Family of Maggie Josephine MinYi Davis
and her sisters and brothers
We have reached #1 on Google if you search "Lili Davis" or "Maggie Jo Davis"
Maggie
Jo progress: She is home and happy!
Click [HERE] to go to her page
This page will not be updated after 9/12/2005
Click [HERE] to go to her page
This page will not be updated after 9/12/2005
9/12/2005: We leave the day after tomorrow for China to get Maggie Jo!
9/10/2005: Received updated medical information from China today - She's A-OK.
9/8/2005: Tickets are here - six days to go.
9/7/2005: We are counting down the days. Just one week now.
9/1/2005: We received our travel dates and are we excited.
8/4/2004: We received updated medical information, and a new picture of Maggie Josephine - She is still Cute!
8/3/2004: We FedEx'd our Visa application and passports to Legal-Eaze. They will hand carry them to the Chinese Consulate in NY, NY where the Chinese Consulate will process our Visas and then Legal-Eaze will overnight FedEx them back to us. We used them for Lili's adoption paperwork and they are wonderful. I highly recommend them. FTIA says we should have travel dates in 4 to 6 weeks. We should be in China in 6 to 8 weeks. We are picking up speed and on our way to China next month!
8/2/2005: We have mailed to FTIA our acceptance letter for Maggie Jo's referral. (Easiest decision we ever made - she is adorable after all)
7/30/2005: Pictures of Maggie Jo below and the FedEx Man
7/28/2005: We have a referral for our baby Maggie Jo! Her Chinese name is: Tong Min Yi DOB: 1/1/05 Jiangxi Province, Tonggu County Welfare Institute. We will be traveling Mid to Late September 2005. We will have more information and a picture this Saturday
1/29/2005: We received the Brown Envelope from the US Consulate in Guangzhou, P.R. China today!!
1/19/2005: We officially have a DTC date of December 28th. This means we should travel to China in July or August of 2005.
12/17/2004: Today we heard from FTIA that our Dossier has been through their two thorough reviews. Everything looks very good and it will be heading to China today. That means we have done everything we can, and it is now in the hands of other folks.
12/14/2004: Today we received our paperwork back from Legal-Eaze They were the wonderful firm that assisted us in processing the paperwork with the Chinese Consulate in NYC. Tomorrow, I will FEDEX our Dossier to FTIA and they will translate and process it and then send it to China! What this means, is we should be able to get a December DTC (Date to China for the paperwork). We may receive a referral in June 2005 and Michael and Tracy and I will travel in August 2005. So, we are only a family of six for about 8 more months! Is there a Suburban in our future? (It ended up being and Excursion -Scott)
For information about adopting from China, we recommend our adoption agency,
Families Thru International Adoption
If this is your first visit with us, please click here!
(It will take you to the previous months' pages including our trip to get Lili)
September 11, 20005 (less than 72 hours to go)
Four Years Ago: It is hard to be down about a great game with Texas that our beloved Buckeyes fell just short of winning. If they win out, they should still make the rosebowl. It is also hard to be too depressed about a game, when one looks at the date. Four years ago, we suffered a national tragedy of unparalleled scope. Today we are recovering from a Natural Disaster unknown in our country's history. Today in church we collected money for those families in need. Basic needs are still not being met for so many. It makes me want to head south for a week or two to just help out once we return from China. Being a HAM radio operator with a 6x6 ATV with communications abilities, and Tracy is a HAM and a Nurse, so one wonders if we could be of help. Then reality sets in and I realize with five little mouths to feed, my first responsibility must be to my own family. So instead, we will work harder to send money to those that can help, so that others may have the necessary resources. I encourage everyone to remember 911 by supporting the recovery efforts in our country's gulf coast states. If I were not so very excited about Wednesday, I would probably be bummed out about our team's 25-22 loss, 911 and watching constant suffering on the TV. God has a way of providing joy in our lives. We just need to know where to look for it. I have a feeling joy for us is in China right now. Today in Church I realized in three weeks from today, I will be back in the pew with Lili, Christopher, Nicholas, Michael, Tracy and Maggie Jo. I think we will nearly fill one pew!
