Friends of ours just adopted!! Pics and travel story

Our Friends just adopted a wonderful little girl from China. Here is the story.. :)

http://www.thestoryofyou.net/JourneyToGinger.html

:)

Susan

awww, what a cutie she is!

(A young couple from our church just adopted a little girl last month, we were all very happy for them)

Wonderful story and a beautiful child.

Oh, She's beautiful girl and also a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Wow! I cannot tell you how many tears of joy sneaked out of me reading this. Thank you.

Great story, I am going to send this to both of my friends. It will bring back memories to the older family and hope for the Russian adoption.
Thank You for the thread!
Betty

Susan, thanks so much for starting this thread!! I have emailed your friends and am so excited for them! I can't wait to hear all about their trip over there, and about Ginger.

Betty, thanks for your kindness as well. I am going to pray for your Russian adopting friends.

I will keep y'all up to date on our adopting a baby girl from China. DH and I want to do a website as well. I'll send the link once it is complete.

Michelle

This message was edited Aug 1, 2005 11:23 AM

Thanks all :) I cried too when I first saw the pictures of her and them getting her for the first time :)

Michelle.... I am the biggest talker EVER! you can ask, Jim, (Garedclay)!! Take this in stride and no big deal, but know that I was continuing the off topic conversation too and your not targeted I don't think sweetie!! There is room for every topic on Daves (somewhere), and I just brought it over here and I'm glad I did since now more folks I like get to enjoy it :)

Susan

How wonderful. :')

I loved that! Thanks! So so sweet, eyes were welling up. Especially when I saw the pic of her sleeping on Daddy!

That was a wonderful story to read in the middle of the day - at work.


Thanks!!!

Glad you liked it Nichole :)

Hey Angie!! :)

Susan that made me want another baby!!! Tell your friend her dh is a hottie too! :)

Nicole

Hey Susan. :) Thanks for the sweet story. I plan on checking back to see the last couple of days updated. The peekaboo shot was the best.

off subject...got all that furniture put together yet? LOL

Ya, the ones I have drive me nuts, but it made me want to go get one too! ya Nichole, I'll tell her you said that!! :))))

hi Susan, yep you are right...I guess I'm just PMSing!!
Anyway, I finally had a chance to read thru all of the logs that Kevin and Claire and Ginger. It is very helpful to know what to expect when Bryan and I go there next year. I've been to China...3 years ago on a mission trip before I was married. Bryan stayed behind and was our US/China liason. It was fantastic. I fell in love with the Chinese people...so warm, kind and gracious. I had no clue at the time that I wouldn't be able to become pregnant and be adopting from there! I was in a small town near Shanghai so I didn't get to see the Great Wall and the Panda Zoo and all that. I can't wait...and especially can't wait for Bryan and I to have that sweet baby in our arms. We have no other children, so this will be a real shocker and change of lifestyle!! I loved all of Claire and Kevin's pictures and of course, Ginger.

It means the world to me that you shared this with me!! I sent off our citizenship and immigration stuff to SAn Antonio today. I also picked up all of Bryan's medical stuff from his doctor. I think I need to take a trip to our Sec of State for some Certifications....luckily we live in the capital of TX so it is just a downtown away. Then we will send it all to the Chinese consulate in Houston to get everything authenticated. The last thing we will be waiting on is the HomeStudy from our social worker and the 171H number from CIS. We have had 3 meetings with the social worker, but she needs one more with me which will be on Thursday. We are both going to be at the reception for the Chinese adoption director and liason at Great WAll China Adoption down in SW Austin.

So we are moving right along with our paper chase!! Once the dossier is done and sent to China, it is a big waiting game....about 7-9 months I think. Susan, do you know when Claire and Kevin sent in their dossier and then how long it was before they got their referral (the chosen little girl?). I hate it that they call the babies "referrrals". oh well.

My friends Shirley and Denny just got their referral last Friday. They are so excited. They are going to leave in the next 6 weeks to get her, I think. It took 8 months to get the referral once they sent off their paperwork to China.

Well, have I bored everyone enough yet?

