Hi Friends and Family,
Yesterday, for our last day in Tianjin, we went to a park that is loosely translated Piled Mountain Park. It actually used to be a landfill - which they covered over with soil and planted a lot of greenery on. The locals nicknamed it "Garbage Mountain." Actually, it is the greenest place in Tianjin that I have seen. Most of the city is concrete. It was great weather, and we got to go on motorboats around the lake that surrounds the park. We had a lot of fun with the Changs. After that we went directly to this dunpling restaurant that was nearby. Joining us was another family that are good friends and neighbors of the Changs, the Kuos. The Kuos have 3 children. So between our three families, we had 11 children! I think that the restaurant workers were not used to seeing so many children :-). They had about 100 different kinds of stuffings for the dumplings and you could watch through a window into the prep room where there were about 15 people sitting around a table wrapping them (they are made to order). The food was good! Unfortunately, my kids are still getting tired early (like 6 pm) because of the time difference, so the dinner ended with the kids kind of melting down, Nathan getting squished by a revolving door (poor lamb, he was trying to stop it so that he could wait for Matthew), and then Nathan throwing up outside from crying too hard. He is ok, though, no permanent damage done.
When the kids went to bed, I stayed up (all the way to 10pm!) to finish up some laundry and hang with Sophia. It was wonderful to be able to catch up some more, share together, and pry together for our families. The morning, we left to go to the airport at 6:30am. We miss the Changs already! They are really such dear dear friends of ours, and such an encouragement to be around. I am so grateful that we decided to spend a few days with them before getting down to business in Changsha and so forth.
The flight to Changsha was smooth - thank the Lord - and everyone was very nice. Our guide, Jian, was there to pick us up - and she is really competent and friendly. She speaks English, and she is a young lady who seems very put together. The driver drove us to our hotel - the Hua Tian Hotel in Changsha. We are in connecting rooms, and it is comfortable and modern. We had to go into a temporary room first because our adjoining rooms were not done being cleaned. We took that time to go grab some lunch from the buffet downstairs and go to the convenience store nearby. The English name for the convenience store is "Whacko Market." I am not kidding. For dinner we walked about 20 minutes to Pizza Hut. Aaron fell asleep on the way and it started sprinkling. Everyone told us it would be HOT in Changsha - well it is raining and 60 degrees here today, and it will be tomorrow as well! I only brought one pair of pants for each person (including Lily). We may have to stop at a store tomorrow if this weather keeps up. I am not complaining though, it kind of reminds me of Bay Area fall weather - windy and refreshing.
Anyway, we are now resting in the room. The boys are watching Kung Fu Panda 2 on the iPad. We have been dreaming of Lily and thinking about how she will be here with us tomorrow at this time - squeeee! Crazy, huh? So exciting, and also a bit nerve wracking. I can't wait to see her and hold her. I hope that she will be ok with us. and that we can all bond together as a family. I know that the Lord has brought us to this point and has led us every step of the way. I trust that He will be there in all that happens tomorrow. Please pray for us, specifically for Lily as she is separated from her caregivers and her world is turned upside down. Pray for her little heart that may feel like it is breaking. Pray that we can bond together and she will be able to grow in love and trust even in the next days. Also, please pray for Aaron. He is my "baby," still, in so many ways. I know that this will be difficult for him. He will need lots of comfort and reassurance in the coming days and weeks.
All right - that is it!
Much love,
Chenning
P.S. Our photos! Sorry I am a bit photo heavy - I could not resist. The first one is of the back row of Lorden's van on the way to dinner. Yes, no seatbelts and lots of fun to be had. Second photo is of Dave and I in front of a street vendor who makes special breakfast crepes that Tianjin is famous for. Goodness we look like such tourists. The third and fourth just show our kids having a blast with the Chang kids - playing settlers of Catan and fighting with lightsabers. We miss them already!
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