Care Package

Thanks to some of the parents on one of my Yahoo groups, I've discovered a couple of trustworthy sites for sending care packages. We've decided to use "Ladybugs n love from above" for this first care package, but plan to use another site to send her one more care package after our dossier is officially logged in by the Chinese government.

We are sending her a letter (contents posted below) that will be translated into Chinese for her, plus a return postage paid envelope so she may write back to us. Both of these will go through a translator first. We are also sending her a disposable camera, a stuffed panda, some books, and a photo album of 10 pictures of us and our house. Finally, she will also receive a birthday cake to share with her housemates. We should receive some photos of them enjoying the cake.

I still have not received the pictures from Sara, but rest assured, I'll be sharing them when I do!


The letter to accompany the care package:

Dear Shaling,

We are so happy that you will soon be joining our family. We believe that God has bestowed a great blessing upon us by choosing us to be your parents.

You have so many people here who already love you and think about you often. You have parents and a brother and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Your brother, Preston, is 9-years-old. He is so anxious to be a big brother and get to know you.

Your bedroom is ready for you and you already have some clothes here. We are looking forward to you joining us as we go to movies, play games, and go on visits to see Grandma and Grandpa.

We would like to start learning as much as we can about you. Do you have a favorite color, a favorite food, a best friend, or a favorite subject in school? Do you like to be called Shaling or do you have a nickname, such as Ling?

We are sending you an envelope so that you can send us a letter back to us to help us start learning about you. Please share as much as you can with us.

We know it’s going to be hard for you to learn how to speak another language. We are going to be learning to speak some Chinese so we can help you.

We want to come get you as soon as possible, but we have a lot of paperwork we have to complete in order for us to have permission to come.

Preston wants to tell you that we have two cats as pets. He thinks they are cute and playful.

We’re sending you a few special things – a panda to keep you company, some pictures so you can get to know us and what we look like, a camera because we heard from Sara that you like to take pictures, and some books to pass thetime. We are also sending a cake that you can share with your friends.

We have seen pictures of you, Shaling, and we think you have a beautiful smile. We can’t wait to see that smile in person.

Love,
Mom & Dad
(and Preston)