Travel Approval at last

I've gotta hang out with my friends more often. Barbara, Anne and I meet for lunch on Thursdays, each taking a turn being the host, and this week it was Barbara's turn. I was just lamenting my sorry state of affairs when my cell phone rang. Great news! Our TA was in and she had already requested a consulate appointment. Even better news, no matter which of the 3 days we get, we still get to leave on March 3! Gotcha (the day we meet her) is scheduled for March 8 or 9 (Happy B-day Matt). Suddenly the sun shone brighter, the sky was bluer, and the clouds in my head and heart were blown away. We are going to China! The funny thing is, I was at Anne's house for lunch when we got the call that we had HengAi's file locked in. These ladies bring me such good luck!

Of course we can't buy tickets until our cons. appt. is confirmed, but at least I know enough to start researching specific tickets. The only sad part is that we will miss the other family adopting HengAi's friend by one lousy week. I was really sad about that, but at least we will be able to help the girls Skype each other. Oh, and I think we have actually settled on a name before receiving this child - a record for the Mike Housley family! We have always liked the name Hannah, but it just seemed wierd to give this poor girl so many H's in her name: Hannah HengAi Housley. But it seems to fit her (so far - we'll have to reevaluate when we meet her) so we're rolling around Hannah HengAi on our tongues. Just the poor girl's luck; she'll fall in love and marry a Hayden Henry Hansen.

This photo is our first annual "Bear Hug" photo for Valentine's Day. One of the few where Esther has a grin instead of a grimace. She is such a lovely girl, but cannot manage a normal smile for a photo - she always seems to look like she has an underbite and angry eyes. We just have to catch her off guard!