A message from Lisa and lots of pictures!!!

Hello to all,
As you have probably figured out by now, we have not been able to get on Facebook or our blog. One of my dear "gabby girls" travel buddies, Sharon Teague, is going to update it for us until we are home. Thank you so much Sharon. 
Thursday, August 30
We were up at 2:15 AM and out the door by 3:30 to leave for the airport in Greensboro. Our flight left at 6:15 for Dulles. We had 4-5 hour layover there and spent time with our friends, Jamie and Karen and their daughter Aliza. Karen's sister Kristi is also traveling with us. We all took a turn keeping the children busy. Karen had brought some crafts along. So Andrew and Aliza made necklaces and Andrew a boat with tissue paper,poster board and straws. Quite creative. I got to wear the necklace all the way to China. It was a very long 14 hour flight over to Beijing! Andrew slept about 4-5 hours total and Kevin maybe the last 30 minutes. I think I nodded off and on for about an hour. Andrew did pretty well. 
Friday, August 31
We arrived in Beijing around 2:30 PM and got to our hotel around 5. Walked down to the Carre Four, similar to Walmart back home. We got  some snacks, bread, jam, yogurt and water of course. Made peanut butter sandwiches for dinner and went to bed by 7:30.We were exhausted.
Saturday, September 1

Getting closer to our Jonathan. Two more night nights! It was very hot and hazy this morning. Today, Sherry, our local AWAA guide took us to Tianneman Square and the Forbidden City. I am still amazed by the architecture and size of this place. I don't think any of us had a dry stitch of clothes or body it was so hot and humid. Everyone soaked clean through! We did get to cool off a little at the pearl factory store. They sale fresh water pearls which are harvested from Kunming Lake which is part of the Summer Palace grounds. While we were eating, it poured rain. It stopped long enough for us to walk around the lake area at the summer palace. We also walked on the 17 arch bridge and it has 80 carved lion heads on the bridge. Then we went to Dr. Tea and experienced a tea ceremony. We got to taste Jasmine, oolong, pueur tea which is from the tea tree not a bush, and a fruit tea or children's tea. The pureur tea had a strong taste and was a little woody. The fruit tea was a little sweet but very good. They had magic tea mugs that would change color and the picture changed. We were also shown little clay pee pee boys that peed a certain distance when the water got to the right temperature for one tea and then a different distance for another. It was pretty funny! Andrew loved that!. He has definitely been a little better about trying new foods. May not eat much of it but he has tried it! I am so proud of him! Next, we were off for more Chinese food, with some Peking duck included. They have kept us very busy so we would stay awake and get ourselves adjusted to China time. It worked. We crashed by 8PM that night.

Sunday, September 2

One more night night Andrew! We started our Sunday off the best way ever. We got to spend time worshipping our Lord and Savior at the Beijing International Church Fellowship-East. They rent an auditorium from the 21st Century Hotel. We got to enjoying fellowship with other believers in an English service. We sang praise songs and enjoyed an great message on small groups and their importance to believers.Their were people their from the British Isles, Brazil, South Africa, Guyana, and other countries. What a sweet time!
Next we went to the jade factory store, lunch and the Great Wall. It had been raining when we woke up this morning. We thought we were going to have another trip to the wall where we could not see a thing. Last time, the clouds had settled in and there was snow everywhere.This time it was clear as a bell. We could see a very long way. It was beautiful! We drove by the Birds' Nest and water cube so people could take pictures if they wanted to.
Tonight some of us went to the Chinese Acrobatics Show. It was phenomenal! The guys were jumping through hoops that had to be 8 feet high and some of the girls were doing things that I could not believe. They had to be double jointed in multiple areas and very flexible! Andrew really enjoyed it! It did fall asleep before the end because he was so tired. We just put him in bed clothes and all! They had a clown running around before the show and between sets. He gave Andrew a poodle shaped balloon.

Monday, September 3

Today is Jonathan Day! We were up at 3AM this morning! We had to finish packing and be ready for the bell boys to get our bags at 4:30, check out and be on the bus at 5:10 AM. Sherri had arranged for the hotel to have bag breakfast ready for us to take with us. The family going to Hangzhou had left last night after dinner. The 3 Nanchang, Jiangxi families left at 7:20 and we left for Nanjing, Jiangsu at 07:50. Our flight was 1 hour 40 minutes. We got checked in to our hotel and went over to KFC for lunch. The boys were very ready for some Western food. Not quite the same as our KFC. 
We met our guide, Lily, in the lobby to go to Civil Affairs to meet Jonathan. Not near as crowded as the office in Lanzhou. We recognized our sweet Jonathan when we saw him. He is a sweet heart. He went right to Kevin and Andrew. I got stuck filling out papers and then I got to hold my sweet boy. We went by a little grocery on our way so we would have some milk and snacks for the boys there. We have also met some Canadian and Belgium families adopting here. I think we have a big eater on our hands. He'll be able to eat us out of house and home! Already had my first kiss from Jonathan. Having a few jealousy issues but I think it will get better with time. We are having to make a concentrated effort to make sure Andrew is not filling left out. So prayers will be appreciated in that area. 
Andrew used to such on 3 fingers for comfort. Jonathan loves his thumb and his shoes. He is a great sleeper. We went to bed at  8 PM  and only woke up once around 2:30 and with a little comforting he was back asleep in about 20 minutes.

