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| Grace Chan - Adoption Journey Journal |
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Subj: |
The Chan Adoption Journey -
Chapter 1 "Finding Grace" |
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Date: |
8/26/2003To:CurtisChanDDS |
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Dear Family and
Friends
Here are some pictures as well as an update on our trip. We now
have Grace !!!!
These pictures may take a minute to load.
After 16 hours of travel, we are now here in Wuhan, China.
Thanks to all your prayers, we all feel your love and support
on this journey. We safely made it to our destination today to
the White Rose Hotel. We met up with 11 other couples who we've
been grouped with to go through this adoption process together.
We received exciting news that the China Adoption Affairs
office decided to let our group meet and receive our babies a
day earlier. For us, that meant that we would meet Grace on her
1st Birthday.
The meeting went so very well. All the babies scream and cried
when they were handed off to their new parents. Only 2 babies
didn't cry. And can you guess, our Grace didn't cry. She just
took in the entire situation of crying and screaming babies and
smiled at us and within minutes she was giggling. Of course it
really helps to be of Chinese decent in this situation.
We went back to our hotel room shortly after receiving our new
daughter and it was such a delight to play together and get
acquainted with each other. She really has bonded with Mae, and
loves balloons and bubbles.
Tonight we are going to go our to have our first meal together to
celebrate this unbelievable gift from God. We are so overjoyed
and we will keep you up to date over next few days.
 
With all our Love,
Curtis, Mae, and Baby Grace |
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Subj: |
Chan Adoption Journey -
Chapter 2 "Knowing Grace" |
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Date: |
8/27/2003To:CurtisChanDDS |
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Dear Family
and Friends
Here is another update with photos...it may take a minute to
download these pictures. Enjoy.
Our time with our new Grace is so special. Each hour we
learn more about her and she learns about us and it is so
fun to get acquainted with each other. We know what makes
her laugh and giggle. Mommy and baby are creating such a
bond. She always wants Mae to be very close to her. The
love she is getting from us, especially from her new Mommy
must be overwhelming, but much needed. You can see the
inner joy and comfort she feels on her face and the look on
her eyes that says…"Thank you…I'm finally home."
The fact that she is eating, napping, and sleeping well,
indicates that she is adjusting well to her new situation.
Most of the babies in our adoption group have all adjusted
well. We returned yesterday to the Chinese Adoption Affairs
Office for our formal interviews. The bus ride was an
entirely different scene going back to where we recently
received our babies. 24 hours earlier just about all the
babies were hollering and screaming, but this time there was
such a cute scene of content babies with their new
parents…there was a lot of laughing by the parents as to
this big change in the children's temperament in such a
short period.
The Adoption interview process took almost 3 hours for our
group. Fortunately the waiting room area was air
conditioned as the outside temperature here in Wuhan rises
into the mid 90's each day with thick humidity that you can
cut with a knife.
We are now officially new parents. We must wait for a day
or so for Grace's passport to be issued. In the mean
time our adoption escort guide has arranged for us to
go site seeing and shopping.
Before Grace went to bed tonight, we introduce her to
Daddy's profession..."the wonderful world of tooth
brushing"…she learns very fast.
 
Keep us in your prayers that our trip continues to be safe
as we will need to be here in China for 10 more days to
compete the adoption process.
In God's Love and Loving Care,
Curtis, Mae, and Baby Grace
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Subj: |
Chan Adoption Journey -
Chapter 3 "Enjoying Grace" |
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Date: |
8/31/2003
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Dear
Family and Friends
It is now day six, half way though our
journey of our adoption trip. Grace is getting
used to her new parents and we are getting used
to her. We have settled into our 'hotel life'
routine. Most of our time is just waiting
for the next step in the adoption process. On
Sunday, we went and visited a Chinese Christian
Church in Wuhan were we and 3 other couples with
our babies were welcomed with open arms. There
was no translation but we could sense the joy
and happiness which flowed out from all the
Christians that were worshiping together. We
estimated about 400.
Grace is making strides each day in accepting us
into her life. She really enjoys bath time,
shopping, and playing with the other babies as
well as playing by herself.. She can even say
"Ma Ma" and "Ba Ba" when prompted. She loves
music and likes to sing. She really babbles a
lot and pretends she is carrying on a
conversation with you.
As you can see, we are so proud of her and
thank God for our precious Gift.
