Yes--we are getting close! 14 days from now we will be on our way to Beijing!
We are pretty much all set to go--Patrick still needs to pack.
I will pack all of the last minute stuff right before we leave.
29 days from now Maya Lily will be here--in this house! Wow-I am soooooooooo excited!!!
Here is our itinerary for our trip to China!
1. (May 12) Family arrivals in Beijing-staying at the Huadu Hotel
2. (May 13) Great Wall and other sights
3. ( May 14) Go to province (Guangzhou) Meet your child (Gotcha Day!!!!!) We will be staying at the White Swan Hotel.
4. (May. 15) Legal process
5. (May 16) Local sightseeing
6. (May 17) Orphanage visit (tentative) We may actually get to see Lianjiang after all!
7. (May 18) Sightseeing, shopping
8. (May 19) Sightseeing, shopping
9. (May 20 ) Switch to the Dong Fang Hotel in Guangzhou
10. (May 21) Obtain legal documents
11. (May 22) Go to Guangzhou (for Families coming from other provinces) Free day for us!
12. (May 23) Medical visit
13. (May 24) Consulate appointment 10:30 a.m.
14. (May 25) Obtain visa-after 4 p.m.
15. (May 26) Go home! We leave for Hong Kong in the morning and catch a 12:20 flight to Chicago. Arrive in Chicago at 2:30--Maya officially becomes a US Citizen!!! Leave for Orlando at 5:55 p.m. and arrive at 9:40 p.m.
Today is my oldest cousin Kathleen's 40th Birthday!
We wish you a very happy birthday. Have fun!
Love,
Aleisa and Patrick
This is so exciting! Not only did we receive our e-tickets--we got Maya's tickets as well.
This is amazing to know that she is really truly coming home very soon.
17 days til we are Beijing Bound!
Wow-it is amazing to know that we will have Maya in 24 days! Today marks the 18th month since our log in date with the CCAA.
We will be leaving for China in 20 days.
Jim and Jill celebrated their six month wedding anniversary today--I can't believe its been that long since our Disney Cruise for their wedding!
We love you Strakas and can't wait for your niece Maya to meet you at the airport. Thanks for being her fairy God-parents!
I love this picture! Maya looks like she is saying,"Mama and Daddy, please come get me!"
We are on our way sweetie.
21 days til we leave for Beijing!
Our CA date was confirmed today for May 24th!
We will be leaving for Beijing on May 11th and returning on May 26th.
Maya Lily--here we come!!
Love Mama and Daddy!
Wow-I can't believe that Maya is already 13 months old! Hopefully we will have her before she turns 14 months!
It looks like we will be leaving on May 11th and arrive in Beijing on May 12th--23 days from now!!
We will be in Guangzhou through May 26th--then we will be heading home. We have decided not to go to Hong Kong--we both agreed that we just want to bring Maya home as soon as possible!
Hang on sweetie--Mama and Daddy will be there soon!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families from Virginia Tech who lost their lives yesterday. It is a tragic situation.
Our agency has informed us that we may have a Consulate appointment on May 24th. We need to be in Beijing on May 12th--which means we will be leaving on May 11th!!
We are hoping to go to Hong Kong for a few days after our CA--so we would most likely return home on Memorial Day.
Thanks,
Aleisa and Patrick Dunn
Hey,
I received our TA from FEDEX today--wasn't expecting it until tomorrow--so this was a nice surprise!. I did not get to make this FEDEX person cry (see previous post when the referral was delivered!) because he just rang the bell and left the envelop on the porch. It reminded me of a game we used to play as kids called "Ding-Dong Ditch"
Now we have to wait for our confirmed Consulate appointment before we can call the travel agent to book our trip.
One step closer to Maya--and the best is yet to come!
Aleisa
Happy to announce that we have confirmation of our travel authorization!! We should have the actual copy on Tuesday. Our agency has also faxed the consulate to request our appointment date--which we will know next week as well. It looks like we maybe traveling in two weeks--OH MY GOODNESS!!
