Goodbye Summer, Hello Danielle!

We made a couple of great trips downtown this summer. Cubs games, Aquarium, Beach, China Town, etc.... All were fun. But as each day of the summer passed, the excitement increased. Not because we love the onset of winter - OH NO, not me! The excitement of knowing that at the end of the summer, not too long into Fall, we would be going to China to get Danielle!! The time is quickly approaching and the fun events of the summer are now fading into the more exciting events coming up in China and being home with Danielle.

While we are in China, here is our formal itinerary:

10/14 leave for Beijing

10/15 arrive in Beijing and just sleeeeepppzzzzzz

10/16 tour the Summer Palace and Forbidden City

10/17 tour the Great Wall and head to the airport to fly to Urumqi

10/18 We meet Danielle! Gotcha Day! (paperwork for her passport)

10/19 Local sightseeing in Urumqi

10/20 tour Heavenly Lake

10/21 tour Gong Shan Park

10/22 receive Danielle's passport and fly to Guangzhou

10/23 medical appt. and visa photos

10/24 tour of Yuntai Garden

10/25 get medical results and tour Shaiman Island

10/26 visa appt. at US Consulate

10/27 swearing in ceremony at Consulate/tour Six Banyan Temple

10/28 pick up visa and fly to Beijing

10/29 fly home!!

Danielle will become a US citizen when we land in Chicago on the morning of Oct. 29th! We cannot wait to bring her home!

Booked and Ticketed!

We received our Consulate Appointment date for Oct. 26. Not my first choice, just having to wait one more week is truly torture. However, we are without a choice - all the appointments the week of the 18th were apparently "booked". We could try to get our senator to contact the US Consulate in Guangzhou and revise our date to the week of the 18th, but honestly, I am afraid it won't work and then we have waiting even longer to book our tickets and then we'll be paying triple!! So three hours of working the phones today gave us some great results! We are flying direct to Beijing on the 14th, landing on the 15th and spending 2 days there. We will get to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and anything elsethat is interesting in this wonderful city.

Then we will fly from Beijing to Urumqi and meet Danielle on Monday the 18th.

TouchDown!

TOUCHDOWN!!! WE GOT OUR TA TODAY!!

WE ARE APPROVED TO TRAVEL!!

We are going to China!!

These are pictures from Austin's football game last Sunday, he is #35. They won their first game! Go Titans!

I feel like I just won a football game too! I feel like I have been running with the ball, yard after yard, weaving around, looking for the pass, breathing heavily, pushing forward, and just as the clock is counting down.... TOUCHDOWN!! TA!! Celebration dance...... spin the football on the grass........ you know, all the theatrics!! Fireworks, cheers, extra point - right through the goal posts!

We now have to confirm our Consulate Appointment date (which we requested Oct. 19 or 20)and then we can buy our tickets!!

Punch List

Remember the construction project to add a room onto the house for our new additon? Well the punch list is done! The twist? Avery wanted to move into the new room so that she could decorate it in her new, more "mature" style! LOL! Why not? She lost a private bathroom, but she gained a new funky room with a wonderful big closet!

Danielle is now going to take over Avery's bedroom, which is perfectly suited for a 4.5 year old - lots of pink, purple and princess decor! We put Danielle's name on the wall, put her pictures in the photo frames and her new wardrobe in the closet! We are ready!

This is Danielle's room -

This is Avery's new room -

Thinking about You, Danielle!

Kisses in the Wind

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.

You are here each day with me, at least that’s how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are…what’s taking us so long.

But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin…

Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.

I promise you, my darling, I’m doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you’ll have a family for real, not just pretend.

But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.

And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

~Pamela Durkota

Don't know anything about Articles 1,2,3 and 4 and don't care!

The US Consulate in Guangzhou China has now issued us an Article 5 letter which states that we can take legal custody of Danielle and become her adoptive parents. Thank you! This Article 5 letter has now been sent to the Chinese Adoption Authority in Beijing. When they get it, they will confirm our file is complete and they will issue us our TRAVEL APPROVAL!! This is the last step before we leave to go get Danielle!!

We could receive this as early as next week, but probably the week after!! Once we get this approval, we can book our tickets. We have been looking at tickets, and prices are SCARY. Nothing like trying to fly last minute during the Asian trade show and the fall festival time in China. Yes, we are going to be sitting in the back of the plane, maybe on the lap of the flight attendents! Greg is trying to get comfortable with either - A.) flying 15 hours in coach (which is the less likely of the choices), or B.) using a large portion of his Frequent Flyer miles to upgrade to business class. Here's hoping for a nice slice of FF pie for me too!

The Article 5 is the entire complete package required by the Hague Convention to adopt internationally. I have no clue why they call it the Article 5, and honestly I am too immersed in studying attachment theories for older children and trying to find good Mandarin/English flash cards to look up the history of the Hague Convention! All I care about is one more milestone down, one last big one to go!!!