Thursday in Changchun - Our Last Day here!

Today was spent just relaxing again. We thought about doing some sightseeing at the Emperor's Palace which was were the film "The Last Emperor" was shot, but Joshua is having some stomach issues today. I think he is having a hard time adjusting to the difference in food. He is only used to eating mainly rice and noodles.

We just got through bowling - yes again!! I have really improved and so has everyone else!! I bowled a 140! Olivia was 41, William 39, Chase 95 and Dad 168. We played some games in the room and finally found a show on HBO we could watch (some spongebob movie).

In case you have been watching the news and seeing the airline crashes in China - we were not on either of those planes. However we will be flying Air China again this next week when we go back to Beijing before coming home. Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 6:00 a.m and fly to Guangzhou. We should arrive there around 2:00 p.m. We should get Joshua's passport today. That is what we have been waiting on here in Changchun.

Saturday, Joshua will get a basic physical from a doctor. It is called his polyclinic appointment. Sunday is a day of rest. Monday we have our US Embassy and immigrant Visa Exit Interview. Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. we have an Oath Ceremony where he becomes a US Citizen and gets his Visa. Wednesday we fly to Beijing. We get there about 11:30 a.m. and hope to see the Great Wall Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning we will walk to the Forbidden City and Tienamen Square from the Hotel and leave for home that afternoon at 3:45. We will be home next Thursday -one week from today. Our plane lands around 9:00 p.m. and we hope to be home around 11:00 p.m. that night. Hopefully we will be able to sleep! It seems like it would only be a short plane ride, but you have to remember there is a 13 hour time difference. So it will feel like 4:45 a.m. when we arrive home!!

I don't have any photos today. We have just been lazy!! We will walk down to Wal Mart later and stock up before we go to the next city!! It has been really nice to have one here! The banana bread and Oreos were a real hit in the room! We also had Ramen type noodles everyday for lunch! We will eat dinner at KFC tonight. Our entire family can eat at KFC for about 15$ and McDonalds for about $10. Pizza Hut is a little more expensive about $20, but well worth it!! We have been very fortunate to stay in this hotel. It was really nice. This room has two rooms a bedroom and a living area and a bath and a half. It was extremely cheap for such a nice hotel - only about $74 a night. The only problem we have had is that the beds were extremely hard. It will be so nice to be able to sleep in a nice soft bed!!

I have figured out how to read comments in English! Thanks for all the comments! They are very encouraging to us! I hope we will have internet access at our next hotel so we can check email and post some more.

Our guide just stopped by and gave us Joshua's passport! Yeah!! On to Guangzhou tomorrow!

Thanks for your constant prayers. I can really tell that there are many prayers being offered on our behalf. Joshua has been doing really well and adjusting great! He has been a joy and a blessing to us already!

As I have walked the streets of this extremely populated city, I can see the sadness in so many faces of the people here. I know it is from the absence of God in the lives of so many here. It is really kind of eerie not to see any signs of religion anywhere here. We don't realize how fortuate we are to live in a free country! Praise God!