Just Beginning...

I am hoping that I will be able to find the time and the internet connections necessary to document my trip to China here on my blog that has been so neglected for the past few years. I have to admit that it was quite difficult to leave my family this evening. I am incredibly excited for this experience to go to China and learn about their educational system and explore a beautiful country that I never thought I would have the opportunity to see. But I will miss reading books with the boys, shooting hoops with them, hearing Thomas learn new words, my beautiful wife and her wonderful smile and contagious laugh, and even having Bubba come in during the middle of the night to lay by me in bed. So the journey began as I left home around 6 pm tonight to come up to Portland. My flight leaves early Saturday morning and it was cheaper to stay in a hotel close to the airport that offers "park and fly" parking and it also made it so I didn't have to leave home at 3:30 am. I decided to go to the Portland temple before the trip and I was so glad that I did. So here we go...Tomorrow we will fly to San Francisco, have a few hours of layover (hoping to watch some basketball while we wait), then off to Beijing, and finally our last leg will take us to Xi'an arriving around 11 pm Sunday night, Xi'an-time. Should be fun!