handsful

We have no idea how long we’ll be waiting for our referral from China. We hope to meet Lainey in 2007, but it could even be 2008. So, to help us endure the looonng wait, we have Secret Pals. Let me explain…

I belong to two online Yahoo groups made up of other ladies also awaiting a referral from China. The groups are arranged by the date that your adoption paperwork went to China…so we’re essentially all in the “same slow boat to China” together! One of my groups is the July Fireflies. This group is made up of ladies across all adoption agencies, and there are members from all across the US and beyond (Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, etc.). The other group is called June-July CCAI. This group is for only those moms within our agency, Chinese Children Adoption International. As you can tell, both groups are for those whose paperwork arrived in China in July.

Each group has come up with activities to make our waits more enjoyable AND to help us to get to know each other. There is a good chance that some of us will be traveling together to China, because travel groups are made up of those with close LID dates. Both groups are doing a Secret Pal gift exchange each month. So, after all that explanation, here are pictures of the Secret Pal presents I received from both groups in October!

June/July CCAI group…books theme

July Fireflies group…bathtime theme