Day 2 - Beijing

Ni Hao! Today we had another awesome day!! We did so much that I have NO idea how I'm typing this, hopefully there are not too many typos.....we are SO exhausted!! ; )

Today, we went to a church service, that was really good. In order to get in, you need to show your passport, proving that you are a foreigner. It was mostly in English and some Mandarin (Chinese), which was cool to hear. Then we headed to the Jade Factory...yes, I did some major damage there. ; ) ha ha, Edgar doesn't think it was that funny. Then we went to lunch...let me just say, it was DELICIOUS!!!!! Our lunch meals, here in Beijing, have been awesome! At the restaurant they had a big store, with LOTS of goodies, and once again...damage control. Yes, I've had a blast shopping here! ; ) Then we were off to The Great Wall!!! All we can say is...AMAZING! I (Barbara) totally wimped out, I kinda got scared of the steps and how steep they are. Edgar, on the other hand, went up 3 towers! I just waited and waited...and took pictures and more pictures. It was nice just taking it all in....we still can't believe we are in China! From there we went to dinner, which was good and then we saw an Acrobat Show...it was good.

Here are some pictures of today....enjoy!

This is the famous "squatty potty," there are lots more of these than "our" type of toilets. I have YET to use it...don't want to wet my pants. ; ) ha ha ha!!

On the bus after lunch...heading towards the Great Wall.
At the Great Wall...amazing!!

Locks of Love...couples buy locks and throw the key over the bridge for "Forever Love."

Edgar at the Great Wall.

Right before Edgar went on his long journey up the Wall.

There he goes...
Awesome picture! Angelica (Bonilla), this one is for you!! : ) Steps look small in this picture BUT they weren't all like this.
Edgar coming back...he was SO exhausted! For those of you that have asked, here you go...the Bird's Nest! : ) Looks amazing in person, even from the bus window.
Water Cube, not a great picture but that's the best that I could get.

I know, not too many pictures today BUT we need to get up at 4:30am to get ready for the airport tomorrow and we are still packing...emotions going crazy and we are so exhausted.

Tomorrow our lives are changing forever! We will be going from just us 2 for so long, to having a little one to care for, for the rest of our lives. We are so happy and excited that GOD has blessed us with this child and we are looking forward to meeting her. Please keep Crystina in your prayers, especially tonight, since we are about to give her the shock of her life. Words cannot express how we feel right now...in some hours, she will be in our arms! All we know is that we fly out in the morning, arrive in Kunming, Yunnan, we think we will be going to the hotel to check in and get all the gifts ready and then we'll be off to get our girl! She will be placed in our arms, while all of you are sleeping, so when you wake up...hopefully pictures will up, of our family of 3!!! We've had a very long journey to get here and I still don't believe it's happening! Feels like a dream...

We look forward to all the comments and thank you to those that have written us, it means the world to us! We miss everyone SO much!

Much love to all and God Bless!........Tomorrow we become a family of 3.......!!!! Can you tell that we are excited?!?!?!?!???!!!! ; )

Day 1 - Beijing

Ni Hao!!!! Before I forget, if you watched Samantha Brown, Passport to China then you will understand when I say........."We're in CHINA!!!!!!!!!" ; )

We had an awesome day today...tons of walking and sightseeing. We visited Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Pearl Factory, Summer Palace and Silk Museum. So we are very exhausted!

Tian'anmen Square is the largest public square in the world. It was very interesting and I still can't believe that we were there. Forbidden City was impressive. The architecture is so amazing!! The palaces were so colorful and beautiful! Now, my favorite spot, so far, was Summer Palace......that was amazing!! It's SO beautiful and peaceful there, we could have spent all day there. The views were breathtaking.

The Pearl Factory was nice. We bought Crystina her first pearl necklace, not for now but for when she gets older. : ) The Silk Museum was interesting....lots of nice stuff. There were 4 ladies making a comforter, which was very interesting, and I (Barbara) helped strecth the silk, along with another mom and most of the kids in our group.

