Family Update!

Today is Patricia's 8th birthday! (I love this picture with her little shirt on backwards!) We wish we could have been with her but even though we couldn't we wanted to celebrate. I'd like to collect pairs of tennis shoes, sandals, and/or flip flops to send to her orphanage - would you be willing to buy a new pair or donate a quality used pair (or two)? There is a shipment of items going down to Haiti in a few weeks, so we have to move quickly. If you are willing, please post a comment or email me and I will give you the address to send them to. If you contribute tennis shoes, please buy a clean pair of socks, too. Sizes from toddler to teen, for boys or girls.

For Patricia's birthday we bought her a car!! Just kidding. We didn't really want a car payment again, but with the transmission going out in the Explorer, we didn't feel that it was worth it to repair it. Here is a stock photo of what we got - a 2007 Mercury Mariner - except ours is black. I know, another black vehicle, but we like it! Plus we got a great deal (only 9,000 miles) and we did well on our trade, too.Other good news this week is that China has now made it into 2006 with placements - through January 4. Our log in date is March 13, 2006 so we are closer than we have ever been and just the fact that they are finally in 2006 is such a relief.

On the other side of things, it has been a tough week as my mom is having hard time with her chemo treatments, so please pray for her to regain some appetite, energy and strength. My dad started his radiation treatments this week also, so please pray for him. I could use prayer as well to be a helpful and good hearted care giver, while balancing work and home. Thanks!

Also, it keeps snowing! The view for anyone attempting to sit on this bench by our house would be a bit dull! I am REALLY eager for Spring. I usually last longer than this, but this has been a particularly bitter winter and Entertainment had our sales training in Detroit this year instead of Florida so I never got to escape and it really made a difference! Hopefully last weekend was the last of the below zero temps!

Our dog, June, is also seemingly eager for Spring as she continually prepares me for motherhood with her constant activity and naughty behavior. She is best behaved after much physical activity and on sunny days where she can bask in the sunlight in our kitchen (that's the cat bed, by the way).

This past weekend Lee was out of town and while some of my girlfriends were over on Friday night, June helped herself to three pieces of pepperoni pizza and on Saturday when my niece Jenny was over, June ate her Ghirardelli dark chocolate candy bar. Of course dark chocolate is toxic for dogs, so out came the hydrogen peroxide. Jenny and I ended up, after 30 minutes of standing in freezing temps and falling snow, using a turkey baster to get June to swallow the peroxide so she would throw up. We were so cold but needed to make sure she puked and I couldn't hold June and administer the peroxide by myself so we tackled it as a team. We went back and forth between laughing and grumbling. FINALLY June threw it all up and we went back in by the fire and finished our movie. So much for a relaxing evening!

Well, this blog is about five posts in one, but that's the kind of week it was! Here's to warmer weather and a great week ahead!

Cousin David

Today we had the privilege seeing Lee's cousin, David, in the cast of My Fair Lady. They were in town at the Orpheum Theatre. It was so good to see him again! When he was just starting out in his acting career he lived with us for a little while. We hadn't seen him for years and it was great. He lives in NYC now.

MY FAIR LADY, Lerner & Loewe’s legendary musical, premieres in the United States direct from its 50th Anniversary London production and U.K. national tour. Starring are acclaimed British theatre actors Christopher Cazenove and Lisa O’Hare who earned rave reviews for their dynamic performances as Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle. “The cast is superb!” “A more perfect Higgins I have yet to see!” Based on the Cameron Mackintosh/National Theatre of Great Britain’s award-winning London sensation, and hailed as “the revival against which all others will be measured” this glorious, new production features one of Broadway’s most beloved scores including “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night’ and “Get Me to the Church on Time” and brings together the original U.K. artistic team with direction by four time Tony® winner Trevor Nunn (Les Misérables), choreography and musical staging by two time Tony® winner Matthew Bourne (Mary Poppins) and production design by Anthony Ward (Gypsy).

Interesting News Out of China

Reuters reports that the Chinese government is considering doing away with its policy of allowing only one child per family:

China, worried about an aging population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said on Thursday.

With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.

"We want incrementally to have this change," Vice Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing.

"I cannot answer at what time or how, but this has become a big issue among decision makers," Zhao added. "The attitude is to do the studies, to consider it responsibly and to set it up systematically."

The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime has decreased to 1.8 in China today, from 5.8 in the 1970s, and below the replacement rate of 2.1.

What isn't addressed in the article is how this might affect international adoptions. I can only assume that since no drastic change would be implemented overnight, the effect in the near future probably won't be very noticeable. This is, however, definitely something to keep an eye on.

You can read more on the history of China's one-child policy here.

A Day Brightener!

I gave my niece, Jenny, a few pictures of Patricia. She saw that her daughters, Corene (5 1/2) and Ava (3 1/2), had one taped up by each of their beds on the wall. When she asked Corene about it, Corene said, "Well, Ava and I were talking, and we thought if we taped them here, then we'd remember to pray for her since she doesn't have a mommy. Well, she does have Aunt Dawn for a mommy, but she doesn't know it yet."

