Make This Place His Home

Today, despite the winter-like temperatures during the first few days of spring here in SE Pennsylvania, was a good day.

We heard from our Agency that we’ve received our TA (Travel Approval), and can now make arrangements for our Consulate Appointment, secure our Visas, and finalize our Itinerary for our trip.  The TA represents the Chinese Authorities saying essentially:  “We’ve read your Dossier, it looks in order, we’ve heard from your Government, they said it’s OK for you to move ahead, so…come on over…your new Son is waiting for you.  Just be sure to have your papers in order when you arrive.”

So much of the past 18 months or so has followed the typical “hurry up and wait” trajectory.  But the wind’s been at our back over the past few weeks, and things have really fallen into place rather quickly.  It’s starting to get REAL.  I can still remember the anxiety (good anxiety…) of this part of the process in each our other children’s stories.  It’s a nervousness that’s hard to describe, as the plans were made for the trips.  Butterflies will take up residence in stomachs for the duration of the preparations, and we’re anticipating many, many more questions from our little ones as they witness this countdown.

Life is about to change again, and we can see it all coming at us.  We’ll stop being FIVE, and starting in a couple of short months, we’ll forever be a family of SIX.

Checklists are taking shape, clothing is beginning to be gathered and staged in the spare (at least until Ryan comes home, at which time it will be known as Kyle’s) bedroom.  Our paper documents are being accumulated (to be checked, re-checked, and re-re-checked) and flash drives are in the works with digital copies of ALL paperwork, forms, approvals, and certificates.

Buckle up, if all continues to go well, we should be wheels up in about SEVEN (7) WEEKS.

One of the next things we’ll need to sort out will be our specific travel routes, dates and activities, since we’ll have substantial opportunity to get out of the hotel and look around.

Stay Tuned. We’re hoping for more good days very soon.