We are back and just fine!!

I do apologize for not blogging in almost a week! We made it back somewhat uneventfully last Friday to China. We did add an extra stop in San Francisco just for fun (not really - we flew on frequent flyer miles and that was the only way to get back before the 6th of January!!). So, our journey back took us 5 hours on a plane, a night in a hotel, another 13 hours on a plane, and then a 2 hour ride home! It was long and exhausting to say the least. In San Francisco we had to retrieve all of our luggage and take it to the hotel with us for the night - not easy when you have 11 very full bags and 7 carry on items, plus pillows!! We arrived at the hotel late, so they had no bell boys working to carry our stuff up to our room, which meant that Danny and I had to load some of it onto 1 cart and take turns going back and forth until it was all safely in our room!

The next day we did enjoy a quick breakfast before loading the shuttle (thank goodness it was decent sized bus) and going back to the airport! United is not as busy in San Francisco as it is in Chicago, so there were no lines and the representatives were extra good to us. One of them even gave us 7 seats so that the kids could stretch out and actually sleep on the plane! This made that portion of the journey very easy!!

Once we arrived in Beijing two of our wonderful drivers were all smiles ready to cart all of our belongings! It is so nice to arrive back and see these two men always with smiles on their faces, even though they know that they are about to carry and lift luggage that is about 5 times both of their weights!

We arrived back at our new home just in time for some tv watching, a tubby, and bed!! I wouldn't say that it gets easier every time to come back (there are still plenty of tears and pits in the stomach), but I can definitely say that this time when we came back, we were coming home!!

Happy New Year to All!! We hope that 2010 is filled with lots of love and laughter for you!! May you cherish each day and each adventure that might come your way!