Friday, October 31, 2008
Trunk or Treat 2008
Our church has had a Fall Festival as an alternative to Halloween for years. This year, for the first time, we moved the event outside and tried Trunk or Treat.
Carmi decorated the back of our van in a Chinese New Year theme. Eliana wore a Ninja costume and Karys dressed up as an authentic China girl wearing a traditional silk outfit in Daddy’s favorite color.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
New pictures of our son
Carmi and I received an email from our case manager this morning.
She surprised us with 3 new pictures of our son and some “supposedly” updated measurements. I say “supposedly” because Carmi thinks they are the same numbers we received back in April.
I showed the pictures to Eliana and Karys. They both stood and s-t-a-r-e-d at the pictures like they were just soaking it in.
{extended}Sunday, October 26, 2008
Last trip to Carowinds
We went to the early service at church this morning and then snuck off to Carowinds for the afternoon.
Eliana wore her million-dollar smile practically the entire time. She does love the rides.
Did I mention that she’s fearless?!? We’re in trouble when she grows more and can ride the “big” rides.
:sick:
At least I made the first and last trip. I went into the hospital right after our first trip and missed the entire summer.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
It’s driving me crazy
We’re following another family’s blog right now that is pretty special.
At this moment, there is a family from California in China adopting a young man.
This young man is the same age as our son.
This young man is in the same province as our son.
This young man is in the same city as our son.
This young man is in the same boarding school as our son.
This young man most likely knows our son.
But we can’t make contact now and it’s driving me crazy.
{extended}Tuesday, October 21, 2008
We’re in!
We received an email from our case manager just now telling us that our dossier was received by the China Center of Adoption Affairs and logged-in to their computer system on October 17, 2008.
We’re IN, baby!
{extended}Monday, October 20, 2008
Can’t keep up
I took the girls outside when I got home from work and we played some soccer.
Thought I’d show you where Eliana spends most of her time when we play. She can’t keep up with the old man.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A little distracted
Our church had a property dedication service this afternoon for 13 acres that were anonymously donated.
Karys was a little distracted…
Friday, October 17, 2008
The eagle has landed
Carmi received an email this morning which confirmed that our dossier landed in China on the 13th.
Whew…we made it!
{extended}Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Our Chinese Children
It’s been a little quieter than normal around here lately because I’ve been busily working on a new project. I’m developing a website called Our Chinese Children which is a database for children adopted from China.
The site functions simply. First, create an account and second, provide basic information about your child(ren) from China. You can then perform searches: find other Chinese children from the same province or orphanage; find children that live in your state, canadian province or country; find children that were adopted from your agency; find families who were in China the same time you were. You have the option of emailing families through a contact form as search results are displayed so this site gives you a way to connect with others who have adopted.
The site can only succeed if adoptive parents are willing to participate. If you have a child home from China, please visit, sign up and register your child(ren). Then, if you have a blog, PLEASE advertise the site and help me spread the word.
{extended}Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Our son’s decision
Our agency has an employee who happens to be Chinese who serves as a liason between our agency and the Chinese government. This lady, who I’ll refer to as “J”, is in China right now on business.
We asked our case manager some time ago to please have “J” check to make sure that our son does indeed desire to be adopted. In China, once a child in the system reaches the age of 10, he or she is given the choice to be available for adoption or not. We assumed, as did our case manager, that our son wanted to be adopted since he was on the waiting child list last year. However, a 12-year-old can certainly change his mind. The last thing we wanted was to go to China only to find that he didn’t want to come to America.
We finally heard from our case manager this afternoon. “J” did indeed check on him for us and he DOES want to be adopted by “foreigners”.
That’s a huge relief for Carmi and I.
{extended}Monday, October 13, 2008
Preschoolers down on the farm
Eliana’s 1st grade class was taking a field trip today and Karys’ preschool class was doing the same so Carmi and I both took the day off. Carmi went with Eliana’s class and I went with Karys.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
DTC as of today
Carmi and I received an email just before lunch from our case manager. She said that the Hendersons are DTC as of today!
DTC stands for Dossier To China which means that our paperwork is done (great job again, dear!) and will be placed in the capable hands of UPS for delivery to the China Center of Adoption Affairs this afternoon.
Unfortunately there is no next-day service to China but the package should arrive in 3 business days. So now we wait for confirmation that our paperwork has been logged into the system.
{extended}Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Is she your daughter?
I ate lunch with Eliana at school today.
After Eliana received her plate of food and walked around the corner to pay, the older lady behind the lunch counter asked, “Is she your daughter?”
“Yes, she is”, I answered with a smile. I always smile when someone asks me that question. Can’t help it. I do adore our big first grader.
“What nationality is she?”, the lady continued.
“She’s from China.”
Then this lady smiled herself and told me that she has a 13-year-old daughter adopted from China.
Maybe our son can hook up with her daughter next year.
:cheese:
{extended}Monday, October 06, 2008
Our dossier is headed south
Our dossier is on it’s way to our agency in South Carolina tonight. UPS will deliver the dossier tomorrow and our case manager will forward it to China within the next couple of days.
{extended}Sunday, October 05, 2008
From one bed to another
Eliana was the first of the two girls to get up this morning.
She stumbled into our bedroom, snuggled under the covers and went right back to sleep.
