Tickets are booked!!!!!!!!

We are officially going to the Philippines! We booked our tickets today!!! We did not get the itinerary we wanted...everything was sold out!! But it's ok because we are going and that is what matters!

We will fly a combination of US Air and Korean Air.

We will go Charlotte-Chicago-Seoul-Manila.
On the way home we will go Manila-Seoul-New York-Charlotte

We will leave Friday, August 9th at 10am and arrive home Saturday, August 17th around 8:30pm.

We had hoped to have a long layover in Seoul, but we didn't get it. We will have 5 hours on the way back. We may not be able to go far from the airport, but we do hope that it will be enough time to see our dear friend there. We are excited to return to Korea and hopefully we can get a picture of Aubrey in Seoul:)

We are so excited to have everything booked! Oh, and the best part? Our friends and family have been so very generous...We paid George and Aubrey's ticket in full. In CASH!! No credit card needed:) Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped make that possible!

My Ebay selling is also starting to go well. I've sold around $140 worth of stuff so far. I haven't even posted most of my items yet. It is a learning curve and I am definitely still learning. I will keep selling stuff...A) to get crap out of this cluttered house and B) to keep saving money for the trip. We will still need to pay for food, transportation and incidentals while we are there.

Another huge milestone in this adventure that I haven't had a chance to post yet...Aubrey's passport came in!!

She doesn't understand what it is, but she keeps saying what sounds like "that's mine!" every time she looks at it. She loves that her picture is in there. So cute!

Ebay and Fundraising

Things are moving along in the fundraising department! We have received a few very generous donations and I think we are pretty close to having the full amount needed to book! I am going to call the travel agent in the morning and see what rate she can get us.  We are praying for a particular route that gives us long layovers in Seoul, South Korea. We'd love to take Aubrey there and we have a dear friend we'd love to visit.

Selling on Ebay is starting to pick up. We've sold several items so far and more items are starting to sell. I still have a ton of things I need to post so they can sell too. It is hard to get everything photographed since Aubrey likes to wear my merchandise around the house. She thinks she's found the greatest dressup box ever!

I may keep this Ebay selling up after the trip...it's kind of addicting:)

We are still waiting for Aubrey's passport. The government has cashed the checks, so hopefully that means it will come any day now:)

Passports and Fundraising

My passport came in the mail! Hooray! Hopefully Aubrey's will come in the next few weeks. Aubrey thought it was a book for her to read- haha!  She sat in her chair and "read" it for a long time. So cute!

We are working hard to raise the money we need to buy our plane tickets. We want to buy them soon because the prices are going up. They have already gone up about $300 in the past week or so! We have been trying to sell a ton of items on Ebay and Amazon, but that is much slower going than we would like. Please check out our items for sale on Ebay- My screen name is jcann2013. I am working to post more items (it is so time consuming! especially with VERY

helpful one year old!).

We currently have about $1,600. We need $2,500 to book George and Aubrey's tickets. If you can help (no gift is too small), you can donate directly through Paypal. My email for Paypal is jenicacannella@yahoo.com Of course, cash or checks are acceptable as well:) We appreciate donations of any amount. We definitely want to book before the tickets skyrocket any higher! We will keep you posted on our progress! Thanks so much!

Cutest Little Passport Applicant

                             Today we took Aubrey to apply for her very first passport!

George and I had to go to the passport office so we could both sign for Aubrey's passport. The earliest appointment they had was a month out, so we've been patiently waiting for today. Everything was approved, so she will now be free to travel the world!

Our appointment was right in the middle (well, what turned out to be the END) of her nap. She was so happy to be there!

But don't worry, Teddy Grahams saved the day!

I renewed my passport by mail, so Aubrey and I should both have our passports in the next few weeks! One step closer to getting to the Philippines!

We're going to the Philippines!

It's official! All 3 Cannellas are heading to the Philippines in August!

As the Philippines Program Coordinator with Christian Adoption Services, I will be attending the Global Consultation of the Inter-country Adoption Board of the Philippines (ICAB). This is a two day conference where they bring in all of their partners in adoption from around the world. This will be a great opportunity for me to meet in person many of the people I work with, but only know through email. I will also get to see the country and culture of the Philippines to have a better understanding of where the kids we are placing for adoption come from.

I don't like to travel without my handy-dandy travel buddy (George) and I can't leave home without my mini-travel buddy (Aubrey),  so they are both coming too! YAY!

The first matter of business was getting passports for me and Aubrey. I have not changed my passport since I got married, so I finally sent that off a few weeks ago (LAST thing to change my name on! woo-hoo!) For Aubrey's passport, George and I both have to go in person to sign and the earliest appointment we could get was a month out. Boo! So next week we are scheduled to apply for her passport. They have assured me that both mine and Aubrey's passport will come in time for our trip (George's passport is still good).  I will feel much better when all 3 valid passports are in my hands:)

My agency will be paying for my part of the trip, but we have to cover the cost of George and Aubrey coming. The plane ticket for George is about $2,000 (eek!). I thought Aubrey would be free as a lap baby...but no! On international flights, they charge 10% of the adult ticket! So that adds about $200. We will also need to cover food and transportation while we are there. I am listing some things on Ebay  and will also be listing some baby clothes on here to help us cover the costs. Of course, donations are always welcome too:)

We are planning to visit some of the orphanages in the Manila area during our stay. I am excited to meet the children and get to see where a lot of our adopted children come from. I will ask the orphanage directors if there is anything they need that we could bring. If so, I will collect donations of whatever items would be useful to them. We can pack light and take supplies in a second suitcase if that is the case. I will keep you posted on what items they need.

Thanks for reading our new blog! I will try to post updates as we get closer. I will also post pictures and  a journal of our trip from the Philippines if I can.