Hurry Up TA!

We are anxiously waiting for our TA (travel approval) from China granting us permission to come and get Madeline. Once we receive this approval, it will only be 2-5 weeks until we meet Maddy.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch here in Oregon, we have been spending every spare minute we have preparing for our trip and Madeline's room. I think we have the majority of the supplies needed for our trip. The last things we need to buy are diapers, formula and rice cereal so I will consult with my knowledgeable friend this weekend who went through this not too long ago. Most of our suitcases will be filled with over the counter/prescription meds for us, clothes and toys for Maddy as well as misc supplies. We are taking a minimal amount of clothes for 2 weeks worth of travel. 3-5 shirts per person, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, etc. We will have our laundry done there when need be. Of course we will have our digital camera, laptop and camcorder so be sure to check the blog for updates as we travel.

We will fly from Portland to Tokyo non-stop and then to Beijing (about 14 hours or so). We will spend 4 days there. Siteseeing and this is where we will have our orientation with our agency, Holt. We will hopefully get updated info about Maddy. It will be interesting to experience Beijing pre Olympics. The air quality and the water are supposed to be better than it ever has been, but I will let the locals vouch for the water quality via word of mouth. Then it is off to Guangzhou (southern China next to Hong Kong) to meet Maddy. We will hang out there to get her visa, etc. and then come home. We will spend our time in Guangzhou siteseeing and shopping. There is supposed to be some good shopping there!

Jim is almost done painting Maddy's room. It looks great. Now comes the fun part decorating! Yay! Good job dad!

Jim is feeling almost back to 100%. He is now working 4 - 10 hour days and he now has Wednesdays off from work. This will work out great as he will be home with Maddy and Abby on his day off and I will be home with them on Fridays. My parents will be with Maddy the rest of the work week. Grandpa and Grandma Downie will be here for frequent visits.

We are going to North Carolina next week for a work convention for me and Jim is going to play golf. It will be nice to get away as we have been so busy and need a break. We hope we will get the call for our TA while we are away.

Congrats to our friends, Shawna and Keith Green. They have a beautiful son, Braeden. He is adorable and came into the world at 9.5lbs. He is going to be as big as Maddy before we know it. Future line backer in the making.

Also, welcome home to our friends Rachael and Patrick. They just moved back home from New Mexico. We are so excited you are home!

Thanks to our family and friends for their continued support -- we are so lucky that we are so close to making our dream come true of having our daughter join our family from around the world.

Let's pray for TA! Later Crystal