I sent our notarized and certified I-800A (immigration approval) to our courier in DC yesterday! It should've arrived today and will be taken to the Department of State and then the Chinese Embassy. Hopefully, it's authentication will be complete on Friday and our agency will have it in their hands next week.
We received notice that our log-in date (LID) was July 12th. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but it is! Our dossier is officially in queue in China. Which, of course, has caused me to 'crunch the numbers' a hundred times to see if, by the grace of God, it might be possible to travel to get James before the end of the year. We were given a range of 3 to 4 months from LID to preliminary approval. A month or two from preliminary approval to travel approval (TA). And actually traveling about a month after travel approval. Of course if I insert a heaping spoonful of grace into these measurements, I get:
July 12th + 3 months = October 12th.
October 12th + 1 month = November 12th.
November 12th + 1 month = December 12th!
And that leaves a couple of weeks of wiggle room for my timeframes being a little too tight. And, well, Christmas of course. There is no way we'll travel over Christmas.
So naturally, in my mind, I'm booking plane tickets for December 27th. :)
Will keep you posted.
Oh, and by the way...I've wanted ten times to post another photo or two of James for your viewing pleasure, but was asked by the folks that took the photos last year when they visited his orphanage to please refrain from posting them on-line (but the ones I already posted were fine).
Ahhh.
Oh, how I wish I could plaster his sweet little face all over this place. We have many photos that I haven't been able to share.
Here are some others to hold you over from our recent vacation to Mackinac Island, Michigan. Enjoy. And perhaps, very soon, in lieu of glorious views and sun streaked waters, I can post some of our sparkly-eyed, pudgy-cheeked little James. Far more glorious, if you ask me.
Oh, and it may help to mention that Mackinac Island doesn't have motorized vehicles. Everything is delivered, transported, moved and hauled by horse. Or bike. It was like stepping back in time. Very cool.
Main Street
Our family has always loved horses, but this trip to Mackinac ruined us!
I look all put-together here, yes? Yeh, well...in the spirit of putting all the 'I don't know how you do it' or 'You are amazing' comments in their proper place, I had my moments on this trip! Whooey! I was so out-numbered! :)
Arch Rock
View of Lake Michigan from Arch Rock. Stunning.
The (very) Grand Hotel.
So grand that it costs $10 per person (!) just to step in the door and look at the place. We found that entirely too ridiculous and unworthy of my shelling out $50, so our riding by during our carriage tour was sufficient.
View from Fort Mackinac
This is the site where missionaries would camp and built a chapel when they came to the Island to share the Gospel. Pretty cool.
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