Day 2- Hutong

After leaving the Forbidden City, we went to tour the silk factory.  We thought this was very interesting...we were able to see how they take a silk worm cocoon, soak it in water,find a single thread of the silk and then thread it through a tiny hole to attach to the machine to spin it.  We learned about double cocoons and single cocoons.  After the intense sales chase, we were off to Hutong.  These are the flat houses that we toured and road in a rickshaw.  The rickshaw ride was fun, but touring the flat houses was depressing.  It is also sad to think that although Jackson has been in fostercare, which is the best situation for him, it is possible that he has been living in something like the flat houses.
The pictures are of us riding in the rickshaw, a view of the outside of the flat house and the kitchen.
After visiting Hutong, we went back to our hotel to rest for a little over an hour.  Then it was off to the acrobatics show.  This was enjoyable, but we were ready to head back and pack up.
Tomorrow morning we meet our new guide, Cherry, and she will get us to the airport, help us get our tickets and then send us on our way through security to catch our flight to Taiyuan (pronounce Tie-yen).  This is the capitol of Shanxi and is where we will get Jackson at the Civil Affairs office.  We are hoping that when we arrive, we will have time to check into our hotel room, freshen up, and then pack a backpack of much needed Cheerios, DumDum lollipops, a couple of toys, some diapers and anything else we can think of.
Our next post we will be honored to finally introduce our son, Jackson Kuan to you.  We will probably start the posts with the earliest picture we have of Jackson at 1 year old, then 20 months old, 25 months old, and then Gotcha Day pictures-29 months old.
Please pray that we have a safe flight.  Also, Jackson will be riding in a van from Datong with another little boy who is being adopted from his orphanage and will be living in Sweden.  It is about a 3-4 hour drive.  They will be exhausted and hungry, I'm sure!!  Please pray that the Gotcha Day transition will go smoothly and that Jackson will allow us to comfort him when he grieves.
We miss everyone and are so thankful for each of you!  Thank you for your prayers and your words of encouragement and wisdom this past year! 
We are looking forward to sharing this miraculous moment in our family's life with you all!  (This is much better than inviting you all into the delivery room with me!) HA!
It is our prayer that our call to adoption and our journey will somehow touch your life and that you will be forever changed!  God has called us all to take care of the orphans and the widows!  Please ask the Lord to show you what He has planned for you and your family!  You might just very well be God's plan for an orphan!!!
Tomorrow there will be 1 less orphan in the world, but only because we w