Lunch was great! We really enjoyed it. Dinner was okay, we actually tried Chinese Pizza which was loaded with peppers.

Overall, we had an awesome day!!!!!!! Here are some pictures of our day.

On the plane, heading to China.

Our hotel room...yep, separate beds. ; )

In the elevator, heading down to breakfast.

Tian'anmen Square...lots of nice flowers.
Tian'anmen Square (construction going on).

For the Olympics & Paralympics...very nice.

Again, construction going on for the Paralympics. Entrance of Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Gate...so nice!!
Forbidden City Check out the architecture...so awesome! We are in the Forbidden City!!

Emperor's Palace...amazing!

Imperial Garden...so nice!! In the Garden...

She's making Crystina's necklace.

Summer Palace...amazing view!
Summer Palace...love the Weeping Willows.

At the Summer Palace. And again...at the Summer Palace.

Summer Palace...so peaceful.

My favorite shot!!! Of course, at the Summer Palace.

Love the architecture and all the colors!

Making a silk comforter.

This is all for now. Tomorrow we have another busy day...and one of the stops is the Great Wall, which we are very excited about! And then the next day....we get Crystina!!!!! We are SO close to her but it feels SO far away! Please keep Crystina in your prayers, as her little life is about to change very soon.

Thank you for the comments, they really mean so much to us...but please keep them coming!

We miss everyone so much! We send our love to all and may GOD bless you!

We made it!!!!!

Greetings from Beijing, China!!!! Yes, we made it...we are here!! We made it to Crystina's birth country. We are actually in the same country as she is...just miles and miles apart. In just 3 days, she will be in OUR arms!! And that day cannot get here fast enough.

Our flight from Orlando to DC was good and short (2 hours). A little bumpy towards the end....DC had pretty bad weather when we arrived. I met a very pleasant lady that sat next to me and we talked almost the whole way to DC. If she only knew how much she calmed my nerves. She was certainly an angel (for me) sent from GOD! And I thank her from the bottom of my heart. My regret.......I forgot to get her name and give her our blog. : (

Now...our flight from DC to Beijing..............was LONG!!! That was the longest 13 hours of my life! I thought we would never get here. We slept on and off, it's kinda hard to sleep well on a plane. We flew through Canada, the North Pole and Russia before landing in China. The flight was pretty good, despite the length. The landing was the BEST part!!! ; )

We are now in our hotel room...thinking about going to the local store, which compares to Wal-mart, to buy water and a few things. Since it's raining, I really don't want to venture out but I think we just have to. Especially if we want some dinner.......KFC sounds really good right now. : ) HA HA HA HA!!!

We will post pictures later on...right now we are way too tired to even think about that. We just wanted everyone to know that we made it, safely! Thank GOD!

Oh, mom can you please tell Abuela "Thank you" for the travel pillow that she let us borrow...that was the best thing that we carried on!! I'm actually going to be using it EVERY night to sleep...if Crystina doesn't take it from me in a few days.

Okay, this is all for now from China. We will post again tomorrow, if not tonight with pictures (highly doubt it)...we have a very busy day tomorrow and hope to have some really good shots of Beijing.

Much love to all and we miss everyone dearly!! God Bless!

We are ready to go....

Okay...so we are all packed and ready to go! Except for my nerves. I have been SO nervous for some weeks. But I'm sure with time and LOTS of prayers, I will be just fine. ; )

We wanted to test the video posting, so the first video is of Lola & Bertha...they are about to get a treat. It's so funny...especially Bertha, she jumps high when she gets excited!! Enjoy and we hope you can view them. **in order to listen to the videos, you will need to pause the music**

This is our nephew, Ayden. He's "talking." We are so sure, Ayden & Crystina will NOT have a problem communicating. ; )

And now here are a few pictures.

