The Hastings are in Hefei...

We are now in Hefei (the provincial capital of Anhui) where we will receive Gracee tomorrow morning (Monday 7/25). The flight was uneventful; the inflight meal was interesting. (We still don't know what the meat was. Our coordinator said it was chicken, but it looked like no chicken we had ever seen.) We ate it along with spicy bamboo shoots on top of sticky rice and bean sprouts. Our hotel in Hefei is very nice. It is far, far less crowded here than in Beijing (we are on the outskirts of the city.) We opened our room door to find the crib and stroller in Mom and Dad's room, as well as a gift of a bottle of Heinz baby food (with an Asian baby on the cover!) from the hotel management. The weather is very warm outside (no rain here yet.) We are in a business development section of the city, so there is some new development around here that makes it an attractive area. Everyone is still healthy and well. The kids are sleeping very well; Mom and Dad are doing fairly well with it. Right now we are gathering up dirty clothes to go to the laundry. (After yesterday's rain-soaked excursions, the wet socks and shoes make for 'powerful' laundry.) The plan right now is for the babies to come to the hotel tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. WOW! Mom is busy right pulling out all of Gracee's clothes, linens, toys, etc. Thank you for your prayers. We can hardly believe that the journey we started early last year is coming to fruition. We are grateful to God for His marvelous work in bringing Gracee to her "forever family." The adventure continues...