Broken bones, broken plans

Ok, it has been an eventful couple of days. Although I planned to work a bit Sunday, pack, and generally get ready for our trip, my son had different plans. While walking out of church on Sunday morning he took a slip that landed him perfectly on his arm and... CRACK! He broke his arm. Dad and Connor spent the rest of the day in the emergency room getting x-rays and splints. After he got over the initial pain and shock he was a trooper. He was especially excited that he didn't have to get any shots while at the hospital. He did, however, get a good dose of high-octane pain killer, so the car ride home was filled with some intersting observations by him.

In regards to Harbin, here are some links of where we'll be going:

Our hotel (can you say "sweet") - http://www.shangri-la.com/harbin/shangri-la/en/index.aspx
Harbin ice festival - http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/heilongjiang/harbin/ice_snow.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2006-01-10-harbin-ice-festival_x.htm
We actually arrive the last night of the festival, which ends with a finale of everyone breaking lanterns. It should be pretty awesome, although cold... http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CHXX0046?from=search_10day. Anchorage will seem tropical.

Now, it is off to pack and get ready. Tomorrow finish up at work and then enjoy an evening with family before a 6am flight Wednesday morning.

1 week to go...

In just a week from now we'll be in the air somewhere over the Pacific, probably sleeping, and trying to prepare our hearts and minds for the next part of the journey. We will fly from here to Seattle to Tokyo to Beijing.

We spend a couple days in Beijing where we hope to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Then it is on to Harbin, a cold but beautiful city.

More on this later... I want to get this post up and I don't have the time to write what I want. Boy, I hope this online journal thing works out. :)

The beginning of the blog, but not the journey

We have our plane tickets and are set to leave for China on February 1 to pick up our daughter Carli Yuan. We are obviously advocates of adoption... Carli will be our second daughter we have adopted. More information about the journey that led us to this point, as well as our journey to China.

To all our friends and family watching... we will be thinking of you even as we travel!