Ni Hao

Exhausted.  That was how I felt last night.  Holy cow.  26 hours after I left KC, I was checked in to my hotel in Beijing.  Other than a 2 hour maintenance delay in Detroit (that required us to de-plane), the trip was very smooth.  I wasn't running on much sleep from the night before, but I'm not sure there is much you can do for traveling this hard.  Anyway, I arrived safe and that is really all that matters!

Straight from the airport we went to Alenah's Home.  I'll blog about that in more detail in a few days.  There is a neat story there.  The kids were mostly in bed, but I got a chance to see where Jeremiah has spent the last few years.  For those that hadn't heard, Jeremiah left a few days ago.  All of our paperwork for the adoption has to be done in Inner Mongolia (his birthplace).  I will probably meet up with him on Monday.  Now that Jeremiah is gone, most of the older kids are now gone.  Except for one.  Please pray for JiaJia.  There is a long, crushing story about him . . . crushing.  He is a little older than Jeremiah and his family hasn't found him.  He is very smart and is all to aware that so many others are being adopted . . . while he is not.  It is tragic.  Please, please pray that his family finds him soon.

After about a 30-45 minute visit at Alenah's Home, I headed to the hotel.  This is the same hotel we stayed at it 2012.  It is very similar to something you'd find in the US.  I went to bed early.  And of course woke up early.  I woke up a little after 5am.  This should actually work out well.  I image I will be able to adjust to the time difference after today.  My little bit of a headache reminds me that I haven't yet.

Amy and I are both pretty fond of Chinese breakfast.  It isn't terribly radical, but they often serve things we typically reserve for dinner.  This morning's breakfast didn't disappoint.

Today is sightseeing day.  I go to the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square.  I had the option of skipping the sightseeing since we did this in 2012, but how many times are you in China, right?

The best is yet to come.  I leave early tomorrow for Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.  We often count "sleeps" to help Elijah keep track of time.  So 2 more sleeps (for me at least) and Jeremiah is all ours.  Can't wait!