Nanjing

                                 Garden in front of Mandarin Garden Hotel, Nanjing

        Aqua City Mall, Nanjing. It's the ink building on left. That's where Starbucks, etc was. 

PICTURES!!

Back in the room!

Meeting Jonathan at Civil Affairs!

The 3 Friesen's before we become 4!! (Great Wall)

Kevin and Andrew at the Ju Yong Pass, Badaling section of the Great Wall

Look how far up we are Mom!

Tiannemen Square in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Bridge of 17 Arches at Summer Palace

Our family with our Beijing guide, Sherry

Stretching the next layer for the silk blanket

Double silk worm cocoons.  

BCIF church service

Can definitely see better today!

Andrew taking my B/P with poodle dog balloon 

Hotel lobby in Beijing

PTI airport before we left GSO

Civil Affairs Office 9.04.12

Jonathan 9.03.2012

This didn't show up in my post.

What a beautiful boy!!!

We Have Jonathon!!!

Hello family and friends from Lisa and Kevin.  This is Sharon from Texas posting for them.  We traveled with Lisa and Kevin in 2008 when we both met out sons together in Lanzhou.   They wanted you all to know that they cannot access Facebook or their blog in China so I will be posting for them as I receive updates.  This is what Lisa emailed me today:

"Andrew loves being a big brother but is feeling a little left out and is jealous.  We had some tears at bedtime last night.  We were all exhausted last night so I did not get any other pictures..."

I know first hand how exhausting traveling, the time change, meeting your little one and having other children to attend to can be.  Please pray for Kevin, Lisa, Andrew and Jonathan.  It is not uncommon for your child to come to you sick (as the Friesens know VERY well with Andrew in 08).  They have not mentioned that but pray that they all are well and will stay well.  It is also a huge transition for everyone with the language barrier and so many new sights, sounds and surroundings for Jonathon.   Pray also for Andrew.  As you know he recently had surgery so I am sure he is still recuperating.    

He is certian to have some anxiety over the arrival of his new brother and although I am sure he is excited it can still be overwhelming,  It is not uncommon for kids his age to begin having questions about their own adoption so pray for Kevin and Lisa and they many encounter some new questions or uncertiantities they may not have seen in the past.  

As we are headed to bed tonight they are beginning their Tuesday.  I expect they will finalize Jonathans adoption on the Chinese end today so pray for all the paperwork and details that will happen today.  

I will update again as soon as I hear from Lisa.  I know she and Kevin appreciate all of you and your following them on this very exciting journey.  I will make sure they see any comments you leave on her blog. 

Sharon for Lisa and Kevin  

An Eventful 2 Days!

Right now I feel like singing the theme song for Ni Hao Kailan's movie, "We're Going To China". Ever heard that one?
"We're going to China, We're going to China, I feel so happy I just want to sing......!"
My heart is singing and rejoicing right now. My God is so good and faithful to those who trust in Him.
Yesterday, August 7, we got a phone call from our adoption co-ordinator, Aimee, at AWAA. We had our travel approval. We had just gotten an email from the travel co-ordinator saying our Article 5 on July 20th. Then we got the call at 1:06 pm with the good news. She told us to plan on traveling on August 30th. We called our friends, Jamie and Karen, to find out if they had gotten their travel approval. They had! Wow! We have been in singles, church and Bible study together and through the first adoption process at the same time. We just didn't get our children at the same time that go around Today, we got the email from Teresa, our travel co-ordinator. We got our flights booked and believe it or not, we will be traveling with our friends! We will be on the same flights going but they get to come back home the day before us because their consulate appointment will be the day before ours. Their first daughter is the same age as Jonathan and about 2 years younger than Andrew. We got together tonight at China Buffet to celebrate! What a wonderful time! The Lord also blessed us with awesome airline tickets! We (Andrew included) had been praying about that. With the gas prices the way they are right now, we thought the tickets would be astronomical but they weren't! That is a definite praise. Can I hear a big AMEN!!?? After we booked the tickets today, the 3 of us spent time praying together and thanking the Lord for His wonderful blessings! We really wanted to re-iterate this with Andrew.
This afternoon I marked Andrew's calendar and we counted off the night nights until travel. It's 22 night nights from today! Time will fly by quickly. I will be very busy at work making sure orientation stuff is taken care of before I leave and at home getting ready to travel. Well, it's time to get Andrew ready for bed. Please keep us all in prayer. We love you all.
Lisa