We have another passport!

Well, Monday evening Ryan and I and the kids drove to Chicago. We had to go to the Guatemalan Consulate to get Annie another passport. We stayed at a really nice hotel that was downtown and right next door to the consulate. We got into the city around 11:00 pm their time. We noticed as soon as we got close to our hotel that they were filming a movie or something b/c they had the street right in front of our hotel blocked off and there was all the standard movie stuff there. By the time we got parked and checked in to our hotel the filming was over and the crew was partying. They weren't loud or anything, but there was lots of beer and popcorn! Our hotel dude said they were filming "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie. Pretty cool to be that close to all that!

So, our time at the consulate was a bit trying. They couldn't find Annie's passport in their database and they kept bringing up a little girl with Annies exact name, but different brithday and ID number. We got a little worried b/c there's so much concern about the adoptiong process anyways, I could just see us getting accused of stealing Annie. We had to leave the consulate and wait for the head honcho (which never showed). We finally got everything worked out around 1:00 (we got there at 8:00). I guess our Annie hadn't been added to the US database yet, but they had record of her in Guatemala. So her picture and prints were taken and we were on our way. Even though we had to wait, it really worked out better in my opionion. We wanted to be able to see downtown some and this gave us some time. Except for worrying about the situation, it turned out to be a nice trip.

We were told that it would take 1 1/2 to 2 weeks to get her passport. So, imagine my suprise when it arrived via UPS today! I am super excited and relieved to have it. Now all we need is Annie's visa, which should be here in the next week or so.

As for Gideon, well, his document just arrived in Guatemala yesterday, so we still have a good 3 to 4 weeks probably. **SIGH** I am so tired of waiting for my son to join his family.

Julie