Consulate and then Some

What a fine night. We made it through the night without incident once again. The bummer part is Linda just fell asleep 10 minutes ago: 9:15pm. We have to get up at 4:30am and have our bags ready by 6am tomorrow. We are in soooooo much trouble as we feel Linda will not be a happy camper. This forebodes a long flight. No optimism here.

As for today, we had a pretty good start, and then we saw what looked to be dried blood in her left ear. Mel began the concerned mother mode. We cleaned the little bit up and did not see much else. After a good breakfast and noticing that Linda was not concerned or bothered by anything, we had time before the temple trip to check a store we wanted to go visit. Once outside, Linda turned her head and Mel saw the ear and almost went into panic mode. In the light it looked pretty bad and really baffled us. So much for the temple trip; we headed to the Holt office (yes, they have an office in the hotel) and told Catherine. Mel was obviously concerned since we fly out tomorrow, so an appointment at the clinic was quickly set up. We finished our trip to the store before the appointment.

Mel and I were both very concerned and continued to be baffled as there was no sign of anything at all prior to this morning. At the clinic Linda entertained the staff and was measured and weighed. Linda showed them how she is trying to walk, etc. The doctor was quite nice and we explained the situation. I had the honor of holding Linda’s head while the doc swabbed the ear. Oh, Linda told us she was not very happy. After the cleanup, it turned out that Linda had a scratch that was just inside the ear, not the canal, and was a little infected. The doctor let Mel look and he showed her how the ear was clear and clean. What a relief! We can fly! Catherine was amused on how happy Melissa was and pleased that we were able to appease her. Mommy needed the extra vote of confidence.

We arrived at the hotel just in time for lunch, so we decided to head over to Lucy’s. It was good. As we have been informed it is one of the few places that serve “western” cuisine. Linda enjoyed her mashed potatoes. We had a good time and relaxed after the morning’s ordeal.

This afternoon was our trip to the US Consulate where we received Linda’s visa. The consulate office is next to the new train station and was a 30 minute bus ride. Leave it up to the US government to put a consulate office near a public transportation depot. We arrived with 57 other families to take our oath and receive visas for our daughters, and I think I saw at least one son. I watched as the others arrived, and I may be biased here, but Holt seemed to have a very well organized way of doing business. The oath was basic swearing that we filled out all forms as truthful to our knowledge, and then we waited for our brown envelopes and passports for the little ones. All was good and off we went back to the hotel. No pictures are available as the US Consulate does not allow cameras or phones or anything that is not essential to baby within the facility. Today turned into a no picture day. Bummer.

We are all packed, mostly, and ready to go. I will get very little sleep and Mel just nodded off. It will be a wild and wacky morning and one long flight back. We are due in San Diego sometime around 3:30 or so in the afternoon. We so look forward to coming home. See you soon!

BTW, we want to thank you all for you wonderful comments. They were all quite helpful. We will continue to blog our experiences as Linda grows and may add elaborative posts of things during the trip that we may wish to divulge after we return.

Good Night!