Changsha-Day 2

Our breakfast one morning Waiting to fill out more paperwork
Us with one of our guides, Anna
Riding the public transportation

Hannah's going away party with her friends

We started out each day with a really good buffet breakfast in each of the hotels, they all had familiar food such as french toast, omelets, etc. It was usually the best meal of the day, except for the peanut butter and honey sandwiches , right Andrea??!!

We went back to the civil affairs office and it was official this day that Hannah was now a Tweeten. We also were able to go to an electronics store and Andrea bought a translator which helped a lot. Jadyn also had made money from Lemonade stands and was able to purchase a Harddrive for the orphanage to put their pictures on. In the afternoon we went and did some shopping with Liz and rode on the public transportation. For supper we went to a restaurant that had a buffet for a going away party that Liz & Claire put on for Hannah. It was a fun time.

Changsha-Day 1--Hannah!!

Andrea & Jadyn at Beijing airport ready to fly to Hannah's province

Delicious breakfast on the plane!!! :) Actually only had the yogurt!! Doesn't that look yummy?

Hotel room in Changsha

Dolton Hotel

The first glimpse of Hannah

Hannah and her new family

Supper with Liz

We headed out from our hotel at about 4:30 AM to go to the airport to fly to Changsha, Hunan where Hannah is from. When we arrived we were greeted by Anna (Amy our guides helper) and she took us to the Dolton Hotel. We had 2 room in the Dolton not connected together but next door. We then got settled in the hotel and then about 2:30 PM we met our guide, Amy and went to the civil affairs office to meet Hannah. We were able to see her when she was getting out of the van. She was very nervous coming in to meet Andrea & Jadyn. I videotaped for Andrea so her family back home would get to see the first meeting. We then went back to the hotel and her and Jadyn played lots of games. It was hard to communicate but the games seemed to break the ice a little bit and playing games on the ipod with Jadyn. Hannah was in a big brother/big sister program in China and so her big sister, Liz came over in the evening and we went to supper with her. Liz is from Australia but can speak Chinese also so Hannah was very glad to see her.

Beijing-Day 2

Our church service

Lunch with our group
Tianamen Square

Forbidden City

Birds nest from the 2008 Olympics

Inside the birdsnest

The next day started with an international church service. It was really amazing to go and actually hear the word of God in China. We had to show our passport in order to get into the service. We then went to tour the pearl factory. They had a lot of beautiful pearl jewelry there. After Lunch we went to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden city. The forbidden city was where the emporers lived and nobody was able to go in there until now. It is now a museum. It went on for miles, building after building. The next stop was the olympic birdnest. We were able to pay to go in there and that was so fun to see. After that we went to dinner with the group and then back to the hotel. We packed for our trip to Hunan the next day. We will get to meet Hannah tomorrow!!!!!

Beijing-Day 1

Heather, Elaine, & I wearing our "husker" gear

Summer Palace

Longest Hallway

Marble boat

Jade Factory

Great Wall

All of us at the Great Wall

Love the sign

We met our group at breakfast and then we met our guide, Maggie, and we headed to the summer palace, jade factory, & the great wall. It was very beautiful and the buildings all had a lot of detail on them. After lunch at a chinese restaurant, of course, we went to the Jade factory. There were a lot of very large jade pieces that were very beautiful but very expensive. The man in the picture is carving the round ball in the next picture. They carve it from the inside out and each "layer" is moveable, they are pretty amazing. The next stop for us was the Great Wall. We only went to one tower, apparently there are quite a few different areas you can go to. The steps are very steep and uneven. I did not go up very far, as you can see, as I am very afraid of heights and even there was a little scary. I was just very fun to be there. The locks in the picture are all along the wall at the bottom and each time somebody gets married they put a lock on the chain and throw the key over the edge. Next we were off to the Peking Duck dinner. After a very long and stop and go ride on the bus, everybody was very tired and nobody was very hungry. It was very sad for all of us to see the food that was going to waste. I was not feeling the best during supper and the ride home and just went to bed as I think it was the effects of jet lag.

We Made it to China

Bags packed and ready to go

In Omaha ready to check in

Our plane to Beijing

Ready for our 12 hour flight

We made it to China

In our hotel lobby

Our room in Beijing

We made it to Beijing and we were able to get seats together on all 3 flights that we took which was a huge answer to prayer. We were happy to be there and ready to go to bed and get ready for sightseeing the next day.

Harvest of Harmony Parade

Dylan

Brandon

We went to the Harvest of Harmony parade Saturday to support our schools marching band. The boys are both in high school this year and so they both marched. It was a very cold day but fun to watch them marching by.

Volleyball

Courtney had just bumped the ball, see it at the top of the picture?

Courtney had her first 7th grade volleyball game on September 20. The first 2 pictures were from that game which they ended up losing. The next pictures are from their 2nd game which they won and were very excited about that. Courtney loves volleyball and has sure enjoyed the season so far.