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Proudly
Introducing.........Our Newest Daughter!
She was born in Wen Zhou, Zhejiang, which is on the Eastern coast of
China on April 12, 2006.
We
will travel to be united with her around the
beginning of February 2008.
Her full Chinese name is Hu Ru Xue
Her last name, HU is
translated to "ancient moon" and
her first name RU XUE
is translated
to "like snow" which I think is so beautiful.
You can say her name in Chinese like this ... Hoo Roo Shyeh
And here is what it looks like in Chinese characters.
As
you've already noticed, Sweet Ellery has albinism.
That means her
skin doesn't contain the pigments that color skin or hair.
Her eyes
are actually a pale blue or lavender color. They may appear pink
because they reflect the
light off the blood vessels in her eyes.
Her vision might be affected by this condition so she might need
glasses later or special equipment. Other than that, lots of
sunscreen, hats and natural
fiber clothing like cotton. You know our
family is used to that!
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Click
HERE
for a page that I've compiled filled with lots more info on albinism
and photos that will show the beauty of this genetic condition.
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FINDING
AD!!
I was able to secure an original copy of the
newspaper that ran Ellery's finding ad. When a child
is abandoned, the SWI is required to make a nominal
attempt to locate the parents by running an ad in
the local newspaper. These ads are often the
earliest photo that adoptive parent have of their
child, making them quite special.
We estimate that this photo was take as Ellery
entered the SWI on July 24th, 2006 at three months
old. |
Here is one more photo I found
while digging around on the group site for her province....
you can
get a glimpse
of her (Dec 2006 - 6 mos old) on the far right, bundled up at her friend's birthday party.
It's not much but we are thrilled to have it!!
Also! next to that is another closeup from that birthday party,
which was Meili's, btw, sent to us by Ben's Mom. THANKS Ben's Mom!!
Here's a little glimpse from
the DVD that Emily's Mom was so kind to send to us. THANKS Emily's
Mom!!
We are happy to have anything that shows her moving a bit...this
video was taken in May 07.
Here's another sighting! This
is from the background of photo taken by Dawn as
she took her daughter back to the SWI for visit in Nov 07. Looks
like she's crying :(
Yet another sighting!! These
pics are from Ellery's good friend Zoe. Taken around October 2007.
Sent to the Wenzhou Yahoo Group by Zoe's Mom, THANKS Zoe's Mom!!
When we travel to be united
with Ellery, we will first go to Beijing (upper right) to visit the
great wall for a day or so, then fly to Hangzhou (far right).
Hangzhou is the capital of her province and that is where we will
meet her, most likely in a government building of some sort or
possibly in our hotel.
UPDATE!! We are traveling in
a group of three families. We will visit Ellery's orphanage (5
hour drive). Then we will travel by plane to
Guangzhou, which is like our Washington DC, with the US Consulate to
obtain her Visa. We will stay there in a fancy hotel and do a lot of
shopping and getting to know Ellery, plus a ton of paperwork for the rest of our stay. In
total, our trip will last exactly two weeks. The climate in Beijing
is like that of Nashville, Hangzhou & Wenzhou are like Naples,
Florida, and Guangzhou is like Miami.
You can see photos of
her city
HERE or
HERE or read
lots about her city
HERE
HERE is an
interesting National Geographic article about China's Boomtowns.
Be sure to look at the slideshows and images in the article.
HERE
is a wonderful article about Hangzhou, where we will be spending our
first days with Ellery.
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A couple days after our
referral arrived, we sent Ellery a care package. The outfit has a
onesie, pants, hoodie & booties. Grammie bought it for her last
Christmas! There is a stuffed elephant named Sprinkles, a knitted
lovey blanket from Mommy, a butterfly rattle teether, a crib mirror,
soft fabric book, a vinyl book with our photos in it, two disposable
cameras that we will get back when we get her and candy for the
caretakers. Probably most important of all, I put together a book
with translations of all the questions I'd like to ask Ellery's
caretakers about the first year and a half of her life, such as what
crops are produced in her region, her personality, her schedule,
what her first days were like, etc. I hope that they will fill this
book out and return it to us, what a treasure to have! All of this was placed with love, hugs & kisses into a
purple & lavender box and mailed by Connor & Maureen.
            
Since we won't be spending
Christmas with Ellery, we sent her a Build-a-Bear Infant safe bear
with our voices in the paws. You can hear the voices by clicking the
paws of the bear in the picture. The voices are faint because of
trying to get them onto the computer but you get the idea
J
We also sent some chocolate to the aunties and some animal crackers
for Ellery to nibble on. Plus our Christmas photo...including
Ellery! This is all packed in a hot pink box on its way to China!
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Here are some pics of her orphanage, Wenzhou City Child Welfare
Institution or CWI, which cares for special needs only and is right next
door to the Elderly Care Institution as well. One thing you'll
notice is that this it is very clean. We couldn't be happier about
that! The babies are well clothed as well. We were told that this
orphanage is in a more "wealthy" area, compared to others and that
the often have their needs met more readily. Ellery certainly looks
well fed and well cared for.
Here are some pics of her
crib, though she's not in it at the time, or if she is, she is
laying down so you can't see her.
The Entrance Gates
The Entrance Doors
The Kitchen
................... Fish
Trays...YUM!!
Rice Steamers & Congee
Cookers...........................A worker fries Tofu....YUM!!
The Address sign, The
demolished neighborhood waiting for more construction
Left: (L)Rear of CWI, (R) Nail
factory.................Right: (L) Elderly Housing, (R) CWI
Spotlessly clean Playroom
............................. Sunlit play area almost like a balcony
Elderly Housing residents
sitting outside on a nice day
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Ellery's Finding
Spot
A special person was kind
enough to have family friends take photos of this location in
Wenzhou for us. Ellery was lovingly placed here on a spring day in
April, 2006, where she would be found quickly by a policeman. I'm
sure the garden (named Hongjing) is a gorgeous place in season.
The next two are the police station where she was taken before the
SWI took her under their wing.
We are so very grateful to
Epin for arranging these photos for us, they are priceless. Thank
You!
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