WOW - What a first day in Beijing!

Today was an incredible day. We started by going to a shopping district here in Beijing and then we went to The Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square for our group activities. We followed-up a GREAT day by having an unbelievable dinner with a friend who is now living here in Beijing. Both locations were so much more impressive than I could have ever imagined. The only thing that would have made this better was having ALL the kids here with us.

Here are some pictures from our shopping excursion (yes they do celebrate Halloween):

Here are some pictures of The Forbidden City. The description INCREDIBLE doesn't due this place any justice. (For those of you who didn't know - This location was the Chinese Imperial Palace for the Emperor and his household. It took from (year) 1406 - 1420 to build and is 720,000 square metres. For a guy (like me) who loves history and just the thought of being here and walking where previous emperors of China once did is remarkable. Here you go:

Then we were off to Tienanmen Square. The square is over 100 acres which makes it the World's Largest Public Square - let me tell you, IT'S BIG! Several significant events in Chinese history occurred at this very site. Here are some pictures of the square, Dawn, me, and the Grows family:

We finish the day with a dinner with a friend. We couldn't pass up the opportunity as we "just happened to be in the neighborhood". It was great seeing her again as we enjoyed the food and the time we spent together.


After 10 miles of walking and having a good meal it was time to call it a day. True to expectations, the people here are absolutely fantastic. I cannot say enough about their friendliness and willingness to help. Tomorrow's a busy day for us as we take a group day-tour.

WE MADE IT!!!!!

Well all went well after 30+ hours of traveling (from the time we left our house to check in at the hotel). We arrived in Beijing at 10:30 PM and by the time we got our luggage, cleared customs, got a taxi, "negotiated" a taxi rate, got to the hotel and did some unpacking, it's now 12:45 AM (keep in mind China is 13 hours ahead of Wisconsin time) local time. I'm posting a couple of pictures:

Here we are (also included are our friends the Grows, minus Richard who was kind enough to take this picture) waiting for a tram. The Grows are adopting a little girl as well.

Here's a picture of one of the planes we were on during this leg of the trip.

Dawn saw these little Chinese dolls and of course we had to get them for the girls. I must admit, they are cute. And their names are what you might ask, Sofi and Lize of course.

Just a few more hours

Well, in 9 hours we'll be on our way. We want to thank everyone for your prayers and support and ask for you to continue for us (during our travels) as well as the kids. We'll keep you posted. We'll see everyone back in Milwaukee on November 15th at 2:00 PM (we're flying Northwest Airlines)

Just a little more, and then we're off....

Well, it's just over 8 days until we leave for China. We can hardly wait! The kids are very excited about having their little sister home. Sofi says, " Lize coming home soon" all the time. While we wait, I thought I would post a few more pics of the family:

Pumpkin Time ...and one week closer to Lize

One more week goes by and it brings us closer to Lize. We can't wait until the 29th (our depature date). This weekend we went on our annual pumpkin hunt and here are some pics of the journey: