Everyone keeps asking, are we excited? - not yet! We keep thinking about all of the things that needed to be done and double checking that we haven't forgotten anything. Once we are in the air and on the way to our adventure with no changes left to do, then we will be excited. After all, there is a WalMart in Harbin! The girls are excited because they know we will be going to China after they get home from school. They are also a little nervous.
So our friends asked, so what did you need to do after the Travel Approval in order to get ready for the trip? Even though it seems we were quite prepared after the long wait, time certainly speeds up when the final approvals arrive.
- bought a small dresser for Luke's room and assembled it
- went through all of the stacks of donated clothes + bought clothes to determine what might fit, what goes on the trip, what goes into the dresser and what stays in boxes
- washed comforter and bed sheets for Luke
- rearrange Ji Ji's bedroom to fit the dresser and make a little space for Luke's things
- prepare a package to send to the orphanage: some matchbox cars, about 8 photos of our family and a disposable camera
- took my winter coat in to get the zipper replaced
- shopping for extra hats and gloves for the girls
- shopping for winter boots for me and Nora (Nora's go to Ji Ji, hers go to Luke)
- to US embassy to renew our fingerprints
- lots of discussions with the airlines and with our agency as to our arrival dates and ensuring that we could get an appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou before our fingerprints expire
- found out that the Heilongjiang Province requires us to stay there 7 days for the passport to be issued; changed all of our flights again and decided to skip Beijing
- booked the hotels, transfers, etc. through our agency
- had to get a cashier's check and FedEx to the agency
- Mark flew to the US to look at houses
- shopping for small presents for the officials + easily transportable gift bags
- visa photos + Judy's Chinese visa, needed to be expedited because or travel to the US
- Mark and the girls; visa photos and Chinese visa
- Judy's trip to the US for work and to look at houses
Is that enough yet????
Here is a photo of the girls helping to put Luke's dresser together and what will be Luke's side of the bedroom.
1 comment:
We're soooo excited for you guys! We can't wait to hear how it all goes. We had hoped to meet Luke at Playmobil this spring, I don't know how that will go with your accelerated move plans. Whew! You guys have a lot going on these days. We are heading to Virginia this summer, and we are already planning our trip to Chicago to see all our GW Europe buddies.
Have a safe trip and a happy Family Day. We'll be thinking of you and watching the blog for stories.
Lee and the Gang
P.S. Thanks for being a great homeschooling topic - the ice festival, finding the province on the map...
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