able to be with our kids!

Here's our itinerary:

July 24th- leave Chicago
July 25th- arrive Beijing, spend three days in Beijing (Great wall of China, Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and other sights!)
July 28th- leave Beijing and take bullet train to Jinan
July 29th- Gotcha Day- the day we meet Maeve! Spend time in her province and visit her orphanage and lots of paperwork!
Aug 1st- Tristan's Birthday! and flight to Guangzhou
August 2nd-6th- Medical appointment for Maeve, Visa paperwork, and some sightseeing in Guangzhou
Aug 7th- Drive to HongKong, spend the night and fly home!
Aug 8th- arrive home!!!!! A family of six!

We started our adoption journey in '06 and have been blown away by God's faithfulness and love as we have muddled through millions of form and moments when we wondered if this would ever happen. We are thankful to our family and friends who have supported us and encouraged us throughout this process and we can't wait to one day (soon!) introduce you to our new little girl!

We will be posting pics on the blog when we're in China!

Maeve Update!

Yay!!! We we surprised today with some new photos, a video, and updated information! She is healthy and happy and we CAN'T WAIT to get her! We leave in three weeks- Maeve, here we come! Please pray for us as we leave Chicago on the 24th and return on Aug 8th. 

Maeve

We've decided on a name.... Maeve LongBing Contant! Maeve is an old Irish name which means "the cause of great joy," which she already is to our family! We are not totally sure what LongBing means, but Hazel thinks it has something to do with ice, which doesn't surprise me because I think Maeve has  ice blue eyes! We picked Maeve not only for the meaning, but because it can be shortened to Mei-Mei, which means "little sister." We can't wait to get her home!! The time seems to be dragging on, but we are trusting in God's timing and trying not to become consumed with things that are out of our control.

We have been so blessed to get some updated pictures of our little girl. A friend traveled a few weeks ago to adopt their little boy from the same orphanage. She was able to bring a package from us for Maeve and also take some pictures of her- what a treat, but boy does it make it even harder to wait.

This is one of the precious women who is caring for our daughter.

I cannot begin to explain how thankful I am for the love she is showing to Maeve.

My friend said the flash on her camera made Maeve's eyes water!

Look at this lovely group! 

We are moving forward with our paperwork, slowly, but surely. Please pray for continued health and protection for our little girl, pray for paperwork to be processed quickly, and pray for us to rest in God's timing in all areas of this waiting period.

Introducing.....

After a long seven year wait, we are thrilled to introduce you to our new daughter, Zhao LongBing! She is 13 months old and currently living in Jinan City, China! We are hoping to travel to China in June to bring her home!

Our adoption process has not been without its struggles, but through it all we have been cared for by a loving, faithful, and patient God, who is the Giver of amazing gifts. We wanted this adoption to move in our timing (foolish, us), but had it happened when we wanted it to, we would have missed out on this most precious little girl who is coming into our family at just the right time.

We are beyond thrilled and can't wait to get our hands on those adorable chubby cheeks.

God is good and we are humbled by His faithfulness and mercy to us.