we're here!

From the time we pulled out of our driveway this (yesterday?) morning until our van pulled up at New Day this evening, just over 26 hours had passed.  I feel like I was run over by a steam roller.  This is my sixth arrival here and while I've learned a few tricks to help ease the journey, it is still a brutal one.

Thankfully our kids were amazing.  Seriously.  As we waited at 5:40 to board our domestic flight a woman walked over and asked if all four were mine.  When I responded that indeed they were, she said that she simply had to come over and compliment us on how well behaved they were...that it was incredible that they were so precious and sweet so early in the morning.

We finally boarded and began our 6000+ mile journey.

Upon arrival in Detroit, we had five hours to spare, so this is where the carefully packed entertainment go the most action.  (because the Delta plane was AWESOME and we had plenty of in flight entertainment...I'll never fly United to this part of the world again, I'm a loyal Delta fan now!)

From Fuzzoodles and Uno,

to mosaics and hello kitty toys,

to more Uno, car racing and of course a few minutes of Temple Run,

the cool fountain and the dancing lights tunnel, the time passed rather quickly.  Before we knew it we were strapped in for the long haul.  And once again the M kids did us proud.

Sleep on babies, sleep on!  We had several families stop us and say how they were amazed our children slept so long and were so capable of pulling their suitcases through the airport.  I guess practice makes perfect...this is Kylie's fourth return trip...

Our driver was stuck in that crazy Beijing traffic, so we had to wait for a little while.

And then we got stuck in that traffic nightmare, but finally, FINALLY, we saw the sign and pulled through the gates.  So glad to be HERE!

Not too shabby for 26 hours in motion

And then, as if being here weren't enough, Hannah and her dad, Brian, walked us to dinner and ordered us some of my favorites from "the noodle shop" from when I was here back in the winter.  The fact that the weather was perfect enough for us to sit outside only added to the joyful feeling.

Tomorrow is a big day.  We've got lots of folks around the foster home to visit...including delivering a few care packages and seeing the folks Daniel called Mama and Baba before he knew us.

Time to give in to the monster known as jet lag...