Article 5 Has Arrived!

Well, our Article 5 hasn't actually arrived, but it rhymes, and it certainly makes you want to read more about what an Article 5 is and find out if it's inside this box.

An Article 5 is part of the mountain of government work that needs to be completed to bring our darling home.  An email arrived at 2:47 a.m. telling us that the Adopted*Immigrant*Visa*Unit at the U.S.*Consulate*General*Guangzhou has finished processing our child's Article 5, and our file is ready to be returned to our adoption agency's facilitator today.  Another domino has fallen.  Give me a "woohoo!"

Next, our agency delivers the Article 5 and our confirmation letter to the pooh-bahs in Ch*na who will issue our travel approval.  Once the travel approval is issued, our agency will request an appointment for our immigrant visa at the consulate, and when we have the appointment, we can finally answer the most popular question...When are you going to Ch*na?  Just so you know, we really want to be able to answer that question for you.

So, what was in the box?  There are businesses in Ch*na that send care packages from waiting families to their children.  We used a very kind, busy woman named Ann at Red*Thread.  We sent our family photo book, a stuffed toy and candy to Ann and also arranged to have her deliver a disposable camera, treats for the nannies and a cake to our daughter.  Ann sent us an email on April 2 telling us she would get our package delivered after the Ch*nese holiday.  After that we stalked the email to see if there were any pictures from the cake party, but the cupboard was bare.  Monday morning Tom woke me up at 6:05 by leaning down to my face and whispering loudly and rapidly, "The pictures are here!"  I made it to the other side of the house in world record speed and saw our beautiful girl with a beautiful smile standing over a beautiful cake with some of her beautiful friends seated around the table.  Sure beats caffeine in the morning to get your day going.  A giant, Ch*nese birthday candle was ablaze on top of the cake, and she was wearing a crown and a smile.  What a smile!  When Louise saw the pictures of the cake with the Ch*nese characters on the top, she said, "Why it says Happy Birthday??"  We chuckled, but it didn't matter because it sure made the event into a party.  I was even able to send some of the pictures of the kids to another waiting family so they could get a glimpse of the two girls they already love and are eagerly waiting to bring home.

Contents of the box:  a cake, a party and smiles.