Consulate Appointment a day early!

First off, please don't stop commenting even though we can't view it, since we have asked a friend to forward the comments to us by email. Your messages are so encouraging to us. And thanks for your prayers for Naomi's and Danny's health. I think they are starting to feel better, though Naomi may also be teething now. (I think her upper teeth are in a mess because of the cleft palate. Only one sharp little tooth is coming in on top so far. Plenty of teeth on the bottom though.)

The surprise of the day was going to the U.S. Consulate today instead of Friday for the "swearing-in ceremony" and receipt of Naomi's visa. This was the last step in our paperwork process -- she is truly ours and we are allowed to bring her to the U.S.A.! Some had said they found this an emotional ceremony, and it is momentous considering the journey to get to this point. However, Roger and I thought the actual procedure a bit silly, since it was mostly a long bus ride and lots of standing around for 2 minutes of speech-making about inconsequentials, and someone asking us all to stand and swear that the information we gave on all our forms was true to our knowledge. Wasn't that the point of all the notarizing and signing we had already done? Anyway, we couldn't even take pictures or carry a camera to the Consulate, so we have nothing to show on the blog for this important event. Instead I'll just give you lots of cute pics, mostly of Naomi.

By the way, I thought Naomi's Chinese name, Chunxiang, was pronounced "shoonsheng," but all the people in Inner Mongolia said it more like "Choon-see-ahng." This is now Naomi's middle name.