Wow! I really was not expecting to hear the words "Yes, you are allowed to send the girls a package now". Really? This soon? In the past, we have had to wait for China to give the final approval. So far, we just have the pre-approval. Which means that China says we can adopt the girls, as long as our paperwork is in order. They will give the final ok once they are able to review that (which will be sooner rather than later we hope).
So, we can send them gifts now. What do you send an 11 & 12 year old girl who has no idea that they are about to be adopted, and that they are about to become sisters???
Of course there is the obvious: PHOTOS! I already have 2 photo albums with pictures of our family. I want them to see who their family is and hopefully love us like we love them.
And then of course we'll send them a disposable camera. I want them to take photos of their friends & their everyday life. I want them to keep these photos for themselves.
And then I want to send them a Panda Bear. I want them to snuggle with something.
What else should we pack? Most likely candy. :-) And some toiletries (like toothbrush/toothpaste, hair brush & hair clips).
This will probably be their Christmas gift. We don't want to send anything expensive that could get stolen or could cause issues in the orphanage. But we also want this to be something special for them so they will be excited to open their package.
Hopefully we'll get out today or sometime this weekend to pick up some things. I will take a picture of their goodies before we send it.
OH, and this is interesting. It will probably be our package that lets them know that they have a family, and that they will be sisters. We have no idea if or when the orphanage plans on telling the girls. So this makes me nervous. How do we write the letter? "Hello ChunWei, we are your family. And FuFang is your sister". This is something we need to pray over because I want them to be excited when they read our letter, not be scared.
Things seem to be moving so much faster this time. Our I800a application is at Immigration and we are waiting for our fingerprint appointment. And the rest of our dossier (paperwork) is in Tallahassee getting certified. Bill is thinking we could travel in June. That would be awesome. Then we would have the whole summer together as a family. Please just continue to pray. God's timing is perfect and we know that.
Thanks for everything! And if you have any suggestions for their package please let me know. :-)
Hi
ReplyDeleteWe adopted a 10 1/2 yr old earlier this year. We sent the photos, a hello kitty small stuffed animal, disposable cameras, and jelly beans - all with a letter to the director.
Before we traveled, I sent 2 pink sweaters (lightweight and loose fitting), air clips, colored bracelets, and a google translated letter that told her about each one of us. She tells us now she didn't understand everything, but she did get a lot of what I wrote. I included more pix of random things on the 2nd letter. The orphanage was good to go over the letter and pictures with her.
Hope it goes well! It's exciting!
By the way, she had been in a foster home most of her life - but she has done AMAZING. She's been home 6 months and her language and abilities and understanding are truly phenomenal!