Zhengzhou.... January 29th 2012

January 29th 2012

We went to bed early and started to finally adjust to the time change. It was rise and shine at 6:00am then down for breakfast for our last hours in Beijing. Our group of 20 families was now being split between three different provinces, with ours being the largest of all three groups. Nine families left Beijing at 8:30 am for a bus ride to the airport. Our flight was delayed and we had a gate switch while David was off doing what David does.... We had our entire group looking for him with a false alarm that our flight was again on time and would be leaving in 10 minutes....Thank God it was a false alarm because it took about that long to find him in a bookstore casually looking around.

Our flight finally left around 1:00pm and we arrived in Zhengzou the capital of the Henan Province around 3:00 pm. We were late to arrive but we were pleasantly surprised to meet our next guides Yisha & Vivian. They have this thing down to a science. A printed schedule of the itinerary times, activities, must do's & dont's.

The city was much larger than I would have ever anticipated. The Henan province is the largest Province in all of China. We arrived at the hotel with a 15 minute break before

David was off to the bank to exchange money for our week and required fees for the following day....Gotcha Day. The room was very nice as you can see. Great view of a little courtyard in the back. Gracyn was of course walking around the room looking in all the mirrors to see which one suit her best. The guys all stopped at 7 eleven on the way home from the bank to buy drinks and snacks until dinner time.

At 6:00 pm we met most of the families for dinner at the Italian Resturaunt in the Hotel called Mama Mia's. Pretty good pizza I must add. Poor Gracyn could barely make it through dinner and her and I were off to the room to put her to bed for a good nights sleep before the big day.

You could feel the excitement and nervousness amongst the other families. I'm sure each of us had a hard time falling and staying asleep.

We have been so blessed to have so many medical professionals on our trip. Our group is full of special Ed teachers, Vetinarians, Nurses, Physical Therapists, to name a few, but what a surprise to find out our group had our very own Pediatrician in our group. With adoption you never know what you may face, and he was such a blessing to have for those in need in the days to follow.

Thanks to all our friends and family who continue to pray for our family. Tomorrow is our special day!!!

Gracyn & One of Many who wanted a Photo with her.

Our Hotel in Zhengzou

Cindy - Our sweet guide in Beijing :)

Please Lord watch over our family as we follow in your guidance, and seek your face and your word during our families transition. Please help Gracyn find comfort in your word as she may find herself feeling emotions she has yet to encounter about her new little sister. Heal our new daughters heart. Let your healing hand touch her and surround her, so she knows she is safe and loved in our arms....In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

The Lyon Family