We Are Going To China!!!

Well, we've had a busy week!  So, we got our Article 5 Pick Up on January 8.  Our agency said it would be about 2-3 weeks before we got Travel Approval and then we would travel about 2 weeks later.  However, I started seeing on our LID Facebook page that people were getting Travel Approval last week and Consulate Appointments for the first week of February, so of course I got excited!

Lots of people got their TA last Friday, so I kindly and patiently (ha ha) emailed our agency just to see if they got ours.  Well, they had gotten five TA's but now ours and all of those people got Gotcha Days of February 2.  So, I reluctantly asked if we would find out Monday.  Guess what?  Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday would be the earliest we could hear.  You know how when you ask God to help you practice patience and in His ironic wisdom, He gives you opportunities to practice patience?  :)

So, Tuesday we calmly and totally undistractedly start doing school work.  I may have possibly been watching the clock until it became 8 am on the west coast.  Then 8:30.  Then 9.  Then a little after 11 am our time the phone rings....FROM OREGON!!!  We got our TA and they were going to request at Gotcha day for us for Feburary 2!! I didn't know if that was still even a possibility, so that was so exciting!!  So, we had some forms to fill out and send in, so we got on that.  We did go back to schoolwork, but M was so excited she couldn't concentrate on math, so we illustrated Greek myths and journaled about China.  So I again, totally calmly and patiently asked if we would find out that evening if we got our days.

OH, I totally forgot to mention that we found out one little other bit of information.  China doesn't do any Consulate Appointments the middle two weeks of February, so if we didn't get the February 2 Gotcha Day, we would have to wait three more weeks until February 23.  Now, I know that three weeks doesn't seem like much of a deal, especially after waiting a year after seeing his face, and almost four years since we started the adoption process, BUT when you're this close, three weeks is a lot.  So, yesterday we found out about our TA and we knew that we would find out about our for sure appointment this morning.  OH, did I mention that since they were trying to fit us in before Chinese New Year, if we get this appointment (which would be awesome) we have to fly out NEXT WEEK!!  So, we spent yesterday kind of getting ready since we could leave in a week, but kind of not wanting to get too excited in case we weren't leaving for a month.

SO....to end the suspense, we had an email waiting for us this morning (three emails actually) and WE HAVE A GOTCHA DAY OF FEBRUARY 2 and WE LEAVE NEXT WEEK!!!  AAAAAHHHHH!  We are beyond excited, and trying to plan everything and decide where to even start with preparing everything.  Please pray for our new son, our travel, our planning and everything else that will happen in the next three weeks.  We will keep this posted and then start turning it into a travel blog!!!!    Thank you for everyone's continued support, donations and prayers!!

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Psalm 33:11