Travel Approval!

Last week, Lynn said we should get a soft TA on Tuesday 6/27, but we would have to wait until I had the actual document in hand to travel. With the 4th approaching she thought the earliest we would travel was 7/13 (you travel on a Thursday).

Well on Tuesday, 6/27 I sent her an email, "I am sure you will let me know if we get TA. Just checking in". She wrote back at 5:00, "You actually got it 6/26, I put it in the mail to you".

WHAT?! I wrote back, "Any chance we can travel 7/6?" Well Lynn got that message later Tuesday and since China is 12 hours ahead, she contacted her fellow employees in country and asked for a 7/10 meeting day at the orphanage. I got the actual paper in hand Wednesday!

By the time I spoke to Lynn on Wednesday morning, she confirmed the orphanage date! The last 48 hours have been a blur. A stress migraine rendered me useless for much of it. My dear friend organized an impromptu prayer meeting at her house. These dear folks, with hours of notice, gathered to pray over us. SUCH a special time! SO loved by these folks and so many others.

Booked the flights. We return Thursday July 20th at 11:58pm...sorry about that.

Started a private FB group ALL THE WAY TO JUN HAN if you are interested in joining. I think that will be easier to update instead of blog.

I have a WeChat if you want to download the app. My id is rebeccaperry  

Please continue to pray not only for sanity and thinking things through, but for Jun Han as he and his foster family prepare to see us one week from Monday.

So thankful for the support we have received this week. Friends surrounding us, praying for us, buying thoughtful things for us, lending us suitcases, buying us a rice cooker, wrapping presents, crossing things off my to do list.

We leave Thursday afternoon.

Not Long Now (DC Tour)

In the 18 days since I last updated, A LOT has happened:
Our visas have been processed and returned
Our Article 5 has been picked up from Guangzhou
Fellow host child, Andy,  has been officially adopted!
And we are on our last waiting step....Just waiting for Travel Approval!

T.A. usually is issued by the Chinese Government about 1-3 weeks after Article 5. Once it is "issued" we have been formally invited by China to come over and adopt. We have 90 days to use that approval. Our agency then frantically works to get our appointments set in China, hotels and flights booked, and guides lined up. Still a lot of details to fall into place, but this is happening.

A dear friend of ours was able to schedule some White House tours for us, so we took this opportunity to spend the night in NoVA (too cheap for DC prices) and tour DC a bit. Our last family vacation just the 5 of us.  Here we are outside of the West Wing

Please pray as we think through packing, gifts, our children as we will be gone from them for 2 weeks, and mounds of details. Also, for heart preparation for our new son MJHP and his foster parents as they are going to be grieving this separation.

White House Movie Theater

Official State Dining Room. Abigail is talking to a Secret Service agent who is telling her about the different dogs that work in the White House, where they are hiding, and what they do. That is Lincoln over the mantel.

The press room. Ironically during the Nixon administration he was advised to bring the press closer, so he had this room built over top of a pool that FDR used for physical therapy. The empty pool houses all of the wires and equipment for this room. Also it is a fully tiled pool where White House Staffers have signed their names for years. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to the White House. Awesome to have this off my bucket list. I love how it really is the American People's house and treasured landmark. It is old and historical and because of that not incredible opulent.

The podium that caught fire during JFK's inauguration

A flag with just 38 stars

A view from the Eisenhower Building of the White House 

Moving Right Along- update

Well, we were approved for final immigration (I800) on 5/25, so my mishap only cost us an extra 2 weeks.  That was step 9 out of 15.

Yesterday I emailed the National Visa Center (NVC) and they had received our approval of step 9 from the government so they issued us a GUZ number. That was step 10 out of 15! So I applied for a visa for our son (this is the only step of this entire adoption that has been online).

At the beginning of this application it tells you it will take 2 hours to fill out. Yup. Thankfully I had help from my new friend, who is one step ahead of me. Who is my new friend you ask?

Long story short, in February we launched a Facebook campaign for a young man named Andy who was hosted at the same time as our son. He had a family pursing him for adoption, but after they were $10,000 in, they had a personal situation and they had to walk away from Andy. Andy ages out at the end of June. God provided an amazing couple who have been able to complete this process before he turns 14! In fact if all goes according to plan, they will be flying back to the US on Andy's 14th birthday! Because of his age, his mom was able to do from February which I have been working on since September. She is 10 days ahead of us in the process. She is waiting for step 13.

BUT did you read that!?!? She is 10 days ahead of us.... and is traveling in MID JUNE!
THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING! It feels so far off, but the truth is, we are in the final stages. My guess is we will travel mid July.

Tonight we submitted the online form to get an immigration visa for JH. On Monday we will mail OUR visa applications.
So as of now these steps remain:
1. finish and mail our visa applications
2. Article 5 drop off (10 days)
3. China approves us to travel (1-3 weeks)
4. We book our flights and go. (usually 1-2 weeks after travel approval)