Beijing 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to all of you for praying.  My time here in China is amazing.  I'm doing well...much better than I thought I would do.  The days have been going by quickly and I pray that continues.  I'm in Taiuyan with a couple from Winnipeg, who happen to know people in my hometown.  How cool is that?!?  I know they are praying for me and are simply the greatest in looking out for me!

I've been able to Skype with Martin and the kids which has taken the majority of my online time...and I LOVE it!  They seem to be doing well, although Raina did cry.  She is wondering when I will bring Jackson home.  She still doesn't quite understand the concept of how many days have to pass before I come home.  I think she sees me with Jackson and wonders why I don't simply come home.

I had a day and a half in Beijing prior to flying to Taiyuan.  We...as in our adoption group were able to go on a rickshaw tour through the ancient Hutong.  A hutong is the very old part of an Asian city, with narrow passage ways where multiple families live in one home.  It is one of the few places in Beijing where people actually own the land they live on.  Needless to say it is treasured by it's owners.

 

Here are some pics of the things we saw while walking to our rickshaws.

 

 

 

This picture is for Martin.  He jokingly asked me to take lots of pictures of bikes...well...I got a picture of lots of bikes!  ;)

We were allowed to tour the inside of one of the homes in the Hutong. It was a home as well as a business where people could eat and see the inside of a traditional home.

 

We then went to the Drum Tower where we listened to the massive drums being played.  (To my kids...I recorded it, so when I come home I'll let you watch it...it was pretty spectacular!)

 

 One of the massive drums that was played

This is a view from the Drum Tower.  It shows the Hutong.

 

Our time here in Taiyan is interesting.  Our guide gets mixed up with "left" and "right" so she sent us on a wild goose chase to find food.  She is doing the basics, but no more.  We still have not been able to find a market of any sort and finally managed to find a place that sells bottled water.  We also found KFC and Pizza Hut...so, I think we'll be Ok.  lol! 

 

I met Jackson yesterday, on July 22 and he officially became ours today.  Now if that leaves some of my friends on facebook confused that's because we are 14 hours ahead of SK time. 

Jackson is doing as good as can be expected.  He is very timid, shy, and quiet.  He slept well for about 6 hours last night and then cried as though his heart would break.  He looked at me with complete confusion.  He fell back asleep, but slept fitfully, crying often.  Jackson keeps pointing to the window and says "Baba", which means "Papa".  I think he must have been a Daddy's boy and he sure misses his foster family.  I received a bit of a scrapbook from the foster family with quite a few photos of Jackson, his foster parents and foster brother.  It is very special to me and I'm sure it will be to Jackson as well.

I will try to post more about Jackson, his forever family and our time in Taiyuan in my next post...if it's possible.  This post has taken several days to write as uploading photos is a tedious process.  I've also had a bit of difficulty accessing the internet, but I think I have it all figured out now.