Six Days and Counting!

It's hard to believe that it is less than 6 days until we leave for China!  It seemed as though this day would never come and here it is FINALLY upon us.  Katrina gets more excited every day.  I'm so happy that she is truly elated at the thought of having a little sister.

Yesterday, Katrina's teacher told me that Katrina told her that we were going to China to bring home her baby sister Gracie.  She talks about it to everyone.  At Starbuck's last night she told the barista that she was going to China to bring home her little sister.  Yesterday, another mother at school asked me if I saw another little girl who looked just like Katrina, because she was suppose to be bringing her home (I won't comment on the appropriateness of her comment in this forum).  I said "I can't imagine any other child looking exactly as cute as Katrina" (okay, so I had to dig her about her lack of racial sensitivity -- this other child looks nothing like Katrina with the only commonality being a Chinese heritage).  To this Katrina responded, "well, my new sister is going to look just like me, right Mommy?"  It just made me smile.

We are planning to start packing this weekend.  It will be a nice change from our usual night before or day of packing.  Given that we can only bring one bag each, no more than 44 pounds, for two weeks, we have to pack wisely.  Plus we want to bring organic snacks for the girls (and us) because we are pretty certain organic food is not yet readily available in China.  So, that means some shoes and clothes have to stay behind in Houston.

Be sure to check our blog daily starting on September 4th.  That is our departure date and I will be blogging daily once we get to China.  Once again, thanks for being a part of our journey.

We Received a New Picture Today

We were thrilled to receive an email today from Tiffany Grace's Social Welfare Institute ("SWI"). Especially once we opened it and found a recent picture (to the left) and updated measurements. Let me tell you how glad I was to get those updated measurements. I've been buying shoes and clothes over the last month and I've been having to "guesstimate" her size. The clothes weren't nearly as complicated as the shoes. I was delighted to realize my educated guess was very accurate.

It's only four more weeks now until we leave for China! I'm already packing (don't laugh, you have to pack for 2 weeks in just one suit case . . . almost impossible). Katrina is planning her wardrobe too (the kid is a fashionista at 4). I don't know how I'm going to explain to her that 10 pairs of shoes are not necessary and will not fit in one suitcase. Plus, we have to leave room for snacks. I'm told the joke in China is that Xining City (where little Tiffany Grace's SWI is located and where we will spend the majority of our trip) is known as having the "worst Chinese food in China." YIKES! You can bet the Western food is even worse. Good thing we are adventurous foodies.

We pick up our Visa's on Friday. I'll let you know how it goes (smoothly I hope).

Sherry

Four Weeks and Six Days

The countdown begins. We received final travel approval this week, we've purchased our tickets and we will be applying for our visa next week. We will be leaving for China on September 4th to bring home little Tiffany Grace HeXinyi Messner. She is 2 years old and she's already burned into our hearts.

In case you were wondering why I named our blog a "Red Thread Journey" of Grace, I'll tell you. You see, in China they believe that all souls that are destined to come together are connected throughout time and space by an invisible red thread. Nothing can break this bond and nothing will prevent the realization of the bond. Grace, like her older sister Katrina, is connected to our souls and the realization of our red thread connection is coming to fruition. As I've always told Katrina, while most babies just grow in their mommy's tummies, she grew in her Mommy's heart. Grace too has expanded the capacity of our hearts for it is there that she always has lived. Only a hope cocooned away without realization, but now a dream come true. We love you Tiffany Grace and we are on our way to you!

Thank you for being a part of our journey to Tiffany Grace and thank you for being a strand of our red thread.