On our way!

I can't believe that we are finally on the way! I am trying to get the finishing touches on our packing and then off to bed. We will be up early to make it to the airport on time. Two more days until Cora is finally ours!

"Leaving on a Jetplane"

My husband walks around the house singing the old song lyrics "leaving on a jet plane; don't know when she'll be back again". I am not quite sure how to feel about this. Is he happy I am finally leaving to bring Cora home in 10 days OR is he hoping I will not come back? I will stick with the first one!

This is the copy of our itinerary:

 

3/31     Arrive in Shanghai on flight DL181 at 2:50 pm. A guide will meet and escort you to the train station so you can travel to Hangzhou by bullet train. Your guide will meet you at the train station and escort you to the Ramada Haihua Hotel.

4/1       Meet and take custody of Cora (Shu, Yan) at the Civil Affairs office

4/2       Complete adoption paperwork and travel by bullet train to Ningbo where you will stay at the Crowne Plaza City Center Ningbo Hotel.

4/3       Complete adoption paperwork and visit the orphanage if approved

4/4       Return to Hangzhou by bullet train

4/5       Fly from Hangzhou to Guangzhou.

4/6       Visa medical examination and TB test

4/7       City tour

4/8       City tour

4/9       Free day

4/10     Pick up medical documents and prepare for the visa interview with the help of your guide

4/11     Visa interview at the US Consulate            

4/12     Pick up Cora’s visa then take the train to Hong Kong where you will stay at the Harbour Plaza Hotel

4/13     Depart Hong Kong

 

10 MORE DAYS UNTILWE TRAVEL TO CHINA TO BRING CORA HOME!

We are going to China! March 30, 2013

We have our Consulate appointment on April 11, 2013 which means that we will finally get to hold our beautiful daughter on April 1^st! We have been waiting so long to hold her, tell her how much we love her, and will always keep her safe.

2 weeks to finish everything in Cora’s and Sasha’s bedroom, finish making backpacks for the children that we are filling with gifts and treats, and shopping for the Ayi’s. I am very close to being done with all of the shopping and just need to find a way to get it all in one suitcase.

Then the hard part starts; being in a country when you do not know the language, being totally dependent on others to complete something so important to us. Having to keep calm, happy and smiling even though you are so scared something bad will happen and you will not be able to do anything about it. We just have to trust that we are doing what we were called to do and that the plan will work because it was meant to be. It is the hard times that show us how hard it can be to keep the faith.

We got our Travel Approval tonight!

We put in our 5 dates for our Consulate appointment and hope to hear tomorrow what date we are approved for. The Consulate appointment is our last appointment before we come home. We asked for April 11, 16, 17, 18 and 23. The adoption agency feels that they should approve us for April 11 but there is no way to know. If they do approve us for the 1st it means that we will be leaving for China on March 28 or 29! We will get to meet Cora on April 1 (Gotcha Day) and she will be officially our daughter on April 2, 2013!

Email about the Article 5 for travel date

We received the email about the article 5 for our

travel date. This is a copy of the email explaining

the rest of the process to bring Cora home.
 

Dear Adoptive Parent,

 The Adopted Children's Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU) at U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou has finished processing your child's Article 5, and your file is ready to be returned to your adoption agency's facilitator. 

 Next, your agency will deliver the Article 5 and Letter of Seeking Confirmation to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), which will issue the Travel Approval (TA).  The TA allows you to come to China to finalize the adoption, so once the CCCWA issues the TA, your agency can email us to request an immigrant visa appointment at the Consulate.  When your agency requests an appointment, they are required to submit your five choices in rank order.  The ACIVU strives to schedule every family for their top appointment choice on which we still have available visa appointments.  We do not reserve certain days for children of certain ages.  All appointments are open to adopted children of any age and medical condition, and they are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.  We then notify your agency of the scheduled date and time. 

 We understand that plans change and occasionally an agency must request to change an appointment, but we ask them to minimize such requests and only make them in the case of true emergencies because frequent appointment changes impede our ability to give other families their top choices.   In order to avoid the need to reschedule, please coordinate closely with your agency in formulating your list of five preferred appointment dates. Regarding booking flights to return to the United States: Please be aware that difficulties that are completely beyond our control often arise in the approval and printing of visas.

 When you book flights for your return travel, please be aware that while we make every effort to issue visas the afternoon following the immigrant visa interview, from time to time issues beyond our control prevent us from keeping to this schedule.  Guangzhou’s  Consular Section issues thousands of visas each business day, and problems, while rare, do occur.  In order to avoid the costly need to change your travel plans, we strongly recommend that you allow at least 48 hours after the time of your visa interview to depart Guangzhou.

 We look forward to meeting you and your new family member when you come to the Consulate for your visa appointment!

 Best regards,

 Adopted Children's Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU)
U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou
Phone: (86)(20) 8518 7653
Fax: (86)(20) 3884 4420

 

We are getting so excited! To be able to see her,

hold her, and finally be able to show her how

much we love her.

Article 5 was scheduled to be picked up today

Our Article 5 was scheduled to be picked up today, March 1, 2013. Lauren will receive confirmation when it has been picked up and sent to the CCCWA in Beijing and will let us know as soon as she hears from them. We may also receive an email directly from the consulate letting you know the Article 5 has been signed and has been picked up.

THE NEXT (AND LAST) STEP IS A TRAVEL DATE!!

I cannot believe it is finally almost time to travel half way around the world to Ningbo China and bring home our beautiful little daughter Cora Yan. It has felt like we have been waiting forever but now that the time is here I feel like we have so much to do to get ready to travel and for her to come home.

I am putting finishing touches on the girls room, buying the last few things that are needed and practicing packing it all into a suitcase that is not supposed to be over 44 pounds. You should try it... clothes for 2 for 14 days, toys, gifts for ayi's and director, donations for the children left behind, food and snacks, medicines, extra shoes, shampoo, lotions, pull ups (just in case)... and the list goes on. The suitcase has filled up quick!