Great wall!

Jade factory

We stopped at the jade factory on the way to the Great Wall. They take huge pieces of jade and carve them into these family balls. They are very intricate. It's 3-4 balls inside of each other that all come from one rock! It takes months to make one. Each ball inside of each other represents family. The kids, parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. We didn't know we were stopping here. We were trying to be coerced(forced) into buying. They must have thought we had lots o moola. Sorry. Wrong people. As she was explaining each statue there was one fat dragon that ate a lot but never used the bathroom. Well she used the word poopoo. Of anything in that place I think that was all the boys heard. No controlling the laughter there

The end

This says you are not a heman or Sheman unless you have climbed the great wall. I don't think that it says anything about falling down it. Eli was DONE. He fell asleep in less than one minute on the road.

Top tower!

This is view I didn't make it to...amazing! Snow up here. Gray threw a snowball at PM :)

Me and Gray. cold!!

LONG day. And it's not over!!

We left the house at 3:30 am. Been up since 2 am. Went to bed at 11:30 pm last night. It's 5:49 in Seattle and it feels like after midnight. We are about to leave US soil. The flight is 13 hours so we will land at 10:20 pm in Beijing but we will feel like it's 8:20 am. We should be so exhausted it won't matter and will crash hopefully! We will have to be up for the great wall Friday morning!! This flight is full and it's the largest plane I've ever seen. Should be fun! :-/ Eli and I are on the 22nd row and PM and Gray on 35th row. Continue to pray for my nerves. They are in over time!!

Leaving in 6 days!

This is our itinerary. They don't let you rest much ;) China Trip Itinerary (Fryday family) Dec.08: Arrive in Beijing, meet guide from CWTS at Beijing airport        Stay at the Jianguo Hotel.   Dec.09: Local sightseeing at the Great Wall.   Dec.10: Local sightseeing at the Forbidden City and the Hutong tour.   Dec.11: Fly to Changsha from Beijing by CZ3164, which departs at 3:20p.m.and arrives at 6:00p.m. Meet guide from CWTS at Changsha airport Stay at the Huatian Hotel.   Dec.12: Meet your child   Dec.13: Registration & Notarization In the morning, proceed with adoption registration Engage in interview     Dec.14: Local sightseeing (visit the Provincial Museum) or visit the SWI   Dec.15: Local sightseeing (visit the Xiang Embroidery Museum)   Dec.16: Local sightseeing (visit the Yuelu Academy) Receiving your child’s passport, adoption registration card, birth decree,  abandonment decree, Article 23 (check very carefully for any kind of mistakes, make sure that the abandonment decree has the information on the time and place of the abandonment). Fly from Changsha to Guangzhou by CZ3166 at 7:40p.m., Arrive Guangzhou at 8:50 p.m. meet guide from CWTS at Guangzhou airport  Stay at the Garden Hotel in Guangzhou.   Dec.17: Photo for the child & Physical test & TB test for the child.   Dec.18: Local sightseeing (visit the Safari Park)   Dec.19: Get the medical check result in a sealed envelope (do not open) and go to visit the whole sale market.   Dec.20: Apply for the visa at 10:00 Swearing in ceremony at the Consulate. In the morning, your guide and you will go to the American Consulate before the  scheduled time to submit adopting parents’ and children’s paperwork.     Your guide and you will need to make sure you have completed the Adoption Document Checklist and to sign the statement.   Dec.21: Local sightseeing (visit the Temple of Six Banyan Trees) Get the visa at 3:30 p.m.   Dec.22:Leave Guangzhou for Hong Kong by T807 at 09:03 a.m.   We will stay a night in Hong Kong and fly home the 23rd!