We're in the Match Room!

Okay, I know this is a bit confusing since we already have our match. But it is still wonderful news, let me explain briefly. Before we were just a file, a reviewed file, but just a file, sitting among thousands of files in a storage room. Now, in the match room, they have taken our file and put it with Josie's file. Here's the important part, as soon as we sign our acceptance letter (which is flying to us as I type) and return it to China, they will move our joined files into the TRAVEL ROOM! Once in the travel room, they will wait for our documents which are being authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. Once they have those, they can issue our travel approval. After we receive travel approval, our agency makes our appointments and we fly in 2-4 weeks (depending on if we hit the no-travel zone of the trade fair). So, please pray our authenticated documents hit the post office tomorrow, arrive by Wednesday and are sent to China by Chloe's birthday! I have a tracking number on that return envelope. Any guesses how many times I check it tomorrow? They received it on the 7th and say it takes 4 business days to process. If this goes very, very well, we could travel and return by mid April! If not, it will be May. Either way is a month plus better than our previous best-case scenerio! If we do get to go in April, we will get to be there with our friends, the Hoods! Okay, can't get my hopes up like that...

Tomorrow we'll try to squeeze in school between our many new documents that need to be notarized and our visa applications! Little did I know when I planned this week's unit on birds I'd feel like it was "for the birds"!