Only One More Hour

....and we will finally meet Ashlyn!!

Thank you all for the comments. They mean a lot when you are half way around the world and you can go all day and not see another foreigner.

The people here are super nice and extremely helpful. It is very upsetting to think that if things were switched they would not get the same treatment from people in the States.
I am a sight to see, apparently. I have never been looked at so obviously in my life. It is quite funny to actually see people walk by, break there neck looking and then actually come back and stare to make sure they are seeing what they think they are seeing. Blondes are quite a sight to them. Even with that they are not being rude, just super curious. Wait until they see me carrying Ashlyn around tomorrow. That should attract even more attention.

So in one hour we will be heading down stairs to a room to meet Ashlyn. ONE HOUR!!! I can not believe that it is finally our turn. I have followed so many of you to get your children, that I can not believe that it is now my turn. I am super excited!! Donny is doing great. We are so ready for this.

Next post will be with amazing pictures of our baby girl...until then...

Beijing-Yesterday

What a day we had yesterday... We haven't adjusted to the time yet, so we were up at 4:00 AM the last two days. So here's what happened yesterday.

First Stop: Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. The sheer size was much greater than anticipated: From Tianamen Square through the Forbidden City was several miles long. I would guess there were over 100,000 people there. There were about 10,000 people in line to see the tomb of Chairman Mao. It is very difficult to believe the Forbidden City is over 600 years old.
It takes a while to adjust to the dense population. Everywhere you go, people are bumping up against you. The roads are crazy. There are no traffic laws, only recommendations.

The Great Wall was amazing. Climbing the Great Wall was a lot harder than it looks. It climbs straight up and down the mountains, so most folks don't make it more than a few hundred yards. By the time we got down, I was DONE.

We also had the opportunity to drive by the Bird's Nest, and the Water Cube. They are much larger in person than I thought they would be. However, neither were more impressive than Beijing Int Airport. It was constructed for the Olympics and is an amazing piece of work.
~Don

To add to Donny's post...The Great Wall is VERY difficult to climb. Every step is a different size. Most were about two normal steps high. Some went up to my knee!! And it went STRAIGHT up!! I was impressed with the people that built it and then those that had to walk it all the time. My legs were killing me! Donny made it a bit farther than I did. I think he made it farther than anyone else in our group. He made it to the last tower at the top before the pagoda. He got some amazing pictures up there.

We were in a group of 12 families in Beijing. Everyone is so nice and it was fun being with them all for the day. Nine of them went to one orphanage today and us and two other families went our seperate ways to our own Provinces. We will meet back with them on Saturday in Guangzhou.

Nanning is beautiful (as far as the landscaping goes). There are tons of flowers and flowering trees. It is about the same climate as Miami. Lots of Hibiscus and almond trees. Lots of other flowers that we have in Florida and some we have never seen.

While the landscaping is beautiful, the people here are extremely poor. The housing is very, very poor. It is a huge contrast from Beijing. In fact, besides the traffic and bikes I would not even be able to compare the two. We do love this beautiful city and all of the people. We are humbled by God opening our eyes to the great need here. We are so blessed to live in America.

So tomorrow at 3:30 pm our time (3:30am your time - Monday) Ashlyn will be brought to our hotel for us to finally meet her. We are extremely excited and don't know if we will be sleeping much tonight, her crib is sitting next to one of the beds. She will be taken from her foster family tomorrow morning and then make the three hour drive here to us. Please pray for protection over her precious little heart. This will be the most traumatic day of her life.

Thanks for all of the comments. We love reading them. ~Gretchen

A Very Full Day

We just got back to our room at 7:00pm. We have been up since 4:30am this morning. We both agree that we don't think we have ever been this tired before. I asked Donny to upload pictures for you and he groaned and said he was too tired. We are waiting for room service,, then we will skype with the kids and then go to bed. We have to be up at 4:30 tomorrow morning to catch the bus to the airport for our plane to Nanning. We don't have anything to do tomorrow once we get there so we promise a long post tomorrow with pictures.

We did have a blast today. China is amazing!! It has been so much more than we ever could have imagined. What rich history we saw today. We are so blessed to be here.

Well food's here, so we will post again tomorrow. Good night.

We are FINALLY Here!!

