TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!

I had about given up hope for the day. It was 12:30 in Delaware, and I knew that DHL packages almost always arrived before noon. We hadn't heard anything. I was fixing lunch, resigning myself to waiting another week or two to travel because of the holiday in China. Walked by my computer, and reached down and hit gmail again, to confirm to myself we would have to wait.

An "It's Here" title greeted me from the agency. They had received our TA! A quick phone call confirmed to them that we want to try for an October 8th Gotcha Day, and an email was sent off to the US Consulate in Guangzhou to ask for our consulate date.

That should take another 24 to 36 hours to get a confirmation back. Meanwhile, we are busy finishing up packing here, planning to leave Friday morning, or as soon as we get confirmation. It is a 26 hour drive to Missouri, so we should be there Saturday night. Taylor and LiAnne are very excited about staying with Grandpa and Grandma, and going to McDonald's!

We are hoping to fly out on Thursday morning, October 4th, arriving Friday afternoon, the 6th. We then would like to spend a couple of days in Hong Kong exploring, and enjoying being together without any kids. It will probably be awhile until we can do that again.

We'll update again once we have more info.....

God's timing is perfect, as I said before. If our TA had arrived tomorrow the chances of confirming our consulate appointment would have been slim, and then are closed for three days next week for the holiday. I have been reading through Proverbs each month this year, and last night was Proverbs 25. The 25th verse says, "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Good verse for the day.