ZoraLin and I flew to China on October 5th and returned October 17th with Jordis Li Meng in tow! I had heard that blogspot was not easily accessed in China, so I created a site to post daily updates to. I was glad I did because I COULD not access blogspot at all. I was disappointed because I wanted to read the post of others who were in China at the same time we were.
I will add photos and more later!
That our TA has been printed and is on it's way to our agency! IF it does arrive at our agency tomorrow we MAY have a chance to travel in September. IF it doesn't then our odds of traveling in September are GONE! Please say a prayer for us today!
Yesterday brought us an update that we had been hoping for! Three new photos of Jordis and new measurements! They say she is healthy and happy and she definitely looks it! If the measurements are correct, she is a lightweight! 28.2 pounds! While it is GREAT to see new photos, it just makes us all the more ready to bring her home!!
In a beautiful country called China there were four babies who joined their forever families. (Okay, there were actually five, but one didn't make the photo each time!) These babies have grown and each year become more and more precious. Here is a then and now photo of the group.
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.
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.
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.
