Bullet train

Sunday was our travel day to Adelyn's province. We had our last breakfast in Beijing, walked around the market and loaded our bags. Our guide took the best care of us and deserves a medal for getting 16 non-mandarin speaking tourists through a very crowded bullet train station. William was happy with his new panda hat, courtesy of the Lewis'.

We got to Henan in 2 hours and I only got a litte motion sickness. Jackson and William loved the fast train ride. Vivian and Rita picked us up and we loaded the bus for our hotel...the Hilton in Zhengzhou was AMAZING. Great rooms, special memories, lots of wonderful restaurants and close to laundry and a walmart-type store. We were given specifics of what Yi Han liked to eat, her schedule, her formula brand and diaper size. After grabbing some delicious noodles for me and KFC for the boys, we stocked up on supplies for her! It was completely surreal to shop for those last minute things and know we were going to meet her in the next 18 hours. One more sleep!

Bullet train!

The Great Wall

August 4, 2018... (We skipped August 3rd in the air since China is 13 hours ahead, but we will make up for it on our way home.)

Breakfast at the hotel finally opened at 6 am and we were first in line! The Boudreau's were the first couple we met that morning. We learned that they were from Colorado and also adopting a little girl with a cleft palate. Amelia would be their first child! We all found some eggs, breakfast pastries, milk cartons (We stayed away from the juice as our stomachs weren't adjusting to the new smells and we knew the water could make our tummies sick.) and fried rice and steamed dumplings for me and Scott. We had a big day ahead that started with visiting the Great Wall of China! 👟🧗‍♂️🥇⛰

Best group of brothers and travel buddies about to see the Great Wall and add 3 new sisters in 2 days!

Anyone with blonde hair immediately become “famous” when they stepped off that bus. William is the blondest of our family and he was OVER the fame and pictures in about 10 minutes. 😂

We grabbed our bags, sunscreen, bottled water and loaded the bus and met the remaining two families. Our drive to the wall was LONG and full of traffic, but it was well-worth it. I first saw the Great Wall with my Chinese students in the summer of 2005, and the magnitude of the wall and beauty of the country-side surrounding was as marvelous as I remembered. Scott and the boys agree that it was breathtaking and something we cannot wait to take Carson and Addie to see someday! The amount of labor that went into making the Wall of China, that can be seen from space, is hard to comprehend. It was a hot day and lots of stairs, but we enjoyed every minute. Scott even climbed to one of the forts and got us cold cokes and Great Wall medallions.

After the wall, we went to the Jade factories and purchased some of China's trademark mineral. Jade is considered to carry good luck and is highly valued in China. We had an authentic, Chinese lazy-susan lunch, which I enjoyed, Scott boiled peanuts and William and Jackson waited patiently until they could have PB crackers and protein bars on the bus. Lastly, we went to a Chinese acrobat show. There are zero safety codes in China...which makes for a fascinating show and I found myself praying for all of the acrobats and motorcycle riders the entire time. The boys loved it and the theatre even had a little air conditioning. Lastly, we skipped the "hot pot" dinner with the group and found a Pizza Hut. It's not the same as American pizza, but we were thankful for some familiar food.

William didn't make it until bedtime and we all slept about an hour longer than the previous night! What a fabulous day exploring China. All of the activity helped our anxiousness to meet YiHan and kept us from feeling the need to go to bed at 3 pm.

Leaving on a jet plane...

On August 2nd, 2018, I woke up early and finished checking my packing list for the last time. We got dressed, ate breakfast, Scott loaded bags and finished the packing that we had been working on for the previous 2 months. I was going to be gone for 18 days, the big boys and Scott for 7 days and I was about to fly 15 hours away from my 4 year old "baby" while he stayed with friends and grandparents. With all the crazy of packing for an international trip, getting our paperwork processed and finalizing the adoption process from the US, the hardest part for me was getting on a plane knowing my 4 year old was in better hands with grandparents here than on long plane rides and in busy Chinese cities and offices. Thankfully, one of our favorite babysitters came over and I had to put my brave face on! I hugged and hugged Carson and prayed for his precious heart all the way to the airport.

Once we got to the airport, it was a flurry of bag checking, security, grabbing coffee and getting to our gate. William and Jackson were excited which eased my nerves. We boarded and were pleasantly surprised that there were rows of empty seats around us. We spread out, settled in for the long flight, prayed some more and gave William his new video game device. The flight went wonderfully, everyone slept and in a little less than 13 hours, we landed safely in Beijing. We had met the Franklins from KY on our flight, Tiffany (mom) had adopted Garrett from China 4 years ago and they were going back for a baby sister, Lily. We all got through customs and found our taxi driver who led us across a busy airport parking lot to a van. We loaded up with Tiffany and Garrett and drove through the busy streets of Beijing to our hotel. Here we met George, one of three amazing CCAI guides who would make our trip seamless, memorable and as wonderful as possible. I cannot say enough amazing things about our adoption agency and the way their staff cared for us on a life-changing trip.

Spoiled with lots of room, new technology and snacks galore! They rocked the flight.

William even ate the food, Jackson was not a fan!

Early morning Mandarin lesson

The other 3 families (the Lewis', Jenkins' and Boudreau's) had toured Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City that day and were about to meet up for a traditional Chinese dinner. We were exhausted and opted for KFC.

After some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and pepsi, we headed back to the hotel and crashed early... only to wake up about 2 am. Breakfast seems forever away when you are tired, jet-lagged, awake and sharing a twin-sized bed with your 6 year old. Our hotel room was tiny and so were the beds, so we decided to call and check on Carson. Talking to him was the best and started a countdown in my heart of hours until I got to hold him back in the states. Missing Carson was the very hardest part of the trip. Due to prayers and God's blessings, Adelyn adjusted, slept and we both loved our time in China...except my missing Carson and the rest of the boys when they went back to TX.

Most of the next 17 days are a blur of jetlag and lots of emotion, but I have the most vivid memories of August 2, 2018. The one day of calm on a plane before a year of change and little sleep and God showing up faithfully as He always does.