Halloween

Well Halloween was different this year.  Sandy caused our area to reschedule trick or treating for Saturday.  It also caused the school celebration to be moved to Friday.  Xuelian's school has the younger kids dress up as Saints and tell a little about their Saint.  Xuelian was St. Kateri Tekakwitha.  She came home all excited because there were about 20 St Kateri Tekakwitha's.  She is a newly canonized Saint.  She was canonized about a week before Halloween.  She looked great in her costume.  She has the perfect hair for braids. Unfortunately one was off kilter when I took pictures so it is hard to see.  I fixed it but didn't have time for more pics.

 On Friday there was also Family Fun Night at school.  Xuelian had a great time.  They had games, raffles, snacks and dancing.  It was fun to watch the whole school dance including most of the teenage boys.  Our school has classes from preschool all the way through high school.  It was fun to watch the kids but very loud.  I did win a hand crocheted throw for our bed.  It is beautiful is had 3D flowers crocheted onto it.  We had a great time talking with friends and making some new ones.
Saturday was trick or treating and Xuelian couldn't wait.  She was so excited she kept talking about the butterflies in her tummy.  In the afternoon we carved our pumpkins.  I have some great pictures of her squishing the pumpkin guts.

 She thought this was great!

Here they are with their finished jack-o-lanterns

Then before we knew it the time to trick or treat had come.  Tim took Xuelian out with her friend Katie and her dad and I stayed home to hand out candy.

 Xuelian was Princess Peach from Mario Brothers

Xuelian and Katie at the house across the street.

She sure brought home a lot of loot.  She is going to be sugared up for some time to come.  I need to hide the candy so I can control it better.  I was surprised that we had so few kids this year.  I thought they would be out in full force.  Tim did say he thought they were being lazy.  He said there were a ton on the main street but they skipped our side streets.  When I was a kid we were the first ones out and the last home.  You never skipped a house.  Then again candy was a treat so we were willing to work for it.  I am just glad she had a good time.

National Adoption Month

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
There are millions of children in this world who need a family.  Here are a few who have found their families.  Is adoption in your future or maybe sponsoring a child through the many great organizations out there like Love Without Boundaries.

Things people say to Transracial Families???

I have heard most of these things over the last few years.  I really hate the "real children" remarks.  We are a real family.  Last time I checked no one in my family was imaginary.  Any how I like the video it shows how truly out of touch some people are.

Two Weeks and We're off to China

I can't believe that in two weeks my dad and I will be on a plane for a very long flight to China.  It is almost here and I am still not ready.  I have to go over all the paperwork and make sure everything is together for the umpteenth time.  I have a few questions for our agency about whether or not originals or copies go with me their directions are confusing.  We will have our in country itinerary early next week.  I think I have bought everything we need.  This weekend I have to start packing and make a list of anything we still need.  I have to wash the new clothes I bought for Christopher and pack what I'm taking for him.  I have to find all the pieces and parts to my camera for the trip.  The fun part is keeping within the luggage weight limits.  In China we get one piece of checked baggage each weighing no more than 44 pounds.  We also get one carry on weighing no more than 10 pounds.  I am hoping Beijing won't be too cold.  I don't want to have to pack to much warm clothing.  Guangzhou will be in the 70's weather wise.  It looks like Beijing should be in the 40's but could get into the 30's.  We'll need to stay warm on the Great Wall.
Dad and I leave the morning of November 15th and we'll arrive in China on the 16th.  We are in Beijing for a couple of days.  We'll get to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall on our cultural tour.  We fly to Guangzhou on the 18th and meet Christopher on the 19th.  I can't wait to hold my boy.  It almost doesn't seem real that we'll be there soon.
I post about Halloween this weekend.  Sandy caused trick or treating to be cancelled.  It has been rescheduled for this Saturday.  Xuelian is being Princess Peach from Mario Brothers.  She also gets to dress up for school.  At school they have to dress up as a Saint.  She is being St. Kateri Tekawitha (sp.?)  That party was also rescheduled because school was cancelled on Tuesday again due to Sandy.  We didn't get flooding like they were expecting.  We did get a lot of rain that has helped replenish our ground water.  It was a nice steady rain.
We also have Family Fun Night at school tomorrow which should be fun.  I'll have a lot to post about in a few days.

Pray for Ivy Joy

I usually don't post asking for people to pray.  Today there is a little girl and her mommy who need all of the prayers they can get.  Ivy Joy came to her family from China with a very sick heart.  Her family followed God's call to bring her home and love her for whatever time she has.  She has had multiple open heart surgeries since coming home.  The wonderful doctors in Boston have fixed her heart but she is having trouble waking up.  They don't know if the medicine has settled in her tissues and is taking longer to leave her system which could be why it is taking longer to wake up.  She is being seen by neurology to see if everything is ok and they are going to look at her heart to make sure it isn't causing problems.  I am asking for everyone to pray that Ivy wakes up today and that God gives her mommy the strength to keep going.  They have been through so much and she is alone in Boston with her daughter.  The rest of the family had to go home so she is on her own through this.  You can read more about Ivy on her families blog Loving life with Lexi and Ivy Joy.  You can find it on my side bar of blogs I follow.  She is a very special little girl.  It is truly a miracle she has made it this far. Let's pray that she wakes up and makes a full recovery. Thanks.

Consulate Appointment Confirmed

We received confirmation of our consulate appointment on Friday.  This has allowed us to book our international flights.  My dad and I leave on Nov.15th, Gotcha Day(The day we get Christopher) is Nov. 19th, our consulate appointment is the 28th and we return home on the 30th.  We will be home and together as a family for his 2nd birthday.  I am hoping our agency will have our in country itinerary to us later this week.

We have Travel Approval

I am so excited we received travel approval today.  We are now waiting for a date to be set for our consulate appointment.  We are hoping to be traveling November 15th.  We will know for sure sometime next week.  Then we will make travel plans.  I can't believe that in less than 5 weeks I'll be holding Christopher in my arms.  There are so many things to get ready for travel.  It seems like so far but it will be here before we know it.  

My poor girly is really stressing now.  She is afraid I won't come home.  She says it is hard to trust because her China mom left her and she's afraid I will too.  I am glad Tim is staying home with her. It will still be hard but dad is here and hopefully she won't feel so alone.  Thank God for modern technology.  I'll be able to use facetime or skype while I'm gone.  I am hoping to talk to her once a day.

It has been a while since I've posted so I'll also give an update.  Xuelian has been doing really well in school.  It has been a challenging year for her.  She is doing all of her work on her own.  In the past teachers would read things for her or rephrase questions.  This year it is all her and she is doing great.  Her teacher sent a lovely update saying what a great student she is and how impressed she is with how well she is doing.  She is a little upset because she is used to all A's and she has gotten C's on a few tests.  We keep telling her she is doing great and how proud we are.  Can you imagine only speaking a language for 2.5 years and having to go to school and keep up?  She amazes us all the time.

She has been having a great time playing soccer.  Her team won their first game last weekend.  They have improved every week.  She used to stand back and watch the other kids.  This weekend she was right in there fighting for the ball and doing a great job.
 

We have a busy weekend coming up.  Xuelian is going to a birthday party tomorrow and has soccer games on Saturday and Sunday.  We also have to fit homework in somewhere.  I'll update next week.