Assembled and ready (well, mostly)

Well, here are our tools for the journey.  Our ambitious plans of going totally by the onebag.com ideals went out the window a bit. but still I believe we've done well for a family of three.  Our biggest fear is weight limits in-country, as by our measurements, we're right at or slightly over what the in-China flights we'll have while there list as the max.  I can see us needing to buy an extra bag while there, "creatively redistributing", or at worst having to pay a weight penalty.  The only bag not packed is the net-book, as it's stuck downloading a movie for the plane ride from Amazon, which is proving to be SLOW.

We did have a panicky afternoon, as we were missing an item that we still have yet to found.  It's nothing crucial for the adoption or travel, but it's something major enough that will most likely worry me until I find it.  Pray it will turn up!  I'd LOVE to have that peace of mind.

Well, we're up at 2am tomorrow, so I'm going to try to get a bit of shut-eye this evening, and hopefully a little more on the plane.

Blessings!

Squatter

Someone's ready to go.

I hate to disappoint him, but I think the airline will frown upon transporting animals this way.

Adventures with a giant rodent....

Today we celebrated the little guy's birthday, a bit earlier than we normally would.  You see, we will actually be in China when his actual birthday rolls around, so we wanted to celebrate it locally in "grand" fashion.  And by grand I mean with a large rodent by the name of Chuck E Cheese.  We have never done a party here, and the little guy had a great time amongst many of his friends.  We also celebrated again a little later with family in Salisbury.  It was a great, but exhausting day.

Care Contents

Here is a picture of the contents of the care package we sent a few weeks ago to Ginny in the orphanage. We used Ann at Red Thread China to forward the package, and we received confirmation a week or so ago that it had arrived there. I had just forgotten to post this picture until now, since Sharon had taken it and I forgot it was on the camera! Anyway, we hope our little one is enjoying these gifts. The green book with the butterfly cover is actually a photo album filled with pictures of our family and friends. You'l notice that we also included a stuffed toy version of "Hunter" our cat, as well.

No, we're not packing yet. It's winter clothes change time.  You can see how helpful the little guy and Hunter the cat are in this process.

Hunter likes my new haircut.

Hunter likes my new haircut.  Hunter also likes to lick the tops of noses.  So, if you come close to him, be prepared for a sandpapery display of affection.  And he won't stop either, for at least five minutes if you let him.  This is especially important to note if you are sleeping and he's in the room.  It's not uncommon to wake up with a red nose where Hunter has licked the entire epidermis layer off.  (exaggeration, mind you).

Oh, and back to the haircut.  As has been my practice the past few years, I tend to get my money's worth at the barber.  But this time, I certainly don't want to have to worry about hairspray or a brush in China, so this low-maintenance doo will suit me just fine overseas.

Grant Hopes....

Just wanted to post a quick note for those of you following our journey to say that we received notification that we are in the final stages of being considered for a grant.  This particular organization I had not heard of at all before beginning our grant research a few months ago, so needless to say that we were stoked to learn of this news.  We would REALLY appreciate your prayers as we have been told a decision should be made by November 23rd.  The decision has moved to a regional committee who will determine the amount of the grant based on our need and availability of funds.  We're encouraged, but not trying to get our hopes up too much either.  This would really help reduce the debt load we've incurred by having to travel quicker than anticipated as well as ease the burden financially on us caused by Sharon needing to be out of work for a while.