Happy Adoption Day!
This morning we had our consulate appointement scheduled at 8:30. We met our guide at 7:50, and headed to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. When we got there, there were about 7 other families who also had the 8:30 appointment. That is a much smaller group than when we adopted Lily. We went through security and then sat down in the US citizen adoption room. An American consulate employee explained the process, which was exacly the same as last time. All of the parents and adopted children stand and parents raise their right hand and take the oath on behalf of their immigrating children. This is required of all US immigrants. Basically, we say that all the information we submitted to this point and including the visa application is true to the best of our knowledge. The they call each family up one by one- "Parents of Yang Tu Chao" ...so we went to the front, they checked our passorts and Sam's passport and made sure the names matched (WHICH MINE DID, THANK GOODNESS!), and that our faces matched our passports. Then they accepted Sam's medical paperwork to have with his visa application. Normally we would have his visa back tomorrow night, but since tomorrow is a holiday here in China, we will have it back on Thursday night instead. As of today, Sam is legally our child according to the United States. He is still a Chinese citizen until we receive his visa and he plants his foot on US soil.
After the Consulate Appointment, we stopped by a huge local bookstore...and enjoyed looking through the English section. Then we went to the park that has a really neat statue we knew Jackson would want to see. Last time we were here, our group went to the same park and saw the 5 Ram Statue. It is a pretty neat statue, and Jackson loves goats, so we knew we couldn't miss it!
For lunch, we went to a Chinese restaurant across the street from the hotel. It is the same lace that Rebecca took us to our first full day here. We ordered all by ourselves! 7up, chicken fried rice, rice noodles with beef, and beef congee! For those who may not be familiar with congee, it is like a rice soup that has bits of meat in it, and is really popular for babies to eat.
Now we are back at the hotel and Sam is napping. Tonight, our guide is taking us on a little boat down the Pearl River. Should be fun!
Wow, I can't believe Sam is finally ours, and we are officially a family of SIX! In all countries!! YAY!
Blessings-
Meredith
Wonderful news!!!!
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