Brown Envelope is Here!!

Kyle called me from home today and informed me that our "Brown Envelope" containing all the consulate documents we will need to adopt Abbie have arrived. Almost there!!! :)

Good Grief!

Suitcase Saga...

Hi All!

For those of you who know me well, know that I have had the worst luck with suitcases. On my first trip to China, Ericka and I did carry-0n only, which meant we had to buy a suitcase in Guangzhou to bring home all our treasures. By the time we arrived in the U.S., our $30.00 "Polo" suitcase was already hammered and missing at least one wheel and one handle. "Polo" went with me on my second trip to China. Throughout each our our nine Provinces and 14 flights, poor Polo continued to have little mishaps: it fell off a pile of luggage into sticky, gooey Kaifeng mud; it lost it's last three remaining wheels and all it's handles; and the hard plastic lining inside crushed into a million teeny pieces. Needless to say, Polo was a "gonner" and went out with the Tuesday trash when I returned home. Now, I am getting ready to go to China to bring Abbie home. Of course, I needed a new suitcase to replace poor Polo. So, off to Wal-Mart we went, where I promptly purchased a snappy red "Swiss Alps" suitcase that matches nicely with our other luggage. It is even made by the makers of the Swiss Army Knife! Ooh aah! On the way home from Wal-Mart, we decided to stop by the house to drop off our purchases before taking the girls to the aquarium. After Dan safely stowed our purchases and perishables in the house, he returned to the car and began to back out of the driveway - we were now aquarium bound. CRUNCH!!! "What was that?" asked Tracie. "Nothing." replied Dan. Much to my dismay, my brand new, cherry red "Swiss Alps" suitcase didn't make it to China. Actually, it didn't even make it out of our driveway. Maybe this time I will travel with nothing and just buy it all when we get to China! :)

The Latest in Fashionable Cycling Shoes

Daisy "Fu" Duke!

Oh Boy, What is Poor Abbie Getting into? Ha ha!

Some Silly Pictures of Abbie's Family at the Mall!

OUR LOA IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE RECEIVED A CALL FROM OUR WONDERFUL AGENCY TODAY. OUR LETTER OF APPROVAL HAS ARRIVED AND WILL BE IN OUR HANDS TO SIGN TOMORROW!!!!!! ONCE CHINA RECEIVES THE LOA FROM US, OUR TRAVEL APPROVAL SHOULD BE ISSUED IN 3-4 WEEKS.

WATCH OUT ABBIE, HERE WE COME!!!!!! HA HA!!!

DELIRIOUSLY HAPPY TRACIE (FREAKED OUT DAN)

On It's Way?

Hi Everyone:

I don't want to get my hopes up, but we learned today that our agency is expecting some TA's to arrive this week from China. We sincerely hope and pray that our LOA for Abbie is in one of those FEDEX envelopes. Cross your fingers for us! :)

Happy Friday the 13th!

In the past, Friday the 13th has always been a good day for me. I sure wish it meant our LOA was here. It is day 80, you know! Ha ha! Dan and I had a nice lunch together at a little Norwegian cafe called Finn's and we hope to just crash out and watch the mountain stages of the Tour de France tonight. We have been out riding every other night and Dan is getting really strong pulling the girls in their trailer. I am so impressed by my "Manimal!" :) Fortunately, work is quiet, the teenagers are busy (hopefully) doing chores so I will come home to a clean house...and otherwise, all is well! Have a super weekend!

Tracie

Passing the Time Away

While I was on the Internet, I found a link to some pictures and information about Shantou, Abbie's hometown. I thought one picture was particularly funny, because when I had the great fortune of visiting Shantou in March 2007, I went out for a hot pot dinner at the very same restaurant in the picture! However, my hot pot dinner not only included the standard potatoes, lettuce and beef you see in the picture above...it also contained intestine and cow stomach lining! To drink we enjoyed warm mung bean juice. Very quenching. Yum! I sure hope Abbie takes a liking to chicken nuggets and french fries quickly! Ha ha!

Tracie's Dream Bike

The 2007 Cervelo Soloist full carbon. Sigh.

4th of July!!

