Saying goodbye. Last post before China.

It was a little hard to tell when the night ended and the day began as we pretty much pulled an all nighter. The children were nestled soundly in bed but it was 5am before we got to sleep in attempts to get all the medical supplies safely packed in crates. We ended up with approx. 200 pounds of urgent needs for the orphanage! The generosity of several local pharmacists have overwhelmed us. We have everything from colostomy bags and IV start kits to vitamins and so much more.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to E'beth as we know she will have so much fun with at her Grandmothers and THE COUSINS! but we will miss her greatly. She might be having so much fun with all the extra attention she might cry when we come home! Thank you Mom and Chris!!



Two of our 11 flights are now behind us and we are snug in our amazing hotel courtesy of priceline.com. At the last moment, we plugged in a ‘name your own price’ for a luxury hotel just for grins near our layover destination, Washington D.C. --and got what would normally be a room going for over $300/ night for $50.00! !(five, zero!!) Love priceline.

A big thank you to Joel Sanders for helping us get all the crates of supplies and our luggage to the airport and safely tucked into the belly of our CRJ900 aircraft, then driving our car home.

We enjoyed a brief layover in Charlotte NC where John enjoyed a ‘last meal’ of Salsaritas with lots of lettuce and tomatoes (that you can’t have in China) then North to Washington DC where we will spend the night in an attempt to rest for our LONG day tomorrow.





Our day will begin at 7:00 am, with breakfast at our swanky 50/300.00/ night priceline hotel then off to the airport. If you are a die hard China adoption junkie follower you can track the flight via http://www.flightview.com/. Its really quite interesting to follow the progress of an international flight (if you know someone on that particular plane) I guess you really have lead a pretty dull life to sit and watch the little screen change miniscule amounts over the course of 14+ hours!

Our flight leaves at 12:16 p.m. Friday and the path will take us North over Canada, up and over the Arctic circle, over Russia, and then finally about 14 hours later land in Beijing China. China is 12 hours ahead of our time at home, so we actually loose part of a day in flight. (and it happens to be Dave’s birthday.. so we will have to celebrate thinking outside the box We land in Beijing at approx. 2:20 in the afternoon Saturday May 1 and then have about 5 ½ hours to deliver all the medical supplies to our precious friends who run the orphanage ‘Morningstar project’. They will meet us at the airport and we are so excited to see their facility! A whirlwind trip to visit them and then back to the Beijing airport for our continuation onto Guilin which will be 3 more hours of flying.

Guilin will be our final destination for the next 6 days and I KNOW we will be happy to see a flat bed instead of barely reclining airline seats!


Swanky hotel :)

Oak Hill School!

John's 2nd grade class had a very fun field trip to "Oak Hill School" which is a one room school house dating back to the early 1800's. The children were dressed in the era and took lunch pails instead of the usual methods of school lunch. It was a beautiful spring day perfect for the trip. We were really glad John was able to participate in this school trip prior to our departure this evening.

Our plane runneth over

I don't even know where to begin. Tonight Dave came home and he looked like he had been crying. I was alarmed at first that something terrible had happened as you know.. men aren't suppost to cry..but then, I just about joined in w/ the tear fest once I heard the reason.

For many weeks we have slowly began to gather some basic medical supplies for an orphanage in Northern China that cares for critically ill and dying babies and children who have been abandoned. They exhaust every avenue in an attempt to save even the most fragile and "hopeless" of cases.

Yesterday and today, just hours before we depart, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of some local pharmacists. The back of our mini van is now full of critical medical needs to deliver to this most special organization. We are in total awe of God's provision. When we spoke with our China friends and told them about these donations, they informed us they were down to the last 2 colostomy bags. (Hope we have a great tailwind!! :) :)

Then, the next incredible development is that United Airlines working w/ us to get it all there and is allowing us to transport it all AT NO COST!! This is Huge!! United could not have been more helpful and we are incredibly grateful for their assistance.

T minus 1.5 days..

About China..

It's only days away now and packing is paramount in our daily activities. It seems that streamlined packing is more difficult than taking the works! We hope to pack very lightly for ourselves in an effort to squeeze in as many basic supplies for some special orphanages as possible. We are still hunting colostomy bags in small sizes if anyone has connections with the powers that be in this area!

