Monday, June 6, 2011
NI HAO FROM CHINA!

We are very tired, so this post will be short! We arrived safely in China at 2:00 PM on Monday June 6th (2:00 AM U.S. time). The flight was very uneventful! Erik and I both were able to sleep some on the plane. We were very lucky and had an empty seat in our row on the plane. I was able to keep my feet up and relax for most of the flight! The food was horrible on the plane. y I was glad we brought lots of protein bars for us to eat. We arrived at the Beijing Airport in Terminal 3 and had to figure out how to transfer to our domestic flight to Nanchang. We managed to figure it out with the help from the lady at the information desk. We asked several other people, but they didn't speak English and couldn't help us. We had to take a bus to Terminal1 to catch our flight to Nanchang. We did it without any help from a guide! We were happy to see the Chryst family (Nicole and Zach) waiting at the gate! We will be spending our entire trip with them! We arrived in Nanchang this evening around 8:20 PM. We arrived at our hotel about 27 hours after we left our house Sunday morning for Philadelphia International Airport.

We ate dinner at the Beijing Airport. We found a KFC in Terminal 1! The food was awful! Thank goodness for those protein bars again! It was pretty funny ordering our dinner from a picture menu! We are hoping for a great breakfast at the hotel in the morning. It will be our first meal in China!!!!

Our hotel is called the Galactic Peace Hotel. It is very nice! Our room had a crib, stroller, baby bath tub, and a potty all ready for Piper! We were suppose to meet Piper at 9:30 tomorrow, but since her orpahange is so far away, we will meet Piper tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Her orphange is about four hours away from our hotel. She will be taking a train in the morning with the orphanage director and worker. We are so sad for Piper because this is her last night with her foster mother! Please say a little prayer for her. We know she will be very scared tomorrow! We can't wait to hold our precious Piper!

Notes from Dad:
Wow - what a day. It was a really long journey to get here and we are pretty tired. I'm really glad we did it in one trip though - previously we stopped in Beijing for a night. Having all of our travel out of the way though allows us to prepare and focus on getting Piper tomorrow. We're a little sad because we know that tonight is Piper's last night with her foster mother. I think tomorrow will be a little traumatic for her. Sophia had a really tough time with the transition, but Parker didn't. I guess you never know - praying that it goes Ok. So far, Tricia's pregnancy hasn't slowed her down too much. I'm not letting her carry anything and we walk a little slower. Also, she has to wear these crazy support sox on the plane so she doesn't get blood clots (a rare occurence, but a safety step). But she's doing Ok. What a organizer - she's really the one who makes this whole thing happen. I just kind of show up. Oh, and the other couple that we are traveling with are really nice. They're from Maryland and I've already asked them about crab cakes, Ocean City, and the Ravens. And they like all that stuff, so I guess the sterotype still holds true. We miss everyone - especially the kids... Parker, Sophs and Graham - be good and we'll bring home presents for you! And Sophs - Pipers crib has Hello Kitty bedding. Cool, huh? Remember - 18 sleeps until Cars 2 movie!


Dear Sophia, Graham, and Parker,
We love you and miss you very much! We hope you had a good day! We will skype you tonight! You won't be able to see Piper in the morning because she will be riding on a train to come and meet us! You will see her tomorrow! We were on three airplanes, one train, one bus, and one van today! We hope you liked the present we left for you today!!!!

Lots of love,
Mommy and Daddy