Our Sweet Little Joshua,
We found out just before Christmas that you were scheduled for your medical appointment and will be having your visa interview on Jan. 11th. We weren’t suppose to get tickets until after the interview, but tickets were getting pretty pricy so we decided since we are staying in the Philippines for a couple weeks that we could take the chance. As long as your interview goes well, your visa will be issued within 10 days. We will be leaving at 1am on January 18th. We decided that we will be spending the first few days in Bohol, which is another island in the Philippines. Since it was only an extra $100 to fly to another island from Manila, we decided to take the opportunity to see another part of the Philippines. We will then spend 6 days in Makati in Manila, which is where all the malls and tourist things are. We decided to do as much of the tourist type stuff before we pick you up. We will then visit your orphanage and pick you up on January 30th and have you for 5 days before we fly home with you. We will be staying at a much more relaxing setting once we pick you up. It is more like a resort and there are lots of fun things we will have available there to do with you. They have a really fun kiddie pool, a playground, a giant sandbox, walking paths through gardens, and a picnic/bbq area. We will have our own kitchen too, so we will not need to go anywhere if you are not feeling up to it. We have no idea how you are going to react to us and how long it will take for you to get use to us, so we are going to try to make things as relaxing and easy going as possible. I know the transition can be pretty tough for a lot of kids, so we are not counting on you warming up to us right away(although it would be nice). I’m sure it will not be easy for you to leave the only place you have ever known and all those who you love. I’m sure you have no idea what is about to happen and we pray that the transition will go as smoothly as possible and you will receive the comfort and strength that you need to get through it. We are sure getting excited and anxious to meet you! I’m not sure if I will be getting much sleep between now and when we meet you, but I’m staying busy enough getting ready to keep my mind off of it. We will be seeing you soon!
Love,
Mommy
