Friday, October 06, 2006

We Are Back Home

We made it home safe and sound yesterday and I jumped right back into life at the foster home. I missed all the action so much. I felt like I had been gone for years. The babies looked so good, they were all bigger and the older ones were so happy to see me. Susan could not stop looking at me.

I thought I should tell you about the finances and let you know just how wonderful this experience has been for me to be a part of. As you know I needed to get Benjamin to Hangzhou as soon as I could and so I decided to take Angel and Jade, too. I was short US$4000 dollars and I asked for your help as the total amount for the surgeries was going to be about US$10 000. I was so worried that we were not even going to be able to get that much and I made arrangements to have some emergency help should I need it. Well, to all of the people who contributed, you gave so much more than what I ever expected. At the last count you had almost donated the whole US$10 000 amount, so exceeded my expectation by US$6 000. The surgeries for the babies did not come to as much as we though initially and with the discount that the hospital are going to give us (20%) there will even be some money left over for Sean and Rachel's surgeries. I thank you with my whole heart and Jade, Angel and Benjamin's new hearts too. My special thanks to Love without Boundaries (LWB) who jumped into action with out a moment's hesitation to help. I am so glad they had this program all set up before I even needed it.

I am going to use the US$6 000 to start another apartment with more babies. We have enough money to cover some of the cost for a good six months and I am training more nannies.

Well there is a lot happening. We are waiting for Laura's parents who will be arriving later this week. I have to take Sean and Rachel to have their echos (a heart sonogram) done so we can see what is wrong and I will probably go back to Hangzhou soon. I was so calm with the last medical trip, unlike the trip with Susan. I know just how skilled Dr Li and Dr Tan are and I did not worry nearly as much as I did the first time.

At the end of the month we are taking Sarah, Gabriel and Michael to Hefei. They are scheduled to have their cleft lips repaired by the LWB surgical team on November 1. It will be a quick four night trip and they will have the best looking little mouths. I cannot wait to see how beautiful their little faces are going to be. After Jonas' repair it took me a while to get used to how handsome he was. I could not picture the difference.

Well the troops want to be fed and chanced. Another day in the trenches.

Love and laughter,
Amanda and my army of heart thieves.

P.S. I promise to send photos later today. I have new camera and I have to figure out how to use it first. That might take a long time.....at my level of IT knowledge. I will need a tutor first. British Laura were are you???

1 comment:

Jane Doe said...

What a beautiful- and touching story. You and all of the children in your life are in my thoughts.