36 HOURS!

Tickets are purchased.
Visas are coming.
Travel approval received.
Aunt Carrie on standby.
We are set to leave on Wednesday morning. We'll spend a few days in Shanghai before heading to Nanchang to pick up Mei Tong. This top map is of China. You can see that we will be just inland and south of Shanghai. Greta is at the Guangchang Social Welfare Institute (SWI). They will bring her to our hotel in Nanchang on Sunday, March 17th. We've only seen two small pictures of her--we never received an update on her current condition. I am trying not to go crazy wondering how she looks and if she is healthy.

This next map is a more detailed version of Jiangxi Province. We will be in the capital city of Nanchang. We will be here for a full week while we complete the local paperwork. When the work is complete here we will fly to Guangzhou (which is across the bay from Hong Kong, see above map). We will stay another week here waiting for a U.S. medical exam and visa for entrance into the United States.

 I liked this last map because it gives you a good idea of how many orphanages there are just in this ONE province [you can click on the map to enlarge it]. You can see that Lachlan's SWI (Shicheng) is just 50 miles to the south of Greta's. We've heard many instances where the kids in Guangchang are living in foster care. I suppose that there is a good chance that she has had a family for the past few years. They probably just received word last week that she is to be adopted. I can't really think about it because it makes me sick to think that she will be taken from them on such short notice.

I wanted to make a doll for Greta. I've also got to make a little blanket for her to carry. I'm hoping that I can throw it together tomorrow after church. Why did I leave it until the last minute? Blerg.

I love how it turned out. Now that I'm looking at it I should have made one for Lachlan--she's never even wanted to hold a doll--but I think that maybe she would carry it around if her sister had one too?? Maybe?? I'm going to stitch her adoption day on the rear end when we get home. A girl with a doll?! We won't know what to do with her in this house!