Still Waiting...

So we got a complaint today on the lack of updates here.

We are bumming cuz we still are waiting... grrr! The total lack of blog updates is due to the total lack of any news. We are in the final waiting stretch, and all there is to do right now is wait. We were hoping we would be traveling before the end of August, but then we just missed a cut off date for Travel Approvals (TA). So then we were hoping to travel the beginning of September. This weekend we just learned that the administrators of the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) are doing training and are currently traveling in the U.S. so now everything is being delayed another couple weeks. We are now hoping to be traveling before the end of September.

We are trying to get updated pictures of Kai right now. There is a woman named Adelle who runs a business on the internet called BlessedKids.com. She is Chinese, living in the U.S. Her father still lives in China. Through her, we have arranged to send a "care package" to Kai in the orphanage. it consists of a blankie, teddy bear, photo album, disposable camera and treats for the nannies. We emailed her photos and questions for the nannies about Kai. She then translates the questions and sends them to her dad. he prints out the photos of us and puts them in the photo album for Kai, and buys the gifts and other items in China. We will hopefully get the disposable camera back when we get Kai. She also has her father trying to get new photos of Kai from the orphanage to email to us.

So while we are all waiting, here are some in interesting links you might enjoy...

CLICK HERE to see a video that will make you cry. This is a website for bringmehope.org a foundation that raises money to help families adopt orphans from China.

CLICK HERE to read a great newspaper article that really does a good job of explaining the process of adopting from China as well as the social forces that have created the situation these children are in.

CLICK HERE to see a fantastic slide show of images by Chinese photographer Yann Layma (note: the slideshow takes a few minutes to load)