Arrived in Nanning!

(sorry, no pictures today)
We survived the hotel in Yangshou!

We have now conquered several forms of transportation in China...planes, trains, taxi's, van's, motorbike (Tom), a boat and a bus. The bus was another one of those experiences that you just have to have had in China. The bus was packed with over fifty people! It was non-stop from Guilin to Naning....five hours. We did have a brief stop to use the WC...wash closet, I think. The girls and I have conquered the squattie potty! I was a little anxious after our stop when the driver kept honking the horn. Several passengers were still not on the bus, Ty and Dane being two of them! They were two of the last three that made it back....with oreos in their hands. It's funny, but we really don't eat Oreos much at home, but they are the cookie of choice for us in China! Now to more important things.

We are in the Majestic Hotel in Nanning! Our guide is Glenn and the first thing he said was, "Sarah, welcome home!" Any mom knows that when you revisit "the firsts" it is a fun ride! We rode past the Lottery Hotel, the building that houses the government offices. This was where we first met Sarah! We then pulled into the Majestic Hotel. Just like the first trip here, there was a wedding taking place so the lobby was decked out. Sarah is just grinning like crazy because this is her placen and no one elses! I gave the girls a bath and remembered Sarah's first bath in the same place. It's a wild time!

Tomorrow we are headed to Qinzhou City, south of Nanning about two hours. We will visit Sarah's finding location. I will share more about that tomorrow. When we travelled here in 2006 to get Sarah, we visisted this spot as well. The difference is that when we visited it, we had not received Sarah yet. I'm thinking it will be a brand new experience for all of us now that Sarah has been an Alexander for several years now. One of the things we will do is pray together on that very spot and show God our gratitude for the red thread that runs from that spot to our house on Autumn Dr. in Lancaster, Ohio! Amazing! I look forward to holding Sarah on that very spot. After the finding spot we are headed to the local police station. We have the name of the officer that found Sarah that day and are hoping to find him tomorrow. How cool would that be? He was the one that transported her from the finding location to the orphanage. Here is some really wild news. Glenn told us that the Qinzhou SWI is allowing us to visit tomorrow! For some reason I thought they never allowed visitors. I am looking forward to the visit. I really don't know how long Sarah was there though...might have been just a few days.

We have also connected with Sarah's foster family and will be joining them later in the week. I think we are having lunch in their home. We'll also visit A Mother's Love....the second orphanage that was home for Sarah and the orphanage that operated the foster parenting program.

I know our church family at Fairfield Christian Church will be having services in about an hour and a half. We are so grateful to our church to allow Tom to have this experience with us! Thank you to the elders who supported us in the grant proposal! Our family is so very blessed! We will miss worshipping with you today!