Another letter to China

      Yesterday we sent another letter to our son in China.  This time it was less awkward to write...interesting.  We talked about our family a little and told him how glad we are that his foster parents love him and he loves them.  We asked a few questions and that was about it.  400 translated words for $20.  We also sent a return stamped envelope.  We know the orphanage probably wont pass it on but thought it was worth a try.  We told him to write in Chinese because we have translators here.  We sent a new pants and shirt set and a bunch of candy for the orphanage (bribe to pass along the stuff)  Even the lady who arranges things in China has to go through to orphanage not directly to the foster family.  Politics you know...different country same stuff.  
      We continue to wait for our final final US approval.  This one take 10-25 days.  Normally not a big difference but when you are waiting to meet your son for the first time 15 days seem like the world.  Our steps after that are NVC (National Visa Center) approval for Andrew to travel 2 weeks,  Article 5 (In China US embassy approval)  takes 2 weeks,  followed by a TA (Travel Approval) issued by China government saying we are good to go 2-3 weeks, and finally our CA (Consulate Appointment)  this is an appointment that all adoptions must go through in China with their child.  We will have met and taken custody of Andrew 10 days before.  The CA is at the end of the trip.  A day or two later we fly home.  We should be in China a total of 14-16 days.  Good times.  
      We made our final agency payment this week.  All we have to do is pay for travel, China orphanage fee and a couple of other fees in China.  Only about $11,000 left.  We have that money already in the bank so we are pretty stress free about our finance.  God is good.  Thanks to all those who help support us financially and thanks to the slightly shady Korean man who helped get our house refinanced with sketchy Church income figures...   Well keep praying for us and the paperwork to continue to go smoothly and quickly.  We sure as heck wouldn't mind getting a extra fast I800 approval. Have a great week everyone.  We love you.