Before Getting the Children

Hi,

Last night was fun. After I got up from my nap it was time for us to all meet downstairs to go out to dinner. The Tanskis have Steve' s step sister Meg here with them. Meg speaks fluent Mandarin and picked out our restaurant for the evening. We went and had dinner at an authentic Chinese restaurant! The Pinsons having spent a few days in a different city were already accustomed to eating the traditional food. There were no English translations or pictures on the menu. I really enjoyed the food. It was great having Meg and Michael there to order for us. We had some really amazing food. It was also cool that Meg is also a Vegetarian like me. I didn't have to worry about what was in some of the food that she ordered. I took a picture of Meg and Michael ordering our food last night.

After dinner last night the Tanskis and I went and got massages. That was an experience. We were able to receive an hour massage for about $13. It was good after riding on a plane for over 16 hours. It was a little intense at times but overall a good time. It is amazing these petite women are so strong and able to work out the kinks and knots so effortlessly. After the message, the incredible amount of food that I ate at the restaurant, combined with the long flight, I was totally ready for bed. I crashed!

This morning when I got up I knew that it would be a long day. This afternoon would be when the Pinsons and Tanskis would get their daughters. We meet downstairs at 10 o'clock or so and headed out to get some things for their new daughters in the afternoon. And where else do you go shopping for kids in Nanning, China but...you guessed it-- Super WAL-MART! Who would have thought half way around the world there would be a Super Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart here is a little different from the Super Wal-Marts in the states. This Super Wal-Mart is not open 24 hours and doesn't have everything that we have in ours. I did find the Wal-Mart brand "Great Value" here. That did kind of surprise me. The package actually says Great Value on it.

After Wal-Mart we went to a department store called Parkson. It is a typical department store and it had all the usually things. We even found a piece of exercise equipment that simulates bull riding. It is designed to strengthen your lower abs and back. I figured out how to operate it and got on to give it a try! It was a lot of fun (check out the picture!). After the department store, we had lunch at Pizza Hut. It was a lot nicer than our Pizza Huts back home. The pizza tasted the same though.

Well It is now time to go to and pick up the girls! Here some pictures from the last 24 hours.

Enjoy!