Isn't that sweet? Even better, though, is that Patricia DOES know she has a home and a Mommy and Daddy. A few weeks ago, we had a great opportunity to meet the directors of Patricia's orphanage while they were visiting in Des Moines. Here is Pierre, (the kids call him Papi Pierre)the director and pastor at her orphanage, telling us how Patricia found out about us. (I am the one recording it.)

We Have A Referral!

Well, we do, but not for Olivia. We are still in the process of adopting from China, but we also are adopting another little girl as well. God has brought us Patricia (pronounced Pa-tree-see-a) who is from Haiti. Because of the long wait for China, the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) has now opened it up for waiting families to pursue concurrent adoptions. We weren't looking for another child, but God had something else planned for us!

Her adoption will take place after Olivia comes home from China, as the Haitian courts process paperwork very slowly. But as with all things, and in this hurry-up-and-wait world of adoption, it is in God's hands and His timing.

I found her on the internet on December 5, and we received her referral on January 24. Above is the first picture we ever saw of Patricia, and below are photos that another adoptive mom sent us.



My favorite quote during our journey to parenthood is, "Out of difficulties grow miracles" (Jean de la Bruyere, 1645-1696).

A couple of verses my brother Paul shared with us to help us on this journey are Hebrews 10:38-11:1: "But my righteous one shall live by faith,and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

There is a devotional by Os Hillman that I printed out and put on our fridge entitled "God-Inspired Delays". In it he refers to John 11:6: "Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days." The main message is that sometimes God makes us wait to accomplish His purpose, and in the case of Lazarus, he waited for him to pass so he could raise him from the dead for the miracle to have it's full effect. God also did this with Abraham and Sarah with their long-awaited child, Isaac. Read the rest of the article here.

Lee said to me recently, "If we had the kids we thought we'd have in our 20's, we probably wouldn't be on this adoption path in our 30’s." My mom, in a completely different conversation, said, "If it wasn't taking so long for Olivia to come home, you may not have found Patricia, and she needs to come home!"

And so our adoption adventures continue...

Happy Cativersary!

Wow! It has been 16 years today since we found our cat...I mean, since he found us. It was only about 7 weeks after we were married and we pulled into the parking lot of our apartment building and right in our headlights as we parked was a skinny, (yes, at one time he was skinny) dirty orange kitty. I "accidentally" held the main door open for this kitty while Lee scolded me (some things never change). I "accidentally" held our apartment door open for him, too.

My rules-follower hubby said, "What if he belongs to somebody?" I said, "LOOK at this cat - he doesn't belong to anyone! He is so skinny and dirty! He needs food!" I told him I would run up and ask the manager if she knew anything about the cat. She said that she was told that if she saw that cat again, she was to call the pound, so keep the cat. We were both so excited!! Lee ran right out to the store and got litter and food. We had to bathe him and de-worm him as he was so filthy and had been eating anything he could find, and he didn't, um, smell so good for a while, but this has been the sweetest kitty we have ever had (yeah, ok, with Nika around, that isn't very stiff competition). Actually, he's the sweetest kitty I have ever known! He puts up with everything kids, dogs and Nika dish out. Little did we know that one day his nickname would be "Grandpa" as he is about 18 years old now.

So here's to you, old man! Happy Cativersary, Ezra!

Something Stinks!!!

It has been 23 months since our LID (log in date, 3-13-06). The Poop Patrol says, "That Stinks!" The official statement from our agency is now 26-27 months with the trend increasing. With the projections of a referral in January 2009, it is more like 34 months. Lee has visions of us in China over Christmas...could be unrealistic optimism but I hope he is right!

A Good-Sized Group of Referrals!!

America World is excited to announce that we received 20 referrals today for groups 243 and 244. (LID's 12/20/05 & 12/22/05) America World received 19 little girls & one little boy. The children ranged from 6 months to 37 months in age, and were from the Jiangxi, Gansu, Sichuan,and Guizhou Provinces. Please join America World in congratulating these families and pray for them as they prepare to travel and meet their new little ones!

Blessings,
Leah Rockey
Asia Family Coordinator

We are now heading into Chinese New Year so things will come to a stop for a bit, but our prayer is that they get through December 2005 very soon (we had all hoped they would get through 2005 in 2007) and get to MARCH 2006!!!

LID - log in date - March 13, 2006
Travel Group 252

22 Months Since LID

It has been 22 months since we were logged in (as of January 13). No end in sight. With the summer olympics in Beijing, it might be 2009 before we get our referral. We have given up on being optimistic. The best way to muddle through this has become emotional detachment! If we expect 2009, we can't be disappointed anymore! Remembering back to when I choked back tears realizing she wouldn't be home in 2006 almost makes me laugh now!! Almost...

CCAA Update - NOT GOOD!!

Hard to believe that this situation could get even more dismal, but it is!! China only processed FIVE days of paperwork in December.

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before October 31, 2006.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before December 19, 2005.

Lord help us!!!