Quick Morning Update

I just changed my blog settings to reflect the correct date and time. Just wanted to see if it works. Also - it's still dark as night here. Did you know China has only one time zone? It will be interesting to see when the sun will come up.

M

Original Comments from Post

Re: Quick Morning Update	By Davin on 1/24/2007
Yep - it looks like it worked! It says 1/25/07 06:58AM I'm writing this at 1/24/07 06:22PM

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Re: Quick Morning Update	By Bryan on 1/24/2007
Davin - your comment came through at 8:22 am on 1/25. Just so you know.

2 pictures from the hotel room

We took a couple of pictures from the hotel room window, but they didn't turn out too well on this website. I'll deal with that after some sleep. We have a lot to see and take pictures of in the next 4 days.

Original Comments from Post

Re: 2 pictures from the hotel room	By Jim on 1/24/2007
It's great to hear that you have arrived safe and sound. We'll be checking the website often for updates.

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Re: 2 pictures from the hotel room	By Davin on 1/24/2007
COOL!!! I hope you guys get some rest. I can't wait to read more here. Thanks for the update.

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Re: 2 pictures from the hotel room	By Mom-Joan on 1/24/2007
Where? I think you may have forgotten to post them. =-) Glad to hear you've landed.

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Re: 2 pictures from the hotel room	By Mom-Joan on 1/24/2007
Whoops, found 'em in the Gallery - logic eludes me sometimes. Anyway was glad to see them...

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Re: 2 pictures from the hotel room	By Davin on 1/24/2007
Hey, Bryan. You may want to capitalize and draw arrows to the link to view the pics so Mom can find them... :) I bet you can get Ramon Soup there pretty cheap. Save 10¢! They cut up Lake Nokomis today for the Saint Paul ice sculptures. I bet you guys can't believe you're actually there! Avoid the pickled jellyfish - nasty!

Greetings from Beijing!

Hey all!Bryan and I landed in Beijing about an hour ago (9:00 p.m. here 7:00 a.m. there). We are currently at the Novotel Peace Hotel. The flight from Minnesota to Tokyo was grueling. We left at 1:00 p.m. Central Time on the 23rd and arrived in Tokyo 12 hours later. We then set our watches ahead 16 hours and it magically become 5:00 p.m. on the 24th! We lost a day! Sure, we'll get a day back on the way home, but it won't be this day. The 23rd of January is gone forever!Tomorrow we go to the Summer Palace and some temple that I'm too tired to remember the name of right now. (Remember - we haven't slept yet and it feels like 7 in the morning.) We'll see the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square on Friday and the Great Wall on Saturday! We will post pictures as soon as possible. No pictures today though - if you've seen the inside of one 747, you've seen them all. And the Tokyo airport looks surprisingly like the Minneapolis airport - but with cigarettes, and Japanese people. And dried squid in the convenience store-that was cool. Anyhooo - time for bed. I will post more later.

Updates

We went to dinner with my family last night and were asked a ton of questions. I thought the rest of you might like a few more details, so here we go...I've updated the map that was in the last post. If you look north of Hefei, you'll see a pink star on the map. That's approximately where the city of Xiaoxian is located. That's where Maggie has been living for the past 2 years. She'll be there until the 28th, then her caretaker will travel with her to Hefei to give her to us. We won't be travelling to her orphanage, but we may be able to tour an orphanage in the Hefei area while we're there.We've been asked about "meeting" Maggie on the 29th. I should have said "she's ours on the 29th". We'll be spending the week with her in Hefei, then we'll all be travelling together to Guangzhou. We'll have an interview at the US Consulate in Guangzhou on the 6th, then we'll go back over on the 7th for the official adoption. She won't officially become a US citizen until she gets off the plane in Portland on the 8th and steps foot on US soil. We won't have to do any adoption stuff here in the US, it will all get taken care of over in China. Once we're home, we will apply for a US birth certificate for her with Bryan and me listed as her parents and get her a Social Security number, and that's that!Here's a link to some photo galleries of the places we will see in Beijing. Check out the Great Wall pictures, they are amazing.Gotta' get back to work! So much to pack, so many lists...we're leaving in less than 48 hours!

It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!

