The Great Wall and Tomorrow is the BIG Day!

Hi Everyone! Today we went to the Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall. It was about 1.5 hours from Beijing. We left early this morning and spent several hours there. Unfortunately it was a rainy day so we had to be careful not to slip. The rain and clouds also made the visibility very poor for picture taking. Despite those things, it was still really impressive and exciting to be there. We took a sky lift up to the Great Wall from the area where we were let out. It is interesting that there were many vendors that were peddling their wares. They did not bother us too much when we were headed up to the wall but when we came back they were very aggressive and pushy. After the Great Wall, we drove back into Beijing and went to a restaurant that serves Peking Duck. That was just one of the dishes we had and it was all wonderful!!! Our guide Cindy has just been fabulous. Brian and Calvin have met with a tailor and he made items for both of them. He came Thursday night and measured them. Calvin wanted a sport coat and Brian wanted a suit. Jonny, the tailor, came back Friday night with an almost complete product and fitted them for sleeves and pant legs. He brought them their finished products tonight and it is just amazing the low cost and great quality and quick turn around. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Calvin being silly (imagine that) with our guide, Cindy

Carving the Peking Duck

 Jonny (middle) with Brian and Calvin in their new clothes.

Tomorrow is the big day. We have had to repack our bags and filter some of our stuff to others for their suitcases because China has a limit of 44 pounds per bag for their domestic flights. We knew we were over. We will see if this helped tomorrow. We leave for the airport at 9 am. Our flight is at 11:30. We will check into the hotel and probably have a little time before we meet our girls. It will only be me & Calvin and Brian & Stephanie getting their little girls tomorrow. I think we are all a little nervous but very excited. Please pray that things go smoothly for us and that our girls transition easily and are not too stressed. I know that once we get the girls, we will have limited time for computer time but I will do my best to post each day, even if it is just a few pictures. So far, it seems that late evening works best for me because I am a night owl but we will have to see. I know you guys can't wait to see Emma Kate and we can't wait to meet her either. Okay, I need to try and get some sleep. The beds here is China are like sleeping on a cement floor. The good thing is that we are exhausted at the end of the day which helps us ignore the hardness of the beds. Tomorrow our little world will change! Love you all and thanks for your prayers!