We're leaving next week!!!

I can't believe that after two and a half l-o-n-g years I'm finally able to say that we're on our way to Du Tan! It has truly been a roller coaster of emotions. For a very long time we weren't at all sure that China would allow him to be registered for adoption. After many months, lost paperwork at the Civil Affairs Office in Changsha, and a lot of expired forms that needed to be redone on our part...we're on our way! Du Tan should be told this week that his new family is on their way to him...even though he has no idea that his new family includes his best friend Noah. His caretakers are busy helping him to prepare for life in a family. I've been told that he is busy putting together a photo album of his friends to bring along to the US. Only myself, Rachel and Noah will be traveling. We're flying in to Beijing and then hopping on a connector flight to Changsha the same day. By skipping the Beijing portion of the trip we'll be saving some much needed money. Once we arrive in Changsha, we'll be staying at an apartment owned by a Canadian family who lives there. They have been very kind to lend us their extra apartment during our stay. Du Tan visits them often, and is friends with their son Max. We're working on lining up some fun, wheelchair accessible, kid-friendly activities to do while we're there. Changsha is home to the largest Wal-Mart in the world. They also have the world's 2nd largest ferris wheel...but I'm not sure if we'll be brave enough to try it out! After that, it will be off to Guangzhou for our final week in China. All adoptive parents leave China through Guangzhou, due to the fact that the American Consulate is located there. In Guangzhou, we'll be staying at the famous White Swan hotel...at least it's famous to most adoptive families! :)Noah is so excited that he is having trouble sleeping and he keeps telling me that his belly is excited. He hasn't seen his best buddy since November of 2005, when we came to adopt him. I don't think Du Tan even knew that his friend was leaving. Noah was taken out of school and told that he was being taken to meet his new family. There really was no preparation at all for either of the boys. It may be a little awkward at first, but I have the feeling that they'll get re-acquainted very fast!

Earthquake Benefit Dinner

We just came home from an earthquake benefit dinner being held at our local Chinese restaurant. Jiapan Chen (pictured 2nd from right), who owns the A-Won China Buffet in York, Pennsylvania, has expressed his sympathy and support for China's Sichuan Province by donating all of the earnings made from today's sales to the disaster. As we were leaving he bowed to us. A very humbling experience...he was the one who was deserving of our respect and gratitude. The benefit was organized by Mr. Chen's friend, Zehao Zhou (pictured on far right), a member of our local Families With Children From China support group. ZZ, as he is known to family and friends is a professor at York College and has been very kind and supportive to our family.

It's All In A Name..

I thought some of you may be wondering how we came up with Du Tan's new American name. I've always been a name nut, and have enjoyed searching the baby name books for everything from our children's names to names for our dogs, cats, fish and hamster. I'm so crazy that I even named my cell phone!! His name is Ahsan, which is a Hindi name from Sanskrit meaning "gratitude". Hey, I waited a LONG time for my cell phone!(I told you I'm crazy!) Anyway, I wanted to make sure that there was a nice meaning involved with Du Tan's new name choice. So after months and months of searching, I came up with David Esai Du Tan. David means "beloved", Esai (pronounced ee-sigh)is the Spanish form of the Hebrew name Jesse, which means "gift". So he's our "beloved gift". Du means "big" and Tan means "protector". So there you have it! :)

Changsha here we come!!

Today we received our long-awaited travel approval! Our agency is requesting a consulate date of June 30th. This means that we'll be leaving around June 20th!! It has taken so long to finally get to this point, and now that it's here I don't know what to do first. Who am I kidding, of course I know what to do...PACK!!!! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers though, as we still do not have the needed funds to actually leave. This has been a tough adoption on us, but we're going on faith that things will work out. After almost 10 years of waiting, David has a family, and we feel so blessed that we get to be the lucky ones to welcome him home!

A Poem For My Little Boy

I jotted down the poem below for David. He has waited his entire life for a family to call his own. According to his caretakers, he has become depressed at times. It has been very hard on him, watching as each of his friends have left for foster or adoptive families. He has wondered when it would be his turn, and has asked some families in China if they would adopt him. I can hardly wait to see the look on his face when he realizes that he will be coming home to live with his best buddy, Noah! Anyway, here goes...

Through time and distance we have been joined,
our thoughts and dreams melding into one.
Sadness came, and doubt.
Never knowing, still we worked and planned.
We are joined by our souls desires.
Love...it is everything.
Always enough,
to bring our thought world into substance.
Sadness and doubt are now tossed
into the sea of forgetfulness.
As together we go on,
into this miracle that is our destiny.
~Mama

More on the Earthquake in China

It's been over one week since the devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province. There have been many, many survival stories. This slide show reveals the horror of what the people endured and are still enduring.
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Powerful-quake-rocks-central-China/ss/events/wl/051208chinaquake/s:/ap/china_earthquake;_ylt=Aid.cdFy.NyCKP0500ShCmj9xg8F

David is Safe!

I've been watching the news all day after learning that an earthquake hit central China. Although the quake was felt in Hunan (David's province), there have been no reports of damage there. Our hearts are heavy for everyone affected.
Here's the link to the story...