We will leave the US arriving into Beijing. After a 6 hour layover, we then head to Guilin which is another 3 hour flight South of Beijing. At this point we will take a few days to acclimate to China time, recover from jet lag, etc.. This is where the adventure will begin. A Chinese "local" will be taking us to some of the back roads of the rural Chinese countryside. It is our understanding they speak English and know their stuff... ok. We shall see.

After a few days in the Guilin vicinity we will then fly back to Beijing and meet up with Angie and the rest of the adoption group from the Living Hope adoption agency for "part two" of our journey.. exciting days ahead! Come back to join in!
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-China is the world's fourth largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US)

-Area: 9.6m square km (slightly smaller than the US)

-Coastline: 14,500 km

-Climate: extremely diverse, ranging from tropical in the south to subarctic in the North

-Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in East

-Highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (world's tallest mountain)

-Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts), floods and earthquakes

-Population: 1,321,851,888 (July 2007)

-Language: The official language is Mandarin

-Government: Communist

-Capital: Beijing

The Chinese People:
Chinese people have always put a lot of emphasis on everybody acting the right way for their position in life. They thought poor people should act different from rich people, and women should act different from men, and city people should act different from country people.

In China, people thought your most important relationship was with your family. Kids often lived in the same house not just with their parents, but also with their grandparents, their aunts and uncles, and their cousins. People thought that family was much more important than friends.

Most boys and girls in China did not go to school, but worked on their parents' farms, picking weeds and planting seeds. Even rich girls did not go to school, but boys from rich families did. The boys worked very hard at school, because doing well on the state examinations was the only way to get political power.


When girls grew up, they got married and left the house they had grown up in to go live in their husband's house, with his family. This was often hard, because girls got married young, and when they went to live in their husband's house they had to do whatever his mother told them to do.

But the lives of slaves were the hardest of all. Many Chinese people were slaves. Most people who were slaves worked in the fields, the same as free people. Some of them worked as servants in rich people's houses. The Emperor owned hundreds of slaves, and some of them worked for the government, collecting taxes or building roads. Some people were born slaves, because their mothers were slaves, and other people were sold into slavery to pay debts.

She waits...

but not for much longer!!!!

SOON Miss Emma, Very soon!

Officially less than 2 weeks!

In less than 2 weeks we will be on a plane to China. The reality begins to set in and the fury of international travel preparation is well underway. We will depart from the USA from Washington D.C. flying up and over the arctic circle (North Pole!) over Russia and then finally after more than 14 hours in the air land in Beijing, the capitol city of China.

Why are we going to China? You can see the main reason HERE! Emma's new Mommy is our friend and we think she needs help bringing her home.. actually she would probably do just fine, but who could resist being a fly on the wall when Emma meets her new Mommy for the very first time?! Emma is almost 2 years old and is from Xi'an Province PRC. Xi'an is most famous for the Terra Cotta Warriors (more on that later). Emma may go through a rough few days in the beginning, but with much love from her new Mom (and the "Auntie, Uncle, and new cousin:) with the understanding that she now has a Mommy that will be there ALL the time and not just when she is hungry or crying we can watch this little girl transform over the weeks ahead into a different child! Just wait and see the difference in the pictures on "Gotcha" day and then compare those to a week later when Miss Emma is just about ready to come HOME to the USA!

To adjust after so many hours of travel, it was decided we will leave a few days prior to meeting up with the adoption group.
We will do a little sight seeing and prepare for the incredible adventure ahead of bringing Emma home by being rested and ready to help new Mom Angie when she arrives in Beijing a few days later!!

When we first arrive in Beijing, we will go through the Chinese immigration process to enter the country and obtain our luggage. It is our hope to drop off supplies to a special person who runs an orphanage for very ill babies in China. We have been able to obtain some basic medical supplies and will be happy to see them reach their destination! After this, we will go through security once more to board our continuing flight to Guilin which is about a 3 hour plane ride South from Beijing. A few more busses or taxi's later we FINALLY will reach our destination for the next several days.

From our home to our first destination (Guilin China) we estimate the travel time to be about 36 hours! OUCH!

Follow us to China and back to bring home Miss EMMA!!

Please click the 'follow' button to the right of this post and you will receive a notice when this site is update while we are in China. Thank you sweet friends!!