We had a fun filled 4th of July! We got up at 5:45 AM and hit the road on our bikes by 6:20 AM for the Tour de Riverton. We clocked in about 35 miles and it was wicked hot that early in the morning! Dan did a GREAT job pulling the kids in the bike trailer up the Copper Mine frontage road hill and I have a large bruise on my bum from a bike seat incident (we will just leave it at that! Ha ha!) After the ride, we enjoyed a great pancake and ham breakfast with some cycling friends. After running some errands, we went home and took a nap. Didn't wake up until 9:00 PM!! I frantically woke Dan up and he was so out of it. The girls were exhausted and were impossible to wake up too, but we finally piled everyone in the car and drove back to the Riverton Days park to watch fireworks. We laid down on a blanket and the fireworks were directly over our heads. Lucy was completely entranced! Grace just wanted to go ride the carousel and train. After fireworks, the girls road a little train and we enjoyed some treats (funnel cake, cotton candy and popcorn.) We didn't get home until nearly midnight!! It was one of those fun moments you will always treasure with your family.

Urgh.

Two months, one week and four days since we were logged in. Where are those LOAs?? Urgh.

Abbie

Here is a little picture of Le Jiao (Kristy), who is in the same orphanage as Abbie and one of her best friends! Guess whose little head is peaking out of a crib in the back?!! Our girl!!

New Pictures!

Just sharing some new pictures from our trip to the Living Planet Aquarium!

Happy 2 1/2 Year Birthday Abbie!

We have spent the whole weekend with computer trouble, so we missed the opportunity to wish Abbie a Happy 2 1/2 Year Birthday on June 29th! We love you Qian Qian and hope you bring you home real soon!

Love Mommy, Daddy and your brother and sisters! XOXOXOXO

Two Months Today!

Hi Everyone: we've officially hit the two month mark since we were logged in to the CCAA's database. 60+ days and counting.....

Pictures of our Friends - The Glover Family on Vacation in The Outer Banks!

Things are Moving!

Hi - some families with a 4/19 log in date received their LOAs today! We are LID 4/24 and should be just around the corner!

New Pictures to Share of our Family!

Hi Everyone: here are some new pictures of our recent events! Silly pictures of the girls; Grandma and Grandpa Laughlin and Ericka dancing at her Peter Pan recital. Enjoy!

LOAs for 4/9 LID Families are in!

Hi Everyone:

Good news for families with a 4/9/07 LID - they received their LOAs yesterday! By the timing of things, looks like we may have to wait a couple more weeks before it will be our turn. At least things are rocking and rolling!

Love ya all! Tracie

Eight Weeks and Counting...

Hi Everyone!

Sorry that I still haven't posted up some new pictures. I can't seem to find my camera USB cable - it's around somewhere! We are just one day short of eight weeks since our Log-in date for Abbie. Hard to believe how quickly time has flown by. Should be any day now!

Yesterday, we had our last Chinese School class until September 1st. The kids have learned so much and have really caught on to simple phrases in Mandarin. They are also learning to recognize characters. Yesterday, Lucy learned about the Dragon Boat Festival and it's significance in Chinese culture. She ate a traditional glutinous rice ball with dates, pork and peanuts, steamed in a bamboo leaf (very sticky and required a lot of soy sauce.) Then we went out for lunch at Mi La Cai for Vietnamese and Chinese faire. Lucy chowed down on the ham, rice, "glass" noodles, pot stickers and vegetables. Gracie ate her ham by stabbing it one piece at a time with chopsticks! Both girls were mezmorized by the restaurant's very large fish tank!

Last night, we went to the Utah Chinese Association's Dragon Boat Festival at Sugarhouse Park. We saw many Chinese, and adoptive family and friends, as well as made new friends. The Lion Dance scared Lucy a bit, so it is good that we frequent these events so she will learn to enjoy her cultural heritage. It was 100 degrees out, but we were in the shade and stayed for over four hours sweating it out with 300+ other people - complete with really bad Peking Opera Karaoke! Ha ha!

Happy Father's Day to all our Family and Friends!

Tracie...

I am sooooo Behind!!

Hi Everyone:

I am a really bad blogger! It has been over a week since I last posted! Since then, we had a wonderful visit from Dan's parents, who reside in Virginia. It is always so great to hang out with them and the time goes by so quickly!

