Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Counting Down the Days

How many days to follow?

We are waiting for our travel approval to be sent from China.
When that happens, we can request a consulate appointment.
From the confirmed date of our consulate appointment,
we will count back two weeks and that will be our departure date.

There is still so much to do that I get overwhelmed by thinking about it all.
I'm trying to break it up into manageable groups.

This week
we will mail our application for Entry Visas into China
and read the stack of important papers from our agency
and begin to put together the notebook of important documents that
will travel with us.

For fun
and a reward after paperwork,
I'm collecting identical items to put in backpacks for the girls.
Here is my plan:
We have two Dora the Explorer backpacks
(the backpacks I posted a picture of earlier are too big)
Cami's backpack will be initially packed with travel toys,
paper, pencils, crayons, small animals, etc.

Delilah's backpack will travel empty, in the suitcase.
On the day we meet Delilah,
I will pack both the backpacks with new items
Cami hasn't see before.
We will take these backpacks with us
and Cami's job will be to give one of them to her new sister!
They will be filled with identical toys.....
light up ball, sunglasses, candy, animal crackers, etc
Bold
Hope this is a good ice-breaker and that is helps
Cami to feel connected to Delilah,
and Delilah to all of us.


Thursday, April 2, 2009

LOA on Day 146

ImageChef.com

It finally happened!
After 146 days
Our LOA came!!!!!!

This document from China,
which is more correctly called
"Letter of Seeking Confirmation"
asks for our signature
on a statement
declaring
that after all this time and effort
we do indeed
still want to adopt
Our Sweet Delilah.

The LOA has been
signed, sealed,
and delivered
back.

It should be winging it's way
back to China
today.

And now,
again we wait,
one last time,
for TA,
which means Travel Approval.

So I still can't say
when we will travel.
But what I can say,
is that in the eyes of China,
Delilah belongs to us,
officially and forever more.
BoldAnd we remain
honored and thankful
for the trust
extended to us.