YAY!!!! We have been informed by our Adoption Coordinator that we have officially been moved to the Travel Team. What does that mean?!!! Simply put, we are closer than we have ever been to going to our precious baby girl. We have been given an estimated travel timeframe of mid-November. Of course this is all dependent on the turnaround timing on our last two steps needed for travel. Presently we are waiting on our Article 5, which takes about 2 weeks, then we move to Travel Approval (TA), which takes about another 2 weeks. After TA we would board our plane to China about 2 weeks later.
A little tentative information about our trip- We will most likely depart from Tampa or Orlando with a layover in Chicago or Seattle, then on to Beijing. Our stay in Beijing will be short but incredible. While there we will tour The Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square. From Beijing we will travel to Lainee's province of Jiangxi and stay in the capital city of Nanchang. This is where we will meet our daughter for the very first time, prayerfully the very day we arrive. We will spend approximately one week there attending necessary appointments and completing paperwork. We will then fly to Guangzhou located in the Guangdong province. This is where the American Consulate is located in China. We will spend about a week there finalizing everything. Then from there we're really not sure; we have heard we then take a train ride to Hong Kong to spend an evening and a day there before our departure home. Of course until we have final itinerary in hand this is all speculative and subject to change.
Last week while going through some files, I came across a copy of our original application for adoption, dated October 7, 2005. Yes that is correct 2005. This has been a very long and sometimes trying process for us, but please know this, we would not trade one moment of this amazing journey for anything. The Lord has worked a magnificent work, but it was to be according to His timing not ours.
We are forever grateful for the loving and supportive group of family and friends that surround us. Please continue to follow our story as it unfolds as we draw closer.
Love,
Ryan & Danielle
You must be so excited! We sent our dossier to our agency in October 2005 and were LID January 2006, and it was a long wait for that adoption, but so worth it!
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle! Poyang Momma here! My Bo Jia Guo has on the same outfit and in front of the same Teddy Bear. I bet they are friends at the SWI! I hope to travel in mid-November as well. Hope to see you and Lainee there! Blessings,
ReplyDeleteMariah