Day 2 photos

The Squirrel Fish:

Our Beijing guide - Nancy

Exploring Beijing

We had adventure this morning!  We left our hotel after breakfast, and walked to the subway!  It really wasn't difficult to purchase tickets or figure out where to go.  We rode Line 1 for just three stops, the walked to meet some friends of my parents.  We had a great time meeting new people, both American and Chinese.  After a visit, a dozen of us went out to lunch at a local restaurant.  We tried squirrel fish!  It was served with a very unique presentation!  As one person described it; "the fish is turned inside out, cut in squares while still attached to the skin, and cooked that way."  It is served with a special sauce, and is delicious!  I think we had enough food for 2 dozen people at least!  After eating we walked back to the subway, heading back to the hotel. 

We checked out of the hotel at 2pm, and met our guide for the trip to the airport.  Off to Nanjing, and closer to Emmett!  We checked in to a very fancy hotel!  We'll have to add some photos of the lobby.  Amazing!  It's now Monday am, and we meet Emmett later today!

No photos with this post due to technical difficulties!

First day in China

We began the day with everyone up before the alarm.  Everyone is still trying to adjust to being awake when we are supposed to be sleeping.  Breakfast was eggs, bacon, pancakes - just like home, almost!  There were plenty of other Chinese choices but we weren't feeling too brave yet.

We had a 2 1/2 hour orientation session which ended with getting the "red" book with an update on Emmett, some new photographs (similar to the ones we just posted) and our schedule for the remainder of the trip.

Lunch was the traditional Chinese meal although we were told it was "Americanized" a bit and we brushed up on our chopstick skills.

We walked off our lunch with a visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  The girls quickly remembered what they didn't like about their last visit to China - constantly being asked to have their picture taken with other children!

Dinner was at the local McDonald's as everyone was ready to crash!  Tomorrow we will meet some friends of my parents and then fly to Nanjing.  We are scheduled to meet Emmett on Monday at 3pm.

Arrived in Beijing

Just a quick post to let everyone know we are in Beijing.  We had an uneventful flight (the best kind!), and arrived just before midnight last night.  By the time we got to bed it was almost 2 am!  (that's 1pm the day before for you).  We are now starving and heading down to breakfast.  I'll post more tonight!

It is finally happening!!!

After almost a year of paperwork and waiting, the tine is here! We leave today. Emmett joins our family August 1st, and officially becomes a Lerwick August 2nd. We received a couple new pictures on Tuesday. 

Consulate Appointment

We received confirmation yesterday that our Consulate Appointment is August 9th.  We leave in less than 2 weeks!  Emmett joins our family on August 1st, and the official adoption is the 2nd.  After working for so long, it is finally going to happen!!!!  

TA!!!!

We received our Travel Authority today from China!!! That's our last piece of paper.  Now as soon as our agency schedules our consulate appointment, tomorrow or Friday, we can buy tickets and plan!!!  We hope to leave July 28th.  The TA's starting coming yesterday to the people on the China Adopt Talk website (14 of them!), and more came in today(at least 6)!  We were the last to be notified, of the 20 people who received them yesterday and today.  I was on pins and needles by the end, wondering if we had been skipped somehow.  Thankfully, about 5:00 today, the call came!! It was truely a record breaking week for the number of TA's issued in 2 days!!!   Emmett, here we come!

Article 5

We received official word today that the Consulate issued our Article 5 on Wed, 6/22!  We are now officially waiting for TA!  When we get our TA then we schedule travel.  We are so close!!!!  TA's take anywhere from 1-6 weeks, but generally 3 weeks.  We are hoping to leave July 28th or August 11th, depending on when our TA actually arrives. 

My heart is full!

We got to skype with Emmett Haixing tonight, and it went better than any of us hoped!  He was wearing the shirt we sent, and had the books and photo album with him.  As his sisters took turns being close to the camera, he found their photos in the book.  He obviously has looked at his photo book many times!  We talked about our swings, and he immediately looked for that page also.  We knew he liked music, so asked him about that.  He sang a little song for us!   We were cautioned not to talk about adoption, not being sure how much he knows or understands, but one of his first questions was, "Can you come and get me on Monday?"  Totally melted our hearts!  He called us mama, baba, and older sisters.  His only request was that if we can't come on Monday, could we send some colored pens.  Believe me, I will be purchasing colored pens, pencils, paper, etc to send to him this week!!!  He seems to be very perceptive.  When asked if he had any questions, he turned to the photo of me in his book, and asked if I went to work.  I told him I did when the children were at school, but that I wouldn't go to work for the first few months after he comes home.  He seemed satisfied.  He also noticed that Brian was quieter than the rest of us, and specifically asked Brian to sing him a song!  It was priceless!  He was smiling, happy, waving, and knew all about what was happening.  We are even more excited than we were before!!!!!   I really can't express how much that call means to all of us!  Here are some snapshots from the call.  In the second one, he is holding the Clifford book we sent to him.

NVC cable/letter: only 2 cars left!

I was a little frustrated yesterday when most other people who received I800 approval the same day we did were cabled and received their letters.  We had received an email saying ours was in process, but that was all yesterday.  Anyway, we received notice this afternoon that we were cabled today, and got the letter to prove it.  That went to China today, so we are waiting for article 5.  Hopefully just 2 weeks for that, then the travel authority!!!!  We're getting closer!!
We also got a surprise email from our agency, saying they have arranged a Skype call with Emmett Haixing on Thursday evening!  That will be awesome!  I have asked a couple times if we could do that, and hadn't received firm answers.  The orphanage has now agreed!  We will have a translator from our agency on the call as well, so should be interesting!  I'll report back on Friday.