December 6-7

Or "Leaving China." Yes, we're ready to leave. Our bags are packed and we're waking up bright and early at 5 AM to shower and get everyone ready for an early 6 AM breakfast followed by a 7 AM bus ride to the airport for the first of three legs home: Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to San Francisco, and San Francisco to home were my mom will be eagerly awaiting our arrival with old fashion vegetable soup on the stove, ready to warm our hearts and lull us to much needed sleep!

On December 6, our CCAI representatives, Maggie and Jason, submitted our visa documents to the U.S. Consulate on our behalf. Today, we took the famous red sofa photo, then spent a couple of hours in transit to/from and waiting in the waiting room of the U.S. Consulate in order to utter the following phrase: "We swear or affirm that the information given to the United States Consulate in Guangzhou, China, is accurate to the best of our knowledge." And that was it. Following the oath, we received Emily's Chinese passport with American visa and the accompanying paperwork that, when received by the immigration officials in San Francisco, will enable Emily to be an American citizen upon arrival.

Our in-China paperwork is complete. So we've finished shopping, purchased an extra suitcase (more for distributing weight to comply with domestic U.S. travel requirements than to fit our clothing), and packed our bags. We've enjoyed another good visit to China with a wonderful gift to bring home - Emily. Our connection to China has been made stronger, and I am sure we will return. I hope we'll be able to return many times in the future so Emily and Sydney can learn more about their country of origin. They are and will be 100% American by culture, but they will also remain totally Chinese by birth.

Our experience this visit has been different, in good and bad ways, from our last adoption experience. We've bonded less with our adoptive family group this visit, but that's in part because of the different hotel arrangements in Wuhan that made gathering together far more difficult. But we've experienced a new portion of China, and we've seen changes in the nation in the two years we've been away. We'll post more about these changes, and reflections on the experience, in future posts. But you'll see fewer posts as the in-China adoption process has concluded.

Thanks for taking this journey with us electronically. We've enjoyed sharing!