Airline flights

Aw booking airline tickets....sounds magical doesn't it? Well trust me...it is NOT! Oh sure, there is the excitement of FINALLY being at the spot when you know when you are leaving, when you are returning, and more importantly when you will have your baby in your arms! Great stuff....trying to secure tickets...SCREAM! I swore this time it would be different. We were smarter, we knew what to expect. I went to bed last night, picturing this wonderful and peaceful day of getting tickets and spending the rest of the day doing everything else on the "to do" list. We knew which tickets we wanted and was just waiting for the wonderful email to arrive at 9:00 am telling us when our consulate appointment would be...which we knew was likely on the 24th of July. from some of the facebook groups I am in, we also already knew 5 families that would likely travel with us. Well, we got up and count down to 9:00....which came and went, 10:00 came and went...soon someone posted they received an email Consulate appointment July 31st...WHAT? That wasn't even an option! Soon my stomach sank...obviously there was a problem and our adoption agency was working on it. Finally we receive the email. Because the consulate was shutting down for about 2 weeks, the dates we thought we would have, the 24th or at least the 25th of July were not available. Our appointment was now the 29th of July and quite frankly we should be lucky to have it....because later in the day, people were reporting CA dates of August 7th. But did I feel lucky...no I did not! What does this mean, I knew the others all were getting the CA dates of July 31st and we weren't. Well, we had one other challenge, which of course then was a challenge for our adoption agency. It seems our fingerprints that were done last year, expire July 31st...and if one thing expires in the homestudy, technically the entire homestudy expires. SO, we have to be back in the U.S. by July 31st OR go through the entire process of updating and pay for all of it...which would only be needed for a couple of days...NO THANK YOU!

So, our wonderful adoption agency, CCAI, knew what we were facing and made special arrangements for us. In order to do this however, we will not be part of a travel group and will be on our own. Oh we will still have a guide, hand holding us, but we won't have the support of others with us. Now, you may think "who cares, they are strangers?" Yes total strangers, sharing one of the most important moments in one's life...and then they become close friends. We had one of the most amazing travel groups last time. Funny now that I think of it. We had over 14 families in our travel group, one of the largest they have ever had we were told. Now, we will be travel group..UNO...The Freelings and only the Freelings. I hope we like each other! Actually our travel group number is 2009s. Mark loves that it is 2009, the year all three of the kiddos were born. I will let you decide what the "s" stands for! So, I felt disappointed. There is such an amazing bond that happens and I can't think back about our trip for Anna and not have such wonderful memories of everyone. But, this too will be an experience, just a different one.

So...my point....we thought we had it all under control, so casually and effortlessly, would secure the tickets we thought we would use and be onto something else, all the while, basking in our success. Oh did I mention that since our travel time got moved back, Bethany's friends that are watching the kids during the day will be in band camp and can't watch the kids the last week we are gone? Oh did I also mention that my wonderful nephew Jeremy may make it to State Baseball and my sister & her family who are watching the kids at night will be going to Gering and we don't have anyone to watch the kids also the last week of July? Did I mention that all of the "who is watching the kids" was also having to be figured out at the same time the ticket issue was...which was the same time the claims adjuster came to our house to inspect the water damage in Bethany's room in the basement? Ah....and as the adoption process goes....the roller coaster made a sudden, unexpected turn and my stomach was flip flopping and I wanted to get off the ride. So close to the end, but thank you, I am done! Oh whatever...I am going to China, are you kidding me, but now everything had to be redone...and as we are trying to figure everything out the ticket prices kept climbing and climbing and climbing. By the end of the day, tickets we originally looked at (after the shock of course) doubled in cost...shooting up to $3600 a ticket! Who can figure out anything like that when every time you check, the price has just gone up by another $300?! Finally at 5:00 we put some tickets on hold and our travel agent also put some tickets on hold. Thankfully we locked before they hit the $3600 price. They aren't necessarily our first choices going, but they get us there and the trip back will actually be exactly what we wanted...Hong Kong to Chicago to Lincoln. Ahhhh. So, with that, the roller coaster ride has slowed down and it is fairly uneventful for now. Tomorrow, we must make the decision on which flight to take....darn there goes that roller coaster ride again...hang on...it could get bumpy!