We're Home!

Hi everyone. We made it home! Our plane landed at 6 am this morning. Dad and John were waiting for us at the airport. What a nice surprise.
The website was down the last few days since my hosting acct expired while I was away. So sorry. I wanted to add a few pics before I get a shower and go to bed (for a few days).
We could not get internet at Siem Reap so sorry about that.
Angkor Wat is magnificent! It was built in the ninth century. Not sure when it was discovered (I wrote it down somewhere) but I do remember it took 10 years to uncover. I believe it is a total of 25 acres. With Cambodia being so behind the times there is very little if any restrictions on where you can go and what you can and cannot walk through. There are etchings on practically every inch of it. Each etching has a meaning. It is truly a site to behold! I bought a book about it so I can more thoroughly grasp the magnificence of it. You may also be interested in knowing that the Angelina Jolie movie "Laura Kroft Tomb Raider" was filmed here. I never saw the movie but might just take a look.

The elephant ride was a big hit. We all did it! The elephant took us on a ride around Banyon Temple at Angkor Wat. It was so much fun!
Our trip home was exhausting to say the least. We flew from Siem Reap to Bangkok. From Bangkok on to Beijing. Once arriving in Beijing we had a 15 hour layover. I had gotten visas for China ahead of time so we were able to leave the airport for a hotel. Reviews online gave the hotel a thumbs up. I however would disagree. The hotel was the Beijing International Airport Hotel. Located just one mile from the airport I thought it would be a good bet to get back in time for our flight. That was about the only good thing. Our room stunk from cigarette smoke which made me feel as though I would be sick. At the reception area only one person spoke a tiny bit of English. We thought we might take a tour and see the sights since the Olympics begin there next month. Can you believe the receptionist did not know what a tour bus was nor did she know what sight seeing was. We were so tired we didn't need much of an excuse to just crawl into bed after a hot shower. Hil slept about 6 hours and I only slept about three. I think I was just afraid of oversleeping. Once rested up a bit we ventured out to the restaurant. Everything on the menu looked way too fishy so we opted for a small bowl of steamed rice. Boy did that get a funny look! We didn't care too much. Our bellies were kind of queezy and we just needed something down there until we got to the states. Once in LA we were thrilled to see MC DONALD'S!!!! We wasted no time scarfing down a double cheeseburger...BURP it's good to be home. By the way we saw Eric Roberts (Julia's brother) at the LA airport and he flew on our flight home. I was kind of surprised to have him in the Economy section. He must have been really desperate for a seat. We stood within earshot of him at the baggage claim and listened in while people tried to make conversation with him. Poor guy. He did seem very nice.

I'm sorry to cut this short but I really can't keep my eyes open another minute. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Please try to come out for Hilary's grad party next Sunday. Love you all!

JULIE