Thursday-Friday,
January 18-19, 2007

Hello! Well, we have finally arrived in China. At this writing, it is 4:45AM 1/20/07 Beijing Standard Time (2:45 PM 1/19/07 United States Central Standard Time).

We started out on Thursday morning 1/18/07 waking up at 4:45AM to get ready for the airport. Thanks to David and Sarah Muegge for driving us to the airport on such an early and bitterly cold morning (thanks also to Uncle Emory and Aunt Jeanette for offering to take us.) After an uneventful flight from Springfield, Missouri to Minneapolis, Minnesota, we spent a 4 hour layover at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Time passed quickly though, as we read, shopped at the airport's extensive shops and ate breakfast.

Around 12:30PM, we boarded the transpacific flight to Tokyo. The flight, though 12 hours long, was enjoyable. We watched 3 movies, read, slept and enjoyed each other's company. This is the first flight where we were offered dinner, a snack (lunch sized sandwich) and then breakfast. Arriving in Tokyo, we expected an hour layover. Instead, we were quickly whisked through security and immediately boarded the flight to Beijing. This flight also was relatively long at 4 1/2 hours but again the time passed quickly. The plane was a newer Airbus and each seat was equipped with a personal electronic device where we could watch movies on demand, play games and/or listen to music. I chose the movie Flicka, while Angie managed to get some much needed rest. She is getting over a respiratory infection and we pray her cough resolves before Gotcha Day. Don't worry, Carol and Tony, your daughter is doing better and I'll take good care of her.

We met 2 of the 5 other families in our group as well as our Chinese guide. Our guide, Lina, speaks fluent English and she has been very informative and seems to be very knowledgeable. Everyone seems to be enthusiastic, but somewhat anxious about our journey. After almost 30 hours of travel, we finally checked into our hotel room at 10:00PM 1/19/07 Beijing time. Our hotel room is very nice as we are staying at the Radisson in downtown Beijing. We've read about the beds being hard here in China, but Angie commented that this was the most comfortable bed she's slept in (sounds like exhaustion talking). She did push me to get the internet up and running last night only for her to fall asleep while I was tinkering with the computer.

Well, not much else to report on this day. In a few hours, we'll meet for breakfast and then head over to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. Angie and I do want to thank all of you who have kept us in your prayers. One of our main purposes in life is being fulfilled and we are grateful and blessed for you all to be a part of this wonderful journey. And, of course, we are most thankful for God's gift and his love for us all.