I am giving Amy another break from blog duty. We woke up today still without the Article 23 document that we need to get Sam's visa so he can travel out of the country. Simon, our host here who has been awesome, coordinated with Deborah (our host in Chongqing) to have the document overnighted to our hotel. Meanwhile we had to wait in our room in the morning for Simon to call from the U.S. Consulate to tell us that all of our other paperwork was o.k. He called around 10:30 a.m. and let us know that our paperwork was fine but that the U.S. gov''t was requiring that Sam get 2 more shots - for Hep A and the Flu. This was something new and we knew nothing about it. That makes 6 immunization shots in 24 hours!!
So, we were off to the medical clinic for the shots. Sam obviously hated the shots and was probably thinking - "get me away from these crazy people that keep having needles stuck in me" - but, he stopped crying as soon as they were done and we got him out of there as quickly as we could.
We were then off to the U.S. Consulate for the swearing in ceremony. We took the oath and would normally get Sam's visa and other paperwork that we present to immigration in the U.S. so he can officially become a U.S. citizen. Unfortunately, since the article 23 document was not here we could not get his visa or the other documents that we need to get home.
We came back to the hotel and waited for the document to arrive. Simon was sure it would be here by 6 or 7 p.m. We waited until about 6:30 p.m. before deciding to get the kids dinner. Simon told us he would wait at the hotel and call us when he had the document. We obviously were stressing out and started to discuss our contingency plans if we have to stay longer. However, we did have a nice dinner at the Thai restaurant near our hotel that we ate at a few times last year.
Aside from the shots, Sam had another great day and again it feels as if we have had him forever. This is what makes the adoption experience so incredible. It is a feeling that is impossible to describe but we are so lucky to be able to experience it twice in our lifetime.
Well, tomorrow we are off to an amusement park for the kids - they are so excited. Thanks for all of your support and kind words - it really means alot to all of us!!
p.s. - Oh yeah, forgot to tell you - around 7 p.m. the document we needed was delivered to the hotel and we will get Sam's visa and other docs on thursday morning!!!! SO ON FRIDAY WE ARE OUTTA HERE!!!!! HA HA !!!!
