Travel!

Today Jim and I were given tentative travel dates.
We leave for Beijing on the 12th. Our consulate appointment is on the 21st of September. We will be home a few days after that!

WOW! We are very very close to Marie!!!

The 12th!

We heard today that we will leave for Beijing on September 12th.
Yes, that is very very soon!

Stupid, adorable old pets!!!

Zoot has a torn ACL. Doggone it! I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Today's dose is bad. She is in pain and there aren't any feasible options. How do you explain rehab to a 12 year old dog? Well, we have been blessed with her company for a long time. She and Jim will spend the weekend together, as Jim says, "Eating nothing but bacon" and then sometime next week we will be without her. Now I need kleenex.

Almost there!

I hear with pretty good confindence that we will begin making travel arrangements next week!!!
WOW!!!!!

Thank you...whoever you are!

I am crying and can hardly type.

Whoever you are...thank you.

We just received a phone call from our agency. Our social worker said to me, "Someone in your life, who wants to remain anonymous, just donated xx dollars towards your adoption. "

Jim and I are so blessed already and now this! Thank you so much! We know we are loved and that Marie is the most loved child in northern Michigan. Can't wait till she knows it too!

Thank you Thank you Thank you! You are in our prayers!

Surprise!

We see on the boards today that people are starting to get their TA's (travel invitations)!!! That means travel plans aren't far behind. If this is true, then we could travel sooner than expected! Wow!
Canning peaches just got put on hold for a celebratory dinner tonight!

Zai jin! (good bye!)

Here is a link to the province where Marie is. She is southeast of the capital Nanchang. Jim and I will go to Nanchang and maybe travel more from there.
Marie's Province
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/jiangxi/index.htm

We will stay at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
http://www.gloriahotels.com/gloria_en/plaza/nanchang.asp

We will stay there soon!!!

Some Travel Info...

Part of an informative email from Bethany Christian Services:
"When families travel to China to meet their child and complete the adoption process, they generally travel in a group with other Bethany families. Every Bethany-China family follows the same adoption process. These families are from all across the U.S! These families receive referrals together and generally will travel together. "

Before travel, we need to 1) get visas for travel 2) receive a travel invitation from China 3) have our consulate appointment scheduled 4) complete paperwork in the US. Once we receive the travel invitation (in 3-4 weeks), then the US consulate appointment is arranged and we can go ahead and make travel arrangements.

We are using a travel agency that works with Bethany Christian Services to arrange our travel. There are 9 families in our travel group. Unfortunately, they do not seem to be "on-line" like many other adoptive parents so we have not met them yet. Bethany will release their info to us, providing they agree, a few weeks before travel.

Our Child Has a Big Head

Looking at a Chinese Growth Chart for Girls, Marie at 5 months was in the 50th percentile for length, 75th for weight and...90th for head circumference.

Using the chart as a predictor, she will be about 18 pounds when we get her and 71cm long. We won't discuss head size.

But it would seem that she is healthy!

one photo

Here is the photo we were given first. We think she is younger here.
(I have tried repeatedly to load the others but can't do it now)

Marie Kathleen!

(I can't seem to post pictures now but will retry later.)

Whew...coming down after our whirlwind few days!
Monday was the hottest day this summer. I spent it at home, waiting by the phone. We knew that the referrals had arrived in Grand Rapids at 11:5 (thank you internet) so we were waiting for them to be translated and forwarded on to our caseworker. Needless to say, by 3 I was in tears. Jim called and found out that we wouldn't hear that day. And I could've been at the beach! Oh well..so we knew for sure it would be Tuesday!

Tuesday was an amazing day! From getting the call, to getting our pictures, to celebrating with family and friends. Marie received some clothes from "Aunt" Kate and "Aunt" Kerry - a fall outfit - and balloons and artwork from cousins Henry and George and their Mommy. The day ended with our waiting in line outside to see a film we had tickets to (the Traverse City Film Festival is this week), getting downpoured on while waiting and then the film starting 20 minutes late! We got home at about 1am, and yes, the movie was good. It was quite the day!

So what we know:
Lin Yi Hong (last, middle, first name) was born 12/3/05. She was placed in foster care on 12/12. Her last name is the name of the orphanage director. Her first and middle together mean "Great Joy" (or enlarged harmony - a slightly different translation - but you get the gist). We are still in discussion about whether we will incorporate this as part of her name.

She is said to be a deep sleeper (good girl), and likes her foster mom to look face-to-face with her while she bounces on her knees. Her favorite activity is looking at picture books. She likes pork soup(?), yolk and rice cereal. Yummy!

We are sending a care package with a photo album, a stuffed animal, and a disposable camera. There are no guarantees that she will get it but others have had success.

We will get our travel invitation in about 4 weeks. After that, our agency will set our consulate appointment. Then we can make travel plans. We will likely travel around the end of September. We will go to Beijing for a few days, then Nanchang and last to Guangzhou. We will get Marie either the first or second day we are in Nanchang and she will remain with us from then on! Guangzhou is where the US Consulate is - all Americans must go through there.

Thanks for following this with us!