At work, we had a Celebration of Many Nations and I represented a booth from China. We were able to raise $120.00 for Love Without Boundaries from selling $1.00 raffle tickets. Not bad!

We are still waiting for Abbie's LOA and hope to hear something SOON!! I will post some new pictures shortly.

Love, Tracie

Coryell/Woods/Yingling South Dakota Vacation! (Or is it the Griswold Family Vacation? Ha ha!)

Hi Everyone:

My folks, sister (Cathy) and her boys (Calvin and Mason) are vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota right now. From my dad's email below, sounds like they are having the vacation of a life time. We were supposed to be there, but sold our RV tow vehicle for a Volvo XC90 a while back and seem to have found ourselves with a crazy June schedule! Dad wrote:

"This email is from all of us vacationing in South Dakota. You won't believe all that we have done the last couple of days! WOW...fun! So, before we went on our hot air balloon ride, we had a hearty morning breakfast of all you can eat pancakes, bacon, sausage, juices, coffee (all for only $2.00). Then we drove to Mount Rushmore and were able to scale the side of Washington's face with our rock climbing gear. We joined up with a special helicopter tour and viewed beautiful mountains and areas of South Dakota. Then we rode horses for two hours and explored cool areas of the Blackhills Mountains. OHHH AHHHH...wait til you read this. Then we went gold panning in Hill City and discovered so much gold, we could be rich. The swimming pool and hot tub are huge and certainly lots of hot guys (from Cathy's viewpoint)... Let's see, what else... We also have plans for later this week to ride the 1880 steam train, eat filet mignon, fishing at Horsetheft lake that was freshly stocked with Salmon, visit Crazy Horse, and have the opportunity to chisel away some rock from the Crazy Horse Monument."

Quite the comedian! Too bad they are just kidding! Even though they didn't do all the exciting things above, sounds like they are definitely having a good time in "South Dakoter." Wish we were there!

Tracie

Howdy!

Howdy from very warm Utah!

Not much is new around here. Just lots and lots of training for the upcoming MS 150 bike ride. This weekend, we clocked somewhere between 60 to 70 miles. Poor girls, I am sure they are tired of being cramped up in the bike trailer! Otherwise, we are just getting ready for Kyle and Ericka to be out of school for the summer (our poor house!) :(

Dan's parents arrive for a visit this coming Thursday and we are really looking forward to spending some time with them. Since they live in Virginia, we don't get to see them as often as we would like. Ericka just had her last orchestra concert (Pirates of the Caribbean was the grand finale and was fanstastic!) Her dance recital is also coming up this month, as is the red carpet premier of Gracie and Lucy's second professional DVD called "Critter Friends." Kyle plans to take three on-line high school classes this summer to get ahead of graduation. Smart thinking! We are checking into driving school too. Yikes!

Time for a mid-afternoon nap! :) Enjoy what's left of a beautiful weekend!

Tracie

A NEW PICTURE OF ABBIE AND HER FRIENDS!!

This is sooooo wonderful! Our cyber-friend Bonnie, who is picking up her beautiful daughter Hua(in blue and yellow), sent us this picture of Abbie (who is on the left sporting a lovely drool bib and red pantsuit, complete with padded jacket.) It is so cute to see Abbie playing piano with her little friends!! :) She looks happy and healthy! Can't wait to give Abbie her first Oreo cookie!

Hope you had a Great Memorial Day Weekend!

Hi Everyone:

Last week we had a nice visit from our friend Anne and three of her beautiful daughters. Thanks for visiting with us girls!! The weekend was busy with bike rides, a four hour trip to IKEA (again), Swedish meatballs, and hours of building little girl beds. Dan accidentally bonked me on the head with a crib railing and I have a good sized goose egg on the back of my noggin. Ouch, but I'll survive! We also learned that our adoption friend's little boy does not have cancer. Wonderful news and a true testament to the power of prayer.

Hope you had a nice holiday weekend and hopefully, sometime this month, we will receive Abbie's LOA!

