Friday, May 05, 2006

What's going on now?

"Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue." -Ambrose Bierce

Now, we frantically wait patiently. Frantic because of all of the paperwork that needs to be organized, packing lists to make, arrangements to have in place, pre-travel medical appointments, rooms to paint, toys to purchase, etc., etc., etc. but we're doing all of these things patiently. O.K., some of us are working harder on this than others.
While we wait I have joined a few Yahoo groups and have connected with other families who have also adopted from Wenzhou. One of the parents was kind enough to take pictures of Sydney while she was there adopting her child. These are the pictures of her at the table with her playmates.




























I have also connected with a parent in the Netherlands who is adopting the little boy in the white coat next to Sydney at the table. Our adoption agency has a Yahoo group and that has helped link us with other families, who are also practicing on improving their level of patience while they paperchase for their children.

We were also able to send her a little package last week which contained a disposable camera, a little blanket, a small beanie kitten, a photo album of us and some immediate relatives, a book, and a list of questions for the staff to answer about Sydney. We hope to get the camera and the answers to the questions back on "gotcha day" (the day we get Sydney). Alycia has the same kitten that we sent to Sydney and she is planning to bring it with her on gotcha day. Hopefully, Sydney will receive the package by next week and will be meeting us, as well as her grandparents, great-grandmother, Auntie Cheri, Auntie Deb, and her cousins!

We are hoping to hear something about our travel dates in May but nothing is in our control at this point....if it ever really was in the first place. I think (knock on wood) that the only paperwork we have left to complete in the U.S. is our visa applications. Here's what we know for now. We will receive our travel approval and our agency will schedule an appointment for us at the consulate office in China. Then we book our airline tickets scheduling around that appointment. Our agency provides a representative for us in China, who will assist us with the process while we are in the country and is also available for assisting us with some sightseeing excursions. We will be there for approximately 14-18 days. We will have time to do some sightseeing in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and we are hoping to visit Sydney's orphanage in Wenzhou (but that's not guaranteed). And the best part of the trip.....we get Sydney on the third or fourth day that we are there and we get to spend the rest of the time with her!

Thanks for being part of this journey with us and for everyone's encouragement, shared wisdom, enthusiasm, and most of all prayers. As we get more information on our travel plans, we will post them here. Feel free to share this site with other family members and friends.

Xie Xie (thank you)!

1 Comments:

Blogger Kelly Miller said...

Hello my name is Kelly Miller and my husband are waiting for final approval on a 7 year old boy at this orphanage. His name is Chen Yinghui. If you know any information about him I would appreciate it. Our home email is 814Kmart@comcast.net.

Thank you,
Kelly

2:47 PM  

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