Down to the Wire

In less than 24 hours the planning and preparation will all be over.  The journey will begin; there is no turning back now.

We are grateful to have good friends and contacts who have adopted older children.  They have given us reassurance that all will be fine. They have given us pointers and reassurance, laughed at our concerns and given us reassurance, empathized with us and given us reassurance. We are confident, ready to go based on the reassurance of our friends and family. 

Chelsea is the perfect age for us to adopt her and it is the perfect time.  We tried to get her last year around the holidays but that did not work; we tried to be there in February for her birthday, but that did not work.  Now we leave in March it turns out to be the perfect time. One week is during spring break, so the kids will miss very little school.  Most importantly international soccer is on a two week break and the sounders FC are not playing this weekend and have an international friendly on the 24^th.  It is as if God himself is guiding us.

Everyone is good to go.  I have finally convinced Chase that yes he is my son but he is not THE sun and the world does not rotate around him.  For the safety of the passengers and crew we have placed a minimum of 4 people and at least one aisle between Sophie and Chase.  You are welcome Delta Airline.

Chelsea is getting ready as well.  Hopefully she is learning English at a faster rate than we are learning Chinese.  She apparently has learned the art of negotiation.  We have been informed that she only wants to be adopted if we bring her a bike.  Not buy a bike Bring her a bike to China. In effect she is requesting a dowry. This caused much consternation in the Avery household.  We have 7 bikes in the garage, Michael knows because he turns into a sailor every time he trips over them walking through the garage.  “Why do we have 7 bikes there are only 5 of us!?”  Well apparently Chelsea will now have one of them and if need be I will have to negotiate a second bike that I will hold in reserve to sweeten the pot. “No dear we did not bring you a bike; you see we could not decide which one to bring, you actually have two in Bonney Lake!”

Myriam took pictures of the bike we will offer her.  We also took pictures of the kids on the trampoline.  However, now that I think about it Chelsea has probably never seen a trampoline, to her it looks like a soft sided cage that the kids are trying as hard as they can to vault over the side.  I can hear here now "this is the american version of timeout?"Better start the therapy jar early.  9 years in China and then catapulted into the American excess.  We have a lot of catching up to do.

Counting down by the Hours –

If I count by the hours is sounds like we have more time “72 hours” – “3 Days,” Hmm?  Either way we are down to it!!

This weekend was spent packing and planning for the different scenarios.  For example we found out that Chelsea gets motion sickness. – Add more outfits.

Chase announced that he did not want to go. – Show him a globe and try and convince him that it does not rotate around him.  Not sure how successful we were.

Tell the kids what to do if we get separated. -  Kids do not move, the adults (there will be four of us) will backtrack and find you.  DO NOT MOVE!  Myriam: I promise we will not lose you on purpose. Nolan and I look at Myriam “on Purpose?”

Chase announces he will be staying home.   – Where is that dang globe?

All laundry must be completed so we can finish packing and know what we are wearing on the plane.  Myriam likes to work backwards. Knowing what you are wearing on the plane helps determine what will be packed.

Myriam: Chase what are you wearing on the plane? Chase: coming home from China, I don’t know?  Myriam: I am not working that far backwards. – Where is my wine?

Nolan, you need to pack your carry-on.  I am not sure what is in his carry-on. X-Box 1, X-Box 360, laptop and Surface were denied access. He is down to the headphones that I am sure have graphed to his neck and his cell phone.  Do you need a carry-on for that?

Michael is your carry on packed?  I am only taking my phone and some headphones.

Sophie had to go shopping for the trip; at the Justice store with catalog, “I will take one of everything please.”  I need to take every possible clothing combination with me.  How much candy can I take on my carry-on?

