TA in hand!!!!! Yeah!!!

It's offically all here.  We have the documents in hand.  We're coming for you Jia!!!!

Visas and passports

Ok, so there was a slight delay with the girls visa applications but we just got word from our agency that they have our passports in hand and they've been couriered to us today.  Tomorrow when our final package arrives we'll be officially all set to go next Wed. 

I ordered a mattress for Jia's room and there were problems with the order then with delivery and finally today it came and they sent a boxspring instead!  So Eric is off today seeking a twin mattress.  I so want the room to be officially done and this was the last step.  I'm confident he'll bring one home today, love it when he gets determined. 

Haircuts and pedicures for all four of us tomorrow.  The girls are so excited to be getting real pedicures, Eric...not so much.  Can you all just picture it?!  Love it.  Messin' with the macho man. 

Hotels and Itinerary

We got our itinerary this afternoon.  We're at the Gloria in Nanchang.  Which is where we stayed when we got our Fei.  So that was pleasant news.  Hotel was OK, our needs were met and there was lots of great shopping (shoes!) and a great grocery store very nearby.  Hopefully things haven't changed too much in the last 6 years :)  In Beijing we're at the Novotel Peace.  Looks nice.  Walking distance to the Forbidden City.  Anyone stayed there?
http://www.gloriahotels.com/en/gloria-grand-hotel-nanchang/nanchang-hotel-gloria-grand-hotel-luxury-hotel-nanchang-online-reservations.html
http://www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3115-novotel-beijing-peace/index.shtml

We've discovered another RQ family who will be at the Gloria the same week we are, and they get their baby the same day we do.  Hopefully we'll meet them there.

I've had a few people ask about the blog/e-mail test.  Blogger is blocked from China, I'd need a proxy server to go on here, so instead I can just e-mail from my regular shaw e-mail account directly to the blog.  I won't be able to see the blog and won't be able to make corrections or check spelling.  Also won't see comments until we're home.  I'm not sure what the posts will look like but there will be updates and photos, that's the important thing.  We can pretty them up once we're home.  Or not.  What ever is easiest.  So, go ahead and keep e-mailing us shelnel@blforest.com  I'm sure we'll have lots of down time in the room.  Jia will be in bed early and we're sooooo not used to that.  I'll have Internet in the room at both hotels so please feel free to keep right on communicating with me ;)

 

Testing

We set the blog up a long time ago, and now we're on the countdown to leaving so I'm testing e-mail mode again. We most likely won't have access to blogger in China and will have to e-mail updates to the blog. So here is a test post.

Quiet weekend at home. A bit more packing. Nothing new.

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Day

The girls were in their finest and ready to celebrate at school today.  Lili's teacher is teaching about the festival in her class today and both girls are taking round rice cookies with icing on them to share.  They don't care for Moon Cakes and didn't want to attempt taking any.  I'm not sure where we would have bought them last night in our little town last night anyways. 

The Moon Cakes we ordered in China were delivered to Jia's SWI on the 17th and the package I sent with letters, photo album and a disposable camera were finally delivered on the 20th.  18 days to get from here to Jia's SWI.  Crazy. 

14 more sleeps until we leave!

TA has landed!

Phew.  Our TA is in Victoria.  All is good in our world today.  Moving into another weekend with good news. 

Flights

We booked flights, we arrive Nanchang Oct. 8th at 10:45am and get Jia Oct. 10!!  Now we need pesky things to fall into place like that silly ole' TA arriving :)  I'm finally feeling some calm. It took Mom and I ALL day to find flights that worked for us. They aren't perfect, we have to leave Vancouver at 3:00 am but a few hours ago we were going to China 4 days early because it was the only flight we could find that would accommodate 5 of us! Yikes.  At one point we were being quoted $3000 per person return and we couldn't get home until November.  So, we're much relieved to have this part booked.  There were tons of flights through the US, but we can't take Jia home to Canada via the US.  We're coming Jia!!  Slowly but surely.

UPDATED PICTURES OF JIA!!!

