Forbidden City and Hutong Tour

Wow! What an exciting and exhausting day. We started out at the North end of Tiananmen Square, walked through the Forbidden City, and finally went out the South end. I've never seen something so large. It is called the Forbidden City because commoners weren't allowed. It was strictly for the Emperors and high officals. It is truly a City and huge. It is surprising that it is still intact - especially when Beijing is growing so much. As we walked through the city today, it was hard to keep our minds focused on what we were seeing. We kept noticing all of the children. I had seen the little girl at the end of our slide show about 4 times before I finally took her picture. She is so cute. There were alot of pushy salesmen outside Tiananmen Square. Jerry got followed for quite awhile before the gentleman took the hint. We drew quite a crowd there as well. The people there thought we were part of the view. Several people took our pictures!
Next we went on a rickshaw ride through a Hutong District. That means we rode in a buggy on the back of a bike through an older more traditional part of Beijing. It was really neat. Our driver was comical and tried to beat all of the other drivers. We got to go inside one of the homes and an older woman described her life. I believe she said she was 71 and she was such a beautiful person. She has 2 grown children. She didn't speak any English, so our tour guide translated everything for us. I asked if she had any grandchildren and she immediately said "grandchildren, no!" She understood what I was saying. We all laughed. She is anxiously awaiting grandchildren, but her children keep telling her maybe next year. She was so pleasant and happy. It really showed us how spoiled we are and things don't bring happiness.
We came back to the hotel to get ready for tomorrow. Our bags are packed and we are very anxious! We leave the hotel at 7:30am (7:30 Monday night) to fly to Shenyang. We will go to a government building at 2pm (2am Tuesday) and receive Hanna. We will take all of our cameras and will post pictures and video as soon as we can. We aren't sure yet about the internet at our next hotel, but we will work as quick as we can to post. We know you are all anxious to meet our daughter and the boys' their sister! We are going to be a family of 5 soon! My mom is finally going to get her Granddaughter! God has blessed us so much!
Please keep Hanna in your prayers for tomorrow. She is leaving all that is familiar to her. She is bound to be scared and confused. We are praying that God grants us peace and wisdom to handle the situation as best we can. Jerry keeps telling me that I'll have to keep my emotions in check (I'm not supposed to cry! I don't want her to think I'm upset!). Pray God grants us all peace.
Coach Thompson - you will be happy to know there are 2 basketball courts inside the Forbidden City.
A note for 2nd hour - DEREK be quiet. Thanks Chelsea!
A note for Mrs. Long's class - Please be good for Mrs. Hoard. I miss you all and are thinking of you. Tell Mrs. Monts hello for me when you go to library today. I hope you all had a wonderful fall break!
Boys - we love you more than the McDonald's we had for supper - and that is alot because it tasted just like home!