Learning Chinese!

"Lauren"



"Dan"

I had such a great opportunity this week! A new patient of mine is Chinese! She is from Guangzhou. I sat and practiced my Chinese with her. She nodded her head and said I was pronouncing some things like, Ni Hao, correctly and other things she looked at me confused and just said "no" :) When she was about to leave she said, Xie Xie!, and I jumped so excited and said, I know what that means! Xie Xie!! :) I asked her if she would help me with my Chinese and she agreed to. So, each time she comes in, we can have a mini-language lesson!

We also discussed things like how beautiful the White Swan Hotel is and the cultural favoritism for boys. She said the boys are very "spoiled". She talked about how she was treated much differently than her brother. Interesting.

Her daughters name is Jennifer. I thought of you Kayce! :)

CCAA Update!

Our adoption agency just sent us the following email:

The CCAA just updated their web site with the following information
about the next batch of referrals.

"The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families
whose adoption application documents were registered with our office
before August 9, 2005."

This means the CCAA has mailed out referrals for the July 23, 2005
through August 9, 2005 log in dates.

CHI has 13 July 27, 2005 LID families who will be anxiously waiting
for the referral package to arrive in our office hopefully on Monday.
Congratulations to these 13 families!

A huge hug to the 9 August 11, 2005 LID CHI families who missed by 2
days and the 10 August 18, 2005 LID CHI families who missed by 9 days.
CHI also has 7 August 25, 2005 LID families and 7 August 30, 2005 LID
families who have moved closer to their referrals.

The China team rejoices that the CCAA continues to mail out referrals
every 4 weeks and we celebrate with each CHI families as we introduce
them to their new family member!
Ann Tollefson
China Program Director

This means the wait continues to be at 13-14 months from L.I.D. to referral being sent. When this update says referrals have been sent to include March 7th, 2006...that's us!

The CCAA is reviewing January 2006 Dossier's now. This means our paperwork is marching along! After we clear the review room, Dan & I are running to the store to buy our beautiful crib we have picked out!

Pretty soon, this is all going to feel very real.

My Secret Pal is Unbelievable!

My secret pal outdid herself this month. Unbelievable! Dan and I just stood looking at the gifts with our jaws dropped!!! Included in our gift box was "pumpkin pie" bubble bath, mmmm. White Tea & Ginger hand sanitizer, travel diaper changing kit, Chinese playing cards, a personalized passport/ID holder for Lauren with real yuan inserted in the pouch! The money looks too pretty to actually use! :) Also, included was a beautiful journal that she personalized with "Journey To Lauren" made in beads. Then!...she also inlcuded a map of Guangzhou airport and and information sheet typed out of all the services, facilities, numbers for lost luggage, etc. etc. etc. There are no words to describe!! Thank You Secret Pal!!

Addicted To The High Country!

Here are my two favorite hiking partners, Dan and Bailey! We are on the Arizona Trail here. We have seen Elk up close and Antelope have run right past us while hiking this trail in the past. Of course, I had my camera this time, so we didn't see any wildlife. :)



The last couple of weekends Dan and I have been escaping the heat and heading to the high country of Flagstaff! We've hiked the beautiful trails and sat around the campfire. I love to hear the breeze through the Pines and hear the caw of the crows. The stress just melts off. We've also enjoyed a few long runs while up north. My favorite trail is the West Fork trail in Oak Creek Canyon. It takes you through some unbelievable canyons and the trail follows the creek for miles. Ahhh. This is how Phoenician's know it's actually fall!

Having Fun in the Sun!

We had lots of fun at the game last night. ASU VS NEVADA-- We won!! This is my Mother and Father-in-law with us. As you can see Don has placed his pitch fork sign conveniently behind my head! :)



Thanks Honey for all the great times! Can't wait for Lauren to be sitting with us next year! Sparky is waiting for her!

Arizona Mama's Strike Again!

I had such a nice time with my fellow "Arizona Adoptive Mama" yesterday! We had our pedicures and talked the whole time. While we were talking a lady next to us overheard us mention a blog and she asked, "why would you want a blog? What would you do with it?" I thought about that question later and thought, wow, what would I do without all my blogger friends out there! :)

It is such a great support system we have! I wanted to take this time and just say Thank You to all who write comments back and who are sharing this "waiting time" with me! It helps the time go so much nicer and I learn so much from your blogs and your insight, emotions, lessons learned, etc. You are awesome.

6 Months Down!!

Today marks 6 months since our L.I.D.!! However, the wait for Lauren has been much, much longer than that! The average wait times are changing everyday. We are patiently, yet anxiously waiting.

I often wonder if she is born yet. Is she waiting in a park to be found today? It is such a miracle that we will someday soon be united. I can only imagine the emotions of that day. It is surreal that as I sit here and type that our Lauren is somewhere in China. Her room is painted, her stuffed animals are waiting, her clothes are hung. We have dreams of us camping and playing, and trips to Disneyland someday.

In God's perfect timing.