THE GREAT WALL

Be sure to scroll all the way down and read the history of this magnificent structure and imagine the magnitude of the project during its construction so many years ago!

In places the steps were so steep it was as if you were climbing an uneven ladder instead of steps. One of our group members fell down during a part of the climb but she wasn't hurt.











The Great Wall of China was built over 2000 years ago and is the longest man-made structure ever built. It is an instantly recognizable structure which many people are familiar with, though often know little about. We have gathered below some of the most interesting facts about the Great Wall including when the wall was built, how long the wall is, and if it is visible from the moon.

How long is the Great Wall of China?

The Great Wall of China is approximately 6000 kilometers long. However if you were to measure all the individual structures and changes to the wall made over the centuries, it is believed the final measurement would total over 50000 kilometers!

When was the Great Wall of China built?

The Great Wall was originally built over 2000 years ago, around 221 BC. Most of the current Great Wall was built during the Ming dynasty (between 1368 and 1644.)

History of the Great Wall of China

It is thought that the earliest wall was built under the rule of Emperor Qin, who successful unified parts of China around 221 BC. Previously, individual states had built their own wall defences, but now Emperor Qin sought to connect the walls to provide defences against northern invaders. He ordered the building of the “Wan Li Chang Cheng" as it was known in China. This translates as "the ten thousand li Great Wall". A "li" is a Chinese length unit. 2 li are equal to 1 km.

Most of the original wall no longer exists. Over the centuries that followed each dynasty did more work to maintain and develop the wall. The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) carried out a major rebuilding project extending the Great Wall, which resulted in a 6000 kilometre wall which is what is mainly in evidence today.

Can you imagine how difficult it was to build the Great Wall of China? Look at the terrain that it covers! How did the workmen transport the stone? What techniques were used to build on such steep hillsides?



This photo, taken in the early morning, shows how beautiful and astounding the Great Wall can look, and what a marvellous feat of building it was.

Why was the Great Wall of China built?

It is believed that the main purpose of the Great Wall was to protect China from invasion or attack by northern tribes (such as the Mongols).

The Great Wall of China from Space (or from the Moon)

It is actually a myth that the Great Wall can be seen from the moon. However, it can be seen from space, and images have been returned from low-level space vehicles including the space shuttle. The photo on the left is from NASA, and clearly shows parts of the wall.

Who built the Great Wall of China?

The original wall was ordered by the Emperor Qin over 2000 years ago. The wall was constructed by labourers comprising soldiers, common people and criminals. The wall was built of different materials over the centuries. The earliest wall was largely made of compacted earth, surrounded by local stone. Much use was made of local material to keep costs down and enable building to continue quickly. The later Ming wall was largely made of brick. It is estimated that up to 1 million people died while constructing the Great Wall!

How tall is the Great Wall of China?

In places the Great Wall is 25 feet tall. It ranges from 15 to 30 feet wide.

Map of the Great Wall of China



This is a map of The Great Wall of China as it was in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when the wall was rebuilt and extended. Most of the Ming Dynasty wall can still be seen today.

How was the Great Wall of China defended?

The Great Wall included a series of watch towers and forts which could house soldiers, grain and weapons. Beacons could enable the passing of messages quickly along the wall. Special weapons were developed to enable the wall to be defended against attack, replicas of which are on display on the modern day wall. At one time it is thought that up to 1 million soldiers were stationed along the length of the wall!

How long did it take to build the Great Wall of China?

The Great Wall was built over many years. It is believed the original Great Wall was built over a period of approximately 20 years. The Great Wall which is mainly in evidence today was actually built during the Ming dynasty, over a period of around 200 years.

When was the Great Wall of China finished?

The original Great Wall was extended and developed until the rule of the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming rulers were overthrown in 1644, no further work was done on the Wall until recent years in attempts to preserve parts of the structure.


Today many tourists visit the Great Wall of China, and walk along it. You can see some in the photo above.

How many people did it take to build the Great Wall of China?

Many thousands of people were involved in the building of the wall. From records it appears that 300,000 soldiers and 500,000 common people were involved in constructing the original Great Wall under Emperor Qin. Many people lost their lives during this work and archaeologists have discovered many human remains buried under sections of the wall.

Newton's Cradle