We received a Consulate appointment of December 28th (my sister's birthday!) We leave Minneapolis on Tuesday the 14th and arrive in Beijing on the evening of December 15th. We will most likely settle in this evening, get something to eat if needed, and get up the next day, the 16th to do some tours. We do not have anything set so that day we may need to do the tours on our own. Then on the 17th we have all day to do more sightseeing and this day we will do set tours. We are not sure if we will do the private tours or the public tours.
We then leave on the 18th to fly to Xi'an, the province Caleb is in. We do not know times of what we are doing within the province yet. We will receive these tickets once we are in Beijing. Since we are not sure when we fly to Xi'an and when we arrive we do not know if we have time to do anything or if we will just be going to sleep. Then on the next day, Sunday, December 19th, we meet Caleb! We will take him right when they hand him to us and from there we are parents! We were told that we most likely will go back to the hotel and "get to know eachother". We will be bringing lots of toys, little ones of course.
The next day, the 20th, is considered a paperwork day. It will be challenging because we will have just met him and then we need to sit and wait all day for different appointments.
Then on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd we wait for Caleb's passport,adoption certificate and other notarized documents. During this wait we will be able to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors, Great Wild Goose Pagoda and other things as we choose.
Then on Christmas Eve we will get Caleb's passport and will leave Xi'an to fly to Guangzhou.
Christmas day we will get his medical exam done and visa photos taken.
December 26th we will sightsee and shop!
December 27th Caleb will get his TB test read and then we are on our own to do what we want.
December 28th our paperwork is submitted to the US Consulate and we take our oath.
December 29th- a free day
December 30th we get Caleb's visa at 4 pm and head for Hong Kong late in the evening. We will stay in Hong Kong for the night just to sleep.
December 31st we head for home--We are really excited and nervous for this trip, but we also know that we can't wait to be home and start settling into our new normal.
We thank everyone that is helping with things here while we are gone. We wish you a Merry Christmas!
We love you,
Shelly and Tim
Shaanxi Time
2 years ago