Have a great week! Tracie

Prayers are Needed

Hello Everyone:

A dear person, and the precious angel who helped us find our Abbie, needs our prayers. She just learned that her beautiful son Ammon (also from China) was diagnosed with a brain mass. At this time, they know he will need surgery, but they do not know if the mass is benign or cancerous. Please pray for this wonderful family and that Ammon will be healed and healthy. This woman does so much for others - I know God will not give her more than she can handle.

With love and prayers, Tracie

Love Without Boundaries

Hi Everyone:

I would be totally remiss if I did not mention the 4th annual art auction for Love Without Boundaries (a non-profit organization dedicated to China's beautiful children) has started and is going until May 24th! This is a huge fundraiser for LWB! You can access the art auction link by going to www.lovewithoutboundaries.com.

The reason why this is so important to us and I am mentioning it, is because Abbie is/was an LWB child. Her lip was repaired due to the generosity and love of a sponsor who donated money for her surgery, as well as the medical team who performed the surgical procedure. Also, Abbie is currently enrolled in an LWB sponsored preschool at her orphanage! Without LWB, we never would never have seen a picture and have fallen in love with our Abbie. We are forever indebted for LWB's kindness and amazing work in China. Check out the art auction and bid on some great items! Hope you win! :)

Tracie

IKEA

IKEA was FABULOUS!!!! We now have three adorable toddler beds, bedding, rugs, an art easel and some fun accessories. Gracie, Lucy and Abbie are all set! Now, we just need Abbie! For those of you who have never been to an IKEA store, you are missing out on something great...and most importantly, CHEAP!! :) The toddler beds were only $29.00 each!

Tracie

It's Friday!!

Hi Friends and Family!

Normally, I am happy when Friday rolls around, but this was the craziest day at work - EVER! Then, when we got home, Dan and I took the girls on a bike trailer ride (our almost daily activity), to continue our training for a 150 mile ride for MS on June 23/24. What started out as a nice, warm ride, quickly turned into a tornado like wind storm, complete with rain and SCREAMING toddlers! But, the terrible ride wouldn't have been complete without a stop at McDonald's first for Happy Meals and really obnoxious "Shrek 3" baby doll toys that talk. You guessed it...the girls made their dolls talk for eleven miles before mommy completely lost her marbles! Ha ha!

I am looking forward to the weekend. Tomorrow, the girls will go to their fifth Chinese School class. We found a great school that meets every Saturday from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM and takes children as young as 2 1/2! Gracie and Lucy are in class together and I am learning a lot by sitting in. Lucy is quickly channeling her internal Mandarin from the first year of her life! Her accents and tones are perfect! Class is so much fun and they learn through playing, singing, dressing up and other methods perfect for younger children. On occasion, I have even "caught" the girls singing a song about two tigers in Mandarin!

After Mandarin class, we will go to the new IKEA store for a special day sale for the builder's families. My mission is to purchase three toddler beds and a dresser for Abbie. It still freaks me out when I think we will soon be the parents of five! :) Wow!

Then, that evening, we have the Okland Construction Family Picnic at Boondocks, an amusement park near our house. Should be fun!

On Sunday, our little Gracie turns four years old! It seems like just yesterday that I was two weeks overdue with the little pumpkin and gearing up to be induced. Even though she is four, she still loves to be wrapped in a hooded towel and pretend she is my "little baby." I love that! Where does time go??

Have a wonderful weekend everyone...and be safe! We love you all!

Tracie

Syd and Sam!

Hi Everyone:

Today is day 20 since we were logged into China's database. Time is going by quickly! I love these pictures of Samantha and Sydnie in the bath tub and Samantha with the purple flower. Beautiful girls. Thank you Lisa! Love you!

Tracie

Hot Air Balloonist Tracie

Hi Everyone!

Always the wild and crazy Tracie, my latest adventure was hot air ballooning! Here are a couple of pictures from my work outing yesterday. I was lucky to be able to take an untethered ride over the Heber Valley of Utah. It was so warm and serene (even at 6:00 AM!) I also learned how to "milk" the 300lb+ balloon without falling into the bag (too many times!) Ha ha! Enjoy!

Tracie

It's Monday.

Sigh. It's Monday and a beautiful sunny Utah day. Unfortunately, it was raining all weekend so we did not get to go outside for a ride. Bummer! I pretty much just lumped on the sofa, so did the kids. Not much going on around here...just waiting around for Abbie's LOA!

