Day 1: Travel (otherwise known as the day that lasted 2 days)

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog.  We have had some trouble figuring out internet connection, but

WE ARE IN BEIJING!!

We left RDU on Wednesday around noon and arrived in Beijing on Friday around noon.  If you do the math, you will notice that is a LONG time to travel.  We were very thankful to get our feet on the ground in Beijing and know we could stay two nights here.

Overall, our flights went well.  I'd say the hardest time was when we were at LA for six hours in the middle of the night waiting to board our 15 hour flight.  And the 15 hour flight itself was intensely long. Oh my word. The low point of the flight was when I was sure we were within a few hours of landing only to find out we still had 9 hours to go. I thought I was going to loose it at that point.  It is truly God's grace that we made it!  The girls did sleep a good bit and they watched Monsters Inc. four times (not exaggerating).  I am so proud of them.  They have had to do a lot of waiting and have overall handled it so well!

Walking in to the airport at RDU

We had just boarded the 15 hour flight. We were so thankful to be out of the airport and on the plane. 

Next stop: China!

When we arrived in Beijing, our guide Helen was waiting at the airport exit with a sign that said "Harmon" on it.  Y'all I totally cried!  I was exhausted and so happy to have her there to help us.  All I could do was hug her, even though we've never met before.  She took us to a van and drove us straight to our WONDERFUL hotel.  She took us to the bank to change over some money and she took us to a noodle restaurant for some yummy noodles.  The girls did awesome with their first Chinese meal and even ate the whole thing with chopsticks!  

We ordered pizza for dinner and then we crashed early. 6:00 for the girls, just after for mommy and daddy.  Literally could not stay awake any longer.