China Travel Group Reunion

I have to begin by saying that this post is another one that has to be back dated. Back in August of this year, our China travel group had it's first reunion. We adopted our children from the Guangdong Province in southern China almost two years ago. Only two of the other four families that were with us the entire time were able to make it. Bob, Pam, Emma, Sandi, and Little Hannah....we missed you greatly and hope we'll all be able to get together next time.

For our first reunion, we planned a week long Disney vacation. Lisa, Russell, and Analise drove all the way down from Carrollton, Mississippi while Rebecca, Jay, Ben, and Hannah flew down from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Because of Patrick's busy schedule, he decided that he wanted to have a bar-b-que at our house for everybody over the weekend. It was the first time we had all seen each other since we said good-bye at the White Swan Hotel in November 2007. Ben, Hannah, and Analise had grown so much since that time. We were all filled with so much joy at seeing all the children flourish with their forever families.

All of the kiddos had a blast running around the house and splashing in the pool. Their laughter just melted our hearts. Patrick prepared a fabulous feast of surf and turf (lobster and steak). And naturally, we had a bunch of different desserts for everyone to share. We had such a nice, relaxing time together.

Since Lisa and Rebecca's families had traveled so far, they really spent their time checking out all that the Walt Disney World Resort had to offer. Caleb and I had the opportunity to join them one day at Epcot. We spent a lot of time in China, naturally. And I have to tell you....I really wasn't expecting to be moved as much as I was. But seeing the 360 degree movie had me in tears. I really felt like I was right back in China. In part of the movie, they showed the Temple of Heaven. And when Caleb piped up, "Mama, look! There's Beijing!" I almost totally lost it. It just felt like home.

One of their last days here, Caleb and I joined Lisa, Russell, and Analise at the Magic Kingdom. We had to leave early and sadly missed getting to see Rebecca, Jay, Hannah, & Ben. They had big plans at Cinderella's Castle in the morning, so it just didn't work out. :( Although somebody took Analise's stroller, Russell and Lisa managed to track it down at one of the stroller parking locations....it was a pretty stressful moment. Caleb and Analise had fun on the Aladin ride as well as the steamboat ride. It was so wonderful to see the two of them together. Although Caleb is "all boy" and can be a bit rough sometimes, Analise handled it well.

It was truly so wonderful to see everybody after such a long time. We are greatly looking forward to our next reunion when we hope that all of our Guangdong families can get together. We love you all!

First photo together since being in Guangzhou (l to r: Analise, Caleb, & Hannah)



All the kiddos in our travel group, including Ben (Hannah's big brother)



Analise with Mulan in Epcot



Analise flashing me a smile while "window shopping"



Caleb & Analise



Analise kissing Caleb good-bye

Summer fun in Connecticut

I was really hoping that I could be a regular blogger, but it hasn't been in the cards for me lately. Consequently, I will be back dating this post because I have so much summer fun to catch up on.

Back in July, we took a trip to Connecticut to visit Patrick's sister, Michele, our brother-in-law, John, and our precious niece, Lydia. John surprised us with a VIP tour of the ESPN facility in Bristol, CT. What a huge campus! Being an avid sports fan, I truly appreciated this tour. We even slipped by the SportsCenter studio while they were filming. I've included a photo below from the studio next door to SportsCenter, maybe Mike & Mike....not sure.

Across the street from ESPN is Lake Compounce, a beautiful amusement park situated on a lake. Although we had some slight drizzle on and off, we had a wonderful time. Lydia enjoyed the carousel, and Caleb went on a kiddie rollercoaster with Patrick. Michele and I even managed to ride on a rollercoaster and had a blast.

A trip to Connecticut isn't complete without dinner at Pepe's Pizza. There's no other pie like it. We also had the chance to roast some marshmallows in the firepit in the backyard at Michele and John's. The kids really enjoyed that. Thanks so much, Michele, John, and Lydia, for a wonderful vacation. We can't wait to see you again.

Caleb and Baba waiting for the tour to begin at ESPN

The studio next door to SportsCenter

Lydia and John enjoy the carousel

Sweet and precious Lydia


Having fun blowing bubbles

Being a silly boy, as usual

Lydia enjoying her marshmallows

Vacation at Hammock Beach

Well, if it's any indication as to how busy life is right now.... we actually went on vacation a month ago. And I am JUST NOW getting around to blogging about it. Patrick had a business meeting last month in Palm Coast, FL. We were really looking forward to the trip, as neither one of us had been there before. Since condos were the only option for accommodations at the meeting, we decided to get a 3 bedroom and invited my sister, brother-in-law, and Leah to join us.

The Ginn Hammock Beach is a lovely resort situated right on the beach. It has two beautiful golf courses and an assortment of water/pool activities. Unfortunately for us, it rained for 4 straight days. So it was difficult to get around and see much. We decided to take a drive over to St. Augustine a couple of times, just to get out of the condo. When I said that it rained for 4 straight days, I really meant it. It rained from the time we woke up in the morning until we went to bed at night. The only time that the rain managed to briefly stop was right before dinner. So we hurried out to the water park and let the kiddos splash around.

Caleb had a blast going down the slide with Baba. And Leah enjoyed splashing around in the zero entry area. One afternoon, we happened to run into an old neighbor/friend of ours who also happened to be at the meeting but we had no idea. He and his wife have two tween daughters who just adore Caleb. So they had a blast going down the slide and making waves. It was so heartwarming to see.

On our first night there, we found this great little Thai restaurant. So naturally when Deb and Andy finally joined us, we had to bring them, too. Caleb loves Thai food, just like his Mama and Baba.

