We made it.

What a journey!  We left Lake Charles early early Thursday morning and flew to Houston.  That was an uneventful flight.  Next came our connection from Houston to Washington DC.  This flight was delayed for about 1 hour.  We only had 45 minutes to make our connection to begin with - without a delay.  I prayed the entire way there that we would make up some time in the air and still allow us to catch the connection.  The stewardess was so helpful and found out the gate information that we were landing at as well as the gate of our outgoing connection to Beijing (which was the last flight of the day out of DC).  When the plane landed we had a limited time to get quite a long way across the airport.  I ran the entire way!  Needless to say, we made the connection (only by the grace of GOD).  The 14 hour flight to Beijing was uneventful - Maddie was soooo good during the entire flight.  Sleep was slim during the flight but we made it!

Today is Saturday and it was a beautiful day in Beijing.  We had orientation with our Adoption Agency where we received updated information on Mia and pictures.  She is quite the little chunky monkey.  She is absolutely beautiful.  The report says that she is a good eater and sleeper - She sleeps all night - yeah!  The report also says that she likes to play in the water at bath time and likes to be around lots of people rather than be alone - Well she is in the right family for that!

After orientation we took a day trip to the Great Wall.  What an amazing experience.  My trainer would be very proud - I got quite the workout climbing all those steps to the very top.  The steps on the wall vary in size in depth.  Some are 4 inches high, while others are as high as 2 feet.  As well as the steps are at about an 80 degree angle - feel the burn!  Amazing views from the top.  I have to brag on Maddie - she climbed the entire way all by herself.  She kept pushing us to go to the top of the mountain because she thought Panda lived there and she wanted to find him.  Unfortunately there was no Panda at the end of the journey, but she had a great time. 

Lilly and Lizzy are having an amazing time.  They are amazed at all the sights, sounds, smells and people.  What an education they are getting by just being here.

We have an early flight tomorrow to travel to Nanchang.  Once we get to our hotel, the orphanage will bring baby girl to us around 4:30pm.  I can't wait!  I am a little nervous.  Please pray for an easy transition for both us and of course Mia.

Internet service is spotty so I will try to post as often as I can.