Busy in China!!

Hello, this is Tabitha, once again. I received another e-mail from Tracy tonight. She writes: Good morning from Beijing, China. Yesterday we visited Tienanmen Square. The presidential brigade went through while we were there! It was a
beautiful day despite the heavy smog covering. We toured the forbidden city for hours. We went to lunch at a traditional Chinese restaurant...we sampled many dishes: duck soup, steamed cauliflower, pork meatballs, sliced beef, sprouts, rice, etc. Jeremiah had a Chinese beer and I had a coca light - diet coke. We also toured the silk factory and watched how they spin the silk. I bought a watch from a "mosquito" street vendor for two dollars because we spent the first day not knowing what time it was because we are so used to our laptops and cell phones. We also experienced a rickshaw ride - very fun. We toured a traditional Chinese home...no bathroom! They have to use the public toilet that about 10 families share down the street. Some of the homes do have solar showers (I thought of my mom - she has a solar shower on her deck to shower off when you get out of the lake).

Today we will visit the great wall, the jade factory, the bird's nest and the
water cube (Olympic swimming). This is our last night in Beijing. Tomorrow we
will fly to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan. There are 35 Americans in our group! We will all travel together and they will bring the babies to use at the
registration office. I say "babies" but some families are adopting toddlers, like us, and older children. There are a mixture of boys and girls being adopted, all with special needs, some very mild and some more severe. Many of the families have been here before and are returning to adopt their second Chinese child.

We have enjoyed getting to know the other families. We have been surrounded by some great men and women of faith. I will share more when we get back.

First Day in China

Hi everyone! This is Tabitha, again. Tracy e-mailed me regarding their first day in China and I wanted to share the details. She e-mailed me around 8pm tonight, but its already Friday morning in China. To start their day, they had a gourmet breakfast of both American and Chinese foods. Later, she and Jeremiah went for a walk and took some pictures. They have plans to visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the silk factory today. Sounds like they're staying busy! She says that lots of American families are with them and I'm sure that's comforting and reassuring! I'll keep posting as updates come in.