We received an email at 9:47 this morning confirming our appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou on February 6th!! Yeehaw! I am just giddy. I have a call into a travel agent, so within the hour Bryan and I will be booked on a flight to Beijing on next Tuesday! Tuesday! Like in 5 days! Giddy! Gaah!!They want us in Hefei by the 28th to pick up Miss Maggie. We'll have our wee one in 10 days! I am freaking out.So - deep breath. whoooo.We'll fly to Beijing, see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and whatever else Peter plans for us. Then we're off to Hefei on the 27th. Then we pick up Maggie. Then we hang out for about 5 days until the provincial paperwork is done. Then we go to Guangzhou to do the American paperwork. We have an interview on February the 6th, get final confirmation on the 7th and fly home on the 8th! Whirlwind tour of China - don't blink or you may miss something!I'll post a map of China so you guys can see where we're going. Did I mention giddy?Bye!Maryupdate: We will go to Hefei on the 28th and meet Maggie on the 29th!update: Here's the map. I had to chop off the entire western side of the country to fit it in here. We're starting at the top and working our way down. The weather in Beijing will be about 40, Hefei will be about 50 and Guangzhou will be about 65-70 degrees. Tropical. Sweet.

Original Comments from Post

Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Lori Matt and the Girls on 1/18/2007
We are so excited for you. Congrats doesn't feel big enough. I can only know the joy of seeing that face for the first time and saying I am so glad to meet you. ( I said that to both the girls at delivery ) Yeah we are giddy for you even Matt

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Dawn on 1/18/2007
Congrats Mary and Bryan, What a way to start the new year. We are very excited for you both and wish you all the best w/ such a precious little gift. We will pray for your safe travel. Dawn, Heather, Kayla (Avenet's CSC)

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Mom-Joan on 1/19/2007
Yaaaaay!!!!! This is going to be a wonderful trip and a wonderful addition to your lives - and my 4th grandchild! Best wishes to all three of you !

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Davin on 1/19/2007
Bring back some authenticate Chinese rice. Maggie won't stand for the American crap rice that we eat. I wonder if she has ever seen pets (cats, dogs, geckos, etc.) in China. The room looks beautiful. Serious congrats!

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Mary on 1/19/2007
There are so many dogs and cats in China that they are passing a law to limit the number of pets a family can own. So yes, I'm sure she's met some cats and dogs. And we already eat good Asian rice in this house - no Minute Rice here. Yuck.

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Jenny and Donna on 1/19/2007
Congratulations. That is so fantastic, I have been keeping up on the progress through your mom! I just called mom in AZ and she was so teary eyed she couldn't even write down the web address. You are both going to make fantastic parents, she is a lucky girl.

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Diane and Tony on 1/19/2007
Yaa!! We are so very, very excited for both of you! Enjoy your trip to Beijing and the area and enjoy every moment with your new little girl, Maggie. Congratulations!!

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Tony and Diane on 1/19/2007
Congratulations!! We are so very very excited for all of you. Enjoy your sightseeing in the Beijing area and enjoy every moment with your new daughter, Maggie.

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By SUE & SAVANA & SARA WEST on 1/19/2007
WELL, WELL, HOW EXCITING IS THIS. MARY AND BRYAN YOU WILL BOTH MAKE WONDERFUL PARENTS. SHE IS ADORABLE. THE BEDROOM LOOKS FANTASTIC TOO. WE CANT WAIT TO MEET HER. ANOTHER FUTURE SSP PACKER. HAVE A GREAT TIME PICKING HER UP. LOTS OF PHOTOS, PLEASE....

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Alison on 1/19/2007
Congrats!!I can't wait to meet her!!I'm counting down the seconds.Emily and Sam say hi.

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Re: It's Official! It's Official! It's Official!	By Ellen, Ariel, Charlie, and Kyra on 1/19/2007
Way cool! We are all so excited for you we can hardly contain ourselves! Have a safe and fun trip and we'll be looking forward to meeting your new daughter! YAY - Charlie and Kyra have a new cousin!

Rumors

There are rumors circulating that Bryan and I are leaving as soon as next Tuesday to go pick up Maggie. There are also people out there wondering "why in the heck aren't you guys updating your website with this wonderful news?!!".Well, because everything is still up in the air and nothing is final yet until we receive news back from the US Consulate in Guangzhou.So, no news yet. Simmer down now.

Still Waiting

Well, we are still waiting for travel approval. The CCAA is running a little behind, so here we sit. We have applied for our China travel visas though. They should arrive by UPS tomorrow. We had to fill out a form and then mail the form and our passports to a courier in Chicago. Let me repeat that - mail our passports to a stranger in Chicago! I can't wait until we have those back and we can put them back in the firesafe with the rest of our irreplaceable documents. I'm really paranoid about some of our stuff.Anyway, thanks for checking in! I'll be putting the pictures of Maggie up very soon. And leave me a comment if you stop by! I want to know who's been lurking out there.Update:I've added Maggie's picture gallery. Go see how cute our kid is!

Original Comments from Post

Re: Still Waiting	By Lori on 1/4/2007
We are waiting not so patiently too

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Re: Still Waiting	By Mom-Joan on 1/7/2007
Stopped to check today. Sweater back is done and I'm well into the front panels. Hope I can get it done in time but also hope it is soon for your sakes. Love, Mom