Michelle

Michelle, I am very excited for you and I'm sorry there is soo much red tape and hoops you have to jump through. I personally was very concerned about being able to conceive so I basically told my then boyfriend to buy the cow already or else I was outta there. He'd told me he was going to marry me after three months of dating and after 2& 1/2 years I started to wonder. It was a forced engagement and not the most romantic, (all that yelling, "where''s the ring"!!!) but we are in a great place for it. We now have two sons and we are pictured in the about me section. Just click on my name to the left and scrowl down and there we are :)

No, I don't know the details about the process for Kevin and Claire just yet, but I will be inviting them over and finding out everything, including how those little kids over there use 'split pants'... My husband and I were just amazed to see that and we thought about how different some cultures are and how they must feel about us Americans letting a child go in their drawers!!

I'm glad we have this thread for you to share as you go through this and you really do need support right now. :)

Susan

Angie, as a matter of fact I don't have it all put together!! I'm dreading if there is a problem with any of the stuff I haven't opened since they have a 30 day return policy... but I can find ways to make it happen if there is a problem... For those of you wondering what the heck I'm talking about.....

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/518665/

Susan

Michelle she is a talker. Big time. I love her for it. LOL Seems she has a lot to say and only a short time to say it.
Enjoyed reading your post Michelle.

Hi Susan.
Hi Angie
Hi Nicole
Hi Lisa
Hi Mother Seed Michell

I have met all these wonderful girls. Love em all.

What a beautiful story. I'm praying that everything will go well through this adoption process. This is the sort of thing that just warms your heart. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed reading it.
Hey Susan... love your name! My name is Susan also, but use my middle name, Elaine, so it won't be so confusing on DG.

The adoption process is long and tedious just like being pregnant!!!! I wouldn't change it for the world, We adopted our wonderful baby now almost 13 here in the States, It was a fantastic experience, I wish more people would do the same, We are older parents, and I think We are doing it right this time. LOL!!!!
Bless you,
Annie

Hanna, I feel like I am in labor with all this going on!
Thanks all of you for your encouragement and support.
Susan, thanks for starting this thread!! Your engagement sounds interesting. ;) Also, yeah, those split pants are scarey hu? I don't quite understand where the potty goes?? I just looked at your picture with Santa. You are a knockout and your boys are gorgeous!!

I am dreaming about our baby now. haha. I have dreams about her at all different ages in fact.

Well, I'm off to babysit my 4 and 8 year old nieces today so I'll be off line until late this afternoon. Y'all have a great day!

Michelle

lol Susan, they know you at IKEA so they might let you return it even after the 30 days, you ARE an ambassador after all!

(hey Jim ;) )

What an absolutely lovely read. You really have some very special friends Susan, please give them a good DG hug from all of us. Thanks for sharing their wonderful story, God Bless them all!

Vi

Thanks Michelle :) I don't feel as attractive when I have to shave my legs to help me get my jeans on. It's great that you have your nieces so you wont be shocked at the sometimes crazy reality of having kids!!

Angie, they have 500 employees and I didn't get to meet them all!! :) But, I'll get it figured out if I need something.

Thanks Vi, I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Susan

I read this thread with great interest. All of the legal processes can be tiring and discouraging at times but it is worth the effort. Just keep plugging at it and one day you will all be so thankful that you did.

Here are my darling grandkids from China and Guatamala. The oldest won that trophy she is holding at her school spelling bee. They were at 3rd grade level words by the time she won and she was just in the first grade. That was just before school let out this summer.

It took two years to get the little one from Guatamala and they haven't had her quite a year. That one was an uphill battle of paperwork and disappointment all the way. It can be very difficult at times.

Here is my son's little darling from Romania. That adoption went smoothly so they don't all have to be difficult.

Elena, thanks for the encouragement. I know I wrote back and forth with you a few months ago when DH and I were considering the adoption. Those are gorgeous and happy children. We can't wait for our little girl. I had more dreams about her last night. Wish I could remember them, but they kind of fade away when I wake up.
Michelle

Elena, what beautiful children and thanks for posting!! :)

Susan

Elena,
did you hear about that Romania has just decided to no longer going to allow USA to adopt from them any longer? Very sad for those who were in process and for others that would love and raise these children.
I read about it in the paper last week. I had a heart attack b/c the article said that several Eastern European countries were going to either restrict or cut off adoptions from America. China is the only country that is not going to change their policy at all. whew!
Michelle

Michelle, Had to let you know that my friend and her parents just spent a week in Russia visiting the little girl and boy she is going to adopt! They signed more papers and were told that the babies will probably be able to come to Nashville this week. I hope that your post doesn't effect my friends. I will let all know when they are here.

