New News

Well, a lot has happened since my last posting...where to begin?

To start with our travel dates have changed a little. We've decided to fly a day early. So we leave on the 11th. We leave Beijing on Sunday, March 14, and fly to Fujian. We'll be staying at the Lakeside Hotel in Fuzhou. We will be meeting Violet and welcoming her into our family on Monday, March 15. We fly back to Beijing on Saturday, March 2oth. My birthday, March 19th, is basically a free day...so we'll see what we can do for fun to celebrate! I remember the disappointing call we received on December 23rd when we were told that we were skipped over and did not receive a referral. My husband said, "So I guess this means there's no chance that we'll be celebrating either of our birthdays in China." Our coordinator told him that there was still that possibility...Look at us now!

The best news that we've received lately is knowing that our goal for finances for the trip has been reached! Thank You, Father! And thank you to an amazing community that has rallied around us and supported us financially and emotionally! A Chinese Supper was held in January, hosted by our church and Tori's school. Tori did amazingly well with her Read-a-Thon that her school coordinated for her. She read 26 books in the month of January, for a total of4,222 pages. She had over 100 people sponsor her and raised just over $2,000!!! I'm astounded! A fundraiser event was held in February at the local legion. It was an all-day affair - turkey/ham dinner, entertainment in the afternoon, karaoke, and then a dance in the evening. At both of the fundraisers friends had donated items for silent auctions and a cake auction.

So time is flying by as I had hoped it would. We are only 16 days away now. I found advent calendars on the weekend at a Liquidation store. They were only 9 cents each. So I got one for Tori and one for me. (Roger declined - said he had his cell-phone to keep track of the countdown.)

Violet's room had been ready but is empty now. A friend bought laminate flooring for us to lay in her room. It is almost finished and looks fabulous! Tori thought it so nice that she contemplated sleeping on Violet's floor last night. (Her decision might have also had something to do with the fact that I had piled some of Violet's things on Tori's bed.) She slept in her own bed, though. The floor should be finished tonight and then we can start putting the room back in order again.

We received a blessing yesterday from a cousin of mine. She has a new granddaughter and had clothes given to her. But they are still too big for the baby. So she is lending them to us to use for Violet. And they should fit her right away. I love hand-me-downs!

Some other exciting news for us is that I'm typing this on our new netbook. This means that I'll be able to update my blog from China! Yippee!!! I had a hard time deciding if we should purchase one. But then I thought of all the people who want to experience our joy with us and we decided to go for it. Because the last fundraiser helped us reach our goal, and the organizer had told me to use some of the money to buy a laptop, we went the most economical way and bought a netbook. It is so tiny...but perfect for what we need. It is so light it will be great for traveling.

Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Date for Travel

We got an e-mail from our adoption agency that our travel date is confirmed!

We'll be flying on March 12th to Beijing. Arrive on the 13th.

We leave Beijing on March 14th and fly to Fujian.

We will meet Violet on March 15th.

So I'm hoping time will "fly" until then!

And then I'd like it to stand still for a while.

Red Thread

There is an ancient Chinese belief which states that when a child is born an invisible red thread connects that child's soul to all those people - present and in the future - who will play a part in that child's life.

Last evening we were overwhelmed by the support of the community in regards to our adoption trip. Our church and school hosted a benefit supper to help with the costs we have coming up.

One thing that stood out to me was the desire from people to be a part of Violet's life. We've had numerous requests to be an "Aunt" to Violet...from people who are not related by blood.

As I looked into the eyes of our family (family by blood and family of the heart) I saw that invisible red thread that tied their hearts to Violet's and I knew that these people would play a special part in her life.

And I must say, that I felt the red thread, too, tugging on my heart last night.

Travel details

We're still not sure what our travel dates will be, but it looks like March 12 could possibly be the day we leave for China. Which means we will be spending my birthday there, but we will have missed Violet's. The other option for travel would be leaving March 19. Besides the fact that it is later, I really would rather not spend my birthday on an airplane. (16 hour flight)

We do know that another family will be traveling with us. That is exciting. They are adopting a son. They also have a daughter who will going to China with them. She is younger than Tori, but Tori is pleased about not being the only "kid". The family is from Ontario, and they will be going to the same province, Fujian, so we'll spend the whole time together. I like to think that Violet and their son are already playmates.

We sent more paperwork to our adoption agency last night. Visa applications, photos, etc.

Our church and Tori's school is hosting a fundraising supper for us next week. Busy, busy, busy! And we've been contacted that some people would like to host another fundraiser for us at the legion. We are feeling very blessed.

It Takes a Village...

I think we are all familiar with the African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child."
Never, in all my experience, has that rung so profoundly then in these last few days.
First of all, we've always felt that we live in a pretty, amazing community. People are friendly, and care about you.
And with the popularity of the internet, the size of our community shrinks even more. Immediately we can share our news with everyone...from people on our street to friends in Africa.
But, since posting our beautiful daughter's pictures on Facebook and sharing our incredible news, we have received so many congratulations and best wishes from our community. People care.
Whether it is the neighbours rushing over when they saw the pink balloons on our lawn, people crying into their coffee at the restaurant, or store clerks wondering how they are ever going to work for the rest of the evening after seeing our daughter's picture, people are so thankful that God has given us our precious Violet.
I know that we are not going to have a problem with a network of support for our growing family. This community has waited anxiously with us for close to five years. They've been hopeful, frustrated, expectant, and over-the-moon excited right along with us. And I know that when Violet comes home that support will continue.
Violet, your "village" is in love with you already.

