China here we come!

We depart for China on August 21st

Joy to the World

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

Confucius

Our little Asian Lily

A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. Chinese proverb

And what a song we have to sing!!!! Our excitement is indescribable! On August 21 we will be boarding a plane and flying halfway around the world (over 7,900 miles) for the beginning of our physical journey to connect with our little Asian Lily aka Miss Lily Jade! We will be flying into Beijing right in the middle of the Olympics and spending the weekend there. We will be competing for the gold medal in parenthood.

Sunday eve we will fly to Nanchang in Lily's province of Jiangxi between Shanghai and Hong Kong. We hope to get a good night's sleep. It will be our last night of sleep without child, so I'm sure the "butterflies" will play havoc on our sleep pattern.

Monday morning they will place Lily in our arms, admist our tears of joy and she will be ours forever to love and cherish. This is referred to as "Gotcha Day" in the adoption community. Not really poignant or eloquent, but this is what it's called. We will be joined with Lily as a 'Family' on her very first Birthday, August 25th. How special is this, what a celebration we will have! All of us will be receiving gifts that day, the gift of eachother, the greatest gift of all.

We will remain in Nanchang for 5 nights to bond with our daughter and do more required paperwork. On the 29th we will fly to Guangzhou in the south of China and will remain there for 6 nights for more paperwork and documentation completion. On Sept 4th we will have all neccesary requirements completed and are free to head back to America. We have decided to stay a bit longer and do a little exploring in Hong Kong. We will leave China on the 6th and arrive back in the States also on the 6th as we will be gaining 12 hours coming back across the seas.

With gratitude

A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark. Chinese proverb

Thank you friends and family for sharing this journey with us thus far. It has been an incredibly gruelling wait and you have made it much more bearable. Thanks for lending us your ear over and over and over again during this continuing saga and keeping us from jumping off the deep end. Your support, love, laughter and friendship mean the world to us and we are forever grateful.We feel Lily is more than just "Our Child". We feel she is part of all of you as you have been so involved with us in this process. You have left such a mark on her young life already through your caring thoughts, wishes and dreams for her future. I'm sure the marks you leave in her future will be even more memorable and profound as she will be here to witness them for herself. She has no idea all the great, wonderful people she is about to meet!

Flight information

Some of you have expressed a desire to celebrate Lily's grand entrance to America at the airport the evening of our return. Please do not feel any obligation or pressure to do this as our flight does come in quite late, but for those who would like to come for the meet & greet here is the info:

Sept 6th
Continental Airlines
Beijing-Newark Flight CO88
Newark-Tampa Flight CO318 Departs 8:00 pm Arrives Tampa 10:59 pm

Announcement to the world!

July 7th, What an exciting day! Our 1st pictures from China of our beautiful daughter have arrived. After 3+ years of waiting we finally got to look into Lily's eyes. In this age of technology we were able to click on a link and there she was smiling back at us with those soulful eyes and a little smile on her face. Our hearts warmed and then they melted. We are in love!!! Unconditional, undeniable, without boundaries, sommersault kind of love. Now we just want to jump on a plane and bring her home---we can't wait!! But we have to--we will find out in a couple weeks from the travel coordinator of our agency when we will travel over to China. The agency has to receive a travel letter from China inviting us to come over in person to pick up Lily and we must also be able to secure a consulate date with the US Embassy over in China. Oh, please Hurry!

A Life Remembered

July 6th, Sunday, a sad day...

John's father passed away today.

He had been in declining health for the past month and his body had decided it had enough. We had told him we would receive a picture of Lily Monday or Tuesday. He could not remain with us to see the picture physically but we know he has seen the picture, has seen her personally and is watching over her right now, keeping her safe until we get there. So don't be surprised if you hear us call her Poppy from time to time, in honor of Pop and the special bond we shared with him.

Precious life

Tell me, what will you do with
one wild, precious life?? The principle of life is that life responds by corresponding; your life becomes the thing you decided it shall be.

Red Thread

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but never break.