Adventures in Japan

Our flight from Seattle to Japan was basically uneventful. When we arrived in Japan, however, we had a little bit of excitement. Our plane was boarded by heavily masked health inspectors and every passenger had to have a thermal screen done to look for signs of swine flu. Thankfully everyone passed and we were allowed to continue deplaning.

We had a three hour layover at the Narita airport, during which Abby lost a tooth! We found it on the floor and have it safely put away in a ziplock baggie so that we can bring it home and leave it under her pillow for the tooth fairy.

Health inspectors

I wonder what these guys thought about all the passengers taking their photos!

Abby in Narita Airport

Missing tooth

We are in Guangzhou

Abby and I made it safely to Guangzhou late last night. The trip was tiring and long as usual and we were so happy to finally fall into bed. I will post some photos of our more interesting experiences as soon as I can get the camera hooked up.

So here I sit, wide awake at 4:30 am (actually Abby and I were both awake and out of bed at 3:30!). Today we will be meeting another family in our travel group and going out to do some necessities shopping (diapers, formula, bottled water, etc.). The rest of the day will just be spent relaxing!

And We're Off!

Twelve hours from now we will be walking out the front door of our house -- heading to the airport and the first leg of the journey that will bring our precious RubyJane home from China! At times it seemed like this day would never arrive. But it is finally here and I'm sure I will not sleep a wink tonight. My next post should be from Guangzhou!!

Travel Approval!

Finally, almost six months after seeing Ruby's precious little face for the very first time, we have received that coveted golden ticket -- our official Travel Approval from the CCAA. Our plane tickets have been purchased, our US Consulate immigration visa appointment has been confirmed, and we are almost finished packing.

Abby and I will be leaving Seattle on May 1st. We will receive Ruby at the Civil Affairs office of Guangdong Province some time on May 4th. Our Consulate appointment is May 12th and we will be returning home on May 14th. China here we come!!!

Sweet Baby Ruby

We can hardly wait to finally hold you in our arms!

Eggs-cellent Day

Sorry, I just couldn't pass up the play on words.

On Saturday we did our annual Easter egg coloring extravaganza. The girls are all such pros at this now. And this year they are all old enough to have a bit of patience, letting the eggs sit in the dye for more than 10 seconds. The colors turned out very vivid and some of the combinations were truly beautiful.

We colored FIVE Dozen Eggs!! We will be eating egg-salad sandwiches for weeks to come.

OK, let's get this party started!

Annie's first egg ready to drop in the dye

Abby carefully positioning her egg just right

Ellie and Abby comparing their creations

The finished product

A Visit to the Zoo

Today was our last day of Spring Break and we finally saw the sun for the first time. So we packed a picnic lunch and headed to our local Zoo. We have been visiting this zoo with our kids for over 30 years. It continues to improve every year and the girls always have so much fun. According to the girls, today their favorite exhibits were the beluga whales, the sharks, the tigers, and the penguins.

Three little "spiders" on their web

Ellie the "snail"

Abby's favorite animal -- she was born in the year of the snake

A couple of "monkeys" testing their climbing skills

Abby

Maddie

Can you spot the hiding "lemur"?

My favorite of the day

We Are Almost There!

Yesterday we got our Article 5! This is the last US approval that we need under the new Hague process for international adoptions. Our agency's liaison picked up the signed Article 5 from the US Consulate in Guangzhou and immediately sent it on its merry way to the CCAA. They will have it in their hands on Monday morning. Hopfully we will receive our final Travel Approval (TA) in the next couple of weeks.

We are ready to go as soon as we have TA in hand! I have pretty much everything packed. Our passports with entrance visas are here. All I have left to do is stock up the cupboard and fridge with food for Brian and the girls at home and make our final travel arrangements. Abby has her little backpack filled with her art supplies, travel journal, and books. After waiting for what seems like forever, it is so exciting to know that we will be in China very soon.