A Suprise Email!!

We just got back from a day of sightseeing and I had a present waiting on me... an email with new pictures of Anna Li. How exciting!!

We will be flying to Xining Sunday around 8:30am (I believe that would be Saturday night Alabama time). Please keep us in your prayers, especially Anna Li!

Trip to the grocery store

Not your average American Grocery Store for sure!! Jean and Scott took us on a tour of the grocery store tonight... and I thought Wal-Mart was bad!! There was so many people there I just wanted to run out. It was mass caos! Here is some interesting things I saw.... This would be chicken feet!! I had to wait for someone buying some so I could get a picture.
Squid anyone??
A nice "live" selection to choose from...

Hutong Tour and Chinese Acrobat Show

Hutong tour was kind of crazy!! The man that was pedaling us didn't really act like he wanted to be at work today:) I just knew before we got of we were going to hit a bike, a car, or a person. Crazy driving and he couldn't stay off his cell phone! There is a story to this picture but I can't remember it! Chad will have to fill in the blanks when he wakes up!!
Another stop on the Hutong Tour, we got to visit this man and see a traditional Chinese home. Pretty neat!
His home...
We also got to visit a school. I believe it went from 2-6. The guide said they stay there from 7:30am- 7:30pm!!!

To end our guided tour we went to a Chinese Acrobat show. They would not allow cameras in so you will have to take my word for it... it was great!!

We are officially potty squaters!!

Bethany and I are officially potty squatters!! This is something I was really dreading but you know what, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it! It is really weird, you have to get the toilet paper before you go into the bathroom. As you can see, this was a 4 star squat potty. I don't want to use anything less!! We are getting to be pros at this!!

Lunch at Dai Jai Cun Restaurant

Lunch was very very nice. As we entered the building we had people lined up playing music. We sat down to a big round table with a turn table in the middle. There was so much food placed on our table. We had chicken, duck, beef, mutton, rice, veggies, and soup. It was all very delicious!! We also had entertainment! As we ate we had dancing girls and a musician. They asked Bethany to dance with them but as you can guess, she refused!! Picture of our dinner!! We did our tour with another CHI family: Jean, Scott, and their 2 boys
Some pictures of our entertainment!!

Temple of Heaven

Very long, very hot day!! We visited the Temple of Heaven today. It was a very beautiful place.
There was lots of people sitting around relaxing, playing games, singing, and dancing as you walk to the temple. It was pretty neat to see. Bethany at the Temple of Heaven. Isn't she beautiful!!
Picture of some older men playing chess as we walked to the temple.
We stopped at an art gallery as we were leaving and this is one of the pictures there. It was one of my favorite stops. I am sure being in the air conditioning had nothing to do with it!!
As we were leaving a couple asked the kids to play a game. I am not sure what it was called but it looked really neat. Bethany didn't want to at first but eventually gave in.

The View From Our Room

We slept about 6 hours last night on our nice HARD matress, and we are good to go!! (not!) We just finished breakfast at the hotel. The food was just ok. We mainly just filled up on pasteries and juice. Bethany is surly going to starve to death! She even turned down a doughnut. I don't know what she is going to do when we run out of junk food brought from home. Off we go for a day of sight seeing. Children's Hope is taking us on a guided tour of the Temple of Heaven this morning. We are eating lunch at Dai Jia Cun Restraurant. This afternoon we will do the Hutong Tour and see the Chinese Acrobat Show. If I am not completely exhausted I will tell you about it tonight (or your tomorrow!)