We only have to book our flights to and from China--our in-country coordinator takes care of everything else--thank God!
Tentative plans include the following:
Orlando to LA
LA to Guangzhou
Guangzhou to Beijing
Tour Beijing for 3 to 4 days
Sightseeing includes: The Great Wall of China, Tiannamen Square, The Forbidden CIty, Summer Palace and a few other places.
Then we will fly from Beijing to Guangzhou
We will most likely be staying at the White Swan Hotel--so awesome!
Gotcha Day--TBA--at the Guangdong Province Adoption Affairs Office in Guangzhou
Shopping, sightseeing and appointments in Guangzhou
Consulate appointment--Maya's visa and passport to be able to come home and become a US Citizen
Fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong
Hong Kong for 2 or 3 days
Sightseeing and Hong Kong Disney--we figured we would take her to Disney in her Chinese backyard before bringing her Disney in her Florida backyard!
Hong Kong to Guangzhou
Guangzhou to LA
Maya officially becomes a US Citizen
LA to Orlando--finally home--the Dunn Family of three!
Maya--Mama and Daddy are on their way!
28 years ago I lost my status of being an only child! My brother Eric was born today--ironically it was also "Friday, the 13th" that year--only it was Good Friday.
I remember being at the playground when Walter (Eric's Dad) came to get me to bring me to the hospital to see the baby. He wouldn't say if Mom had a boy or a girl. I of course wanted a baby sister (sorry Erica-haha) but I was so happy when I saw Eric for the first time and got to hold him.
Happy Birthday Eric! I love you and am so proud of you. You are going to be an awesome uncle to Maya!
Love always,
Aleisa
This is from our agency coordinator--which she emailed to us today!!
"Good news. We expect the travel approval letters in our office tomorrow. We will FedEx them to you upon arrival.
Once we have the TAs in our hands the US Consulate will allow us to fax the Consulate Appt request to them. So that will be done tomorrow. We should receive a reply from them by very early next week. When we get the date from the Consulate we will l let you know right away so you can make your flight arrangements.
One step closer!"
Bonnie (our coordinator at FHSA)
We could be leaving the first week of May.
We will keep you posted.
Today is the date that is stamped on our Visa. It would be so great if we could leave in the next two weeks--however I think realistically we will not be leaving until the first week of May.
It is only a matter of time.
Today will also have been my cousin Matthew's 29th birthday. He was an amazing young boy. He died in 1991 from health complications. Matthew was and will always be a very special person in my life. I had the honor of spending three weeks with Matthew in the summer of 1988. I taught him how to "swim" that summer. It was awesome. I also introduced him to rap music--something his dad-my uncle Bob--did not appreciate!! Every night we'd watch "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy"--he'd win every time.
Matthew--you will always be in my heart.
Love,
Aleia
Hope everyone had a great holiday. Hopefully we will receive our TA/CA this week. We'd really like to make our travel plans soon. We are both getting anxious to travel.
Love to all,
Aleisa and Patrick
We've started packing our bags for the trip of a lifetime.
We have paired down what we thought we should take to only taking what we need. We know that we can buy things in China for us and Maya.
We are going to bring a suitcase for her--and one for each of us. We are planning on getting an extra suitcase over there for packing all of our purchased goods.
Happy packing!
Our agency was closed today for the Easter holiday. It seems likely that we will receive our TA and CA next week. I am hoping, wishing and praying that we are in China on or before Mother's Day. I'd really like this Easter to be the last one without our baby.
Congratulations to all who received their referrals and TA/CA notices today--remember the best is yet to come!
We are happy to share that Al-my stepfather-is finally home from the hospital. He had surgery back in December and had some complications--however it is great to see him home where he belongs.
We also had a great visit with our cousins Tara, Drew and Alexandra who were visiting from NJ. We went to the Magic Kingdom with them today--it was a lot of fun. Alex and I rode the Teacups together--she was having a ball.
