The Forbidden City was...forbidden ;)

My mind is a bit all over the place right now. :)  Let me try to recap what we did yesterday and get us until today - ONE more sleep until we are with Meisi.. :) : ) :)

Yesterday morning we went to the Great Wall.  We met and toured with several other families with our agency.  They are all going together to a different province than where we are.  Some of these sweet families have waited 6-7 years for their children.  So excited to hear how things went today for them (in their province they have gotcha in their hotel on Sunday).

 

We then went to T Square.  The Mausoleum where Chairman Mao is was closed that day. It was also closed when Brian and I came here nearly 14 years ago.  Just not meant for us to see him I guess.  We walked from T Square to the Forbidden City.  This is one of the gates here:

 

We walked over to the Forbidden to find out it was still forbidden for us. :(  They had closed early that day due to the holiday.  Our guide felt terrible so we went to a tea room.  Ian was super excited because we had just been to a tea room the day before and he loved it....it is also warm inside. :) 

 

You guys...I also can't tell you how many pictures people took of our children, with our children, with our children and their children...  Aili and Ian have been amazing through it.  It truly brightens the Chinese children's days to get these pictures... so surreal.    Here is one of my favorites... I love how the little girl locked arms with Aili... precious!  So, if your kids are blond and they are coming with you... prep their little hearts...  It is like they are celebrities here in China.  We can't go anywhere without dozens of people taking pictures of them. 

 

This morning we had to leave the hotel at 5am so they made us a bag breakfast.  Also interesting - salad, ham and cheese sandwich, boiled egg and banana.  Something for everyone! 

 

We haven't seen much of the smog while here since everyone is on holiday (Chinese New Year), but yesterday they went back to work and this morning, the smog was thick.  Every flight was delayed. 

 

 Thankfully we were only delayed one hour and the ride was very comfortable.  I thought the announcement from the flight attendant was a bit funny when she said, "We are going through turbulence, hold tightly to your seat rests."  It really wasn't that bad! They served breakfast too - congee (kinda like a rice pudding the consistency of oatmeal) with a ham and cheese sandwich.  Not sure what it is about their bread - but it was yummy! 

 

Our hotel here in Anhui is very nice here (Holiday Inn).  They upgraded us to one suite and one standard room side by side but not connecting.   It is like having a bedroom and playroom - yay!  They are bringing us a crib in the morning.  :) 

 

Oh - we walked to KFC tonight.  Not exactly like home, but fun to eat in places like this while in other countries to see the difference.  Not sue we need to go back, but glad we tried it!  :)  



 

God has been so good to us throughout this trip.  Everything has gone so well.  We can feel your prayers and appreciate them so very much!  In just over 12 hours we will be getting our sweet daughter!  We absolutely cannot wait!  We've been trying to ready the room, get her gotcha bag ready, charge camera batteries... 

 

Please continue to pray that Meisi is doing ok in the orphanage, that she is well and warm.  Pray there is no problems for them to get to the Civil Affairs office tomorrow where we will have "Gotcha".  She is traveling a 2 hour drive.  We are supposed to have "gotcha" at 9:30a (I think this is 830 pm on Sunday eve for you).  Pray for immediate bonding and love (our God can do it)...pray that if that doesn't happen that He helps us through it.

 

CAN NOT WAIT to post pictures of tomorrow!!!  Can't believe this day is finally here!!!  Of course, after hearing about all the families who have waited 7 years... our 11 months was fast! 

 

We love you all and are so thankful for your prayers and support!!!  I can't express our gratitude.  Struggling expressing anything right now.  Still so so tired...sorry if my posts are not making sense!