we arrived!

Well I certainly had butterflies from the moment I woke this morning. It’s really something when the day you have anticipated for several months actually arrives. I got my last minute things packed, grabbed some McDonald’s with the kids and headed out the door. Over the past two weeks I have been shopping, packing, gathering donations, cooking meals for the freezer, connecting with friends and family one last time before this trip. It’s been a little stressful, but mostly fun.

Kim had called earlier in the morning to tell me that her ticket had been upgraded to first class, and she was working on mine as well.  How exciting, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, at least Kim was willing to share her seat with me for part of the flight.

Saying good bye to the kids and Glen at the airport was hard, but not as bad as I thought seeing that none of the kids cried. That helped me keep it together! Just the anticipation of leaving my family for 18 days has already made me appreciate them all more. I have never been away from them this long before, and Hannah and Udhay have never been without me for longer than 2 days, so it could be challenging, we’ll see.

Kim was able to obtain passes to the Maple Leaf lounge, so we had some time before boarding to relax in style. It was nice to sit in a comfortable chair and munch on some goodies while waiting. But we really just wanted to get to the gate to check on the status of my seat. As we got to our gate and checked with the agent there, we told her that my seat had been flagged for a possible upgrade. She immediately handed me my new boarding pass saying, ‘yes, that’s already done”.  We were so excited we started giggling like two little school girls!!! This feels like a huge gift, and a giant blessing from God!!!

Getting on the plane was fun, and settling into our “pods” or suites, as they call it! It will be hard to go  back to economy after flying in such style. We have about 13 hours on the plane, then we land in Beijing, ready to go. We are convinced that after starting our trip in such an amazing way, it is bound to be one of the greatest adventures of our lives...........

We arrived safely, at the same time as the other 4 volunteers from the US. It was great to meet Lynsay, our missionary host, who took us back to her place for spaghetti. Kim and I are staying at the baby's house, while the other volunteers are staying with Bill and Lynsay. The babies are so adorable, I can't wait to post pictures.

Well, time for bed.  Kim will add some personal thoughts tomorrow after a good nights sleep!