Updates and information for our trip: After the FTIA China group conference call on Friday, I realized we are probably less nervous and more ready than we were the first time we traveled to get Lilian. FTIA really makes sure everything is taken care of before we leave, and Tracy (our China coordinator) is a proven professional in our hearts and minds. I will pack my luggage today. I have about 25 pounds of electronics equipment, (we are limited to 40 per bag) so I will be the man with all the cameras around his neck wearing the same shorts and shirt for two weeks! I remember longing for my notebooks and good camera last time. I will be able to get thousands of awesome pictures this trip. The last time I shot all the stills with my 2 megapixle video camera. It did a great job for creating a video, but this time I am also taking my 5 megapixle Sony F707. It takes great pictures that are suitable for enlarging and framing. I am planning to provide a DVD of still pictures to all the families we are traveling with and our coordinator Tracy before we leave China. I would actually like to combine all our pictures onto this DVD so we can share and share alike. I hope they like me, I tend to come on kind of strong, as I do not have a shy bone in my body. Tracy is more normal and provides a beacon of common sense to me more often than not.
We drive down to Cincinnati on Tuesday afternoon and spend the night with Tracy's oldest younger sister Angie and her husband Peter. They live in Northern Kentucky, so she will drop us off at the Greater Cincinnati airport Wednesday morning. The airport is actually located in Kentucky, not Ohio. Tracy's parents Barb and George are coming up to our house Tuesday afternoon to stay the first week with the boys and Lili. My parents, Bill and Carol, will take the second week. I am not sure if the boys are looking forward to being without Michael or not. They say they will miss him, but be glad he will not be there. Hummmn. Lili will miss mommy more than daddy, but I bet I get the first hug when we come through the door on the 28th. We fly from Cincinnati CVG to Detroit DTW at 11:36 am on Northwest Flight 3506H hopefully landing in Detroit on the same plane (not funny?) at 12:41 pm. We then get to meet all the folks we are going to grow to love over the next two weeks. I say that seriously because this experience is very powerful. We have made life long friends from our first travel group. After about an hour of waiting anxiously with excitement pulsing through our veins, we fly from Detroit to Tokyo on Northwest flight 25H via a Boeing 747. I like this type of airplane. It has an excellent safety record and is American made. The mechanics on Northwest are on strike, so I will have to trust the replacements have the necessary qualifications. I can't bring my tools, so I will say a prayer and trust the FAA is on top of things. We land in Japan at 4:35 pm on Thursday It is weird to lose a day as you cross the international date line. Our flight path takes us up across the UP of Michigan, through Canada and over the coast of Alaska. across the Pacific Ocean and down along Russia where KAL 007 was shot down September 1, 1983, and on into Tokyo. 20 years sure changes a bunch in world politics. Now Russia is an ally. We land in Japan, and then have a quick transfer to flight 11H to Beijing also on Northwest. All Northwest there and back.
Once in Beijing China, we will be in a beautiful hotel that our friends the Ross's raved about. It is called the Kunlun Hotel, and we will be there three nights. We will visit many interesting places and be resting and catching up to the twelve hour time difference. Does anyone know how many time zones are in China? Sunday morning we fly to Nanchang aboard Northwest flight MU 5174. It is a 2 hour flight. After landing, we will go and get the babies! (That will be about midnight Saturday 9-17 Ohio time.) We will stay at the Gloria Plaza Hotel for 5 nights while in Nanchang. I will tell you more when we get there. We are sure anxious to get these next three nights over with.
