We leave for China Feb. 6!

We received our U.S. consulate appointment this morning. We leave OKC at 6:39 a.m. next Friday (Feb. 6) and arrive in Guangzhou at 11 p.m. the following night. That gives us a full day in China to rest and get over the jetlag.

We receive Aimee on Feb. 9, which is almost exactly one year to the day from when Gayle put a "hold" on her file. We'll have 10 days together as a family, and then we go to the American consulate on Feb. 18. Her American paperwork is finalized the next day, and we leave Guangzhou on Feb. 20. We arrive in OKC at 8:12 p.m. that night.

Ya-Hoo!

We have 1800 & Happy Chinese New Year!

Today our I800 approval was faxed to our adoption agency! So, the agency is asking for one of these dates for our Consulate appointment -- Feb. 17, 18 or 24. So - if we get Feb. 17 or 18 then we will leave on Feb. 6 or 7. We are so excited to go! I have a big pile of stuff to pack now. I've gotten into that 'we are going' mode and last night I was up late going through Abbey's closet for clothes for Aimee (Abbey is a heavy sleeper:) We won't know our Consulate appointment date until this Thursday or Friday, since the offices are closed in China for a few days for Chinese New Year which is today.

Say a prayer for us as we book our travel this Friday.

Happy New Year!!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!! (in Mandarin)

Gayle

Hurry Up and Wait

We're in a holding pattern for at least the next nine days, thanks to Chinese New Year. However, we're still hopeful of getting a consulate appointment in China on Feb. 17-19, which would mean leaving Oklahoma around Feb. 6.

Our I-800, a new document required by countries that are part of the Hague Convention on Adoptions, is stuck at a federal agency. The U.S. consulate in Guangzhou won't schedule an appointment with an adopting family until that document is approved. We were hoping it would be approved by yesterday (Thursday) so that it could be faxed as verification to the consulate. That didn't happen, and now, because China is 14 hours ahead of us, the consulate has already closed shop until Feb. 2 to celebrate Chinese New Year.

We're told that the I-800 should be approved by early next week. Then it would be faxed to the consulate, so conceivably, the consulate could schedule an appointment on its first day back from hiatus. If our wish comes true, we would have three days to make travel arrangements and pack. We've been through timing snags on both previous adoptions. I don't know why I thought this time would be different.

Meanwhile, we wonder how our daughter is holding up during the wait. Is she excited about getting a family, or is she scared to death of leaving the only home she's ever known? Or both? We also wonder if she will accept our explanation that we came as fast as we could -- that the delay wasn't of our making.

Travel Approval is Here!

We received travel approval this afternoon and could be leaving for China as soon as Jan. 31, a week earlier than we expected!

Our contact in Guangzhou, who also will be our guide/translator for the entire trip, is checking to see whether the U.S. consulate has any openings for Feb. 10-12. If so, and assuming we can get the visa approved in time, we will fly to Chicago and then on to either Shanghai or Beijing before ending up in Guangzhou the night of Feb. 1. After a sleepless night, we would receive Aimee on Feb. 2 under that scenario.

If those dates don't work out, we would leave Oklahoma City around Feb. 7 for a consulate appointment around Feb. 18-19.

This is amazing! Please join us in our joy as the reality of our daughter coming home finally starts to sink in! Thank you for all of your prayers.

Tony

Waiting for Travel Approval

We are still waiting on our TA, but we are hopeful it will arrive in the next week. We are so happy that travel is coming soon - we cannot wait to get Aimee into our arms. We are hoping we can leave around Feb. 7th and receive Aimee on the 9th. We will spend our entire time in Guangzhou since Aimee is in Guangdong province. This makes the trip very easy. Aimee lives in Huizhou City, which is about 30 minutes NE of Hong Kong. We will most likely visit her orphanage with her several days after we get her. Sometimes these visits go smoothly, but you also hear of visits with lots of tears and anxiety. It has to be an extremely emotional time for any child making this huge transition. And at 4 1/2 Aimee is very capable on knowing what is going on. I cannot imagine how scary that would be. There she will be, leaving all that she has ever known, leaving the only family she has ever known, and going with these strange new people. We have sent her a photo book and some small presents, so at least she will know what we look like, and hopefully will be a little accustomed to our faces. But that still can't make up for all the concerns she will likely feel in her heart. Can you imagine trusting a new set of parents to take you away and take care of you at her age? This is when we will surely be relying on God to give her peace.

We are not taking Abbey and Alex with us on this trip. We felt we needed to have some alone time with Aimee -- and we also know we are just not energetic enough to wrestle 3 pre-schoolers in China:) The kids grandparents will be keeping Abbey and Alex and we are very grateful for their help.

Attached is a picture of Aimee that we received awhile back. She is so adorable. We hope to see smiles on that cute face not long after we get her.

Take care and thanks for your love!