China or Bust!

I know, it's been a while since we've updated this blog. We'll we actually have news to tell. We're on our way to China to pick up Elyssa!

On the 23rd of November, we received word that we had to be in China on the 4th of December! Since Brian is in Baghdad, and in the Army, the first thing we had to find out was if he could take his Rest and Relaxation (R&R) leave to coincide with the adoption trip. After asking his boss after a sleepless night, we were happy to get the green light from the powers that be.

The next few days consisted of Brian getting all the bureaucratic gates needed to get from a war zone to South Central China. In the meantime, Nancy was busy arranging and purchasing the trip to China. She also found time to hit Babies R Us and a few other places in order to get some of the basics we'd need in China. Holt held a phone conference on the 25th where families traveling called in and asked questions. Brian could here Nancy and her pre-school kids playing in the background of the call!

We will post as much as we can while on the trip. Brian will be flying nearly 25,000 miles on this trip as he will go from Baghdad to Kuwait, then to Beijing to meet Nancy. After a few days in Beijing, it'll be off to Kunming in Yunnan Province to meet our daughter! After a few days in Kunming, we;ll fly to Ghuanzhou to get our our immigration paperwork completed at the US Consulate there. Then it's off to LA where Brian will hopefully get to spend a few hours at home before heading back to Iraq for the last nine long months of his tour of duty.

Expect the next post on or about the 4th or 5th of December.