China, Day 1 - Rest, rest, rest

It is Saturday evening here. We've had a LONG day, waking up at 1:45 this morning, bright-eyed. Sarah Grace took a brief nap this morning and we all took one this afternoon. Waking her up after her afternoon nap proved very difficult since her body thought it was the middle of the night. We took her outside in the cold, cold air to try to invigorate her. She got a second wind and now we are hoping she will wind down soon and we will all sleep through the night!

Today was a low-key day. We spent most of the day at the hotel and did a bit of shopping. We went to Carre-Four (similar to Wal-Mart) twice today. Some of our interesting discoveries there were: Shrimp-flavored pretzels, Mexican Chicken Tomato Potato Chips and Chinese New Year socks for me.

China is gearing up for Chinese New Year in a couple weeks so the stores are all decorated with special holiday displays. Beijing is also gearing up for the 2008 Olympics so we see the Olympic mascots, The Friendlies, everywhere we go (http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214068254.shtml). They are very cute.

Sarah Grace is having a great time so far. We are so glad she is with us on this trip. Today, while I was playing a game with her, she said, "I love it that you're my Mommy." We are having so many precious moments with her.

Tomorrow, we'll start the day with church then go to the Great Wall of China. We hope to go to bed early so we can leave for the airport early Monday morning.

We are here

We are here. Exhausted but here. It's 2:30 am on Saturday and we are wide awake. Sarah Grace has already had her bath this morning and keeps asking when we can go to breakfast! The jet lag may last awhile! We got to our hotel yesterday evening, went out for a little while (but it was too cold to walk far) and came back and crashed. We went to bed way too early, knowing we would then wake up early but we were too tired to stay awake any longer. We slept about 4-5 hours in the night.

The flight was great. No delays or complications. Sarah Grace did a fabulous job on the plane. She slept about 4 hours. She played and read and played with her Aunt Karen for most of the flight. She's excited to be in China.

We haven't taken a single picture on our camera yet but when I do, I'll upload some pictures.

We're going to relax this morning after breakfast and then maybe join our group for sightseeing this afternoon.

God is good. We are just 2 days away from Caroline now!

Thank you for all of your prayers. We have had countless answers to prayer already!

We're packed and ready to go

We got everything into 2 suitcases, 2 backpacks
and 1 carry-on bag. Combine that with 1 preschooler and 1 toddler and let's hope we have enough hands to carry all of it!

We leave bright and early Thursday morning and will arrive in Beijing on Friday evening.

If you'd like to pray for us while we are gone, here are some requests that we have been bringing before God:

1) For safe travels with no delays

2) That we will have no anxiety about the trip but that we will trust God with every detail of it

3) That Caroline will know who we are when we meet and that she will bond with us quickly. Also, that we will know how to comfort her in this big transition for her

4) That Caroline & Sarah Grace will become fast friends

5) That we will enjoy ourselves and create memories to treasure

Our next post should be from China!