I ordered Moon cakes to be delivered to Jia's SWI last week from Ann at Red Threads and I just got to work this morning and Ann has sent us four updated pictures of Du Xiao Yu to our e-mail!!!  So, so freakin' exciting!  Seriously, I was shaking and beyond thrilled to see these.  She looks just fabulous.  Strong and healthy and happy.  Sigh.  Oh, and the pictures were taken today!  I love the internet.  I can't wait to show Eric, Lili and Fei.

News of TA

We just got an e-mail letting us know our TA is confirmed to leave CCAA on Monday and our agency is confirming adoption appointments!!  WAHOO!!  It's looking good for leaving Oct. 7 and adopting Jia on Monday Oct. 11.  Oh, such good news to move into the weekend with.  Oh, and Jia's package is on the move again this morning so someone must have corrected the street address :)

Packages

I sent a package to Duchang with a photo album for Jia and a disposable camera, in the hopes of getting a picture of Jia with her foster family.  We also added a letter that we had translated and Lili and Fei made cards for Jia too.  That were very sweet and I wish I'd copied them to put on here.  I did black and white photo copies for Jia's memory box though.  Anyways...the couriered package left the office last Friday and it's now stuck in China.  Not much I can do, the address literally is 'near the bend on the road'  and the clearing place in Guangzhou would like the correct street number.  It would be better if I didn't have the list of check points to fuss about :)  On the tracking site, the package has been scanned 21 times!  Chemainus, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Richmond, Seattle, Louisville, Anchorage, Chek Lap Kok-Hong Kong, Shenzhen-China and stuck at the Guangzhou-China depot. 

I also ordered moon cakes from a company in China to be delivered next week to the Jia's SWI.  That was fun.  Now I'm getting right crazy and thinking I should order some for Lili and Fei's SWI too.  We shall see.

I spent my lunch hour in the Chemainus tourist shops looking for BC jade.  Really, you'd think it would be easier to find.  I found some I liked, but the packaging was dirty.  I'm hoping the Royal BC Museum will pan out for me on the weekend.  Trying to find jade as a gift to Jia's foster Mother since her name is Yu which means jade. 

Still no word on TA.  I finally went to the Sunrise site and read the travel part of the information packages.  Nothing too earth shatteringly new.  Nice refresher of the trip.  I did print out the visa applications and I see that we need passport pictures.  So that is something we can take care of before it's time. 

Normally every year I find the first week back to school so hectic, funny thing this year, it seems quiet compared to getting a family ready to travel to China!  So many details to take care of.   

Isabel

I was just saving some photos from my Mom's camera and found this one of Isabel taken this past Sunday.  She is 5 1/2 mo. old now.  Isn't she turning out to be a fine looking dog?! 

Back to School

Grade 2

Grade 3

Too Cute!

It was a half day and their classrooms are temperary but it was the first day back to school.  They were happy, smiling and confident.  That was nice to see.  I'm sad to hand them back to the school and I'm really going to miss our nice, easy,  relaxed summer schedule.  They both had a blast showing off Jia's picture today.  Lili requested curls in her hair, so against her nature, and it took nearly 40mins to get those curls in this morning and with the rain and moisture they were basically gone before she even got in her classroom. 

Eric and I ran some errands while they were in school.  Managed to find a couple gifts for China.  We also settled on a kennel for Miss Isabel and booked a trial night for her this weekend.   

Little Hike

Big debate, do I mention where we are, or don't I.  Do we say where we're visiting or camping or is that dangerous.  First of all because we can be found and second because someone will know we're not home.  Is everyone reading our blog a friend or a creepy stalker?  I assume everyone reading knows us and is friendly or is a fellow adoptive family and again friendly.  So...thoughts?  

We're ending up our last camping trip before school starts.  My parents came today and we took the dogs for a hike at Qualicum to see the falls.  Nice day.  We managed to get the kids in bed by 10:00.  Hoping for 9:00 tomorrow.  It's tough getting back to the schedule.  There has been very little talk of school.  We'll all be sad to see summer go.  Sadly I wished most of it away just waiting to get to referral.  Now, I'm going to wish away Sept. so we can get to October and Jia!

Mom took this picture today and e-mailed it to us when she got home.  Thanks Mom.  Still really loving my mobility key!  If only it would work in China.