Hour 1 at our house.

Our trip turned out to be 17 and a half days, stuck an extra two nights in Chicago.


Untitled from Dara Dixon on Vimeo.

Finally I post

So sorry to promise and not deliver many posts.

We had no idea how little time we would have for normally routine activities like email. We missed lots of meals and just did not manage to slow down. John is so active and has some social interaction issues that kept us on task with him every moment.

The crying picture is on gotcha day. He really cried and James had to hold him very tightly to allow the nannies to leave. John grabbed james glasses and through them to the floor; they were basically wrestling. We took him to the van this way and had many stares of local people. He stopped crying about 20 minutes later in the van.

We are doing well. John has many basic social skills to learn, like not eating furniture in burgerking, not pulling off table cloths, not kicking people. . . he so needed out of the place he was living!!

Our Trip is Set! Time to pack.

We received this little picture in our packet of travel information. I think it is the Polaroid exit file photo for China's Welfare Institute. We hadn't seen a picture of JunJun since last May.

Wait Wait, then rush rush. . .

We leave on Dec 12th. We meet and receive our son on Dec 15th. Simple as that! We return home on Dec 27th. Everything in-between will be a whirlwind of emotion, meetings, and sightseeing. Hopefully some giggling and jumping on beds too!

We will be traveling the country - entering in Shanghai, then to Nanjing, then to Guangzhou, then to Beijing, then back to the US through Chicago.

The tickets are bought the tours are booked, the appointments with the orphanage,the province, and the consulate are all confirmed.

Travel Authorization arrived December 1st!!

Well this is great news. The China Travel Authorization is the final remaining authorization required. It means JenJen is ours and we can now go and get him.

We have requested a Consulate date of December 22 and we should know if it is accepted in a day or so. Then we can book our flights. If these dates hold we will have a gotcha (got-you) day of December 15, 2008.

In a few days I hope to post our travel path.

We also received new measurements for JenJen and he is the same size as Jack with about an inch bigger chest and weighs a couple more pounds.

Stay tuned for picture posts while we are in China.

And plan to send us email, we will have access to email.