It's Happening!!

We received our travel authorization (TA) on 1/18/07. That means we can travel to China and receive Lindsey. Our consulate appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou is for 2/14/07. What does this mean???? It means we are going to China and meeting Xiali (Lindsey) for the first time!!!

This is the itinerary:

Feb 3rd- Fly to Beijing
Feb 4th- Arrive in Beijing (yes it takes a day and 1/2 to get there!)
Feb 5th- Tour Beijing
Feb 6th- Beijing
Feb 7th- Fly to Hefei---Gotcha Day!!! This is the day we receive Lindsey!!!!!Yahoo!
Feb 8th- Paperwork- Adoption is registered, passport worked on
Feb 9th- Time in Hefei with Lindsey
Feb 10th- Passport issued
Feb 11th- Hefei
Feb 12th- Fly to Guangzhou
Feb 13th- Lindsey goes for a medical exam
Feb 14th- Interview at the US Consulate
Feb 15th- Visa issued
Feb 16th- Fly Home!!

These are the confirmed plans!

Here she is!!

Here are a few pictures of our sweetheart. We can't wait to know about her.

Good News!!

We received a letter from China to accept our little darling!! We received the letter on Thursday afternoon, signed it and rushed it to FedEx back to our agency. We hope it arrives back in China Monday or Tuesday.

Once China gets the letter, then they will notify Xiali's orphanage, who will then fill out paperwork, including a medical update and will send this back to the processing agency, and at that point we should receive our TA.

This process is new and started on January 1st. We could be bummed, because it will extend our wait, but we are just so thrilled that things are happening, and we will really be with her soon. We estimate in about a month to a month and a half.

One thing we are concerned with, is Chinese New Year. We don't know how that affects our travel plans yet, but from we understand, it's a very important holiday in China. It's somewhat like our Christmas, and businesses are closed, and people return to their families for the celebration. We think it would be great to experience the holiday there, but we don't know yet. Chinese New Year is on February 18th this year, and the celebration lasts a week or so. This year is the year of the Pig.

We will keep you posted. Hopefully our TA will come soon, because we are one of the first families to be subject to the new step.

Eagerly Waiting

We are still waiting for our TA. We are hoping TA's come in this week. We had a nice Christmas and New Year, but it sure would of been nicer if Xiali was with us.

Rosie and Maddie had a nice Christmas!

We will probably hear back from our agency tomorrow, so I'll know more then. We went to church this morning and there was a family with a daughter from China. We kept looking at them the whole time. We can't wait to be in their shoes!

Everything is pretty much set here, we even cleaned out a kitchen cabinet, to store her plastic dishes, and cups. We have a toy chest ready in the living room. We don't have any toys in it, because we can't figure out what she may like. We'd like her to pick some stuff out.

So, for real this time....here's hoping to a new batch of TA's this week, and one of the TA's with our name on it!!!!