More of Beijing...and tech issues

Hi everyone, it's Brie again:) My parents are having some internet issues and haven't been able to post from China, so they sent me their pics and my mom and I talked so I am going to do my best to update you all on their day yesterday (Saturday in China) and today (Sunday in China). Soooo, I will do my best to describe things in my mom's words:

Well, we have had some very full days the last few days!!! Yesterday was our second full day in Beijing and we had a great time experiencing Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City,  a Hutong Tour, and a Beijing Tea Ceremony. Before we went anywhere we had breakfast at our hotel which was great and has definitely been a meal we have looked forward to each morning! After breakfast we headed out in this chilly weather (no one thought we would need our winter gear...good thing I insisted we bring them!) to meet up with our guide Vivienne and board the bus for Tiananmen Square. Things were a little different this time at Tiananmen Square, there is now a security check before you go in, so we had to wait in line for a while...there was a different vibe too...there used to be a lot of families there having fun, but not so much anymore. It was actually kind of sad. We were glad to be able to take the girls there and explain some of the history, but I told Brie on the phone today that I would be totally fine if I never visited there again:)

After Tiananmen Square we headed to the Forbidden City and then went on a Hutong Tour. After that we had the option to have lunch at a Hutong Family Home, which was really neat! We have never done this before and it was great:) The family was really sweet and so was the tour guide and the food was good too!

After lunch we headed to a Tea Ceremony at a local Beijing tea shop:) The girls loved it, and so did Mark and I. After our very full day we headed back to the hotel for a little rest before dinner....well, our litlte rest turned into a long rest because we all fell asleep and never had dinner! Actually we have't had dinner the last two nights because we have all fallen asleep early! We honestly haven't been sleeping great, so that's something to pray for:) I mean we have had different times of rest, but we are definitely not over our jet lag yet. It's probably good that we have a few extra days before we meet Ben, hopefully by then we will be on a better sleep schedule:)

Speaking of Ben, we are so excited to be so close to meeting him! Just a couple more days!!! We are headed out today (Sunday) at noon for Chengdu and then Tuesday, January 20th is Gotcha Day!!! We have a couple days in Chengdu before we meet Ben which is a little different than the timeframe we have had in the past, but we are enjoying China with our girls while we wait.  We are missing everyone at home, but Brie says they are all doing well:) Thanks for all of your prayers and for following along on our journey:)

Love,
Patti and Family

Tiananmen Square:)

Dad...looking a little chilly...maybe he should have brought his winter coat too:)

Love my sweet girls:)

Dad and Becca at Tiananmen Square

Becca actually talked to Calen for a bit while strolling along at Tiananmen Square:)

Mom and girls:)

Hutong tour!

More Hutong tour!

Lunch with the Hutong family hosts:)

Ummmm...tea???? (This is Brie writing the captions...I'm totally guessing...maybe this is tea? Or maybe it is a weird fish bowl with dirty water????)

Vivienne, our guide:)

Group shot!

Ok, it's Brie again - I posted this a bit later than planned, my parents and the girls are probably in the air right now on their way to Chengdu! Hopefully they have better luck with the internet there! If not, I'll just keep helping to post for them:)