We are all packed and ready to go. With the help of our friend Bruce, who is also Lili's Godfather, my workbench is empty. Normally I have a backlog of several days, with it taking about 5 - 7 days average for folks to get their computers back. Tracy's workplace has been very supportive of this trip, and we sure appreciate that. -Scott (China is all one time zone)
September 10, 20005
Game Day:. I just received an email from China with our updated medical information on Maggi Jo. Without boring you with all the details, she seems to be a normal, happy, healthy baby girl that will love her daddy as soon as she sets eyes on him. If not, I will shave my beard, and have another go at it. Sort of a reverse disguise approach. Sometimes the babies are more comfortable with one parent than the other. I will be interested to see how the beard works out. I am not saying there are no bearded men in China, just not too many around the girls in the orphanage. Actually, other than religious men, I saw no other beards in China. Tomorrow I get my hair cut. Got to look my best for Maggie Jo. That, and Tracy threatened me if I went to China all shaggy looking. I have half a mind to "do some color" in the hair. Scarlet and Grey sounds good, it would match my truck. I am too nervous to sleep tonight. Game Day vs. Texas, and only three more days in my own bed until we head to China. Lili had her ridding of pony again this morning. She is quite comfortable riding "Jerry" the pony. After riding, she fed the horses apples and carrots. She got under ones "Slobber zone" and got a nice sweet juice bath of apples, carrots and horse slobber. Her look was precious, but not upset. Sort of a why is dad just standing there when he should be toweling this slobber off of me look. She is old enough now, to understand so much. She is a smart young lady and loves life to the fullest. She is enrolled in our local Discovery Center preschool. It is the best school in the world. I hope they know how much we appreciate what they do for Lili. Five mouths to feed, pairs of shoes to buy, tuitions to borrow for, but only two weddings to pay for. (Hear that Kevin, father of five beautiful daughters?) Well I better sign off. I will lose my voice cheering if I don't get some sleep. I can still type though.
Please remember that Sunday is September 11th by saying a prayer for our Country, and all the folks in need.
-Scott
September 8, 2005
Go Buckeyes! Two simple words. Two Fantastic words said by Lili when we were here at the office as she looked up at a hanging flag supporting our beloved football team. Without prompting, she just pointed up and said it. Two words that prove to me we are raising her up right! This Saturday at 3:00 pm we will all sit together to watch football on TV. I hope she has a lot to cheer about. A rare night game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus Ohio. Tickets are going for $1,000+ a pair on eBay. It should be a good evening of entertainment. Watch for Ted Ginn # 7. I predict if he scores on a kickoff or punt return, the game will be a good one for us. Very few things get me upset and unfit to be around. Watching Buckeye football makes me just plain crazy. I really should tape it and watch it after I know the final score for my health. The fun of it is not knowing the outcome of the contest thought.
Not knowing the outcome of our seeing Maggie Jo for the first time is also making me a bit crazy. We have our itinerary and plane tickets, all the money has been earned, saved and paid - we are just waiting. I can now say we will be touring Beijing, China this time next week . We have been so busy that Tracy and I have not had time to sit down and really talk about the trip. She has really done a great job of making sure everything is going well. FTIA has been superb, and the travel agency has done what they are supposed to. I have a bit of news that I have been waiting to share until it was official, but our China Coordinator is the same Angel of a lady that took us throughout the process last time with Lili. Tracy is her western name, and she is a Saint and an Angel all wrapped up in one person. One of the things I was worried about was our inevitable comparison of this trip to our last one. We had a wonderful travel group of adoptive families and our guides/coordinator were top notch. So it seems normal to wonder if everything would go as smoothly this time around. Well, now that Tracy is on station for us in China, my worries are nearly gone. I am also happy that our new travel group has been sharing ideas and questions over the internet before we travel together next Thursday. I even sent them a copy of our DVD from last time so they won't wonder why I am videoing them after just meeting them! Michael is also looking forward to this trip. It is a chance of a lifetime for a 13 year old, I only wish we could take all the children. Hopefully after they all get into school and the age of remembering things, we can take them all on a tour. I think five years is a good time to plan for.
