We are in her province!

Today we waited in our hotel room, went out to eat, packed up, talked to our local contact then headed to the airport. While talking to our contact we were told "maybe you will get your daughter tomorrow (Sunday), not yet confirmed." So we thought to ourselves - we are in China and we need to be patient. We know for sure we will go home with her.....
We arrived in Nanchang around 8:45 pm and we were picked up by a women named Alicia. She brought us to our hotel and told us we will meet our daughter tomorrow. They always say "meet" as if we only get to see her, but actually we will get her! We were thrilled to hear that. She said maybe 4 or 4:30 - again the Chinese way, everything is a round about time frame. She said they will bring her to our room. Eden will travel from the city she has been living in (FengCheng) to where we are - about an hour drive. Then tomorrow we do some paperwork than Tuesday to Thursday sightseeing in this area, hopefully traveling back to FengCheng to see where she has been and possibly to see where she was found. Wish we could just do that tomorrow!
Anyway, then on Friday we go to Guangzhou where the US consulate is located to finish out the paperwork. Then on to the US on the 30th.

I so hope I can post pictures of Eden tomorrow - however this internet is so slow that we are not sure. Pray we can! It was fun to unpack a bit when we got to the hotel and to be able to get the baby stuff out. Our lives will never be the same after tomorrow!!! It's kind of like when labor first starts and you realize - wow I am really going to be having this baby! Will I be able to sleep tonight - probably not.

Oh - we could not get Facebook to load so if anyone wants to pass that on to our close friends n fam that they need to check our blog that would be great!

Signing off for now - check back tomorrow for hopefully some pictures of our little girl!

The Great Wall and Olympic Village

Today we went to the Great Wall and Olympic Village. Both were neat places. The wall is amazing - it seems to go forever and it is extremely steep in places, it goes straight up. At times we were climbing stairs and at other times just a brick walkway. For sure an incredible sight. It's been very overcast here so the pictures probably will not do it justice - or maybe it's the pollution. Probably a combination of both. Anyway, we all enjoyed today much more than yesterdays ventures.
On our way home from the Wall we were told we were not flying out until 6 pm to go to Eden's province. We knew then that we must not be meeting her until Sunday. I was pretty disappointed. However, Rob and I had talked about it that according to the schedule we were given, we were travel to the province and get her on Saturday. We both wondered if that could really be possible that we would travel and then go to get her in the same day. That just seems to efficient. So while I was disappointed I was really not surprised. Tonight we talked to the lady who is in charge of our itinerary while here and she said they needed one more day to get things ready before we could get Eden and that the first flight to her province was at 8 am. So who knows the real story - we are at the mercy of those planning things out here for us.
It's been a bit hard (maybe not hard just different) for me who likes to plan our own schedule and venture out on our own and not be able to. We go where they tell us to go and pay what they tell us to pay.
So tomorrow (Saturday) we will hang out at the hotel and maybe go to some markets until 4 pm.

The Forbidden City

Today we took a tour of the Forbidden City and the Summer palace along with Tianemen square. It was amazing learning more about China's history. We enjoyed seeing it but after awhile - to be honest it all started looking the same. There were a lot of Chinese tour groups all around us and some other foreign tour groups. The down side - we all were freezing! No one in our group brought the right clothing for such cold weather. Probably in the 40's overcast. I'm glad we were able to see all those sites though since we lived here it's nice to go to the heart of the country. We are really looking forward to seeing the Wall tomorrow. I know today was difficult for Abraham - as he was really tired and could not really see what was so great about all the sites. He did great though despite it all.

In the first picture we are right outside of the Forbidden City where a very large painting of Chairman Mao is. The Forbidden City is just the palace or place where the emperors from long ago lived. It was called Forbidden because the common people were not allowed in so it got this name.
You can tell by my face that I am wondering if our guide is using my camera correctly. Ha ha! The funny hat on Abraham is something we bought from a vendor before entering the city.

We Made it!

It took about 30 hours of travel but we finally made it to China. We have taken that trip numerous times but I think this itinerary was one of the longest. We had 5 hours in Chicago before even getting on our international flight. Then 3 hours in Japan then another 4 hours to Beijing. Phew!! So far Bejing looks much like Kunming. Rob went out this morning to jog and found a store to buy water. Seems like we picked up where we left off. It's good to be back - it's been fun using our Chinese. We met one family from Wisconsin who is also adopting - we should meet another family today. Tomorrow, we will visit the Great Wall and then onto Eden's province. I hope to post pictures of our touring in Beijing. Stayed tuned......

Heading to China!

So I have been really bad at updating my blog but while we are in China I am hoping we can use it. We are finally heading to China to get our little girl. She was born June 11, 2009. We will have her in our arms in just a few days!!! We leave Tuesday the 13th and return the 30th. Please check back for pictures of us in China.

Once again I am behind....

I tell you since Facebook I hardly post on my blog.  Sorry about that.  I guess I feel like with all the status updates and pictures I put on FB I don't need to blog.  But you get so many more details when you blog.

Abraham has been loving school.  He asks all the time - is it time for school yet?  We are thankful for that. He is learning to read and that is going well although he wants to be able to read chapter books now so that he can get some prize the teacher has been talking about.  It's hard for him to not be the best at everything he does.  He asked me today if I thought that sports was the gift that God gave him.  I had been telling him that some kids learn to read quickly and that is just how God made them, and that other kids learn to read at the same time as everyone else.

I have been playing in a fall softball league and last night we had our final 2 games.  We won our first game in the last inning.  We were down 7-11 - the games are limited to one hour so we only  had 10 minutes left when the other team was up to batt.  We got three quick outs and then just rallied - the other team was home so they had one more time at batt, again 3 quick outs and we won the game.  Then the 2nd game was the Championship game - we went on a hitting spree and just kept scoring and scoring every inning.  We ended up winning by mercying (not a word I know) the other team 17-7.  So we were the champions - it was a lot of fun.  We even got trophies which I have not received since school.  I gave mine to Abraham, he was very excited about it.  The only downside to our last game was I got hit in the leg playing short stop and have a huge bruise and my leg is all swollen.  Oh - well!  Here are some pics of me playing.

Here is my leg - it almost looks like a second knee.  I know I need to shave!

The first game I played left center

Long overdue

Sorry it's been awhile since posting.  Abraham has been in school about 3 weeks now and he is loving it.  It's so good to see him enjoying school and becoming more independent.  I can already see the impact school has had on him as far as his ability to venture out on his own a bit.  Although, we have seen some attitudes come home since school began.  But really - we have been dealing with Abraham's bad attitudes off and on since he was a baby.  He always wants things done perfect and when that does not happen he struggles to have a good attitude.  But the thing I have noticed the most and it seems to occur on Mondays, is he comes home and talks to me rather disrespectfully.  It usually takes a few swats and a time out or two for him to get back into line than he is his sweet self again!

We have really enjoyed getting to know the community we are in through his sports and school.  It makes me glad we have chosen to send him to the local school.  Also, the last few weeks we have attended a new church in our area and that too has been really good.  We want to be a part of this community we are in, so going to church in the area is a good way to get to know others as well.

We went camping with our friends over labor day.  We had a great time.  Our lot was at the edge of the campground property so the kids ended up having a lot of open space to play while the adults just sat around and talked.  We had a years worth of catching up to do.  We have decided to make it a yearly thing to do something with the Hill's.  Maybe not always camping, but something to keep in touch with them.  They were so much a part of our lives while living overseas we don't want to lose those relationships.  I will post some pictures of our trip..... enjoy!

While camping Abraham lost his front tooth.  He looks so different now - but still adorable!

Below: Abraham and Hudson