EARLY ARRIVAL!

We received an e-mail from Penny today telling us that the final ruling came in faster than they had expected and wanted to know if we could come a week earlier!!
We were so excited but it turns out that there are no seats available so we will not be going sooner! :( That's ok, we will need the extra time to prepare I'm sure!

NO MORE UPDATES!

I was just told that we will not be receiving anymore updates! It is kind of sad because the kids (ok, all of us)really look forward to seeing new pictures every month but, at the same time, it's really cool to know that we will be seeing Blake & Sophi in person in less than a month (20 days to be exact)! We are getting a little nervous about how we are going to communicate with them because they don't speak any English and we don't speak Chinese! I know how to say I love you but that's it! I know it will all work out though! It's just a matter of getting some of the basics down and we will make it.
So, unless there is some unexpected news, I will just be posting when I need to get my bearings about me in prepararing to travel.

I LOVE PACKING (not really)

Well, we made a lot of progress today. We got Blake and Sophi's things all packed up and ready to go! That is a big load off my mind. I realized that I needed to get some socks for Blake and some snacks for the loooooong plane ride home but other than that, I just need to finish up some shopping for gifts to bring to the caregivers and social workers at the orphanage. I will also be looking for some donations of clothing to bring to the children who are still at the orphanage waiting for their own family.
Now I can concentrate more on getting our stuff together and TT&L's stuff together to stay at Uncle Davids and Aunt Karens house.

My mom will be taking us to the airport and will bring our van to pick us up on Saturday the 18th. We are getting in really early in the morning so I'm sure there won't be too many greeting us at the airport! LOL Our plane arrives at 6:55 in the morning! Of course, we will be on Taiwan time so we should be ok! Then the fun will start.......getting Blake & Sophi on our time schedule! I hope they adjust well!

HOTEL BOOKED!

We finally booked our hotel last night and got confirmation this morning.
We will be staying at the Dong-Wu Hotel in Taipei. Our room has one queen bed and one twin bed. We will request a roll away so we will have a bed for everyone.
Now I can move on! I never knew trying to book a room would be so difficult!

And.....I put my notice in on Thursday! We have decided that it would be best if I could be home with Sophi to help with the transition and all of the adjustments that will be going on with everyone. I will probably look for another little girl to keep in our home once Sophi is settled in and Blake is in school. This should help with the finances some. I really think Blake will adjust fairly quick but I will be home in case I need to go to the school for anything. I will take him to the school for testing to see where they think he should be placed. He will probably catch on to English pretty quick but will also be in an ESOL (English as a second language) class. We have a part time music teacher who thinks she will be able to communicate in Mandarin Chinese with Blake. She is excited to try.

Well, I better get back to preparing the house and getting things ready to pack!

Travel Update

Ok, It has been a great couple of days! We heard from Penny on 1-10 and she told us that we can pick Blake & Sophi up on Monday, February 13th at 10:00am! I was so excited until I realized that this was only three hours after we landed. This meant going straight to Jonah House from the airport! I e-mailed her back and just told her our arrival time and she suggested that we pick another time that would be better for us. So...........We will meet our children fot the first time at 2:00 on February 13th!!!
What a great Valentines Day we are going to have!!!
Our AIT interview is set for February 15th and we will be given a date and time when to return to pick up their Visa's and then we leave Taiwan on Friday the 17th.
I can't believe I am actually typing this information! It has been way too long and I am really ready for the trip.
We still have not decided where we will be staying!! This is driving me bonkers! It is hard to find a room that will sleep 4 people without taking out a small loan to pay for an executive suite! Most "double" rooms have 2 twin beds in them, not 2 queen. It is crazy! Well, hopefully we will decide before the weekend is over so I can move on and get something accomplished.
We got our first shots today. Ouch!! It wasn't too bad. We will return for the second in the series on Feb. 9th, right before we leave.
Oh yeah, as if I don't have enough to think about, I was called for jury duty back in November and had completely forgotten about it until Mark reminded me last night that it's NEXT WEEK! First, I have never been called before, and second, I don't have time to do this! I have things to do!!! Oh well, I will report for duty and I'm hoping that when they find out I will be out of the country next month, they will release me. Fat chance probably but I will probably ask to be rescheduled.

Travel Plans

We spoke with our travel agent today Todd and he was wonderful. He was so helpful and found the best price and itenerary for us.

Looks like we will be leaving on Saturday evening February 11th at 7pm out of Orlando and will go to San Fran have a 6 hour layover (from midnight to 6am) and then arrive in Taipei Monday morning at 7:00am. We will be leaving Taipei on Friday evening at 11:00pm, February 17th go back through San Fran where we will have a 5 hour layover (from 6pm to 11pm) and arrive back in Orlando on Saturday morning February 18th at 6:55am! All I can say is OH MY!!!! We are flying Eva Deluxe so that should help with the looooong flights! And do I ever need HELP!!!! I do not like to fly AT ALL and I barely made it on a 5 hour flight to California two years ago! Oh well! It's all worth it!!

We don't know when we will be able to pick Blake & Sophi up as of yet or when our AIT appointment is but I will post that when we find out. We will also be meeting with Sophi's birthmother and birth grandmother sometime while we are there too. I think I am most nervous about this meeting than anything else!

TRAVEL NEWS!

We are glad to report that we got news today that we will be traveling in February. We have to wait until Chinese New Year is over which is January 29th thru February 5th. We contacted the travel agent today and will know tomorrow what our options are as far as our itenerary. We need to decide on which Hotel we will be staying at and Todd will also take care of booking this for us. He was great and very helpful! I spent most of the day going in circles with a big grin plastered on my face, but I did manage to get some shopping done. I just guessed as far as Blake goes and mostly got sweats and sports pants that have elastic waists in them. I had a blast getting things ready! We need to figure out what kind of beds to get for the boys room and then purchase the mattresses. I already have the bedding for them and Sophi. Tomorrow I will go into work for a while and then we are off to the health department to start our shots! YIKES! I don't like needles! We have decided to get Hep A & B.

Will give more details when we hear something more!