Two Weeks!

Two weeks from today we will be stepping on to an airplane to begin the last leg of this very long, sometimes stressful, very exciting adventure we started almost 2 1/2 years ago. It is hard to believe all the paperwork, telephone calls, running around is behind us and we have finally made it this far. It is all becoming a reality now and, although I think I am very organized and ready, there are still the last minute things that have to get done within the next two weeks. These things have been keeping me up during the night. The excitement is really building and I doubt that it will lighten up until we are back from China and sleeping in our own beds.

Thank you to all of our families, friends, neighbors, etc. that have shared this with us and are so very excited for us. We couldn't have accomplished everything without your love and support. We will continue to need it as we travel....did I say.....TWO WEEKS from today!! to bring Olivia back to be the newest member of our family.

Stay tuned, the next TWO WEEKS will be very busy!!

THE ITINERARY!!

The official itinerary has arrived!

Here it is....

Friday, May 11th - We leave Chicago O'Hare at 12:46 pm on United Airlines non-stop flight. A 13 (or so) hour flight plus they are 13 hours ahead of us so we land in Beijing at 3:00 pm Saturday, May 12th (Beijing time).
Saturday, May 12th - Families arrive in Beijing in the afternoon. Check in to Huadu Hotel.
Sunday, May 13th (Happy Mother's Day) - Touring Beijing, Great Wall, etc., etc., It's a pretty busy, full day of touring.
Monday, May 14th - GOTCHA DAY! We travel to Olivia's province (Chongqing) in the morning, check in to the Wanyou Conifer Hotel and finally meet Olivia in the afternoon!
Tuesday, May 15th - Free morning with legal process in the afternoon.
Wednesday, May 16th - Local sightseeing/shopping in Chongqing.
Thursday, May 17th - Orphanage visit in the morning (I think this is optional).
Friday, May 18th - Sunday, May 20th - Looks like all free days for shopping, sightseeing and getting to bond with Olivia.
Monday, May 21st - Obtain legal documents in the morning with the afternoon free
Tuesday, May 22nd - Morning is free and then travel to Guangzhou in the afternoon. White Swan Hotel!
Wednesday, May 23rd - Medical appointment in the morning.
Thursday, May 24th - Consulate appointment at 10:30 am with the afternoon free.
Friday, May 25th - (Happy Anniversary Lynn & Jody!) Obtain Olivia's Visa in the afternoon.
Saturday, May 26th - Head for HOME!! We take a short flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong and then the non-stop United flight leaves at 12:45 pm Beijing time and arrives in Chicago 2:s0 pm US time.

Airline Tickets

We finally got the official word that our appointments are set and we could purchase our tickets to China. I was able to get us a non-stop United flight from Chicago to Beijing on Friday, May 11th. We will arrive in Beijing at 3:00 pm, Saturday, May 12th. I have not gotten the specific day-by-day itinerary yet but will be watching for that next week and will post it as soon as I get it. We will leave China on Saturday, May 26. It will be another straight shot flying from Hong Kong to Chicago, arriving around 2:20 pm Saturday, May 26.

Then the fun will really begin!!

Travel Dates!!

We have travel dates! They are requesting the Consulate appointment to be May 24th. We have not been given the go-ahead to actually purchase tickets until this is solid but it should be pretty likely to happen this way...... We want to do the Beijing tour so we would need to leave the US on May 10 or 11 so that we are in Beijing on May 12. We would then leave China on May 26, arriving home sometime during Memorial Day weekend!!

Just from my reading many, many, many other blogs, websites, etc.., I am thinking that GOTCHA DAY will either be Sunday, May 13th (MOTHER'S DAY!!") or Monday, May 14th.

We will get a day-by-day itinerary soon, once the consulate appointment is secure. I will post it as soon as I get that information. Now it is time to get on the phone and start searching for the best "deals" for flights to China - Ouch!

Hang in there Olivia!!! We are on our way!!

The Baby Shower!

How can we express our THANKS to everyone that came to the baby shower yesterday? It is impossible to let everyone know how much we appreciate their time, thoughtfullness, and genuine excitement that they are all sharing with us as we get ready to finally fly to China to get Olivia. All we can say is THANK YOU for sharing this journey with us and THANK YOU for the wonderful gifts we received yesterday. We need and will use everything and got such a nice variety of things....from the car seat, stroller, beautiful soft blankets, clothes, and everything in-between. We are so blessed to have such wonderful caring families, friends and neighbors. Is was great to see family that we are not able to get together with very often.

A special THANK YOU goes out to my Mom and my sisters and their families. They took a lot of time and work to put this shower together. They took care of everything and went ALL OUT on the invitations, gifts, decorating and food. My three neices, Michelle, Kendra and Kaitlyn also helped get things set up yesterday, decorate and help during the shower. I think they had fun too. The boys also helped put the stroller together. It turned out to be a perfect day and so much fun for us. We know they are very busy with their own lives, kids, homes, etc. but they went out of their way to really make this a special day for us. The cake was a great surprise with Olivia's referral picture frosted right in the middle. Thank you so much.

We are still waiting to hear when we will actually be travelling but should find out early this week. Now I really need to organize everything we have, shop for the final touches and start packing for the trip.

Thank you again to my parents, Lynn and Nancy and their families for the baby shower and everyone that came and enjoyed this wonderful day with us. I hope everyone knows how much we really appreciate everything and will remember the kind wishes and prayers from everyone as we make this life-changing journey!!

Stay tuned....Dawn

More Updated News!

Now I'm getting a little nervous!! More e-mails came through from our agency tonight. Lynn says the Travel Approvals are at PLAN (the international agency we work through in Oregon) and they are sending them to our local agency tomorrow. Our agency will then FedEx this to us asap. This is VERY important information that we need to take along to China in order for the adoption to actually happen.

Adam Wang says he expects the Consulate appointment to be in mid-May so we should be leaving for China in early May (just as we were planning) but they will let us know all the details within a few days.

Boy, things seem to be moving very fast again......

Travel Approval Is On The Way!

I received an e-mail from our agency stating they got the word from Adam Wang (he coordinates all the trips, appts., China travel, etc.) that our travel approval should be sent out this week. That means, as soon as they arrive, he will schedule the Visa appointment at the US Consulate in China. Once that is scheduled we will know the exact travel dates.

At least we know things are still moving along and progressing! As soon as I know when we are traveling I will post the itinerary so keep checking back!!

Very soon we will be taking Olivia to a zoo with REAL Panda Bears!

Waiting To Travel

All of our Visa's are back safe and sound now so we are all ready to go. Now we sit and wait for our travel assignments. We are told we shouldn't expect them more than a couple weeks before we have to step on the airplane so that explain's why we don't have them yet. The agency tells us to still plan for May. May 1st is eight weeks from our referral so that is what we are planning around, give-or-take a week or so. Hopefully our travel approval and itinerary will be coming very soon.

Even Misty is waiting and wondering why all these new things are showing up in this room. I guess she figures it is all for her since she even lets Jenny practice pushing the umbrella stroller all around the house with her in it. Won't she be surprised in a few weeks!!!

Stay tuned....