WE RECEIVED OUR REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S A GIRL!

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. 1 Samuel 1:27

With gratitude to our Lord, we happily present to you our baby girl, Fu Xiao Zheng.

Name: Fu Xiao Zheng, now Jade Xiao Gilman “Xiao” (prounounced Sheow) means Smile. “Zheng” (pronounced Szchung) means Honest, Genuine. “Fu” is part of the name of the orphanage she is in. Orphanages give all of their babies the same last name, which is always part of the institute’s name. Chinese names begin with their last name. Jade's orphanage is the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute so her last name (listed first) is Fu.

Birthdate: June 20, 2005
Height: 25.6 inches
Weight: 18.7lbs (with 7 layers of clothes on!)

Province: Jiangxi (pronounced Jeawngshe)
Country: China
Orphanage: Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute

We will receive our travel dates in about 3 weeks. Families are currently traveling 5 weeks after receiving their referral, but that changes frequently. Either way we should travel sometime in July. We’ll update things here as we receive them.

We will be in China for two weeks finalizing the adoption, having meetings with officials, getting her visa, and doing all that is necessary to bring baby Jade home.

We are over the moon!!!

A Bit of Good News Is In The Air!

Okay, I'm not saying anything but this...our date is June 9. Read on and come back soon!



The CCAA has finished the
review of the adoption
application documents
registered with our office
before September 30, 2005.

The CCAA has finished the
placement of children for the
families whose adoption
application documents were
registered with our office
before June 15, 2005.

Our Sonogram

Trip to Vermont!

We recently went to Vermont to see my sister and her family in a cabaret. They were all wonderful! If you know Anne and her family, you'll enjoy these pictures.

Anne (2nd from the left) in "Heart" from Damn Yankees.


Aidan, age 10, singing "Not While I'm Around"
from Sweeney Todd.


Anne in "Lullaby of Broadway" from 42nd Street.

Anne in "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" from Hairspray.



Casey sings "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera.


Greg sings "C'est Moi" from Camelot.

To Jade

A former president of your soon-to-be country wrote these words.

“God has a plan and it isn’t for us to understand, only to know that He has His reasons and because He is all merciful and all loving we can depend on it that there is purpose in whatever He does and it is for our own good. What you must understand without any question or doubt is that I believe this and trust Him and you must too. What you must also believe is that I love you more and more each day and it grows more bright and shining all the time.” -Ronald Reagan

Re-fingerprinting & Paint

Our fingerprints expire after 15 months, so we were re-fingerprinted on Friday aftenoon. Jeff took the afternoon off and we drove up to Portland (1 hour north) to have them done.
Jeff's were a breeze...done electronically the first try. Mine...well...let's just say they hope they'll be accepted. We did them electronically for about 10 minutes, then with ink for another 5 minutes. Lots and lots of re-do's. They said they were not well-defined. Hmmm. I also seem to have a tiny scar in one finger (don't know when or how I got it!) and that is a big interference. So, we're waiting to see if they'll be accepted. If not, I'll just keep going back until they are.

The funny thing about this is that China doesn't care about our fingerprints. It's the U.S. They won't let us back into the country if they are over 15 months old. How wierd!

Our friend has completed some of the calligraphy in the bathroom. It looks so wonderful! Check back soon for pictures!

Yes, We're Still Waiting

I read this on another adoption blog today and want to share it.

God answers prayers in three ways:
He says YES and gives you what you want;
He says NO and gives you something better;
He says WAIT and gives you the best!!

We know that our lives are in His hands and so is Jade. That is what matters most.