Another Piece of the Paperchase!

The official Travel Approval Notice arrived this week from our Agency telling us officially we are invited to come to China to get our boy! It's a nice certificate written in Chinese and English with a baby picture of Ahn-Bao from his original referral.

Another Set of Fingerprints!

One of the (MANY) requirements to adopt internationally is an FBI check of our criminal records which initiates with fingerprints. We have had our fingerprints printed so many times now for so many purposes that I can't count them. The current fingerprints on file for Ahn-Bao's adoption will expire on 2-3-08. We requested on 12-1-07 a renewal of our fingerprints just in case our travel would occur after this date. Our travel dates are 1/17-1/31 but just to be safe, we went ahead and complied with this appointment for refingerprinting out of an abbundance of caution.

Our appointment to renew our fingerprints was today. It required us to drive to the Twin Cities to appear at an "ASC" office to have our new fingerprints taken. An ASC office is a very unique opportunity if you have never been to one before. The signs on the door and the walls giving instruction tell much of the story:

No cell phones

No food

No drink

No public restrooms

No soliciting

Check in with the guard x 3

Enter here

Exit here

Stay away from the TV

And when you're finished you get a yellow card to complete to comment on your experience and are pointed to a box in which to place your comment card. Then sitting outside the door on the sidewalk is a garbage bag full of yellow comment cards.

Elias and Yasmin were in school and Kia came along for the ride (thereby effectively missing her afternoon nap resulting in implications which were not at all pleasant). Our neighbor Maddy did babysitting duty with the school kids until we arrived back home. Mission accomplished. One more to check off the list!

Meet Ahn-Bao's Family

For some of you following virtually, I thought you might like to see the family that Ahn-Bao will come home to. Here we are:
Yasmin (8 on 1-21)
Elias (6 since November)
Kia (3 on 1-22)
Bob and Sherry (ages unpublished)

Visas in Process

So the passport that arrived yesterday went in the overnight mail this morning on its way to Chicago to be hand-delivered to the Chinese Consulate to apply for Visa's to allow us entry to China. There is an adoptive mom in Chicago who provides the required hand-delivery of visa applications to the Consulate there for adoptive families. Her name is Denise Hope and her business is http://www.theres-always-hope.com/. If UPS "Next Day Air" delivers as planned, we could have our visa's back by Friday. Fingers crossed again as papers travel on planes yet again!

Also picked up prescriptions today for Ahn-Bao for various common illnesses in case he needs them while we're in China. Our pediatrician has been so helpful and supportive. Discovered that our health insurance won't cover our boy until he's actually "placed" with us (which is 12 days now) so the cost of the prescriptions is out of pocket -- but will be well worth it if it's needed!

Got such a thoughtful message from my Aunt Cindy today (she always says just the right things) that I have to share, she said, "Oh I can't stop thinking about that boy being put in your arms. I can just hear you talk gently to him. He is a lucky kid." We are so blessed to have this boy and to have such great family supporting us!

Aunt Sandy also passed along the following update on Ahn-Bao on the Xi'an Yahoo Group:
"Kieran [this is the English name that the English-speaking volunteers at the orphanage use for Ahn-Bao] was his usual gentle happy cuddly self & also was glad to come out & play with aunty sandy & the rest of us!" Aunt Sandy is an Angel with our boy there!

The Passport Has Arrived!

My mother's passport is a detail that becomes pretty important because it is required to complete the Visa application process. We applied on 12-27-07 and it just arrived today -- Hooray! Thanks to the helpful staff at the Fremont Main Post Office who processed and the Department of State for approving her passport. One more step completed in the paperwork chase!

Orphanage Playground

Aunt Sandy comes through again with some photos from the recently improved playground at the Xi'an Children's Welfare Institute. The playground was a project that Aunt Sandy has been promoting for some time and it appears it was created almost entirely with donations from around the world.

Ahn-Bao was enjoying the slide on 1-5-08 with other kids from the 4th Floor!

Less than 2 weeks now until we meet him in person!

Flights are booked

I clicked the "purchase" button on the Northwest Airlines website today and purchased the flights for China. We will fly out of Rochester on 1-17-08 and fly to Detroit and then to Tokyo and then to Beijing. We will stay overnight in Beijing and then fly out the next day to Xi'an on 1-20 to meet Ahn-Bao. Also ordered a one-way ticket for Ahn-Bao to bring him home!

We are waiting for my Mom's passport which should arrive the end of this week if all goes as planned. Then I will apply for our Visas to allow us entry to China for our mission.

Mom was able to arrange to get all of her necessary immunizations this week so we are on track.

Lots more paperwork to assemble and packing to accomplish, but we are moving along.