Today we received our travel packet from America World! Suddenly things are progressing very quickly.
We are thankful for the miracles God has wrought to bring us to this time! There is much to pray for; from provision for the trip and fees in China to safety while traveling, and a "spirit of adoption", not only for us, but for our little Sarah as well. We pray that somehow she will be glad to be a part of our family, (that she will like our dogs), that we can meet her needs, and be the God -chosen family for her.
Our agency has told us to be ready for travel, possibly as soon as in the next six weeks!
-posted by Sarah's mama (ususally it's her big sister who does all the blogging :-) 
*This tote bag came along with our Travel Info!
I have just been looking at different growth charts, seeing where Sarah fits in and wondering what clothes size I should continue buying...
On Chinese Growth Charts she is in the 97% in weight, height, and head circumference!
On US growth charts she is in the 60% in weight and the 75% in height!
Right now I have 2Ts, 3Ts, and even some 4Ts. I am not really quite sure of what to be buying right now, we really hope to get her by November, according to the charts she'll weigh about 30 pounds and be about 37 inches by then... So, I'm guessing she'll be fitting a 3T just about perfectly, I'll bring some 2Ts and maybe even a couple 4's along also...just in case.
Here is a slideshow of various pictures of our trip to China in February of 2005. It includes Hong Kong, Beijing, and other places in northern China, along with several orphanages.
Great news, today I went to our mailbox to find a letter from Shaohannah's Hope, we had been expecting to hear something from them soon, so I quickly called the family in. We opened it and were very thankful to find they are awarding us with a $3,000 grant! There's still more to be raised, but this certainly helps!
These are the front doors into Sarah Lu's orphanage, where she has been spending the first two years of her life.
It is a very small SWI and only a very small number of children have been adopted from here. There are about 30 children living there, along with our little Sarah.
Langfang is a prefecture-level city and is almost exactly midway between Beijing and Tianjin. It has a population of over 3 million. Langfang has been given the name of "China's Silicon Valley". Langfang is home to China's Oriential University. About 50,000 students attend there.
Langfang is a predominently green city. It has the longest pedestrian street in all of China, which is five kilometers long. It is also home to China's largest golf course.
Here is Sarah's Chinese name, Lu Hua, written out in characters. We are not sure what it means yet, as her translations did not say. From Chinese sites I have been to, the first character "Lu" means "shore"; "land"; or "continent". The second character "Hua" means "magnificent"; "splendid"; or "flowery". So, perhaps her name means magnificent land?... I have several good friends who are Chinese and should know, I will ask them and keep you all posted.