Anxious, nervous, excited, scared. That is how the Texas football team better feel coming into the "shoe" and taking on our Buckeyes. Confident and sure of success. That is how I feel about this trip to China, and I hope our Buckeyes will send us off into the new week with a smile on our faces. When they lose, it makes for a long week. I already have the URL of a Columbus radio station that streams the game saved so I can listen to next weeks games on the internet from China. Go Buckeyes! -Scott
September 7, 2005
Week. A simple word it is indeed. Seven days. Seven nights. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. 60,4800 seconds. Normally weeks pass by rather quickly in our household. Getting the children ready for school, piano lessons, haircuts, martial arts lessons, homework, swimming lessons, house keeping, food preparation and on and on. Those are just Tracy's duties! I on the other hand see it as another five days to earn some more cash to spend on the kids in China! I will close the store next Tuesday and re-open October 3rd so we have some time with Maggi Jo when we get home. I hope she is doing well and knows that we are nearly on our way to get her. Everything on our part is done except sending one last payment to FTIA for the inside China travel and Hotels. We are anxiously awaiting our airline tickets from the travel agent.
I have not written much for awhile, because I have been so down in the dumps watching the utter devastation from Hurricane Katrina. Please pray for those Americans who have suffered so much. -Scott
September 2, 2005
We will be in China in less than two weeks!! September 14th is the day we leave Cincinnati and fly up to Detroit to catch a flight to Tokyo and on to Beijing. We return the 28th of September back to Cincinnati. Michael is going with us and we have the grandparents and Aunt Angie all organized to watch our children and take us to the airport. We have lots of preparations still to do. I will update more later this weekend.
Please pray for our Gulf Coast citizens. -Scott
August 27, 2005
Well, if I had not been through all this once before, I might become impatient! I know though that waiting is difficult, and the last three weeks are the hardest to deal with. I am excited and we have started to pack a few things. Tracy has bought most of the medicines and baby items that we will take with us. I have started to write down things I can not afford to forget. I still expect to be in China the middle of September, but am anxiously awaiting our travel Arrangements (TA). It is funny how all the families have different acronyms and abbreviations that are unique to the adoption circles. DTC's, TA',s DH (Darling husbands) and on and on. I won't bore you, but our DTC (Date to China for our paperwork) is December 28, 2004, so if someone else waiting to adopt has a DTC of say January or February, I believe you can count on waiting about 9 months. 9 month . . how odd hugh? Anyway we are less than a month away from being parents of an 8 month old. I would like to say it is exciting to get a girl so young. The boys are excited too, and Lili is calling Maggie Jo "her baby sister" already. We are looking forward to next weekend, as we will be visiting our dear friends the Ross's from our first travel group. They traveled to China in July to get their second daughter from China. They are proud parents of five daughters. Our boys enjoy visiting them. -Scott
August 20, 2005
When having fun, time sure flies! We are most anxiously awaiting our trip to go to China and bring home Maggie Jo. Monday, Lili went to the farm to ride "Jerry", her haflinger pony friend. She loves to climb on his back and sit front ways, back ways and even on her knees. While riding, she is passed rings, balls and removes colored clips from his mane. Below Lili hugs Jerry whilst Renee holds her up to his mane. Renee is her Physical Therapist. I think the photo is a prize winner!
Lili
hugging Jerry. Renee holding on to her.
This weekend, Michael, Christopher and I made a quick trip to the Cabin with my father. Lili and Nicholas stayed home with Tracy. We rode the ranger about 45 miles today. When we returned back to the cabin, we power washed the deck at the cabin to remove any dirt or moss. Tomorrow I will paint it if the weather cooperates. If it rains all day, we will ride the Ranger some more!
Michael, Nicholas and Daddy, at Lake Superior
On
the way to Lake Superior, we crossed the Betsy River north of Paradise
on trail 452. This is the same snowmobile trail bridge that we took the Excursion on over the
fourth of July. Tracy is still mad at me over that "lack of good
judgment" on my part. -Scott
Brrrrrr . . . Michael and Christopher telling us the water is still C O L D !!
Brrrrrr . . . Michael and Christopher telling us the water is still C O L D !!
August 13, 2005
What a birthday party Lili had today!
She woke me up with a very soft and sweet "Daddy, Lili's eats ice cream
today!" She did to. All her favorite gifts and all her
brothers and lots of treats, and all before 3:00pm today. She had
a wonderful time with her cousins, brothers and Aunts and Uncles.
We had it at the shelter house across from the pool in the park.
It was so nice to not have to clean up the house afterwards!.
