Population Explosion!

Our world is a big place. My brother, Bryan, and his wife, Sandy, just made it all the bigger! They had twins yesterday! John (Jack for short) and Benjamin made it into the world with wonderful health and the promise of even more wonderful happiness! Danielle does not even know that she is going to be queen babysitter as soon as she hits middle school! Congrats to Bryan and Sandy!! Welcome little cutie boys!

Quickly!

QUICKLY....
Get the LOA letter, sign it, copy it seven different times, take a picture of it (LOL!), slap it on the top of each pile to be mailed (go over the documents in each pile 3 different times to make sure each has all the documents, forms and photos required) ... and
QUICKLY.....
drive it over to UPS and ship each envelope out overnight!! Yhew!! Done!!
The Fed Ex driver who delivered the LOA package today thought I was NUTZ that I wanted a picture of him. Lucky I regularly use UPS - this guy is likely to drop and run in the future when he comes close to my house!

Now that the LOA is off to both the United States Immigration Dept in Texas and to the American Consulate in China, I wait.... again. There is no QUICKLY involved here. We are still estimating travelling by Sept or Oct., the QUICKER the BETTER.

Welcome!

I have been keeping this blog for, well, awhile, but not sharing it, just yet. I wanted to wait until we received our official notification from the Chinese Adoption Authority that we are the official parents of a beautiful 4 year old girl in China whose name is Xin YuJie.
We are so proud and happy to know that she is now official ours, waiting for us to bring her home!
We hope you will join in our happy dance! Turn up the music!!

I SHOULD BE BALD

I have been pulling my hair out waiting for this Letter of Acceptance!

I know many of you have listened to me whine that I need "that piece of paper"!! Well, it is here!!

Thankfully, I still have my artificially colored head of blond hair in tact.
But more thankfully, We Have our LOA!!!

The LOA is a the formal letter from the Chinese Adoption Authority that says we are, in fact, Danielle's parents. We will received it overnight from our agency tomorrow.
We sign this commitment letter, send it back to our agency and immediately send a copy to the US Immigration department along with our I800 application in order to start the process of getting Danielle's U.S. visa and citizenship. If all goes smoothly, we should have our travel approval in about 2 months and then we leave to go get her!!

The kids came up with these LOA ideas! They are so happy to know we are moving so much closer!

Another Little Kitty

My friend, Allison, and her family are leaving next Tuesday from South Lake Tahoe to travel to Urumqi to meet and adopt their new 2 year old daughter, Sally Rose. She is from the same orphanage as Danielle. We are sure that they know each other. Even though she is travelling with 2 small children, a husband, brother in law and more luggage than Paris Hilton, she has offered (almost demanded) that I send her something to bring to Danielle at the orphanage. Here is what we chose....

There is a small LOVE necklace in a heart canister, a letter from us with pictures and an originally crafted drawing from Avery to her sister, Danielle. Then, of course, is another little kitty and kitty house, complete with mouse, ball and feeding dish. Danielle is going to discover quick that Avery has an obsession with cats.
Getting these items to Danielle might be a little tricky for Allison, as we are not guaranteed that a tour or visit to the orphanage will be allowed when we are there. Allison will be meeting her daughter on Gotcha Day at the governmental affairs office in Urumqi, not at the orphanage. As you can imagine, this would upset the other kids at the orphanage so the first meeting of you and your child occurs at the local governmental office where you will also initiate the final adoption paperwork. We will also meet Danielle at the same government office. Many other provinces in China allow adoptive parents to visit and tour the orphanage where their child stayed, but it is done on a case by case basis. There are no guarantees. Allison is going to have to work her magic to either get our gifts to the orphanage, or somehow get them to Danielle's foster family. It would be amazing if she actually met Danielle, but that would probably put me into cardiac arrest!! So tired of waiting, just want to be there!!

Good Luck Allison! May your travels be safe and happy and I will be thinking of you on July 26th when you meet Sally Rose!

IT'S A SIGN!

Albeit, not the most healthy place for a Friday dinner, I took the kids to Panda Express to grab some Chinese food on the run.... And, upon opening my fortune cookie, here is the message.....

I am taking this as a big sign, a clear message, that my LOA is coming!!!

Under Construction!

In preparation for the expansion of our family, we decided to expand our house....just a bit.
This is what it used to look like at the back of the house.
And this is what it looks like now....
And this is what happened in between...

Whew! Lots of work. Lots of decisions. Lots of excitement! Lots of new bedroom and closet space! We are ready for you Danielle!