Songs

These are some songs that I want to look at when I have the time. No new news on the referral yet. Jus hanging in there and being scared to death, LOL!

New News from CCAA

Notice on Temporary Extension of the Validity Period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption
Date of Release:May 21,2008　　Source:CCAA
Central Authorities and adoption agencies of adoptive countries, Considering that a number of people will travel to China for match-watching and tour during the Beijing Olympic Games, China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) decided to extend the validity period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption from three months to five months for referrals in June and July in order to help adoptive families avoid the travel peak and have more time to arrange their journey in China for adoption. By that time, please check the validity period and remind the adoptive families to make proper arrangement of their travel to China for adoption. For those who plan to travel to China for adoption during the Olympics, please contact the provincial departments of civil affairs for registration at least 15 days in advance so that the adoption process here will go smoothly.
China Center of Adoption Affairs

What I see this as meaning is that we will have the choice to travel DURING the Olympics and hopefully skip Beijing if we want! I am so thrilled to read this. Maybe this is the start of good news for awhile!!!!!

I'm so ready to see our Ariel's face! Lord watch over her and keep her safe and be with all the people effected by the earthquake!

I'm so excited I'm shaking!!!!

Where will Ariel be from?

Thought I would put up a large map of China to see where Ariel could be from. Because of the Earthquake we know she won't be from Sichuan or perhaps a few around there. So, where will our daughter be from?

China Earthquake so so sad

Yesterday China had one of the strongest earthquakes in their history. After being in the adoption process for so long I feel as if China is a part of my heart. My prayers have gone out to all of those in China. To record this historic event I thought I would copy and paste the updates from Rumor Queen from today,

Quake in ChinaMay 12th, 2008
Please scroll to the bottom of this post for updates.
A magnitued 7.4 or 7.6 or 7.8 (preliminary numbers at this point, but still big, no matter what) quake hit China last night, in Sichuan province. News reports say that there is no serious damage in the provincial capital of Chengdu.
They are reporting that cellular service has been disrupted. Knowing how communication channels work in China, I’m betting the land phones and internet are probably spotty as well. Which means that if you’ve got a friend or loved one there and you haven’t heard from them and can’t reach them, that is probably why.
The news reports say the quake struck 93 kilometers from Chengdu, which is around 58 miles, so anyone there likely got quite a ride from it.
Other news reports say that the Chengdu airport is closed, and flights are being rerouted to the Chongqing airport.
While there are reports of it being felt pretty strongly as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, so far I’ve only seen reports of damage in the Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality.
Here are some eyewitness reports from some of the surrounding provinces.
The sad news right now is that of the schools collapsing, and of the school that was buried by mud, and of the collapsing watertower. There will probably be more bad news as the news begins to find its way out of the area, but I really hope not.
I’m guessing that Half the Sky will have some sort of update at some point about the state of the orphanages in those areas, they seem to be pretty on the ball about that kind of thing. If anyone sees them reporting on it, please let me know.
Also, if we have any families in the area it would be nice to hear how they are. I doubt they can get to the internet, but if anyone hears from someone please let us know about it.
——————–
9:00 Update:
There are now damage reports in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces as well as in the municipality of Chongqing
Chengdu has power and water outages as well as communication problems. An underground water pipe ruptured near the city’s southern railway station and the immediate area is flooded. There are report of buildings with cracks in their walls but so far no reports of collapses.
—————-10:45 Update
I’m trying to report the stuff that isn’t on the news. We all know of the school collapses and the mudslides, I’m trying to give information that isn’t hitting the mainstream news so much.
Reports now have the magnitude at 7.8 or 8.0.
There are some reports of cracked buildings that have been evacuated in Chongching municipality.
Estimates of a death toll are now at three to five thousand in some reports and as high as 10,000 in other reports.
The epicenter was in Wenchuan county in Sichuan province. There are some pictures out there of collapsed buildings in Wenchuan county. I won’t point to them here, as most of them show bodies.
The water tower that collapsed was in Mianyang, in Santai county
There have been 44 aftershocks so far, and rain is predicted for the area. Most people are staying outside right now, out of buildings that could be unsafe.
There are also reports of fatalities in Beichaun county, where it is reported 80% of the buildings have collapsed.
—————-
11:10 Update
Fatalities also reported in Dujiangyan City.
Wenchuan County, the epicenter, is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China’s leading research and breeding base for endangered giant pandas. (In case someone has been there, you’ll know that’s where this is.)
Public transportation in Chengdu is said to be operational.
Electricity and water are said to be fine in the city of Chongching.
Eyewitness report of Canadians from Chengdu, seems to be okay where they are: http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/424499
——–
11:30 Update
Two chemical plants were damaged and the areas around them have been evacuated. This is in Shifeng, about 30 miles from the epicenter of the quake.
It is also being reported that the trembling felt in Beijing was from a second 3.9 quake located in the eastern part of Beijing. I don’t believe that’s been decided for sure yet, though.
Death toll is now reported at 7,600 for Sichuan province.
USGS list of quakes and aftershocks: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/region/Asia_eqs.php
———-
12:50 Update
After the country was paralyzed by the snow storms in February the leadership was criticized for a Katrina-like slowness in dealing with the problem. There is now prominent coverage of officials responding immediately to this disaster. Premier Wen Jiabao is in Sichuan. He gave a televised speech as he was flying to Sichuan on Monday. He said the Central Committee of China’s ruling Communist Party and the state cabinet had ordered party members and officials at all levels ‘work on the front line’ of disaster relief.
Wen Jiaobao stated he will be in charge of the relief work headquarters that has been set up with eight State Council departments.
More than 5,000 PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) officers and soldiers, and 3,000 police are being rushed to effected areas to assist and lead the rescue efforts.
There are reports that five schools have collapsed in Deyang city in Sichuan.
Death toll is now reported as “more than 8,500 in Sichuan province.”
The only way into the epicenter areas are by helicopter at this point. Roads are not passable and bridges are gone.
Sichuan has about 40 percent of China’s natural gas reserves and produces about 22 percent of the nation’s output. PetroChina is not yet reporting damage to any of the fields in the earthquake zone, but it may be too early for that kind of information.
Ford, Honda, and Nissan all have factories in Sichuan. At this time none are reporting damage to their factories.
WalMart in Chengdu is closed and will be closed tomorrow as well (it’s midnight there now). Items were knocked off of the shelves and must be put back. Also, the power and water supply is out to the store.
Since it is the middle of the night now, I don’t expect we’ll get much more new information until later tonight (morning in China).
USGS Info:Map: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/105_30.phpList: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/105_30_eqs.php
————-
1:50 Update
Besides the “more than 8500″ deaths listed in Sichuan, the national disaster relief headquarters reports 48 killed in northwestern Gansu province, 50 in the municipality of Chongqing, 57 in Shaanxi province, and one in southwestern Yunnan, according to Xinhua.
At least one of the two chemical plants in Shifang city (that were mentioned above) completely collapsed. Estimates are that it sent more than 80 tons of toxic liquid ammonia into the air.
The U.S. Consulate in Chengdu had no apparent damage. No one is injured and all are accounted for.
Wenchuan, the county where the epicenter is located, has a population of 111,800.
——————
6:00 pm Update
LWB (Love Without Boundaries) is reported to be checking on some schools that they work with in the earthquake areas. I haven’t heard any news yet, though.
HTS (Half the Sky) reports that they have had contact with the Chengdu, Chongqing and Yibin orphanages and that all is well. The children were all evacuated until the tremors passed, the buildings suffered no great damage, and no children were injured. Half the Sky will reach out to other orphanages in the area today (our tonight).