Violet Anna-Mei

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you:

Violet Anna-Mei



Our little girl's birthdate is March 6, 2008
She is from Xiamen City, Fujian Province
Her Chinese name is:
Chen Yu Xing
She is small for her age.
In December her -
Height: 73 cm
Weight: 9 kg
She has 10 teeth
She can walk and say a few words.
She is an outgoing and positive child.
She is humorous, and always laughing.
And we can't wait to hold her in our arms.

It Has Happened!

Well, yesterday morning started off with some disappointing news. Roger contacted our Adoption Agency in ON and found out that our baby's paperwork was still in translation. Roger was able to get them to agree to call us when it came back from translation.
So, since it was still being translated, we figured there goes our hope of hearing that day.
Around 3 pm I was teaching a piano lesson. The phone rang and I picked up the portable beside me and saw that it was our adoption agency.
Now, my policy while teaching piano lessons is that I do not answer the phone. However, yesterday was the exception!
I excused myself and went into the kitchen. I switced to our regular phone - just because the portable had low volume.
I was told that the documents were back from translation and that our agency had been in contact with the provincial ministry (NB Adoption Services). And that was basically all he was able to tell me.
However, while I was still on the phone with him I got beeped from Gentle Path. They have been contracted by the government to handle all international adoptions files. I was very quick ending the conversation with the adoption agency. (Sorry, V! I hope you don't mind my abruptness!)
J started the conversation by asking me how my day was. I said, "You tell me how my day is going." And she responded, "You are having a very good day."
She went on to say that there was an issue because the child was older, 21 months, and it would create some more paperwork to change our homestudy to include "a child under 24 months of age". I said that that didn't matter to us!!
Tori was standing beside me, hugging me the whole time.
When we got off the phone I knew that we had a girl, 21 months old!
Now, the mother of my piano students was rejoicing along with us. And I couldn't have asked for a better "piano mom" to be there when we got that call. She is a sister-of-my-heart and her children are our godchildren.
I tried calling Roger to see if he had started his afternoon bus run. Al said he had already left and asked me if I had heard news. I just told him that we heard that it was out of translation. Sorry, Al, but I couldn't tell you before Roger!
So, then I tried to go back to teach piano lessons. It was SO hard to concentrate when all I wanted to do was celebrate - continually!
About another 10 minutes into my godson's lesson the phone rang again. I squealed "It's the social worker!" and answered the phone!
Our social worker asked when we could come in. I told her that I had no way of getting a hold of Roger, but he would be home between 5 and 5:30. We'd come in as soon as he got home. She said, "Roger will want to eat first." And I told her, "No, he won't!"
Now I knew it REALLY was happening. And my heart felt like it was going to come right out of my body!!!
And back to teach another 40 minutes of piano lessons. But we had no more phone calls to interrupt.
My goddaughter asked, "When is your baby going to come out of your tummy?" I quickly explained adoption to her. (Since I really was supposed to be teaching her piano, I didn't want to take too long.) And then she asked when is she going to come out of the other mommy's tummy. I told her that she already had and that she is almost 2 years old. And that we would be going to get her in a couple of months. Probably around my birthday. "Won't she be a wonderful birthday present?" I asked her. She screwed up her face in a questioning look - which she can do so well - and said, "Are you going to wrap her up?" In case you were wondering the same thing, no, I'm not.
They were the last piano lessons of the day so Tori and I began to get ready for heading to the social worker's. We had the dog fed and the fire stoked. Roger came home when Tori and I were in the bathroom. Tori was still brushing her teeth and told me to wait until she could come out, too. She said, "Dad will see you dressed up and know that something is up." So we walked out together and I said, "Let's go to town." Roger looked at me and said, "Go to town." To which I exclaimed, "WE GOT THE CALL! WE'RE GOING TO TOWN!"
Roger said the best thing ever, "Then what are doing standing here?!?"
So we quickly left. It was a very difficult trip to not speed. We also know why expectant parents make a practice run to the hospital. We ended up going a short-cut, but took a wrong turn off the short-cut and adding a few minutes to our trip! :) But it was still probably faster than going the other way.
While en-route we called our moms to let them know we were "on our way to town". Poor Anna, I didn't even identify myself when I called her, I just said, "WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO TOWN!" I didn't tell her we we're calling from the cell-phone and "literally" were on our way to town. She told me not to keep talking, but "go, go, go!"
We met with our social worker and she showed us pictures of our beautiful daughter. And she really is beautiful!
And believe it or not, I still had not cried.
But that all changed when she read that our baby was found March 19, 2008.
That is my birthday.
I wept.
So much that the social worker gave me a "box" of kleenex.
And it wasn't just because of the "connection".
But to think that her mother made the most difficult decision of her life, and probably felt like her heart was being ripped away from her, on my birthday. She was giving up her everything and I was receiving the greatest gift ever. My heart was full and aching at the same time.
Chances are slim that I will ever meet Violet's birthmom. But she will never be far from my heart. And I will pray that she finds peace and healing.
After meeting with the social worker we started making calls. My parents and sister were actually in town so they invited us out to eat. Tori was happy because she was getting hungry!
We stopped and had copies made of her photos.
Roger stayed in the van and called more family.
Ah, it was a beautiful day.