"We often think of the intersections in our lives, those that are planned, those that occur by chance. Some encounters we hope for, particularly love, and alas, some meetings never happen despite what we wish. I think of how those intersections have the potential to change us, our character, our circumstances, our hopes. We think about how they add to the unfinished story of our lives"...(Amy Tan, Mei Mei, 2005) Chinese folklore speaks of invisible red threads that connect a newborn child's spirit to all the people who will be important in the child's life. As the child grows, the threads shorten, drawing closer those people who are destined. We anxiously await this special meeting, a life changing intersection which will soon take us to China to bring home our little daughter, Cali Griffin.

January 24, 2011

Canine Intuition

Cali's room is Scout's new favorite place to hang out. We continue to find him upstairs lying in front of her crib. Is he practicing his canine instinct to protect the new little one or does he just enjoy the feel of the cushy pink rug in that warm cozy spot?


Though his vocabulary is usually quite advanced, he has yet to share his intimate thoughts on this topic. Being the dog whisperer that I am, I've surmised that he is truly excited about his sister's arrival. He's anxious to spend much time in her room reading stories and taking naps!




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January 21, 2011

Getting Closer


We're getting closer to holding our baby girl!!! Our part of the official travel paperwork is now completed and we have our visas. Today, we received the letter that is the catalyst to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. There will be some other documents gathered/contacts notified and then our appointments will be made all on the Chinese end of things. We should receive a call in 4-6 weeks, from our agency, letting us know our travel dates,etc. So, it looks like we still may travel in March, at least that is our hope...fingers crossed!

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January 10, 2011

Flowers and Tattoos

Separately and collectively, through the last several years, we’ve cycled through both emotional highs and lows. In recent months, we even battled with the reality that maybe, although such a deep desire in each of our hearts, we weren’t called to be parents.

In the questioning moments, we always seemed to find therapeutic refuge in a shared experience. We took a couple of trips which were fun, but our most treasured times were colored with flowers and tattoos.

We’ve found great joy in planning and decorating Cali's room together. Although there was a chance for brothers and sisters to come first, her room has always been “Cali's room.” About a year ago, in a period that we just needed to do something, we painted the room pink. During the summer, we added some artwork of flowers and butterflies, created by the family artist, Bobby G. Recently, he completed his work with cherry blossoms over her crib.

Cherry blossoms are not only seen all over China, and therefore why we chose them, but are also beautifully displayed in Bobby’s adoption focused tattoo. Getting tattooed together is a favorite memory of our waiting time; I never imagined how it could play such a significant role in our story toward our baby girl! Flowers continue to have great significance in our adoption story and we hope to understand more of this as we head to China.




January 2, 2011

January 1, 2011

Care Package

We sent a care package to Cali this week via a company in China that specializes in gathering gifts and delivering them to the child’s orphanage. Ann, a Chinese entrepreneur and very sweet lady, also gathered new pictures and current measurements of Cali for us as a part of the service.

Sweet Cali is still a little peanut with little hair; we are guessing her head was recently shaved as is common in orphanages.  She looks like she has had a cold with little chapped lips and a red nose...she just needs to come home to us! She is definitely bundled up with several layers of clothing which is very common in China. These pictures were taken in the outside play area of her orphanage.

We continue to move along in the travel end of our paperwork. We submitted our Visa information via Fed Ex this week. Our agency will be processing that and is continuing to work on travel details while we await our travel approval.

Scout just asked me to add that he’s really excited to have a sister and is already enjoying capturing stuffed animals from her room and holding them captive on his bed. He’s not really sure why we’re spending so much time in that pink room, but thinks that it’s a pretty cool place to visit. We’re sure that he has no idea what lies ahead, but hope that he and Cali will become fast friends and help each other burn off energy!