More Waiting

Well, we are still in waiting mode here. We are hoping to receive our travel approval this week. If not, it will be another week at least because the CCAA is on vacation May 1st through May 7th. They worked this past weekend and today, so I'm hoping they processed our travel approval and got it in the mail before they left. Then we will just need a confirmed consulate appointment in order to start making travel plans. The US Consulate in Guangzhou is closed May 1st through May 3rd, so even if we get our TA this week it will likely be next week before we have official travel dates. Our agency estimates we will travel May 24th through June 7th, so I am trying to finish up all the last minute details. We just received our travel packet in the mail from CHI today, so I can now mail my visa application off to the consulate this week. My trip to my beautiful little girl may happen soon after all!

LOA!!!!

Well, on day 110 we finally received our Letter of Approval from China. It will be signed and sent back ASAP and then we wait for our Travel Approval. I am hopeful for May travel, but it will just depend on how long our TA takes. They've been taking anywhere from 1-4 weeks. I am willing and able to travel on very short notice, so hopefully they will be able to sneak us in with their next available travel group after we receive our TA. Yeah!!!

Moving in the right direction

Our agency called last night to let us know our dossier is out of the review room. It is now in the matching room where they will issue our Letter of Approval (LOA). Our agency expects to receive that form in 1-2 weeks. I'm just glad to finally get some news that our paperwork is moving.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! We had a nice (cold, but nice) day today. The boys looked through their Easter baskets and hunted eggs this morning. Then we went to church which is difficult with a two-year-old, but we made it. We decided to have a more untraditional Easter this year and we took in a Royals baseball game. Collin loved it even though the weather was very cold and the wind was terrible. We ran the bases after the game which was neat. Still no news on our Letter of Approval. Our agency is going to follow up on it regularly, so hopefully they will have some news this week. So far they've determined that our dossier is still in the review room. Last week was an incredibly difficult week, but I'm hoping things start looking up soon.

Good News....just not for us

Well, our agency received lots of good news today, just none for us. They received three packages from China. One of Non-Special Needs Travel Approvals, one of Special Needs Travel Approvals, and one with four Seeking Confirmation Letters. The seeking confirmation letters were all for families with January log in dates (we were logged in 12/30/06). So, our agency is going to try to figure out why we and a couple of other families have been skipped. We are on day 93 now and each day I feel farther and farther away from our little girl. Today was the toughest day by far and it was all I could do not to cry the entire day (only half the day). I'm still somewhat hopeful that we will get our letter this week or next week, but I'm also scared that we will find out there is a bigger problem. Only time will tell.

What a Beautiful Day!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. We went to the zoo and had such a great time. We fed the sheep and the lorikeets. We saw the new koala exhibit -- so cute! We also watched an elephant paint a picture. Dylan was much more into the animals this year, although he would also find a blade of grass on the pavement quite interesting as well. Here's hoping this was a great start to a week full of good news!!!