Happy Disappointments

The disappointment is that we didn't get our wish of leaving on August 24th. The Civil Affairs office where our daughter lives is not always available to do a child hand off like many other provinces. The first date we could get was September 19th. So we will not be leaving until September 14th. We will first go to Beijing for orientation. Then on September 18th we'll fly to Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. The next day we will have Rachel in our arms and in our care! After 24 hours we will sign papers to make her ours forever. Then we will wait in her province until September 23rd for her passport to be ready. That day we will fly to Guangzhou. There we will do more paperwork for her Visa and she will have a medical exam in preparation for leaving China for the United States. Our Consulate Appointment, where we will swear to take care of her forever, is on September 27th. On the 28th we will take a train to Hong Kong and stay overnight. The next day we will fly out of Hong Kong for home! So we will be in China for about 2 weeks.

The happy part of leaving later is less expensive airline tickets. Also we are not having to rush through our travel plans, which have turned out to be more complicated than I imagined after all the research I've done over the past year and a half. It's amazing how many little details you don't think of until they hit you in the face. Oh well, that part is almost over and then the packing begins! We've already started a little of that, but there is a lot more to do. We are going to have to be very conservative in what we take because China domestic flights are much more restrictive of weight and quantity than international flights.

Oh, and we have finished our daughter's bedroom...I just need to get some pics taken and then I'll share! Here is a teaser.....