October 20 - Travel Dates Confirmed

Lyn making travel plans for China, 10/20/10

We will travel to China on the evening of Thursday, November 4th and return to Denver the evening of Thursday, November 18th.

Travel Approval Arrived!

China has issued our travel approval.  This means our adoption agency can now contact the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou and set the appointment where we receive Jackie's U.S. visa, which is the last step in the adoption process while in China. 

It will likely be later this week or early next week that we know our exact travel dates; but we were told that our trip will either be the first half of November (11/4-11/19) or second half of November (11/18-12/4). 

Wow!  Suddenly things are happening fast!

Mahlon bravely got her flu shot today and afterwards we went shopping at Timbucktoys for little toys and activities for both the girls to do while we are in China.  It was worth the shot, Mae said. 

Off to bed to dream of China and Jackie.

Lyn

September 15 - The Name

Jacqueline Rosemary XueLan Choate is the name we have selected for our little girl from China.  

You would think that after four years, we would have come up with her name before now.  But, you'd be wrong.  We instead adopted a placeholder - The Little Girl from China.  We have boxes of clothes stacked to the garage ceiling with the words "Little Girl from China" on them.  The only name that was actively considered by any member of the family was "Bina," a name that a Mahlon came up with when she was in kindergarten.  

Bina's proximity to "China" is likely not a coincidence.

When we were placed with Xue Lan, we knew it would be at least 10 weeks before we would leave for China.  So, I imagined that we would have that long to figure out a real name - likely not Bina.  But, a couple weeks later, Lyn was demanding a name for some form she was filling out.  Suddenly, we needed a name and we needed it in 24 hours, and it was up to me to figure it out. 

My Dad with Katie in 2003.

I had a cousin named Katherine.  She was the daughter of my mother's sister, Jeannie.  My mother and Jeannie are about as close as sisters can be, and I remember feeling like Katie was the sister that I never had.  My happiest moments as a child were with my parents, Jeannie, Allen, and little Katie.  



When Katie died of leukemia at 18 months of age, I quietly promised myself that I would someday have a daughter that I would name Katherine Rosemary after my mother and the little girl who never had her chance at life.  A couple of years later, Jeannie had another little girl, named Lorrie, who was as beautiful and fun as her sister. Apparently, Lorrie made the same promise that I made because when her little girl was born a couple of years ago, Lorrie named her Katherine.  

So, Katherine was off the table.  



My Dad and me in 1970. 



I was born to Jerry Ronald Choate and Rosemary Fidelis Choate.  My parents named me Judd Randolph, which made me a "J.R. Choate" just like my Dad.  Thus, when I was a kid my Dad would hand me all the junk mail that came for J.R. Choate so I would get mail just like he did.  

Well, Dad died last December.  So, as a final gift to him, I am giving my daughter a name that celebrates his life.  Further, because "J.R. Choate" requires an "R," I was able to keep the Rosemary. 

I had a nearly perfect childhood, with wonderful parents.  Now our child has a small but tangible connection to the two people who made me who I am. 



Jacqueline Rosemary XueLan Choate



Jackie. 

Jacqueline XueLan's Video

To our great surprise and joy, we received a short video clip of the young girls in Jackie's orphanage.  Jackie is the sweetie pie in the red leggings, yellow shirt, blue shoes, sitting to the right of the girl in the striped shirt.  You'll see she is singularly focused on the video camera (or the person shooting the clip).  Super cute things to also notice:  She scratches her face at the beginning of the clip and then that little right hand is busy curling and uncurling fingers the entire clip. 

You may be asking yourself, are these really all girls?  Yes, the girls and boys all have very short hair.  Imagine how hard it would be to brush out the knots of a hundred little heads everyday!  

Posted by Lyn

September 1-5 - The Care Package

Judd, Lyn, and Mae

It took China two weeks to issue our confirmation letter - thereby confirming our acceptance of Xue Lan's placement with our family.  Of course, we felt like there was a chance that something could go wrong, so we were nervous until we received the confirmation.

Upon receipt of this letter, we were informed by CCAI that we could send Xue Lan a care package.  CCAI strongly recommended that the care package be no bigger than a shoebox because the Chinese mail would flag a package larger than a shoebox, thus delaying or even preventing delivery.  

Our house

So, Lyn found a Keen's shoebox, and we started investigating what should be included in our limited space.  

Xue Lan has no possessions.  Nothing.  She's three years old but every toy she has ever played with and every outfit she has ever worn was owned by the orphanage.  So, these few items in our care package would be her first personal possessions.  

Ida B. Wells

Lyn went to Target and purchased a dress for Xue Lan that she might be wearing the day we pick her up.  She also purchased a disposable camera, so that Xue Lan's caregivers could take some pictures of her and her friends at the orphanage in the weeks prior to her adoption.  Finally, Lyn got a small photo album, for approximately ten 4 x 6 photos.  It was my assignment to determine what photos should be included in the album.  This post includes some of the pictures we picked.  



Chili



The one picture we couldn't take that we needed to include was of Xue Lan's bedroom.  We couldn't take it because for four years, Xue Lan's room was the extra guestroom that Lyn used as a sewing room.  But now we had a reason to fix it up and the age of the little girl who would be living there.  So, it was off to the store to find appropriate sheets and drapes.  Lyn found some drapes for Mahlon's bedroom as well, and I put them up that evening.  After a couple of days of clean up work and details, we took the picture you see here.   



Xue Lan's bedroom



With all the pictures included in the album, we had one more item to find.  In her files from the orphanage, it said that Xue Lan's favorite toy was a stuffed animal.  So, Mahlon, Lyn, and I went to Timbuk Toys to find a stuffed animal to include her care package.  We picked a medium sized black and white panda bear, which fit nicely in the box.  



Fi, Jewlya, and Lyn



Finally, Mahlon drew a picture of four bears - representing the four people that make up Xue Lan's new family.  Unfortunately, I failed to take a picture of her drawing before we mailed the box. 



CCAI recommended that we use USPS to mail the package, so it was in the mail on September 6, 2010.  USPS estimated that it would take approximately 10-14 days to get to China.  Lyn also sent a moon cake from a local baker in Jiangmen City to Xue Lan in celebration of the 2010 Moon Festival on September 22, 2010.  We can only assume that Xue Lan received our care package and the moon cake around the same time.



So, if she didn't know before, she surely knows now that she is being adopted and that her new family will soon be come to get her.