Travel Approval is Here!

Well, this is the moment we have been waiting for, the arrival of our TA (travel approval)!!! It gives us permission to travel to China and pick up our daughter! We have one more important step though, that we are waiting on, and that is our CA. (consulates appointment at the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China) This appointment should only take a few days to receive. Technically we are supposed to wait to make flight arrangements till we have CA, but.... I just couldn't do it! With the Olympics being the same time as our travel, all the nonstop flights are booking quickly. Sooo...we have tickets!!! I'll post again when we receive CA!

Fuzhou Fujian China

This is where our little girl was born.
We will be staying in Fuzhou for about 8
days, then we will be going to Guangzhou
to apply for the US Visa. This is where
the US Embassy is located. Once the adoption
process is complete, we will be touring on to
Guilin, Guangxi to see the beautiful Liang River.
This journey is anticipated to be surreal!

Waiting Isn't Easy

And we all deal with it our own way! I think Allissa is getting impatient while waiting for Jade! Poor Snowflake!

Waiting Isn't Easy

But I have plenty to keep me busy!
I love working in the gardens.

My 5 German Shepherds. Here's Cloe, Joe Cool,
Romeo, Merecedes, and Detour. Won't Jade have fun with these
big guys! Romeo weighs in at 130lbs.

Update on Jade July 7 2008

July 7th was a good day. Not only did we receive our LOA, but we also received an update on Jade. Here's a little bit about her!

Height: 31.5 inches
Weight: 26lbs wow My arms are going to get a work out!
Head circumference: 18.1 inches
Chest circumference: 18.2
Foot length: 4.9 inches
Teeth: 6 up 8 bottom

She likes sleeping on her back.
She's been in fostercare since she was 4 months old.
She is fond of listening to childrens music.
She likes to watch Childrens Channels.
She can understand Mandarin and can speak the local dialect, Mama (mother), and Jie (older sister). Which tells me she has a big sister at the fosterhome.
When she is angry, hold her up.
She is afraid of fireworks and thunder.
She is out going and active. (perfect)
Now this is the funny part: She wears diapers at nite, daytime she wears split pants and pees on the ground. (Not here honey!) Diapers will be in order for a while I see!

LOA in Hand

We received a phone call from our Agency on July 3rd letting us know that our LOA
(letter of acceptance) had arrived. We received it by DHL, on July 7th, day 75. But would you believe that they didn't even ring the door bell!! An important document like that and it was left on the door step. Yikes! It's a good thing it hadn't started raining yet! And thank you to my daughter, with "inquiry minds" who wanted to know where it was. But that baby was signed and sent back within hours!! Next stop....TA (travel approval). With that, we have permission from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) to travel to China and bring our daughter home!! We're hoping we get TA by the end of July.