I like visiting the
Wuhan Museum today
When traveling about through the city, our group
attracts a lot of attention and people swarm
around us, to listen and hear anything we have to
say. If one bold Chinese citizen comes up to talk
with us, within minutes, you'll have 20-30 people
standing and even crowding in to see and hear what
is going on. When they hear that we have
come to adopt these babies to bring them
home to be a part of our families, we get so much
praise and thanks from these people and they say
they are so happy for these babies. We also
return thanks to them and we let them know how we
appreciate China for allowing us to have these
children.
Today is Monday…Labor Day…and we are off to take
our babies on their first airplane
flight to
Guangzhou, to visit the American
Consulate. We are
going to be staying at the White Swan Hotel…we have
heard that this is a very fine hotel.
Enjoy these photos….
Bottle Feeding Time
I love cake !!
We had fun at the Park today
Until Next Time....We love you all...
Curtis, Mae, and Baby Grace
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Subj: |
Chan Adoption Journey
- Chapter 4 "Living with Grace" |
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Date: |
9/3/2003
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Dear
Family and Friends
We are on our last leg of our China Trip. Grace
has been such a good trooper in moving to our
next destination We are now in South Western
China in a very large city called Guangzhou, a
city with a population over 7 million and has
a history going back 2800 years. The American
consulate is located here in this city and
all people desiring to come to the United
States must get a visa here.
Grace's first plane fight was fun. She and all
the other children were very excited to board
the jet and they all did well. Our group
again turned a lot of heads and we drew a lot
of attention from the local people.
My Very First Plane Ride
It took us about 5 hours to go from our hotel
in Wuhan, to the White Swan Hotel in
Guangzhou. We are situated in a part of town
that has had a lot of British influence in
terms of city layout and architectural design.
The hotel here is full of families who are
here to bring their adopted Chinese children
back to the USA. At breakfast time it is
quite the scene to see 50-80 couples in the
dining room all feeding their cute little baby
girls.
Getting My First Medical Exam in Guangzhou
Today we officially took our oath at the
American Consulate's office to make it official
that we are going to bring home our Grace.
Mae and I are so very excited to come home….we
really miss our little ones, Michelle and
Jonathan. But thanks to Curtis' brother,
Clifford, and sister-in-law Noreen , they are
being well taken care of.
I still love my Bottle
We are getting a bit tired of hotel life, and going
out to eat. It's a good thing that food here
is rather inexpensive. For the cost of going
to McDonalds fast food in the United States, one
could have a full 5-6 course Chinese Cuisine meal
in an elegant setting ($6-7/person). When we
get home, our little Grace is going to have a
little shock when she realizes that all
meals don't involve going to a restaurant.
Living this past week with Grace has been
incredible. It's amazing to see how she has fully
accepted us. Just 10 days ago she was living
in an orphanage and now she is living with
the Chan Family in a 5 star hotel…what a
contrast. When we get home Mae and I keep
telling each other that Grace is going to be
enrolled in "Baby Boot Camp" where she will
come to understand what real family life is all
about, and that waking up in a very nice
hotel room is not an every day event.
My daddy calls this picture "Tiny Bubbles"
Again, thank you all for all your love, support and
prayers. We'll be home soon!
Curtis, Mae, and Baby Grace
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Sent:
Monday,
September 08, 2003 4:19 AM
Subject:
Chan Adoption Journey - Chapter 5 "Amazing
Grace"
Dear Family and Friends
We are home !! Our Adoption journey has come to
an end and we are happy to report that all is
very well. Our group made our finalized
adoption formalities with a swearing in ceremony
at the American Consulate's office in Guangzhou
China. There were close to 80 children
processed that day. Last Friday, we made the 21
hour trip back to San Diego. Grace did very
well on the trip.
I had fun on my first Boeing 747 experience
We came home to our family and little ones,
Michelle and Jonathan who lovingly accepted
their new sister.
We are all now settling back into family life
and want to thank all of you for your thoughts
and especially your prayers. The Lord has been
so merciful to us in this entire adoption
journey which began about 1 year ago. These
past 2 weeks have been just one incredible
experience which Mae and I have encountered
which we will talk about and remember for a long
time. We look forward to introducing our new
daughter to you.
In retrospect, it is hard to fathom that one
year ago, this beautiful little girl was
abandoned and left homeless. And through our
adoption journey, we have been matched and have
been given this precious gift. We are so happy
to be the proud parents of our "Amazing Grace".
Love, Curtis and Mae
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