Finally....a confirmed travel date!!

Wow, I guess I really need to apologize for not keep this blog updated. So much has happened and so quickly over the last week or so and I have failed to keep it updated. First, on July 29^th, we received our TA (Travel Approval)!! That was the final paper we were waiting on from China! Once our travel guy confirmed a Consulate date for September 1^st, we were able to purchase airline tickets to travel (a full $1,000 less than anticipated – thank you Lord)! We are leaving for China on August 19 ^th! I can believe it! Only 17 more days!!! It looks likes we will be traveling with at least 2 or 3 other families, one of which is going to the same province! Our room additions are nearly complete and we have been gathering furniture, clothes, and other items for Macie. We requested an update on her measurements several weeks ago, but have not heard back. That is ok. We will know soon enough. We are planning on letting her pick her own clothes (within reason) when we get there. We are not sure if she has ever had that opportunity. We plan on taking our mini laptop with us so that we can Skype with the kids and hopefully keep our friends updated. The next step in the process is to wait for our travel guy to schedule our final travel meeting and to send a copy of our in-country itinerary. We don’t exactly relish our 14 hour flight to Beijing, but what are we to do – lol. I guess a few Tylenol PM’s will help – lol. One good thing about the flight itinerary, we get into Beijing at 2:20pm instead of the midnight that we experienced last time! That’s gives us some time to rest fore getting up at the crack of dawn the next day!