Bringing Home Maggie: The Great Wall

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Great Wall

Today, after stopping at a jade factory, we hiked up a VERY steep part of the Great Wall. It was an incredible site and accomplishment. Getting down was even more challenging--our knees are still shaking. Oh, and did I mention it was snowing!! Here are some of the photos:

At the bottom

Looking up

Preparing to hike

It's getting steep

The sea of people who joined us at first

Then, the amount of people started to die down.

We are feeling pretty good about our trek!

This is the point that my knees, asthma, and fear of heights prompted me to start back down.

Steve and Sebbie ventured up a little further to this cool guard tower.

On the way home we stopped at the Cloisonne factory (very interesting), a fresh water pearl factory, and then we took Sebbie to this Chinese McDonald's that he has been wanting to visit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Good to hear that you're getting in a few workouts. You're almost to the big day now!; March 29, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Candace Wells said...: Wow! You guys look like you are having an awesome time. Not only is this a life changing time in your lives, it's definitely a trip of a lifetime! We can't wait for you to come home with Maggie. :c); March 29, 2009 at 6:51 PM

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Interesting Facts About China

The size and shape of China is very similar to the United States.

The population in China is 1.3 billion.

Only about 10% of the land in China is arable.

There are 55 different recognized minority nationalities in China that make up 6% of the population. The majority ethnic group (94%) is Han.

In some areas of China, the people, food, language, and cultural practices are more similar to those in other countries than majority China. The Uighur people, for example, eat lots of lamb, speak Turkish, and have the physical appearance more similar to those in the Middle East.

Swimming For My Daughter

On October 30th, I began swimming 40 miles in 40 days as a way to mark my 40th birthday on December 4th and to honor the upcoming adoption of our daughter. I called this event "Swimming For My Daughter" because I collected some flat or per mile contributions toward our adoption expenses from any one who wanted to contribute.

During the 40 days I had many wonderful family members and friends that encouraged me and some that even swam with me! Some friends who lived far away swam with me in spirit.

I ended up getting in better swimming shape than I have been in before and met my goal of getting in the water EVERY day. Due to some extra yardage I put in, the grand mileage total was just over 43 miles.

The last workout was a wonderful culmination to the entire 40 days-- a descending set of 40 50's with the last five being on the :40. A large group of regular swimmers and some not so regular swimmers got in the water to join me, while other cheered from the deck. I was able to make all the send offs but I had to work REALLY hard to make the last few. My toes are still cramping as I write this, but the memory of the accomplishment and the support makes me feel so wonderful.

After the final swim, we celebrated with a big party at the pool, complete with a family swim time, trips down the zip-line, a tasty potluck dinner, cake, a heartwarming song (written by my husband!), and awesome company.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of my wonderful family and friends who helped and encouraged me in so many ways--notes, emails, phone calls, conversation, child care, contributions, underwater photos, swimming with me, and celebrating with me. I feel truly blessed.

Thank you to Sebastian who gave more support, encouragement, and understanding toward my goal than I could have ever imagined a five-year-old to do.

My greatest gratitude and thanks goes to by biggest source of support in this swim and in life--my wonderful husband Steve. This journey we are on together gets better with each passing year. I look forward to 40 more!

Bringing Home Maggie

The Law/George Family

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Great Wall

2 comments:

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Interesting Facts About China

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Swimming For My Daughter

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