Many Thanks

As we close the last suitcase and gather the last bit of paperwork (wouldn't you know it, there is a lot of paperwork involved) I am thinking about all the people we know who have been so kind and gracious. We feel fortunate to bring Tessa home to an amazing community of family and friends.

From our parents who have given us all their blessings and love, to our brother and sister-in-law who are taking us to the airport and installing our car seat while we are gone. To my community of writers who showered me with good wishes and baby clothes and books, to my workplace who smiles upon my absence and will get along just fine

without me, to the friends who will watch over our home, to the Chinese adoptive community who has given me tons of travel and new parenting advice, to old and new friends from all over who have held my hand and wished us well, to the blogger from OK who is in China now at the same orphanage we will visit and is reassuring me with her pictures and stories (and is giving me blogging advice), to the dear friend who left this lovely gift on my doorstep (complete with a note of good wishes in a tiny charm box!), to the man who overheard me in line at the bank to smile and tell me of his own connection to Chinese adoption, to my boss who teaches me Chinese phrases and gives me guidebooks, and last but not least our kid who can't wait to see the Great Wall of China.

Wheels up, 12:00pm, March 31st!