Article 5 Has Arrived!

Well, our Article 5 hasn't actually arrived, but it rhymes, and it certainly makes you want to read more about what an Article 5 is and find out if it's inside this box.

An Article 5 is part of the mountain of government work that needs to be completed to bring our darling home.  An email arrived at 2:47 a.m. telling us that the Adopted*Immigrant*Visa*Unit at the U.S.*Consulate*General*Guangzhou has finished processing our child's Article 5, and our file is ready to be returned to our adoption agency's facilitator today.  Another domino has fallen.  Give me a "woohoo!"

Next, our agency delivers the Article 5 and our confirmation letter to the pooh-bahs in Ch*na who will issue our travel approval.  Once the travel approval is issued, our agency will request an appointment for our immigrant visa at the consulate, and when we have the appointment, we can finally answer the most popular question...When are you going to Ch*na?  Just so you know, we really want to be able to answer that question for you.

So, what was in the box?  There are businesses in Ch*na that send care packages from waiting families to their children.  We used a very kind, busy woman named Ann at Red*Thread.  We sent our family photo book, a stuffed toy and candy to Ann and also arranged to have her deliver a disposable camera, treats for the nannies and a cake to our daughter.  Ann sent us an email on April 2 telling us she would get our package delivered after the Ch*nese holiday.  After that we stalked the email to see if there were any pictures from the cake party, but the cupboard was bare.  Monday morning Tom woke me up at 6:05 by leaning down to my face and whispering loudly and rapidly, "The pictures are here!"  I made it to the other side of the house in world record speed and saw our beautiful girl with a beautiful smile standing over a beautiful cake with some of her beautiful friends seated around the table.  Sure beats caffeine in the morning to get your day going.  A giant, Ch*nese birthday candle was ablaze on top of the cake, and she was wearing a crown and a smile.  What a smile!  When Louise saw the pictures of the cake with the Ch*nese characters on the top, she said, "Why it says Happy Birthday??"  We chuckled, but it didn't matter because it sure made the event into a party.  I was even able to send some of the pictures of the kids to another waiting family so they could get a glimpse of the two girls they already love and are eagerly waiting to bring home.

Contents of the box:  a cake, a party and smiles.

Planting Seeds

Toby and I have some new walking friends.  Two of them have two legs and two of them have four legs, and that adds up to every leg of our daily walk being a whole lot more fun.  We met this winter walking on the golf course, and it didn't take long to realize that not only do the dogs get along beautifully, but the people do, too, and now we arrange our time to walk together whenever we can.  The other day we met for a walk before I had to pick up Maryn from her after school swimming program and Molly, one of the human friends, brought a freshly made bag of Chex*Mix for me to give to Maryn because she knew she'd be hungry after swimming, and she thought she'd like it.  That was really nice of her to do that.  I gave it to Maryn when I picked her up, and Molly was right, she did like it (except for the cashews) but the best part  was when Maryn said, "That was really nice of her to do that."  She said it twice with sincerity.  She got it!  She noticed and was grateful.  The next day I told Molly that Maryn loved the snack and wanted me to be sure to tell her thank you, and Molly got it, too, because the first words out of her mouth were, "You're planting seeds everyday."  We make an effort to plant seeds everyday, and it's the greatest reward to see some of them taking root and growing.  Experiencing gratitude, letting it soak into yourself and declaring it out loud, that's good for the soul, and so is a walk in the woods with friends.