Thankful Thursday

Much to be thankful for this week!
1. Thankful for GREAT looking jack-O-lanterns...even if we do say so ourselves!

2. Thankful for carving jack-0-lanterns and even letting the 10 year old use the knife!

3. Thankful for 3 great daughters that make Halloween fun for someone who doesn't really like Halloween!
BTW- Haley had a "twin" that went with her goofy girl costume. They were quite a pair, but I never did get a picture of them together.

4. Thankful that there is now only 1 week until we leave to go to China...
YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!

We have our plane tickets!

Okay the tickets are bought, so I can start packing!!!! We leave in 2 weeks!

One other bit of good news... We received confirmation that both of our care packages made it to the orphanage. To make a long story a little shorter, we sent Lilly a care package via FedE* as soon as we received our RA. There have been a lot of difficulties getting information and packages to the orphanage we are going through, even with in-country services, so we opted to try ourselves. Well, the package got held up in customs, so we went to plan B.
Coincidentally, a friend of ours has a sibling that lives in Kunm*ng currently. So, we re-routed the package to her and then sent another package with a group that was traveling to see her. This morning she e-mailed that she was able to deliver the 2nd package to the orphanage and was able to speak to a very nice lady there. This lady also told her that they had just received the other package (from FedE* and not re-routed)and that Lilly had already received it and liked the photo album that we had sent. That is a good thing because if she gets the 2nd package she will have another album with the same pictures! Our soon-to-be friend was then even invited to by the orphanage to come back with us when we get Lilly. It seems that sending the 2 packages was actually a good thing! It was also nice to hear that the orphanage was so nice!

Okay, now I need to go and take some pictures of the girls so that I can post them before my blog turns into a diary...

We have TA!!!

For those that may not know, we now have our TA. This is our travel approval saying that we can go and get Lilly!!! As of now, we have tentative travel dates for November 6. That is a week earlier than we were guessing, but a week earlier is all that much better! We are of course waiting to hear about our consulate appointment, which would allow us to confirm our travel dates.
-and to think that I was going to post a "poor me" blog tonight saying that I was tired of waiting.....

Heart Babies Doing Great!

Great News!
Susannah, the little girl I have blogged about earlier is finally home. Other than the 12 hours that they were home together from China, this is the first time since Sept. 11th that the whole family will be able to sleep in the same home together. So far the chest x-rays have looked good.
And good news for the little 1 year old of some friends of ours. He had a heart transplant about two weeks ago and is doing great! He and his mom were able to move into an apartment yesterday. They will be in the apartment for the next 2 months so that they stay close to the hosptal while the doctors monitor him. He has already gained weight and from the sound of things both little ones are feeling good enough to actually be little toots!
Sounds like a good time for a prayer of thanksgiving!!!!