All Done!

Today was the big day, of the trip to Guangzhou!  It was our consulate appointment.  We were up at the crack of o'dark thirty and traipsed down to the East wing of our hotel.....which is like three blocks away, for breakfast.  Then we boarded a bus to the consulate with the others in our group.  Once there, we had to pass through two security points and leave all electronics at the desk.....so no pictures.  The next part was when we took our oath and then we turned in all our paperwork for Asher's visa.  Everything was inspected in front of us and we were told it was all good!  Now we just have to wait until the visa is ready. 

I almost choked in the window where we turned everything in.  The Chinese guy processing everything mistakenly said "his visa will be ready August 14th!"  What he meant, I soon found out, was that it would EXPIRE August 14th.  BIG DIFFERENCE! 

Good news?  Asher's visa will be ready tomorrow afternoon!  Bad news?  We didn't know about the change in the process that shortened the time until after we were in China!  So, even though his visa will be ready Thursday afternoon, we can't leave until Saturday morning, because our flights were already booked based on it being ready Friday afternoon.  But, it's good news for those coming behind us. You don't have to stay as long because they do your oath and paperwork on the same day! 


Even though I could not take picture in the consulate, I got a few before and after.  There are some pretty cute ones of other kids in our group too! 

This is Dillon with his dad, Mark.  He is four and a cutie pie!

This is Jon Paul.  It's hard to get one of him smiling so I did great by surprising him when he wasn't paying attention!  His parents are right in front of him.



The little button on the left is Sophie.  She is Dillon's sister and she was adopted over a year ago.  But, the big girl, Tao Ming Zhu, is a new adoptee!  She is absolutely beautiful and I'll try to get a better picture soon!

Here is one of my favorite little girls, Kimi.  I fell in love with Kimi months ago, when she was on the list waiting to be matched.  I think her parents, Kathy and Mike, are wonderful.  God sure knows what he is doing!



This is Jackson with his mom, Beth.  Sweet, sweet boy! 

All soon to be US citizens!



And of course, Asher!

Anyone want to take a guess at why Asher is usually on Paul's shoulders in pictures?

To celebrate, we took the customary "Red Couch" photos and then had dinner together.  I'll be waiting until tomorrow to post those famous pictures, but for tonight, I'll leave you with this....

Dinner.

Look closely......because that is no chicken!



That would be pigeon.

Did I mention that we also had a group dinner, all set up by our Chinese guide.  Cantonese special food = pigeon!  And before you ask, yes Dad, I ate it.  Hello, my name is Chelsea and I ate roast pigeon thigh {not the head} in China.

 It was actually {clears throat} not horrible. 

But, I won't admit that it was good.