After a seven hour delay (Yes, I said SEVEN hours!!!) we finally arrived in Beijing at 8:30 pm China time. It is now almost midnight here and we are going to try to get some sleep. We will be leaving in the morning at 8:30 to visit the Great Wall, Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. We won't be done with the sight seeing until 6:00pm, so it will be another LONG day for us. Fortunately we are looking forward to this long day..unlike sitting at an airport for 7 hours getting on and off the plane....it was bad!

Thanks for all of your comments. We really enjoy reading them.

Delayed at Newark

Our flight out of Newark has been delayed by two hours. We will now be leaving here at 2:00. That means that we will not get to Beijing until around 4:00.
We will keep you posted.

We Leave Tomorrow

Today is the last day we will have at home with the kids. We will "sneak" out tonight after they are all tucked into bed (minus my 14 year old ~ he stays up too late). We have a 7:20 flight out of Tampa tomorrow morning and we will fly to Newark for a short layover. After that it is almost a 15 hour flight to Beijing. We will arrive in Beijing at 1:50 pm on Friday (1:50 am Friday for everyone at home).

Please pray for safe travel and good health for us and the kids at home while we are gone. Please also be praying for Ashlyn. We will get her on Monday at 3:00pm (3:00 am for most of you). This is going to be a huge transition for this precious little girl. We have all fallen in love with her over the past 7 months, but she has not been waiting for us. This will change the world as she knows it and I am sure that she will be terrified. We are praying that God will give her an amazing peace and just know that we love her and that there is security in us.

So...off we go!! I will post again on Friday (since we will be flying ALL DAY Thursday).

This is IT!!!!!

Today is our last day home with the kids.

Tonight we will spend the night at a hotel near the airport so we can hop on a very early flight.

From this point on I will post at www.youbelong.net/ashlyn

I'll be back here in 17 days (or so)!!!

Can You Believe It?????

2 DAYS LEFT!!!!!

The Number of the Day is.....

The Number of the Day is....

Ok...this is the first time that I am sitting at this computer updating our countdown and have a great deal of butterflies in my stomach!

We are packed, except every day things, but I still feel like I have so much to do, even though I don't. I feel like I am forgetting something...WAIT...that would be my children!!

I am really feeling the Mommy heart tugs now. I HATE the fact that I will be leaving them for 17 days! It really makes my stomach upset. I am not worried about them. I am just going to miss all of those hugs and kisses. Hope skyping with them helps!

And here is what you have been waiting for...our link to follow us on our trip.

www.youbelong.net/ashlyn

I will post it the next few days so all you have to do is come to this site to click on the link to get there. Or, you can add it to your favorites. (I think you can even subscribe to it..don't remember).

The Number of the Day is....

F...I...V...E...

I am beside myself!!!

5..4..3..2..1.....off we go!!!!

The Number of the Day is.....

The Number of the Day is.....

One week from right now we will be on a plane flying to Newark.

From there we will be on a plane to Beijing.
We will arrive in Beijing at 1:50 pm on Friday (that is 1:50am here).

The days are going by so fast!!
Please pray for safe travel for us and protection over our children who will be staying home with their amazing grandparents. I pray that they all stay healthy and well. And I pray that we, too, will stay healthy and well.

The Number of the Day is....

Almost one week!!

Exciting News!!

I was just informed by our agency that we will be able to travel to our daughter's birth city!

Usually you fly into the capital city, Nanning, and you are not able to go to your child's city. Because we are the only family in our group they have agreed to drive us the three hours to Yulin, our daughter's birth city, and show us around. What an amazing blessing this is going to be!

We are extremely excited about this oppurtunity to get a closer look at Ashlyn's life. Yulin is a part of who she is and now we can share that part with her when she gets older.

The Number of the Day is.....

We are finally in the single digits!!

The Number of the Day is.....

Last day of the double digits!!!!

The Number of the Day is....

....and today will involve even more nesting, I am sure!

The Number of the Day is....

Ok, sorry this is late, but I have been seriously nesting all day!!

I didn't know that happened with adoptions!?!

The Number of the Day is....

Wow!!
We are officially less than two weeks now!
I can not wait to hold my beautiful girl!!

I am working on a web site for travel
(since Blogger does not work in Ch*na).
I will post it once we get into the last 5 days of the countdown.