Travel Visas are Here!

It makes me a little nervous when our passports are out of our possession, so I was really happy when they were returned today stamped with our Chinese travel visas! 

Lots of Action!

We got the word from our China case manager that our paperwork was dropped off at the Consulate in Guangzhou today (last night in our time zone) and is scheduled for pick up on February 25.  We are nearly there!  Here is an old graphic that I found which can help you to help you understand where we are in this process.  We are smack dab in the middle of the arrow. The next step happens in two weeks, then the last three steps usually happen pretty quickly, in one to two more weeks.

We are still tentatively ON for a March 24 placement date!  That date would be the best for us for so many reasons - many of which revolve around the availability of those who are staying at our home with the Little Princesses.

 We also heard today from our travel agency that our visas for China have been approved, and were put on a Fed Ex truck to be delivered to our house.  Yeah, that makes it seem for real!

It is really good timing that our puzzle piece fundraiser - to purchase Isaac's plane ticket home - was finished today!  Doesn't it look great?  Thank you so much to every one of you who helped us with this project.  Whether you sponsored one piece or many, we appreciate every single one! 

Now that travel is about a month and a half away, it is crunch time for getting the funds together.  Money seems like a really bad reason for people to hesitate to adopt, but it is a real concern that I understand!  We are still under consideration for a few grants, which would be fantastic.  Will you pray with us for favor in their sight and a QUICK decision?  Or if the Lord has other plans that they will become apparent soon.  Thank you friends!

Good Things Come in Threes.....

Counting some of my Thursday blessings:

1. The National Visa Center (which had been closed on Wednesday due to bad weather) went back to work and emailed the pdf copy of our adoption approval letter.  I in turn sent it to our placement agency who has confirmed that it is now in the hands of their courier in China for drop off at the consulate on Monday.  Big. Deal. Major. Step!

2.  We were gifted this lovely pediatric wheelchair seen in the photo. I've been attempting to make connections with the person for a few weeks, but weather has cancelled the plans before now.  I picked it up on Thursday.  This will be our upstairs chair so Isaac has a way to get around between his room and the restroom, but I don't have to tote a chair up the stairs every time.  For this old Mama, it is a Tremendous. Blessing!

3.  The reality is beginning to set in.  We had our conference call about travel with our placement agency last night.  Yeah.  It is getting that close.  We are so anxious to finally meet our boy!

On that note, I have a little auction running for the weekend to help raise some funds for traveling expenses.  We'd appreciate it if you took a little peek and spread the word.   Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.273677266120585.1073741835.140680712753575&type=1

Rejoice With Us!

Someone announced on Facebook today that spring is just forty-three days away.  Here in the Midwest (and in many places in our country) it has been a long, cold winter with an unusual amount of snow and ice.  In fact the email we expected today with the pdf of our adoption approval letter from the NVC didn't arrive because they are CLOSED due to the weather!  There are MANY of us excited that spring is just around the corner.

This year the coming of spring holds even more promise.  If our timetable turns out to be "average" we should be boarding a plane for China on the first day of spring to go meet our Prince!  FORTY-THREE days????  While that is VERY exciting indeed,  a glance to the right side border on this page shows that our progress towards raising the funds to make this happen is not keeping pace.  Our largest fees are those of the orphanage donation and travel expenses and they need to be paid soon.

So it was with gratitude that I listened to a message on my phone today informing us that a local church has given us a $2500 grant towards these expenses!  Rejoice with us! And please, keep us in your prayers as we get down to the final weeks of this process.

Success!

I was able to access and submit the Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application about eight hours after receiving our numbers from the NVC.  Now we are waiting for our pdf copy of the adoption approval letter from them.  Huge step in the right direction!

New Thing in the Process

A few months ago there was a change to the Article V process.  With the Little Princesses (about this time last year)  we forwarded the pdf of our approval from the NVC to our agency, and they took care of the rest.  This time it isn't that easy!

Our agency sent us seven pages of typewritten instructions to complete this new step.  We received our NVC information this morning so I can fill out our "Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application" (DS-260)  I've been hearing stories from online friends about how hard this form is, and how many hours they spent on it.   It begins with having to log in with the various case numbers.

So, this morning I received our numbers from the NVC, and am attempting to get into the form.   Even though I have the numbers, until the website is updated to include our information it won't let me access the form.  Some have waited hours, some have waited days!  So if you need me today, I'll be right here, clicking reload!

Chinese New Year Party!

Welcome to our home and our Chinese New Year celebration!  We decorated...

 

 

 And cooked....

 

And the party was ready!

We were excited that another child adopted from Jen and Abigail's orphanage was going to join us this day, but he unfortunately began running a fever the night before the party.  We missed you so much, Bobby!

One other family joined in our festivities.

 

 Traditionally, the children receive red envelopes called hung bao for Chinese New Year. Inside is "lucky money."  The way I figured it, with adoption travel expenses on the near horizon, they were "lucky" to get it!  (smile)  Asian candy was also a huge hit with the Little Princesses, though it wasn't what the rest of us were used to!  Some was made of sesame, some with chia seeds,  or candied ginger, and not very sweet as one might expect with candy.

 Following dinner we had several activities for the kids.  Chinese New Year is a festival that is celebrated for fifteen days, but we attempted to condense it into one big day!  First we read a book about Chinese New Year.

Then the kids got to choose what they wanted to do.  We had a coloring page, word search, paper lanterns, and since it is the "year of the horse" a horse mask.  Only one little girl wanted to make the mask, but she was a VERY cute, little horse, indeed!

  

 

 Then we made a type of Chinese drum called "Boland Gu."

Our final craft was to figure out how to put battery operated lights in paper Chinese lanterns since there was no way in the world I was going to put FIRE in them!  

 

 

 

We suggested to the children that day fifteen of Chinese New Year would be appropriate for a parade with their lanterns, but they just couldn't wait.  By this time a couple of the neighborhood children even joined in!

We ended our evening with poppers (NOISE!) and sparklers.

The Little Princesses were VERY excited to celebrate Chinese New Year, and it was our very first time!  I'm certain we didn't get everything "right," but it gave them a taste of their native country and culture, and we had a blast doing it!  We cannot wait for Isaac to join our family picture next time!

The Lanz family wishes you a Happy Chinese New Year!