I do know that Bethany does not have any families in this province but there are other agencies who do. God please be with these families and all of the people that this quake has effected.
As of now we haven't heard anything about the quake effecting the adoption. Of course I feel selfish for even thinking about it when so many thousands of people have lost their lifes or the lifes of loved ones. Beijing felt the quake but there has been little to no damage reported there. As of right now the CCAA has referred through January 12th. 3 whole days last month which was a real let down. We are still hoping and praying for a referral at the end of May or beginning of June but of course I'm guarding my heart for July. I just want our daughter home with us where we can do our best to try and protect her from any and everything.

On the name front we have been looking at the history of referrals and if possibly Ariel is born in late November to early January we are thinking of the name Noelle. It's a Christian name and not as common as Grace. Of course there is also Faith which is what we have had this entire time.

Anyway Lord please be with the many people in China as they are facing this devistation. Please keep them safe and help them to find a peace in their hearts. Lord be with our Ariel who we love so much. We are so ready to bring her home. Lord please let her little heart know that mommy and daddy love her and are coming just as soon as they will let us. Guard her for us Lord, keep her safe and warm and happy until we can get there. I love you Lord and I trust you and I know that you have our perfect daughter in mind and when Your time comes we will get her. I can't wait to hold and kiss her! Amen.

On the John-Cole front, 10th grade is over after the Awards Assembly tomorrow morning. My son is officially a Junior. Wow has time flown. I'm so proud of him and his grades! He is exempt from everything and was inducted into the Beta Club. I'm just so proud of him. This summer he is going back to Natural Resource Camp at Hinds Community College for a week and then he's taking the ACT. He says he's going to work on golf all summer and he also might go to a Football Camp for Kickers. He's so active in everything at the school and he's just such a danged good kid. I'm so so proud of him and love him so much!!!!!

Well I guess that's about it for now. I'm really hoping to be able to post pictures of our daughter soon!!!!

Copy of Rumor Queen's Predictions!

Rumor Queen made new predictions today and we are in!!!! I'm hoping and praying that we will have our referral in June but still guarding my heart for July. But here is a post of Rumor Queen's Predictions!!