Have a great week! Tracie

The Eagle has Landed!

Hi Everyone:

After a very busy, fun filled week of learning and networking (and eating), I am finally back home to my family. I have to tell you, I feel like I just traveled to China and back. The time difference has wiped me out and I feel like I have been schlepping luggage for days! We started our day off with a Philadelphia sites scavenger hunt. In 45 minutes I saw the Betsy Ross House, Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin's Gravesite, the US Mint, the Constitution Center an interpretive visitor center and other important sites. But, I can't actually say I saw them because we were walking too fast to try to win the hunt! So much for taking in the historical flavor of Philly! At least I can say I saw the Liberty Bell, even if it was for only five seconds before we sprinted off to the next site on our walking map. Ha ha! My only regret is that I didn't have time to be able to see Lisa. Someday, I will just have to plan a trip especially to Jersey!

Feels good to be home with everyone and the kiddie hugs felt even better!

Tracie

Winding Down the Week!

Hi Everyone:

It has been a very wild and crazy week full of meetings, events and lots of food! Last night all 600 global HR professionals at Marriott, danced the night away at a black tie gala awards ceremony in our honor. This morning we had a surprise visit and "coffee talk" with Mr. Marriott himself! What a wonderful honor. Tonight a smaller group of us (about 50+ people) took trolleys to a local restaurant in South Philly, where the waiters and waitresses entertained us with opera music! What wonderful voices they had and we ate delicious Italian food! Tomorrow, we start the day with a 7:30 AM walking tour of Philly, breakfast, a short meeting, then I'm on a flight home. I won't get in until 8:15 PM, but it will sure feel good to sleep in my own home and give my family a big hug and a kiss for always putting up with Mom's business travel! On a fun note, we learned that our 2008 Global Human Resources Conference will be in April, in Cancun!! Arriba!! Time to order passports for the whole family - where going to Mexico!

Home soon! Tracie

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I say WOW yet????

Oh my gosh, I need to get Abbie's bedroom ready and buy some clothes!!

"Just received this email I know this will just make you shriek with delight but we have your LID and it is 4/24/07. Pretty darn fabulous, isn't it?! We are truly grateful to the CCAA for getting these logged in so quickly. YAHOO!! Now it will be about 8 weeks for your SC to arrive and travel 3 weeks after that if everything stays the same processing time as we are currently seeing."

Uh, did I say WOW yet??????!!!!!!!!

Over the moon Tracie!

Greetings from the Cheese Steak Capitol of the U.S.!

Hi Everyone:

After a full day of FREEZING in meetings rooms, then a four hour nap due to exhaustion, I am off to a better start today! Three cups of caffeinated tea to keep me awake and a nice warm meeting room, has me feeling much perkier! I have not had the chance to see any of Philly, but they did serve us cheese steak sandwiches for lunch today (which was actually only 10:30 AM my time.) A little early for cheese steak! My stomach still thinks it's waffle time! Ha ha! Tonight we have a big black tie awards dinner. Should be a fun evening! On Friday morning, we will do a walking tour of Philly, then a brief meeting. Only two more days and I will be back home with my hubby and kiddies where I belong. I miss you guys!

Love Tracie (Mom) XOXOXOXO

WAHOOOOO!!!!!!! WE HAVE OUR LID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone:

Sometimes my email system rejects certain messages because it thinks they are spam. Unfortunately, it chose to reject an important message from our agency last Friday.

The good news is that a new message was sent today and we learned that we have our Log-in Date (LID!) Can you believe it is 4/24/07. The CCAA received our dossier on 4/23 and logged it in just ONE day later!! Wahoo!!!! I am so happy that we made the 5/1 deadline with plenty of time to spare. Actually, I think we may have broken some land speed records! Ha ha!

I just knew those ladybugs, fortune cookies and the trip to Philadelphia were all good signs! I told you business travel brings good luck to our family! :) Smiling with OUTRAGEOUS joy!!

With love for our Abbie (and all our beautiful children!)

Tracie and Dan
LOI 2/13/07
PA 4/10/07
DTC 4/23/07
LID 4/24/07

...More Silly Girls!