code: public static List<Element> getChildElements(Element e) {
  
  		List<Element> ret = new ArrayList<Element>();
  		NodeList children = e.getChildNodes();
  
  		for (int i = 0; i < children.getLength(); i++) {
  			Node child = children.item(i);
  			if (child.getNodeType()  == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
  				ret.add((Element) child);
  			}
  		}
  
  		return ret;
  	}
docs: Create a new list containing only the child nodes of e of type
  {@link Element}.
  @param e
  @return