Travel Approval!

We are so excited to share with you all that we have received travel approval!!

What does this mean? It means that we now have permission to travel to China. All our paperwork is lined up, and most importantly we have an appointment scheduled with the US Consulate in Guangzhou to receive Ruth's visa to get back into the US.

We are planning to leave for China on May 10 around 11:45 am. With travel times and the time difference (they are 12 hours ahead of us), we will arrive in Beijing around 1:45 pm on May 11. We have the tremendous opportunity to visit with Ruthie's foster family and Ruth for the first few days we are in China. We will then escort Ruth to her home province in southern China. We will be in Nanning, Guangxi for about a week to finalize the adoption, then fly to Guangzhou. We will be in Guangzhou for almost a week then fly home on May 26.

This also means that I will be closing my Etsy shop and business on April 30. I do not know when I will be able to reopen but will be sure to let everyone know if/when that happens.

There is still a significant amount of work for us to do before we travel. Not only are we arranging details for Trent and I to be in China for two weeks, we are also arranging for the care of our older four girls, their meals while we are away, and writing down all the details of running a household for our niece, Zoey, to care for while we are gone. We are doing our best to prepare to take the best possible care of Ruthie and all the things necessary to keep her as contented as possible during multiple flights in the first few days of knowing each other and living out of hotels for two weeks.

We are continually grateful for the help of our families and friends. So many people are working together all for the greater good of this one little girl. She is so very special and we can't wait to share her photos and videos with you all.