I800 & Alaska

We're still in a waiting period before we'll know anything more about traveling to get Willem. I dropped off some more immigration paperwork yesterday. One form is a petition to classify Willem as an immediate relative instead of an orphan - basically saying that he has parents now. The forms have to be reviewed by the US government, then sent to the U.S. consulate in China who will pre-adjudicate them (whatever that means). After that, a document is sent to the Chinese government telling them that we're all set. That's what they need in order to issue a travel invitation. Once that comes we can make our travel plans. It will likely be October before that all happens. But that's just our best guess. I'd love for the time to pass quickly - at the same time, I'm in no hurry for this summer to be over.

Henry and I recently returned from a cruise to Alaska to celebrate our 10th anniversary. It was an amazing trip. Here are a few pictures:

Our ship: the Sapphire Princess

sitting on the deck, eating french fries while cruising past Alaskan wilderness= a slice of heaven

A humpback whale: whale watching was the highlight of the trip for me. The weather was incredible and we saw about 16 whales. We observed a whale breaching, a group of whales using bubble net feeding and many whales diving.

There were also Orca feeding in this area. This group of Orca were about 50 feet from our boat. Amazing!

crusing along the glaciers of College Fjord


First formal night on the cruise
(We missed the second one because we both got motion sick.)