Well, wouldn't you know that it finally stopped raining on the day of our departure. Go figure! Well, at least it made for a nice brunch boat ride up and down the intracoastal. Caleb loves shrimp and ate some much of it, we just couldn't get over it. He is such a seafood lover.

I hope you enjoy a sampling of the photos from our trip.

Caleb in St. Augustine

Caleb and Baba on the boat

Leah splashing around in the pool

Deb and Leah get some cuddle time while dodging the rain

Caleb plays in the yard

Here's a little video I put together of Caleb goofing off in the yard with Baba. He just loves his sandbox and playing sports.

Big Brother

Meet Caleb, Madeline's big brother. Our dossier for Caleb was logged in at CCAA on 1/31/07. We received our referral for Caleb on 7/10/07. We traveled to China in October 2007 and brought him home in November. He was almost three years old at the time we first held him in our arms. He prays for Madeline every night, and he can't wait to travel to China to bring her home.

Here are his referral photos, taken in January 2007 when he was 2 years old. We fell in love with him immediately.

At the Guangzhou Social Welfare Institution


Here he is in March 2009. Our precious little boy is growing up so fast!

Paperchase Timeline for Madeline

8.27.08 Decided to pursue our second adoption
8.31.08 Called our first agency, Bethany Christian Services, and submitted our Preliminary Application
9.02.08 Received approval of our preliminary application
9.04.08 Received China dossier packet
9.07.08 Completed online Hague Adoption course
9.08.08 Mailed requests for birth certificates and marriage license
9.09.08 Submitted addresses to agency for child abuse clearances
10.07.08 Eva's interview for HS and submitted COP documents to our agency
10.20.08 Patrick's interview for HS
11.24.08 Went to local police department to obtain clearance
12.03.08 Had medicals completed
12.04.08 Received word from our SW that she had not received child abuse clearance from Maryland, called MD social services and asked to expedite our clearance
12.09.08 Clearance sent from MD
12.19.08 HS finally complete
1.03.09 FINALLY received signed off and notarized HS
1.05.09 Mailed I-800A to Chicago Lockbox
1.16.09 Received I-797C Notice of Action, our app was received on 1/12/09
1.19.09 Received fingerprint appointment for 1/29/09
1.20.09 Mailed second request for copy of marriage license, since it will be older than 6 months at time of authentication (needs to be less than 6 months old)
2.05.09 Received our "newer" copies of our marriage license; Received a phone call from NBC but missed it! :( Ugh.
2.09.09 Received our I-800A approval in the mail!!!!! We were approved on 2/05/09!! Just 24 days after being logged in at NBC. Woo hoo! Also obtained Patrick's employment letter
2.10.09 Notarized our application letter to CCAA and financial statement
2.12.09 Notarized Eva's non-employment letter
2.19.09 Received the addendum to our home study and overnighted 11 documents to Tallahasee courier for state seals
2.21.09 Received our Florida documents back from courier, all state sealed!
2.22.09 Completed our photos portion of the dossier
2.23.09 Mailed our completed dossier to Grand Rapids for authentication at the consulates
3.12.09 We are DTC!!!
3.31.09 Our social worker called to tell us our LID is 3/26/09
10.29.09 Spotted our little girl for the first time on our "new" agency's Waiting Child list
10.30.09 Reviewed her file and accepted her referral!!! We finally know who Madeline is. Praise God!
12.10.09 New agency submitted our LOI and transfer letters. Yahoo!!! Now we wait for PA (Pre-approval)
12.11.09 Received a RFE (Request For Evidence) from Immigration on our I-800A Supplement 3 Form. UGH!
12.21.09 Received our PA! Hooray! Time to send a care package.
12.30.09 SW came to our house for the home study visit needed for our update for the Supplement 3
12.31.09 Our FL child abuse clearance came back! (expedited thanks to our great, new SW!)
1.11.10 Our SW overnighted our approved home study update to Immigration
1.14.10 Called our immigration officer to confirm receipt of our updated HS and she informed me she approved it yesterday! Yahoo!
3.5.10 Finally received our new/transfer LID
3.30.10 We got our LOA!!!!
4.1.10 Overnighted I-800 and supporting documents to our agency
4.6.10 Agency overnighted I-800 to immigration
4.21.10 Overnighted our I-800A Supplement 3 to TX lockbox to extend our immigration approval
4.27.10 Received our I-800 provisional approval
4.29.10 NBC overnighted our provisional approval to NVC, now we wait to be cabled
4.30.10 Received our I-800A Supplement 3 receipt notice in the mail
5.1.10 Received our I-800 provisional approval in the mail....yay for small steps
5.4.10 Our I-800 provisional approval was CABLED (whoo hoo) to Guangzhou
5.10.10 Received our NVC cable letter AND fingerprint appointment notices in the mail
5.11.10 Walked in early for our fingerprint appointment; we were scheduled for May 27th. No way were we going to wait that long!
5.12.10 Called im*migration and found out that our covering officer approved our I-800A supplement 3 and also issued us a new I-800! And today, Madeline turned 26 months. Big girl.
5. 17.10 Our documents are dropped off at the consulate
6.1.10 Our Article is issued and overnight to CC@@
6.25.10 We have TA!!!!!!!!!!!
6.29.10 Our CA is confirmed and we began travel arrangements
7.16.10 Fly to Ch*in@
7.19.10 Receive Madeline!!!!
7.20.10 Finalize her adoption. We are officially a family of 4!
7.23.10 Fly to Guangzhou
7.24.10 Medical Exam
7.28.10 Consulate appointment
7.29.10 Oath ceremony at the consulate
7.30.10 Receive Madeline's immigration visa and fly home!
7.31.10 Arrive back home!

Some Day Soon...

...this page will share the referral photos of our precious Madeline. Until then, stay tuned...