Michael announces he will be staying home…

 



Celebrating Chinese New Year

T Minus 10 Days

We are T minus 10 days to departure.  I believe we are entering Panic mode.  The 30-day departure plan has mostly been completed however the shell game as begun. We are now looking at the things that will not be completed on time and can wait until we return.  We cannot complete it now?  Put it post return list.  In the meantime here is another photo of the Soon to be Chelsea Avery.  Her orphanage is very poor and they seldom get fresh fruit.  When it does arrive the kids seem to really enjoy…as you can see.

We depart in 10 days and will get to see Chelsea for ourselves for the first time on March 23^rd.

Less than 2 weeks to go!...No Seriously!

 

 

Is it possible?  No it cannot be!  The calendar does not lie 13 days to departure…

 

      Somehow the e-mail Myriam sent me that said we are 90 days away from leaving was just last week?  Is it possible that the e-mail came and in that time frame we finished Christmas shopping, had the big day and rang I a new year?  Is it possible the 30-Day departure plan is now down to one page?  Is it possible that the time left before we depart is shorter than the time we will be gone?  Somehow it is all true.  We are only 13 days away from getting on an airplane and flying to China to add Chelsea to the Avery Family!

Somehow it does not seem possible.  Somewhere we ripped a hole in the time space continuum in order to go from 90 days to 30 days to a mere 13 days in what seems like only a week.

You know what, with everything we have to do still from stopping the mail, to packing and taking care of the dogs the time cannot move fast enough if it means we get to her just a little quicker. 

The kids are getting excited, Myriam is getting nervous and Michael is doing the fuzzy math to figure out what happened to the missing days.

Time Flies when you have so much to do!

The entire family is preparing for China. We are now officially on the 30-Day departure plan. To be honest it really is a honey-do list on steroids. Anyway the checklist is active and we are marking things off daily. This weekend we will begin packing. We start with soccer balls for the orphanage. Next make sure every electronic device has google translate on and working. Chelsea speaks no English and the family combined knows about 10 Chinese words.

We are now 21 days, three short weeks away from beginning our Journey to Chelsea.

She has the same stance as Michael!! Maybe she is watching soccer?

 

Happy Brithday CHELSEA!!

We really hoped we would have had Chelsea home late last year.  When we were not able to make that happen, we were hopeful to have her home or be with her on her birthday.  Unable to make that happen the entire family (Hank and Hudson included) Skyped with her yesterday.  She understandably is very quiet and uncertain as to whom these people are that she is looking at.  Chelsea knows only a few English words and relied on her teacher to translate.  She sang us a song in Chinese; we sang happy birthday to her in English. Nolan and I have downloaded English to Chinese google translator onto our electronic devices to help with the communication.  Chelsea turns 9 on Tuesday February 10.

We leave for China in only 38 days.

So What is in a Name?

So what is in a name?

So what is in a name anyway?  Our family is continually reminded that Michael means who is like God.  This usually generates and automatic response of eye rolling, a room departure and muttering something under the breath. ..

As we have said before our daughter’s name means pure and beautiful.  And we are going to keep it as her middle name.  So what does Chelsea mean?  Historically it means “port of Ships” or landing place for chalk or limestone; not exactly awe inspiring.  Seriously it is not nearly as clear and concise as someone who is God like. J

If you are looking for the true definition of Chelsea you need not go further than the Avery household.  When you say Chelsea in this Avery domicile our minds go to Futbol; European Futbol to be specific. Crystal Palace, Burley or even Manchester United names mean very little to us. Our hearts and minds turn "forever Blue" and to Chelsea FC. It has long been Michael's Favorite "soccer" (for you non-fanatical) team.

Of course we did not limit ourselves to the 20 teams in the Barclays Premier League We genuinely like the sound of the name. Chelsea and Sophie have a common ring and just sound so good together, like sisters...

Besides Chelsea clearly beats the second choice Tottenham (Tot - en - Ham) or "Totesy" for short.  The alternate or a close third Swansea (Swans-E) was briefly considered but that conjures thought of the ugly duckling and of course we already know she is pure and beautiful.