Planning Our Trip to China



The boys' immigration and visa papers are sent off and on their journey that ends in Guangzhou, China at the American Embassy.  The Brown 5's visa paperwork is filled out and ready to send off early next week. Grant and loan applications are in, the US government has approved "provisionally" both boys to enter the US as our sons and citizens of the United States of America.

April is coming to an end and as soon as May is here, I'll be able to say that we most likely will see the boys "next month!"

We are over the mountain of "adoption process" and are sliding down the other side, picking up speed all the way.  Now I can have a little fun shopping and preparing for our trip to China!
The Fort Worth Museum currently has a special exhibit spotlighting life in China
Next week, we plan to go visit a special exhibit at the Fort Worth Museum called "Children of Hangzhou: Connecting With China."  It looks like it will be great.  Just as I was working on this entry, I noticed on my dashboard that another woman who's blog I follow just took her kids and posted about it.  The exhibit is perfect timing for our family!

Several friends have asked us about our China trip, so I thought I would answer the most popular questions here:
We should travel in June, Lord willing.  All three Brownies are traveling with us.  We will stay in China 21-22 days as opposed to the regular 16-day stay since we are adopting two boys from different provinces.  We will have CCAI (our adoption agency) representatives with us at all times, including tours.  They act as our guides, translators, and experts.

Our trip will look something like this:
Day 1: Travel 13 hours by airplane to Beijing, China.
Day 2-3: Sightsee, sleep, adjust to China time and prepare for the boys! We plan to tour the Great Wall, Tienneman Square/Forbidden City.  We are also working on meeting up with some Deaf Chinese people while in Beijing.
Day 4: Travel to Zhengzhou, the capital of Tian's province.  Our last day as a family of 5.
Day 5: Gotcha Day for Tian!
Day 6: Paperwork filled out.
Day 7-9: Wait for paperwork, medical checkups, touring the city. We plan to go visit the Kung Fu Temple.  Zhengzhou is the birthplace of Kung Fu.
Day 10: Get all official docs back in our hands, then fly to Fujian, the capital of Travis' province.
Day 11: Gotcha day for Travis!
Day 12: Paperwork filled out.
Day 13-15: Wait for paperwork, medical checkups, touring the city. We hope to visit Travis' birthplace about 3 hours away.
Day 16: Get all official docs back in our hands, then fly to Guangzhou, city of the US Consulate.
Day 17: Rest, shopping and tour.
Day 18: Visa physical exam and visa photo for the boys.
Day 19:  Visa paperwork delivered to US Consulate Adoption unit.
Day 20: To US Consulate to take the oath! This is adoption day! Lots of tears, I'm pretty sure. Gets me choked up just typing it.
Day 21: Receive the boys' visas.
Day 22: Fly home to the USA!

Comments

  1. Jim HannahApril 22, 2011 at 7:55 PM

    How busy and exciting!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnnGApril 22, 2011 at 8:06 PM

    Very exciting!! Can't wait to hear all about it and see pictures as the trip happens!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 22, 2011 at 9:19 PM

    Yes... you have to find time to blog from China! Let us live this vicariously through you guys. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. SarahApril 22, 2011 at 9:35 PM

    I will! Blogger is blocked there, but Ken is taking care of us getting a VPN so we can use Blogger. We will also use facebook for updates and can always email if needed. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. DonnaApril 22, 2011 at 10:22 PM

    I couldn't help it. Reading this brought tears to my eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 23, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    Oh my, Sarah! This is so real and you are on your last few steps before you can HOLD them in your ARMS!!! I am so excited for you!!!

    ~Chris in Colorado
    waiting for our munchkins

    ReplyDelete
  7. BeverlyMay 1, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    So excited for you all! We also hope to travel vicariously with you, so do keep the updates coming. Our prayers are with you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. SarahMay 1, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    We will certainly do all we can to post. I've totally enjoyed reading others' adoption blogs and seeing pictures while they are in China, so I want to reciprocate. :) Plus, we'll have grandparents in Texas and Oklahoma who will be dying for info.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travis Update Ending 2013

Image
Just the other day, the boys had a friend come over to play.  Before the friend arrived, his mom sent me a text saying that her son was bringing his Batman costume.  I told Travis, "Your friend will be wearing his Batman costume when he comes over."  Travis' face lit up, eyes lifted, and mouth opened wide.  Before I could finish signing, "Why not you go upstairs to get your Iron Man costume?" he was signing, "Yes, yes!" and making his way up the stairs.  Moments later, he came back to tell me he couldn't find his suit.  I directed him to look in my bathroom in the hamper.  He did and it wasn't there either.  Finally, I told him to hold on while I sent a message asking his dad if he knew the costume's whereabouts.  He did and Travis put on his alter ego. I couldn't help but make a mental note of how that conversation was such a big deal.  We were discussing something happening in the future: friend will arrive soon.  Telling Travis...
Read more

A Review: Maya Chan Beach Resort In Costa Maya, Mexico

Image
Maya Chan Beach Resort A Great Way to Spend a Port Day!  In a Nutshell Do yourself a favor and go.  Just go.  My bet is that you will not regret it.  It’s the relaxing day you may not have realized you needed.  The location is dreamy.  The staff are kind and attentive.  The owners have set it up to make it very comfortable and stress-free for the guests. Just go. Video Review in ASL Getting There and Back The walk is a bit of a trek, but the people at Maya Chan send you a very clear map and instructions.  If you look at Google Maps satellite or the picture below, you’ll see that the port dock is long.  Great for taking photos, though! We walked quickly through the maze of shops without stopping, following the instructions and photos from Maya Chan and found the spot with no problem.  They were waiting with a covered area and some seats while we signed a form, then got on the taxis to head over. You may read about the bumpy ride.  ...
Read more

Stupid, Socially Awkward Homeschoolers

Image
We've been homeschooling for seven years now.  In those seven years, I've heard the battle-cry of upset homeschooling parents dealing with people who make derogatory comments about homeschooling.  I've considered our family fortunate, because other than the very rare "What about socialization?" question, the kids really haven't faced ignorance....until the past few months.  (I do remember a mom blaming homeschooling on the fact that my then-5-year-old-wouldn't-even-BE-in-public-school-yet daughter asked for a second gift bag at a birthday party. "Well, she's not in school, so she's not learned those social rules yet."  Umm...blame my bad parenting, but not homeschooling.) Since moving to our new place, the kids have had the opportunity to endure a lot of ignorant comments. Among those are comments about homeschoolers.  (I will blog later about the other bigoted, offensive things my kids have heard lately.)  Maybe our past neighbors thou...
Read more