Home again

We arrived home Monday evening from our week trip to Chicago for our every other year reunion with RaeAnne's travel group. We had a wonderful time, great weather, good conversation and the girls really enjoyed spending time together. I don't know if the girls truly understand why we get together with this group of people every two years. I think they may have the general concept of their being adopted in China, but I don't know just what part of our reunion they really get. I think they will after a couple more reunions.

Our family chose to drive there. Mapquest says that it is about an 11+ hour drive, so we took two days each way. Of course, with three little girls in the car and a husband who takes a diuretic each morning....we stop pretty frequently. It is kind of nice not to be in a real rush to get there and really take the time to stop and smell the flowers along the way.

Happy Friday the 13th

I have never before been superstitious about Friday the 13th. I have always felt that black cats bring me luck. Walking under a ladder, piece of cake! I was really excited about living on 07/07/07. However, the past few days have made me wonder if I should start looking over my shoulder more often.

I received some bad news yesterday that shocked me to the core at first, then made me physically sick, then my shock turned to hurt and anger. Ever since 07/07/07 things have just not been right in our world. Cars have broken down, we can not get any updated info on our girl, a death in the family and now I have been turned down for a job that I was very excited about getting. I have been in the dumps most of the afternoon and probably not a very pleasant person to be with. Then after visiting with a very good friend who lifted my spirits, watching Big Brother 8 and then pursing the net for a while, I stumbled across this quotation.



I am thinking that He has pointed me in this direction and I need to take this to heart and believe that this is my reason for being. I will do my best to make this statement come true for my girls.

Bummed!!!

We were very hopeful and excited this past week. A family who adopted a few years ago from Jordis Li's orphanage traveled back to China for a visit. They were going to ask for updated measurements for us and most importantly, they were going to try to get updated photos for us. Well, things did not work out. I then contacted Ann at Red Thread China She not only has a store very close to the White Swan in Guangzhou and sells items on the internet, but she also does a "Care package" service. Folks that have received their referrals can contact her via email and she will send a care package to your child. You can also send a translated letter and she will call the orphanage and check on your child for you. So I asked her to call Jordis' orphanage.

The CCAA recently enforced a bunch of new rules about adopting from China. They also said that they did not want the adoptive parents to contact the orphanges asking for info. They say it takes the staff away from the children. I can understand this, but they also need to understand that some of us parents are VERY anxious to know how our children are! The info we have on Jordis Li is from October 2006. Because the info is not yet a year old, we are not to ask for any updated info. Many agencies just look the other way or interpet the rules differently. Many orphanages do not take this rule seriously either. Well, Jordis' orphanage is following the letter to the T! They would not give Ann any info for us. They said that we would have to have the CCAA fax them the questions we wanted answered before they could answer them :( We did find out that she has received our first package. Thank you USPS! So the wait grows more tedious as we go.




We just sent her this package a week ago. At least we know that the address we have is good.

A very short video

Happy triple sevens day!

What a great day! I heard on the news last night that this date will not occur again for 1000 years! I don't think I will be here for that date! So we will enjoy today!



- Get Your Own

If I had a couple extra dollars laying around I would have to go gambling! Nothing like hitting four 7's on a video poker machine for a jackpot! We know of one couple who is getting married today. At 7:07pm on 07/07/07 on the 7th hole of the golf course! Hmmmm....there seems to be a theme here!!

Belated 4th musings

Oohhh......Aahhh.....Wow! That was the chorus of sounds at our house last night. After a very long day of hearing "When is the fireworks?" it started raining at supper time! Daddy and I were thinking that the girls were going to bed without the much anticipated show. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the fireworks began! There are a few families in our neighborhood who either really love the 4th of July or just have lots of money to spend on fireworks....or maybe both! Whatever the reason, we get to enjoy lots of sights and sounds as they go off all around us. There were a few times we gave our west neighbors a standing ovation as they really had some pretty ones! RaeAnne announced that "This is the bestest day in the universe!"

Bedtime was very late and all the excitement had taken it's toll on the girls. I think that they were asleep before their heads hit the pillow. The first thing RaeAnne wanted to know this morning was "When do the fireworks start tonight?"

Why China?

We have heard this question many times in the past seven years. Not so much anymore, guess when you look at our family, the question is already answered. In all honesty, we did not start out with China on our minds.

It was medically impossible for us to become parents physically. Besides, with each of us having not so desirable genes, we didn't think it would be right to pass that on to a child.

We initially looked into doing foster care with the possibility of adopting. However after visiting with someone at at the state foster care system, we quickly changed our minds. Maybe that was the woman's intention. She was very frank with us and told us that we could become a foster family and have infants/babies placed in our home. But she wanted us to know that 9 out of 10 placements are returned to their biological families.....sometimes many times. Maybe it was because we were "older" parents to start, she could tell that we would not be able to do this time after time after time. My thanks go out to this woman for telling us up front about this. It takes very special families to be foster parents. My hats are off to them and my heart goes out to the families and the kids who get caught up in the system. Praises to the judges and social workers who don't drag out the process over years and years and get the children placed in a stable home, whether that be with the birth or adoptive parents.

We then started looking into international adoption. We researched Romania, Russia, Korea and after spending a considerable amount of time on the Internet, China was our choice! We then narrowed our agency selections down to two and spent one afternoon calling references from each agency.

Our first adoption touched my heart, but I don't think that I truly realized just how much it had for several years. I now know that each trip to China I have left a little bit of my heart there each time. Of course, each time I have come home with a heart and arms even fuller!

If someone were to ask me today, "Why China?" it is very easy to say, "Because that is where my daughters' were!"