The last acronym! CA!!!!!!!!

Our travel dates came yesterday!! We are officially leaving the day before Thanksgiving! We arrive in Beijing on Thanksgiving Day and will meet Gen on the 29th!!!

I spent over 6 hours on and off the phone and computer trying to book tickets yesterday. What a headache that was! I am sooo glad I can check that off my list. Although I still have a couple small details I need to check on, so back on the phone I go.... Uhggg.....

This morning the kids are so excited; they're already packing their bags to go their Mimi and Poppa's and their Aunt's house. One minute Gemma and Seth are arguing with each other about who ate the most of their favorite breakfast cereal, the next they're rushing upstairs together to pick out what clothes and things to pack. Gotta love it. :O)

WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The all elusive TA finally appeared!!!! Way overdue, but in a few weeks I won't care a bit!
Sorry it's been so long since I posted last... but waiting for this Travel Approval was very stressful and depressing (because it was taking so long)... and I just didn't have it in me to write how I was feeling in any great detail.

Now we're waiting to hear when our CA will be... If we can get a CA the first week of December, we'll leave on the 18th or 19th of this month. If not, then we'll be leaving on the 2nd or 3rd of December. We should find out the final verdict by Monday.

Now I'm off to clean, pack, and do all the things I should have done 2 weeks ago, hee hee!

Oh when, oh when will our TA show up?
Oh where, oh where can it be?

With my patience so short,
And the waiting so long
Oh where, oh where can it be???

A little intermission fun while we wait...

Thought you could use a laugh... I know I sure needed one!

Still waiting...

Yep, still here watching the pot.... Nope, no bubbles yet....

Actually there's no chance of it boiling for at least another week. There's a national holiday from October 1st to the 8th in China, so no TA till everyone is back. Hopefully they'll process ours asap, and we'll get it the following week. It's looking like we'll travel the beginning of November if that happens. If it comes later we could be in China for Thanksgiving. That will be very strange, being away from the rest of the family on a holiday... but we will have lots to be thankful for!

I can't believe it!!

No, we didn't get TA yet, sorry....

But the CDC has amended their TB protocol!!! Families adopting will now be able to bring their children home to be treated here in the U.S.!!! Here's a link to the JCICS (Joint Council on International Children's Services) website.
http://www.jcics.org/Build Families Not Barriers.htm

The final stretch...

Haven't posted in a while. The last month has been hectic, getting assessments done for the 3 older children, ordering material, preparing and then finally starting the new school year. We finished our first two weeks of school and I have to say, it went pretty well... not TOO much whining, ha ha.

We're into the final stretch, waiting for our TA (travel approval). It should come the end of this month (notice the operative word "should"). We're hoping to travel the beginning of October but with the first week of October being the Autumn Moon festival and the trade fair going on in Guangzhou the 3rd and 4th week of October, who knows? Although our agency says they still schedule travel during the trade fair, so we'll see...

I have a huge list of stuff I still need to do before we leave and I'd like to say the list is getting shorter... but for every couple things I do on the list, I think of just as many more to add on to it, so it's not really shrinking! Arrgghh... Truth be known, if I had to leave today, I really wouldn't care if all of the stuff on my list gets done so I guess in the long run, it can wait if I don't get to it.

Hopefully the next time I post it will be with two letter news!!!