Consulate Appointment Day! (Day 15)

It's here!  Our long awaited consulate appointment day is here!  Today we had an earlier start for both breakfast and departure as our three remaining families headed to the US consulate for our visa application appointment.  Security was so tight that we could not wear our watches or bring our cameras to the consulate. We were only permitted to bring our passports and a little food and drink for Ali.  Alia did great!  We hung out for an hour in an office building and coffee shop while our group's two other families went into the consulate (they had an earlier appointment than ours).  We have found that a constant flow of sweetened cereal keeps Ali peaceable, haha!

Once it was our turn, we headed in through security, right between two families from Texas...so of course they knew we were safe and trustworthy!  It was fun to meet some families while we waited inside the consulate.  We met a man adopting his 9th child (5 adopted, 4 biological).  His son was literally a few days from "aging out" and not ever being allowed to be adopted (China doesn't allow kids 14 and older to be adopted).  We met a lady traveling on her own who had already adopted two seven year old twins from Africa and was now adopting a seven year old from China with serious medical issues.  We also met a family adopting two girls simultaneously as their first children.  How amazing is adoptive love!?!

We did a group oath concerning our written visa applications being accurate and received some brief instructions.  One by one our families proceeded forward to verify our child's medical exam records and to submit fingerprints to verify our application.  The whole process was five minutes of conversation and 55 minutes of waiting...easy peasey!  Plus they had a nice children's play area that Ali loved.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to bring our phones or cameras with us, so we have no fun morning photos to share :(

Tomorrow our guide will pick up Alia's passport with US visa, her Hague adoption certificate, and her immigration papers that make her an official US citizen when we land in Chicago!  We're praying for no visa problems or delays.  We're thankful for Ali's US citizenship but ultimately praying and raising her to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God!

Alia does great with a set nap time and today she passed out on Jonathan's lap in the hotel room.  She was tired and was easily transferred to her crib so Jonathan could make a Chinese food run.  Fried noodles and vegetable spring rolls reminded Brittney of "American Chinese food" but the fried won tons had shrimp inside...strange.

We had a pretty easy afternoon, journeying to a nearby mall of sorts to get a few last souvenirs.  It seems hard to make the time go by with a little one when you've been ready for days to come home. Here is a few pics of our friends from the next door Dong Fang shopping mall..."chops" are a big favorite as a stone stamp with your family name in Mandarin and English...the man in the pic did the engraving.

We finished the day with a final hallway pizza party, serviced by Papa John's.  The pizza was great again and we final three families enjoyed the time together.  Our party doubled as a birthday celebration as a lady in our group shared her mango birthday cake with us.  It was a thin layer of cake, topped by a thick layer similar to cheese cake with fresh fruit on top.  Delicious!

Alia especially enjoyed our last hallway party and seemed interested in watching a cartoon movie with the other kids...this was the first time she showed much interest in a movie.  We are hoping to get her more interested in movies before our long plan flight home!  

The best part was when one of the newly adopted girls started grabbing Alia's hand to run up and down the hallway.  We were all a little concerned for Ali as her hands are more delicate and she isn't as fast as the other kids.  A few of the other girls joined in to help and they had a blast!  The four girls were so cute together and Alia absolutely loved her play friends!  Her giggles and laughs made our day and were a fun way to finish the evening.  We had a good bath time and Alia went to bed without any crying fits for the first time, praise the Lord!

These last few days in China seem the hardest because we are all struggling to make time pass and get home quickly.  Please pray that everyone's visas come through well and that we all stay healthy during our last full day in China tomorrow!