3 years and 8 months. That is how long we have lived here in China. I have seen many friends finish their college education in that time. Get married. Move across the States. Travel abroad, and then repatriate. I have also seen many friends come and go from the city of Xi'an. A little under 4 years without leaving a foreign country is a long time. But boy oh boy has it been an adventure, to say the least.
3 years and 4 months ago Matty was brought into our lives. 3 years and 4 months later, our family has gone from 6 to 7 (I had to count out each of us on my fingers to figure that number out). And now with a U.S. Visa in his passport, we have the ok to head back to America!
Once his little feet are firmly planted on U.S. soil, America gains one more U.S. citizen. He's a great addition if you ask me but I may be partial.
Last week my parents and Matthew headed down to GuangZhou in southern China to obtain Matty's Visa from the United States Consulate. This originally scheduled 6 day trip was quickly turned into a 10 day trip. Abby, Emma, and I held down the fort and cared for Zachary during this time. As much as we all wanted to go, financially it wasn't in our best interest. What's a family without a few sacrifices, right?
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Zachary learned to walk
while they were away!
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| This caused my coffee intake to increase significantly. |
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| Both relief and exhaustion the night of my parent's return |
The second day they were there (a Monday) they needed to complete a routine medical check to ensure that Matthew was healthy enough to travel to America. Due to some paperwork misunderstandings, Matthew's latest blood work results were deemed invalid and he needed to undergo a fairly extensive blood test. This unplanned test needed 3 days to process. Their appointment with the consulate was originally scheduled for the following morning. That obviously needed to be rescheduled (not always an easy task). The doctor also said that if this test came back with a certain result they would then proceed to do a more invasive test. The doctor was fairly confident we would have to do said invasive testing, but by the grace of God all tests came back as we had hoped, no extra testing needed. Appointment now scheduled for Monday, they had an extra weekend to kill before getting his Visa. Monday came, all documents and cleared medical report given to them and they agreed to expedite the process from a usual 3 days to just 24 hours. Tuesday afternoon they had Visa in hand and got on a plane that night to return home.
Now comes the fun part of packing our belongings in faith and trusting that we will be able to fly all 6 of us living here back to America. There is lots to be done and I am positive that we will all have at least one breakdown leading up to our departure...but that's expected. The thought of repatriating is both exciting and scary, bitter and sweet, spicy and sour (not sure how that applies but it sounds Chinese and I'm hungry).
I cannot wait to show my new brother the ocean. Abby can't wait to show him a library. Emma can't wait to take him to the craft store (I've been gone so long I don't even know if they have Joanne's or Michael's anymore). My mom can't wait to have a backyard or clean grass for him to run on. My dad can't wait to take him to his first sport's game. Derek can't wait to teach him how to chest bump, to be his lone big brother and to teach him all the big brother things (while growing up under 3 older sisters has its advantages, it'll be nice having his older brother).
See you soon, America.
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| Mom and Matthew at the goldfish pond |
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| Matthew and his Visa |
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| Dad and Matthew on the Pearl River Cruise |
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| Matthew using his charm on the local folk |
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| Making friends on ShaMian Island, Guangzhou |
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| Perfect pose |
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| Pearl River Cruise |
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