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Posted by on Jul 31, 2014 in T-shirts, BeTheGood | 0 comments

Thank-you! It’s official….

We are coming home! Our guide got the call and raced to the visa office grabbing Eli’s visa. He made it 3 minutes before they closed for their 3 hour break! Thank-you so much for your sweet messages, donations, help with our hotel, and general pick-me-ups. Even before the good news, I felt surrounded by love as we woke up this morning. It’s been a whirlwind canceling, rearranging, and negotiating but people-from friends to big business-have been so compassionate. I’ll never know the reason for our rather large speed bump but I have learned that I was wrong about my promise to leave my advocacy cape at home! It turns out it was needed afterall! While part of me has felt very frustrated with our US government, I have also gained a new and very personal appreciation for the hard work the people behind our federal government, their staff, and our Congress do for American citizens who need their help. We’ve also seen how much generosity exists in our...

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Posted by on Jul 30, 2014 in Travel | 1 comment

Stuck: How you can help

Just about 24 hours ago, the Cincinnati Enquirer published a story on our roller coaster: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/07/28/ohio-family-topsy-turvy-trip-china-adoption/13284373/ At the time, I’d been told the system was again operational. We said goodbye to the families that had been stuck last week and celebrated that with all hoops already cleared, we should be home on time…home to celebrate the reunion we’ve been dreaming of for over a year. I do still recognize that we are extremely fortunate. We are trying to make the most of a bad situation but I also think it’s important for others-especially government officials who may be able to make a CHANGE-know the impact this “glitch” and the inability to fix it is having on families like mine. A snapshot of my last 12 hours: -Making the difficult decision of who returns home to our Hannah -Seeing our family separated for a long, international travel as Adam and Bob took the van to Hong Kong and we stay behind with no future flight booked -Eli crying as he...

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Posted by on Jul 28, 2014 in T-shirts, BeTheGood | 1 comment

Gratitude

We are snuggled into bed listening to Eli’s giggles as he watches Despicable Me 2. He got wish 1 of 3 (his watch) when we went shopping yesterday at Shamian Island. His wish to see his sister should now happen as we’d hoped onThursday evening-just 3 more sleeps! Oh and his other wish (for a gun!) will have to wait a bit! We are so very thankful that the visa system seems to be back up and running. While I wish we could have spared the families who were delayed the incredible cost and hardship, it has been so nice to meet them. Eli has played with a new friend, Jay, several times since we arrived to this hotel. We’ve loved getting to know Jay, his family, and so many others. So thankful these children are on their ways home and I can’t wait to watch them all grow! This experience is a special one to share and I am thankful for new friends in the process. And in...

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Posted by on Jul 26, 2014 in Adoption, Travel | 0 comments

Days 7 & 8: To Guangzhou we go and medically cleared

We headed out of Zhengzhou yesterday with high spirits to make it to our last spot before HOME. I’d talked to a new friend with OI who lived in China for several years and expected that in-country flights were going to be challenging for us. We had relatively good luck coming from Beijing though so we weren’t overly concerned. Our guide managed to get our chairs past the ticket counter (they insisted that they be checked as baggage) but security had a MAJOR problem-thus causing a GIGANTIC kerfuffle-with our attempt to bring the chairs through security. Our guide argued for nearly an hour while we huddled against a wall as people continued to stream by. We inched closer and closer to missing our boarding time. It came and went. Our event (and apparently the possibility that we *could* have a knife in our chairs!) eventually shut down the security…which resulted in all the people who had been standing in that line shouting angrily. It’s a bit hard to explain...

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Posted by on Jul 26, 2014 in Adoption, Travel | 1 comment

Holding onto hope-Visa crisis stranding American adoptive families around the world

Sharing a quick update on the visa situation before our daily recap. We are in Guangzhou as scheduled and trying to focus on enjoying this last leg of our trip and our last anticipated experience in Eli’s home country. Looming in the background is a visa crisis that has never occurred before. An IT glitch has brought the US Visa system down and dozens of families have been stranded in our hotel and another in the city for almost an entire week. We are scheduled for our consulate appointment Tuesday and then SHOULD get Eli’s visa to leave for Hong Kong late Wednesday and then home early Thursday. For each hour that passes, that possibility is becoming less and less likely. The backlog of visas is piling up. There are children here (including Eli) that need medical attention and parents, like us, whose other children are waiting at home. The US Consulate is coming into work on Sunday here in Guangzhou. We’ll find out at 10am if the systems...

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