Some Sight Seeing and Prep

UPDATE-- thanks so much lai for adding the pictures-- always can count on you!!!

It is now 7am (we are 16 hours ahead of west coast time) and we are getting ready and heading down to breakfast soon. I am so nervous-- my stomach is in knots. Our driver will pick us up and we will head to Fushun. I will post pictures and video as soon as I get back to our hotel. Pray that today goes smooth and that Finley will be open to our love and affection. I just cant wait!!! Thanks again for everyone at home who is making this process possible-- you guys rock!!!


***EDIT (by Lai) - added pictures below!!****

OK, we are having issues with posting pics on the blog because the Internet is so slow that the VPN we have to use here in China is timing us out. I'm not sure the issue but the Internet has been spotty all day and we have been told it is because it is the weekend and of the high use. Hopefully tomorrow we wont have this issue but if we do I will make sure I can post the video and pictures because I know you all are waiting for them. I am emailing the pics from today to my BFF Laila and hopefully in a few hours she will have them on the blog so check back if they are not up when you look.

Today was great!!! We love the breakfast buffet and the coffee was great and we sat there forever just talking. We also saw a bunch of other euro/American people and were able to talk to a lot of them. Come to find out, Michelin Tires is opening a big new plant here and they are relocating a bunch of the executives from all over the world here in Shenyang for a 3 to 5 year stay. Many of them have apartments in our hotel so we get to see them at breakfast. There were folks from Germany, Poland, France and a wonderful family we ended up spending the day with from South Carolina. They are sooooo cool and we just fell in love with them. They have an 8 year old son and a 10 year old daughter and they are relocating for the 3 to 5 years. They have been in our hotel for 3 weeks and will be moving into their apartment on Tuesday. They love it here so far. They have a driver at their beck and call and their apartment will be over 2000 SQ Ft. Their kids get an amazing education and it is a great opportunity for their whole family. Anyway they were about as gracious as can be and we took a really long walk with them around town in the single digit temperature by the way!! I did a great job in the cold and stayed pretty warm-- I was very proud of myself as many of you know I am a weather wimp. Anyway, it was a great walk and then they called their driver to take us to an awesome restaurant tonight which was a cultural event in itself. The restaurant was obviously a hang out for many. It is a 4 story restaurant and you choose your food on the bottom floor then they seat you and they bring you the food. This area of China is known for their dumplings and they had amazing ones to sample. We again had a ton of food and Kev had a beer and our total bill was 50 yuan which is about $7.50 total. It is soooo cheap!! We are loving the food and loving the price even more. We will for sure go back to that restaurant!!

After dinner the driver picked us up and we came back to the hotel to prepare the gifts for tomorrow. They are all ready and we are heading to Fushun at 8:30am. I guess Fushun is about an hour and a half away but the orphanage is on the outskirts so it is actually a 2.5 hour drive so on our way though the city we are picking up Ms. Wang-- the nanny we love-- and get to drive the next hour with her. I am so looking forward to getting to spend time with this wonderful woman!!! We get to stay as late as we want at the orphanage so I would guess we will be there till after dinner then go to dinner with Ms. Wang and then head home.

On Monday we are supposed to get Finley around 9am. Anyway, we are tired so I will head to bed. Hopefully LAila can get the pictures posted soon but tomorrow I will for sure get the video and pics posted in a timely manner.

Big hugs and please pray for us-- tomorrow is an important day!!

Loading bags at the airport

Airport

In lobby of hotel in Shenyang

Food!

Around Shenyang - very metropolitan!

Around Shenyang

Getting gifts ready for orphanage kids