Announcing the latest addition to the family. Meet Capt. Augustus McCrae...known informally as Gus. He joined our family on April 19th and loooooves to relax! Anywhere from two to ten years old (we're thinking younger because when he plays he's INSANE!) he's very good with Hope and knows that when she comes running towards him he needs to get the heck out of the way...something little Horatio never learned. He and Humphrey get along in short supervised bursts but as Garry says, "Gus is just like a bear. If you run from him he's going to chase you." Chase Humphrey he does...and since Gus still has front claws Humphrey is getting plenty of exercise. Yet just yesterday they were sitting next to each other and looking out the back door. There is always hope! Gus is currently the star of the Kitten Krazy homepage and you can find a picture of him with Hope at the site under "Tails Of Success".

We received our package from Asia Threads last weekend. What an emotional roller coaster that was. To read about and to imagine where your daughter was found is one thing, to actually see a picture of it is another. Garry and I are both relieved that we didn't have a chance to visit her finding place because just seeing the pictures are grueling enough. The area is clean and busy. It is not that it is a horrible area that makes the pictures so rough to look at. It's the fact that we can't look at them without imagining our precious girl wrapped up and lying in front of the gates of the elementary school. I will not be posting these pictures here or anywhere else. When Hope is old enough to understand, if she wants to share them, then that will be her decision. We also received pictures of the orphanage where she was placed, the police station she was taken to, the city of Anqing, and the city of Hefei. When we joined this project we provided a letter and several pictures of Hope that would be translated and given to the orphanage. In one of the pictures we received, an orphanage worker is looking at the pictures that the parents had sent and there are our Hope's pictures, front and center. What a wonderful surprise!

Those who received their referrals in late April are leaving for China on the 31st! Congrats to them and to those who just received their referrals this week. We're getting there...we're getting there!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I'll be sure to keep you posted!

***Jennifer...email me...or post in your blog so I, and the rest of your friends can stop worrying about you!***

UPDATE...NESTING

Claire's wallpaper is finished...and beautiful. Bridget was scheduled to come in and hang it the day after we received the first "happy" letter from EAC. I was such a mess I almost called her and cancelled. I was afraid it would be too painful. But, I did what I have been working VERY hard at lately...I did what I knew was right even though I didn't FEEL it. I'm so glad I did. The room is absolutely gorgeous. A big THANK YOU to Bridget and Cheyenne. You are the best! My apologies to everyone that was here for Hope's birthday party the very next day...I had every intention of showing off Claire's new room but my mind was elsewhere!

Garry went to Hartville and picked up the rest of Claire's furniture. He and Tom he-manned the changing table/dresser up the stairs a couple of weekends ago. I cleaned it up and hefted it into place. I dug around Garry's office upstairs...which has become our dumping ground...and found the lamp and lampshade we'd bought for her. A couple of days later I covered all of her switch and outlet covers to match her new wallpaper. Last weekend we bought her a little stuffed Dumbo which now sits next to her new lamp. Hope has helped me fill the bottom drawer of the changing table with crib sheets, blankets, etc. And as soon as the weather warms up Garry is going to paint the inside of her closet.

We are going to get through this! Only God knows the big picture...and I prefer it that way!

One final thought...in September of 2004 we signed up to participate in The Asia Threads Project. Run by an adoptive parent, she coordinates projects to various orphanage cities in China. Photographs are taken of the city, the surrounding countryside, the orphanage, and where your child was found. That was one of the only regrets that Garry and I had from our first trip to China. We were unable to see the location where Hope was found. We also were able to send a letter to the director and caretakers of Hope's orphanage as well as lots of pictures of her. Well, the project has been a no go for the longest time as not enough families had signed up...until two weeks ago when our project was sent to China. I simply cannot help but think that God has something wonderful planned with the timing of this.

I'll keep y'all posted!