We left for China on 11/5/99. We arrived in Beijing on 11/6/99. GWCA’s guide met us at the airport and took us back to the hotel. There were sixteen families in our travel group. We spent two nights in Beijing. GWCA took us to the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, a pearl factory and a friendship store. We were impressed with how clean the city appeared.

We left on 11/8 for Nanchang. This was the capitol of JiangXi, the province where our daughters lived. The babies were to be brought to our hotel. Our plane was late arriving, so when we got to the Lakeview Hotel, our daughters were already waiting in the lobby with the orphanage directors and the aunties. We had been instructed to go to our rooms and the babies would be brought to us. We recognized Zoe from the referral picture and the director from pictures another family had that had earlier adopted from Yong Feng. It was SO HARD to not run over and grab Zoe.

We went to our rooms and they brought Zoe to us almost immediately. She was so sweet and small. The auntie told her I was her mama when she handed her to me. Zoe had on four shirts and three pairs of split pants. She and I bonded almost instantly. She bonded with my husband within a day. She was very quiet the next few days except for when we changed her diapers, took her clothes off, or bathed her at which time she showed off how loud she could cry. She slept every night all night. She could sit up, but that was it. She couldn’t hold her bottle.

It was obvious the director and auntie cared very much for Zoe and Laura, the other baby from her orphanage. Zoe seemed very healthy. The director gave us some gifts for Zoe and asked that we send pictures of Zoe. We have done that recently and hope to continue regularly.

Nanchang, China (November, 1999)

We adopted Zoe the next day, 11/9. GWCA’s guides were excellent. They told us what to do, when to do it, what to expect and what to bring. Cathy, especially, seemed to be so in tune to the babies and juggled all the problems of such a large group. Everything on the whole trip went as smoothly as possible. GWCA mixed the paperwork trips with sightseeing and resting. We visited a local village, went to the JiangXi Arts and Crafts Exhibit and went to a porcelain store. This province is known for porcelain. We went to the Tng Wng Pavilion, which is 1300 years old and is six stories high. We did lots of shopping. We bought Zoe something for her 2^nd – 18^th birthdays.

We went to Guangzhou next to have the babies’ physicals, and get their visas and passports. Zoe was 26 inches and 15.8 lbs. at her physical (13 months old). We stayed in the Guangdong Victory Hotel. It was convenient and nicely furnished, but didn’t seem as baby friendly as the Lakeview. We ate at the White Swan and would love to have stayed there. We ate as a group at the Hard Rock Cafe, went to the Six Banyon Tree Temple where the babies could be blessed by monks if you chose and a folk art museum.

We then flew to Hong Kong for one night in the Regal Airport Hotel. We’ve never stayed in a more luxurious hotel. We really liked Hong Kong. We took the ultramodern train into the city and took a tour with a guide. We went to Victoria’s Peak, Aberdeen and Stanley Park. Everything was very modern and clean.

We arrived home in the wee hours of 11/20. It took us 32 hours from the Hong Kong airport to our airport. That included an 8-hour layover in Seattle. INS was very fast and nice in Seattle. Zoe did fine and slept from Hong Kong to Seattle. My husband and I didn’t sleep much and we felt like walking zombies.

The first three nights Zoe had trouble getting switched to our time zone. Since then she has slept through almost every night.

We, of course, feel she is the cutest, sweetest, smartest little girl in the world. She never crawled. She took her first steps on 12/24, but didn’t really start walking all over until 1/8.

She was 31.5 inches and 26 lbs. at her 18-month checkup. We readopted Zoe in the US on 12/20 and she became a US citizen on 5/5/00.

I kept hearing about "The Red Thread". I never paid much attention, but now I know it is true. I think Zoe was already born when we started talking about this and that is why we decided to adopt. The three of us were meant to be a family. Somehow, her life force sparked the idea in our minds and made us start the process that led us to be together.

We can’t imagine life without Zoe.

Website created by Kara Paige Lopez