This one is of Ayden...this is the expression we get EVERY time he sees Crystina's picture. We can't wait for them to actually meet, it's going to be SO cute!!

Our nephew, Joshua and I share a birthday! We have been celebrating our birthdays together ever since he turned 1. So, it's an extra special day for me.

Here's an updated picture of Crystina's nursery. We received the letters for her name at our Baby Shower (Thank you Migdalia & Felipe!!). We love the way it looks.

Okay, this is it until we get settled in Beijing. PLEASE, PLEASE pray for our safe travels and for Crystina. We are VERY excited about meeting our daughter on Monday. Words cannot express our emotions right now...after waiting over 2 years for this moment....well, there are no words. You can only imagine how we feel. And if you really know us, you can really imagine it. ; )

If by some reason we are unable to post, my dad is going to do it for us. So, there will be something here, letting everyone know that we made it to China.

Before I forget....PLEASE, if you can, leave a comment, only positive ones! This will be our only way of communication with everyone (well, we will be calling our parents from time to time). And we really will be needing that extra support. Thank you in advance!!!

Okay...thank you to everyone for your prayers, not only now but for the past (almost) 3 years!! Keep them coming.... Much love to all!!!!!!

Crystina - 16 months old today...

Today, Crystina is 16 months old...

Our dearest Crystina,

In less than 2 weeks, your little world is going to change so much...our world is going to change too. And we can't hardly wait. We know it's going to be hard for all of us but it's going to be worth it. We love you so much and can't wait to meet you and hold you in our arms. We are looking forward to September 1st...our Forever Family day! We pray for you every day! May GOD bless you and keep you safe. See you real soon baby girl!!!

With ALL of our LOVE...
your mommy & daddy

Baby Shower

Our family and friends gave us the most amazing baby shower on Saturday, the 16th. We were so touched by everything. Here are some photos of our amazing day...

Our dear friend, Isabel, thought of this wonderful idea...it was so cute!!!

Here we are on our way to China...traveling first class. ; )
The cake that Barbara's mom made...it was cute and SO yummy!! And the chocolates that Annabel made for us.
All of our wonderful gifts!!

We had an amazing turn out!!! Many, many thanks to everyone that attended. Your support means so much to us!
Opening the gifts...
Thank you to Debbie and Blanca for the beautiful blessings!

We were deeply touched.

Enjoying every minute...

Our nephew, Ayden, calling his cousin, Crystina...in China. ; )

Edgar, Mom, Barbara & Dad. (Barbara's parents) Shirly, Edgar, Barbara, Alvani & Joshua (Edgar's sister & nephews)
Edgar, Ayden, Barbara, Annabel & Nathan. (Barbara's brother, sister-in-law & nephew)
Grandma Ana, Edgar, Barbara, Grandma Luz. (Crystina's great grandma's)
So cute...
Our Chinese Cabbage Patch Kid...
Ready to go get our daughter!!!!
Cleaning up...and having too much fun!!

We would like to give a HUGE, BIG THANK YOU to the following people for making our Baby Shower so special.

Barbara's parents: Ed & Carmen - for the adorable decorations & the beautiful cake

And to our very own personal catering service for all the food:
Ed & Carmen (Barbara's parents)
Violeta (Edgar's mom)
Shirly
Titi Wandy
Isabel
Edna
Blanca

Annabel - for the chocolates, they were so cute!
Brenda - for the beautiful invitations
Elda, Linda, Aixa & Judy - for helping my mom (Carmen) decorate
Delwin - for making the background music
Dr. Cunningham - for allowing us to use the school cafeteria

And finally to everyone that attended...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! Your support means the world to us. We greatly appreciate all the wonderful, beautiful gifts that were given for our daughter. Words cannot express our gratitude and appreciation. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Also, we would like to thank everyone for their beautiful prayers...GOD has heard them all and HE most certainly answered. May GOD bless you all!