Monday, March 23, 2009

Care Package #1 Has Arrived!

I have been tracking the progress of Da Xin's first care package and just found that it has arrived at the orphanage several hours ago. I am not sure how long it will take to get to Da Xin, who is living in foster care, but I am excited that she will be getting it SOON!!! To think that she will soon be seeing pictures of her forever family, including her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Oh, I hope she likes us!! I so wish I could find out what her reaction is.

Of course, I hope she gets all of the contents, too, along with the money we sent her. Since she is 10, our agency suggested we send her some Yuan so that she could write us back. I am so excited to think that we could be receiving a letter from her in the near future. Our agency will translate it for us, thankfully.

Care Package 1

I don't think I've mentioned this, but Da Xin's measurements are identical to Leila's. Identical!! So, Leila was our clothes model for the care package. I'm hoping the measurements are accurate and that everything fits her. We enclosed four disposable cameras and asked her to take pics of her friends, teachers, caregivers/foster family and her favorite places. In the next care package, I'd love to send something to her foster family. Anyone have any ideas?

I know one thing... I need to cut back on the size of the next package. Shipping to China is so not inexpensive. Ouch!!

16 comments:

a Tonggu Momma said...

Michelle ~ I've befriended a woman who grew up in the Tongginator's home county. I asked her about the gifts and she said that money in red envelopes is typically the best gift of all, simply because anything we'd consider a "gift" is seen as a tremendous luxury. Which is so, so nice, but also hugely puzzling to people who then look at the gift and think of the money they could have had to buy food and other necessities. That was just her 2 cents though.

Lori Lynn said...

Oh how excited you must be to get that off! Eventually, you may get to learn exactly what her thoughts were when she received the package.

Best wishes for a speedy process.

Lori W

Gail said...

How exciting Michelle! You sent wonderful gifts for her I think. We were fortunate that Will's foster home took pics when he opened our care package, that meant so much.

Mandi said...

Michelle,

I have only been following your blog for a short time, but I am enjoying following your journey.
Do you mind me asking about how much it cost you to send all of the stuff? I am hoping to send a package soon to China and would like to know what I am looking at cost wise. Also, how long did it take to get there?

Thanks for the help,
Mandi

Rydley said...

What a wonderful package. I'm sure she is enjoying it all right now!

Our agency had some guidelines about what to send to foster families, you might want to contact yours to get theirs? (Ours also stated ethical and legal concerns about sending money directly to anyone involved in the adoption process.) They told us to get family members personal items that they would not likely be able to access on their own, i.e. stuff not accessible in China. The foster family would also like a photo book of your family I'm sure too, as they certainly care for your daughter-to-be and will want to have a keepsake of her new family. Happy shopping!

Sammy said...

Gosh it is exciting! How much does she know about you? I can't believe Leila is the same little girl in the orphanage.

Ohilda said...

What a treasure full of goodies. Oh, I could just see her sweet face when she opens up the package and sees pictures of her beautiful family!!!

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

How exciting!!! I hope that they take pictures of her opening the care package....to see the look on her face would be such a treasure!!

I can only imagine the shipping cost...YIKES!!

So happy that this is all coming together for you.....you will be on your way before you know it!!

Lisa

Somewhere In The Sun said...

Oh what fun! I know she will be so excited to get her gifts and mostly to see her family.

~Lynn

Jboo said...

That is so exciting to know that it is on its way to her! I hope you hear back from her and get some photos! Have a great day!

Janet

LaLa said...

How exciting...love all the goodies : ) I hope they take lots of pics for you too.

We sent candy, lotions, perfume to the foster family in ours : )

It would be great if you found someone going to her province and they could take it along on their trip.

day by day said...

That is a great package! You all must be getting soooo excited! Ann from Red Thread is really wonderful about getting packages to your child in China and you save lots of $ on the shipping! Let me know if you want her contact info.

Stacy said...

Oh, I bet you can hardly stand it! Just thinking of that sweet girl seeing her forever family for the first time:)

Adele said...

I am sure she will love all of these goodies. So nice that Leila is the same size. It will be fun for them to share clothes once she gets here. I know yall can hardly wait! So exciting !

Steffie B. said...

what a lovely gift to send her....and I see the hand made card by Leila....how sweet...it makes it feel that much more real doesn't it to send something??? It did for me with Andrew.....hope you travel soon.....

Hugs,
Steffie

Anonymous said...

Hope you had enough hours in your day today -- I know just what you mean:)

Ashley