Just Pictures 1

Just Pictures 1

OK fourth times the charm.  I can only attach a few pics at a time or the network blocks my email so here a few.  I'll just have to do multiple posts.

We Made It!

Hey, it's almost 9am in Beijing and we are about to head out to do the grand tour of the city and see the Great Wall.  Will post pictures tonight. There are 5 families in our travel group and 4 of them are going with us to Nanchang tomorrow.  We were reunited with our guide Alison last night at the airport.  So good to see her.  She says she wouldn't have recognized him if we weren't with him - she remembers him as a little round faced boy.  Diane, Alison remembered you fondly and asked about you when we saw her. The big thing is that we made it here safe and sound, and the trip, although grueling, wasn't as bad as last time around.  Let's hope that keeps up.  Oh well, we're off.  More to come.

TJ

Greetings from Paradise!

Ah, the good life...

We're laying over in Detroit in the Delta SkyClub which we did a 30-day membership just for this trip.  Best decision we've made yet.  This place is a palace - an oasis in the desert of the countless gates and magazine racks and airport mini-restaurants that we all associate with the drudgery of airport travel.  We are lounging through our layover with free wifi (hence the blog update), complimentary cappuccino and cocktails, snacks, private restrooms and big, comfy, leather chairs.  All in the comfort of our own, semi-private alcove...ahhhhhh.  I could take a nap here if I could get the five year old to stop running around the place like a looney. (No, really he's doing remarkably well.)  What a far cry from our first trip two years ago. I could get used to this kind of travel.  Unfortunately, in about 60 minutes we've got a 5 hour flight to Seattle crammed like sardines in a tin can. Oh well.  All worth it for dear Lucy.  And it's helpful to know there is another one of these amazing lounges available to us at SeaTac Airport. 

Way to go Dad for finding us this jewel!

Here We Go Again

Well, the day is finally here.  We are at the end of a long day of packing and heading into an even longer day of traveling.  We take off tomorrow at 9am and land in Beijing at noon (EST) the next day.  Of course in China it will be almost Midnight - so our internal clocks are bound to be all jacked up by then. We're calling it a night and trying to get some sleep before the big day.  It's hard to believe we'll be holding sweet Lucy by the end of this weekend.  Keep us in your prayers - the transpacific flights there and back again are going to be one of the roughest parts of this whole trip. 

We've been told that Chinese internet blocks access to Blogger, so we will be posting our blog updates by email.  I'm testing it out with this post.  Hope it works ok and the pic of Tyson on the bags is visible.

TTFN

TJ

The Mystery Envelopes

This is a special post for the sender of the mysterious white envelopes. You know who you are...It probably won't make sense to to the rest of you but read on if we've piqued your interest.

Ho hum.  It was just a normal day of looking through the mailbox.  The typical bills, insurance documents, junk mail, white envelope with no return of address.  Wait, what was that last one?  A Mystery Envelope with a cryptic message inside.  From somewhere in Norfolk.  Hmmmmmmmm.  Over the next few weeks Tyson and I would go running to the mailbox every afternoon to see what the next word in your message was. Day by day you added to our joy.  To this day we still don't know who you are.  We've racked our brains and have had a few ideas, but we remain stumped.  But as the time to pick up our daughter quickly approaches, I wanted to say THANK YOU!  Your thoughtfulness was a true blessing in the midst of this terribly long wait.  If you ever want to reveal your identity, we're all ears. Lucy thanks you for helping to bring her home.
Thanks again,
Melissa

Just the Three of Us...

One last time at the beach with Tyson, just the three of us...