The Chinese government has decided it will let us enter the country. We received our visas today. Included in the FedEx package from our agency were our passports with the cool looking Chinese visa inside.
We are approved to enter China before July 24, 2009, and can stay for 60 days. It better not take until July 2009 for us to travel!! LOL
Now, we are just waiting for TA and our I-171H renewal. Hopefully they will be coming soon!
Kevin
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Good friends and a little front porch sittin'
This evening we had our first "Jacob event," as our workplace threw us a "send-off potluck" event. We had lots of food and answered a lot of questions about the adoption. The most frequent question was: "When are you going?" That we do not know, but we did get word from our agency today we will not be going through Beijing. Because of the Olympics and corresponding events, all travel to Beijing has been put on hold until after September (and we're not waiting that long Jake!) So we do not know where we'll be coming into China at when we travel.
But back to the party. We enjoyed ourselves so much and the generosity of our friends to give us a Visa gift card to help us with our needs for Jacob. Kevin has been with the paper since 1988 and I have been there since 1993, and we both have practically lived there, so it is nice that our journey has the support of our coworkers and friends.
On the way home, at 9:15 p.m., I wasn't going to stop, but their light was on. I stopped at a neighbor's home whom I had spoken to once but he didn't remember and I didn't remember his name. It was late, but I rarely have an evening because of work and other reponsibilities, that I can stop in on a neighbor, and I had ulterior motives. I really need to find some hay for my horse, and I thought he might help me. Well, he pulled out some chairs on his front porch, and we sat and chatted for nearly an hour. When I was growing up, people did that all the time, but not so much today in this hustle and bustle world. It was good to stop and meet a new friend.
Today was a very good day.
Violet
But back to the party. We enjoyed ourselves so much and the generosity of our friends to give us a Visa gift card to help us with our needs for Jacob. Kevin has been with the paper since 1988 and I have been there since 1993, and we both have practically lived there, so it is nice that our journey has the support of our coworkers and friends.
On the way home, at 9:15 p.m., I wasn't going to stop, but their light was on. I stopped at a neighbor's home whom I had spoken to once but he didn't remember and I didn't remember his name. It was late, but I rarely have an evening because of work and other reponsibilities, that I can stop in on a neighbor, and I had ulterior motives. I really need to find some hay for my horse, and I thought he might help me. Well, he pulled out some chairs on his front porch, and we sat and chatted for nearly an hour. When I was growing up, people did that all the time, but not so much today in this hustle and bustle world. It was good to stop and meet a new friend.
Today was a very good day.
Violet
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Visas, care package and fingerprints
It's been a busy few days for us.
We submitted our visa applications to Great Wall. China may or may not have an issue with our occupations. We both are journalists, and our travel coordinator at Great Wall said there have been instances in the past where China has raised some issues. We may have to have our employer submit a letter, I assume saying we are not going to China to cover any stories for the newspaper and that all we are doing is adopting a child. We should find out later next week if there are problems.
We also sent a care package through ladybugsnlove.com to Jacob. We included some pictures of us, so hopefully we won't be total strangers when we go to China to get him.
Today (Friday) we went to the USCIS office in Oklahoma City to get our fingerprints done for a new I-171H. It was a much more pleasant experience than the first time. The people in the office were so much nicer. They got our prints without too many problems. They did have to redo some, but they eventually got everything they needed.
We did have one scare before we left. I looked at my fingerprint appointment form and saw they had messed up my Social Security number. A call to USCIS dispelled some of my fears. I was told it wouldn't be any problem and to tell the people taking our fingerprints. The woman who did that also didn't think it would be any problem. I hope so.
I guess it's too much to ask that the rest of this adventure goes without a hitch. LOL
Kevin
We submitted our visa applications to Great Wall. China may or may not have an issue with our occupations. We both are journalists, and our travel coordinator at Great Wall said there have been instances in the past where China has raised some issues. We may have to have our employer submit a letter, I assume saying we are not going to China to cover any stories for the newspaper and that all we are doing is adopting a child. We should find out later next week if there are problems.
We also sent a care package through ladybugsnlove.com to Jacob. We included some pictures of us, so hopefully we won't be total strangers when we go to China to get him.
Today (Friday) we went to the USCIS office in Oklahoma City to get our fingerprints done for a new I-171H. It was a much more pleasant experience than the first time. The people in the office were so much nicer. They got our prints without too many problems. They did have to redo some, but they eventually got everything they needed.
We did have one scare before we left. I looked at my fingerprint appointment form and saw they had messed up my Social Security number. A call to USCIS dispelled some of my fears. I was told it wouldn't be any problem and to tell the people taking our fingerprints. The woman who did that also didn't think it would be any problem. I hope so.
I guess it's too much to ask that the rest of this adventure goes without a hitch. LOL
Kevin
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The photos we fell in love with
The photos we posted of Jacob previously were the ones that came with the update we received.
However, those were not the first photos we ever had of our son. Here are the first photos we received of the boy we knew then as Dang Wen Feng, the ones we fell in love with.
However, those were not the first photos we ever had of our son. Here are the first photos we received of the boy we knew then as Dang Wen Feng, the ones we fell in love with.
Friday, July 4, 2008
LOA is away!
We received our LOA by FedEx Thursday and quickly signed it and sent it back to Great Wall. It's a pretty neat looking document, so we had some color copies made to keep after we signed it. Now all we need is for USCIS to hurry up and get us our renewed I-171H.
Kevin
Kevin
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
LOA and introducing ... OUR SON!!!!!
We got a call from Great Wall today on our way to work. They have our LOA (or LSC - Letter Seeking Confirmation - in their terms. It's all the same thing)! They will Fed Ex it to us tomorrow and we will sign it and send it back to them. They said we could be traveling at the end of August. OMG, it's real now!! It is happening.
And, without further ado ...
Here is our son Jacob.
And, without further ado ...
Here is our son Jacob.
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