Hi Betty,

I hope that it all goes thru smoothly. I think the Russia adoptions that were in progress would continue, but they were considering restricting the amount of adoptions to the US in the future. I wish I still had that article so I could tell you exactly what it said. Romania was the country that was being all hard-core about stopping the adoptions with the US. Sad!!

I have been at a big reception at Great Wall Adoption today for the ministers and directors from the Chinese Gov't that handle all the adoptions. It was really neat. I have lots of pictures to share as soon as Bryan gets them on our photo website. I'll send the link. All these couples were there from all over the US (mostly TX) with their sweet little Chinese girls. I took lots of pictures of little girls that I didn't know. haha. Our Mayor (who sent our counselwoman rep who is 1/2 Chines and 1/2 Korean) of Austin presented a Key to the City of Austin to Minister Lee of the Chinese Gov't.

Anyway, it was lots of fun. As I said, I'll share pictures as soon as I can.

Michelle

Here is a picture of DH and me. I can't wait until there is a picture of us with our little baby girl...then we will be a complete family!
Michelle

Wow Michelle, you make a great looking couple :) I really hope you have your little girl soon :)

Susan

Thanks Susan! You are so kind. ;) Seeing all the little girls at the Great Wall reception about had me in fits, I tell ya!

Michelle, what a sweet picture...You are right, all you need is a baby in your arms. Hugs and kisses from Tennessee.
I am Still waiting to hear from Ann about her babies.

Betty

Thanks for all your sweet comments concerning my adopted grand children. We love them so much. I watch this thread with great interest although I don't post a lot. I look forward to seeing photos of each new adoptee. My grandkids and many other adopted children not only celebrate their birthdays but also celebrate their "Gotcha Day". This is a really big deal with ours.

About Romania....they have a long history of problems with their adoption system. It started years ago, after the death of their long time dictator, when it was discovered that the conditions were terrible in their orphanages . No need in going into all that gory stuff here but you might want to research it sometime and the history of adoptions in that country. Then you won't be the least bit surprised. My son just barely squeezed in under the wire and for a while it looked like it would be halted. However, they did go ahead with the ones that were already in progress, thank the Lord.

Elena, celebrating the "gotcha day" seems very appropriate. We will most certainly celebrate that date every year. Thank the good Lord that your son did make it here. I hear that Romania is horrible. China used to take pretty bad care of their kids in the orphanages in the past until the US got interested in adopting...now they take really good care of them.

Here is the link to some pictures I took at the big reception that Great Wall China Adoption had for the Chinese officials visiting Austin...Minister Li and Director Lu. Minister Li is the highest ranking official to visit Austin ever. Our Counsel woman Jennifer Kim (1/2 Korean 1/2 Chinese) presented the Key of the City to Minister Li. It was a special time and wonderful being around all the families that have adopted. So of course I had to take pictures of some of them...they were all so very precious!!

http://www.omega71.com/photo/albums/df512eeeb534603f898c6239f2cd2917/

Michelle

Wasn't that a wonderful day. Your pictures were great. We had a really special occasion here also back a few years ago when Casey got her citizenship. It is automatic now but it wasn't then. We had all kinds of important folks who spoke and Stephen Curtis Chapman sang and spoke to the audience. Their first little girl that they have gotten got her citizenship that day also.

I well remember those bad China days and the awful pictures that were smuggled out of those orphanages. It was a nightmare of a life for those poor babies and for the ones in Romania. The pity of it all is that the Romanian little ones will likely grow up in orphanages and never really have a chance at life..

Michelle, that was wonderful. Thanks for posting!! :)

Susan

Susan, Michelle and certainly Claire:

Adoption is the best gift you'll ever give yourself!

Been there, done that and now have the Grandma teeshirts from the offspring!!!!!!!!!!

Walking out of the courthouse with my bundle of joy was the most emotional and happiest day of my life.

Congratulations to all and to the happy babies.