In China
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Today was our consulate appointment at the US Embassy to apply for Caitlin's visa. We had an 8:30am appointment, so we had to get up early, and left the hotel at 7:45am. There were about 15 families in a waiting room, we had a talk from an immigration officer, took an oath, went to the window when our name was called, signed another paper and that was it. Now, after we touchdown on US soil, Caitlin will be a US citizen! We will now get her passport, with Visa stamp delivered to us after about 4:00pm tomorrow, and we are free to leave. We packed up some this afternoon, went to Trustmart (Walmart) to get a few more chinese snacks (seaweed and crackers). We played in the garden with our friends, played with bubbles, fed the fish, played hacky sack. I am so proud of my girls...Claire and Camille have been such wonderful travelers. Claire has been a great big sister, setting a good example for the others. She has been very protective of Caitlin, taking her hand when we are out and helping her cross the street. Camille has come a long ways in the past few days, still not exactly thrilled with being in the middle, but a little more kind and patient with her new little sister. And Caitlin............can I just say how perfectly she fits into our family. She is smart, wants to be just like her big sisters, and has a great sense of humor! She waited, and waited for a family, and then we found her, and she is wonderful. She is brave and strong, and a little stubborn. Well, she is 9, and knows everything, right! She wrote me a letter, which our friend Chloe translated for us. In the letter, Caitlin told me her grades in her classes at school, and told me how she can clean and do her own laundry. Oh sweet little girl, you do not need to clean and do your own laundry...that's what Mom's are for. Tomorrow we will pack up and depart for Hong Kong in the later afternoon. It's about a three hour van ride, so we will probably get to the hotel later. Out flight departs Hong Kong early Thursday morning, and we will be home Thursday afternoon. We have met some wonderful adoptive families, and hopefully now friends while we have been here, but I am so ready to go home!

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