Here are some pictures from the day. . .
As
you can see, we spoil Lili a bit. She seemed to like being the
center of attention today. I can not believe we have had her
nearly two years, and how well her brothers look after her. They
are a huge help with each other and Lili. It is especially
helpful to have help when you have more children than hands. I
used to be overwhelmed with just Michael. Now we do very well
with four, soon to be five. When we went to Mass tonight,
Lili was so proud of her new purse. She tried to smuggle in some
candy, but we had to confiscate it. I thought she was going to
scream all the way to church about it, but soon settled down.
Michael, Nicholas and Christopher are very good at making her
happy. Once at church they were all perfect Angels. I can
not state strongly enough how much easier it is to attend church when
the children are well behaved. We should learn our travel dates
next week or the week after. I have September 15th picked out in
my mind. We shall see if I am right soon enough. -Scott
Tomorrow we celebrate Lili's third birthday at the park. She is so excited. Tracy bought her a Doctor's kit, per Lili's instructions. I will post some pictures after the party tomorrow. Lili told us she wanted candles on her cake, by puffing out her cheeks and making a blowing out candles sound. She is looking forward to her birthday, but I cannot get her to say "THREE" when we ask her how old she is going to be. I suppose we can keep her two a bit longer. -Scott
August 11, 2005
Today we received a beautiful quilt from a special lady. I have just a few minutes before I have to drive to Cincinnati, so I cannot provide much detail yet, but I will when we return late this evening. A very special Aunt passed away Sunday and we are making the 100 mile trip to be with family this evening. Lili is excited about her birthday part this Saturday. Her theme is Dora from the Cartoon. -Scott
August 10, 2005
One of China's most recognizable icons to American children is their panda bears. I read on a Chinese web site about a mother panda giving birth to twins. The web site and pictures can be found here: Panda. I think these are some of the most cuddly looking animals on earth, right along with the Australian Koala bear, which I guess is not really a bear at all! Today was punctuated by the arrival of our passports (with new Chinese Visa in them) being delivered by FedEx from the NY office of the Chinese consulate. Thank you Legal-Eaze for handling this very important task for us. So far everything is going just as planned. It won't surprise me if everything goes 100% to plan, but we are always prepared for delays, changes and other roadblocks. The whole idea of a baby 7,000 miles away being taken care of until we arrive in about a month is rather overwhelming. It is sort of like being 8 months pregnant, but when we get her she will be 8 months old. I was actually surprised they would bless us with such a young child, seeing how I am 44 and Tracy is ??. You didn't think I was going to tell you her age did you? After all I will soon have five children to look after. Bruce and I have been testing SKYPE and it is amazing. I just hope it works all the way from China. Calling home FREE is something I can get excited about. We will have a backup plan just in case. I remember missing the ability to talk to the boys the last time we were there. -Scott
August 9, 2005
We learned today that our Visa stamped Passports are on their way back from NY, NY thanks to Legal-Eaze. They called us with a tracking number just as promised, and seem to genuinely understand how important these things are to us. We also found out that our Quilt for Maggie Jo is done as well. I will show pictures of it soon. It is very special, and once we receive it, I will post a link to the creator's web site. Today we arranged for the new bills from the bank. Without going into detail, we have to have new bills for the Chinese. The banks around here sort of give you the eye when asking, but we had someone contact the Federal Reserve and yes you can get brand new bills. You just need to ask for a "STRIP" of bills. I had the kids in the office today, and they were wonderful. Normally they are only here on M-W-F, but Tracy had a need to switch days. It is so much easier when the boys are here with Lili. I am looking forward to having only Lili and Maggie here with me though. I often remember the Country Western song's lyrics (Mr. Mom) by Lonestar. The song makes me proud that I don't have all those problems with the children - at least on the same day!
Today I was researching via the Google search engine and found an interesting page that tells a bit about the Tonggu Orphanage. Like many of the things on the internet, you can not always take at face value what you read, but it did interest me enough that I decided to share it with you. -Scott
August 8, 2005
Not much news today, but tomorrow should bring us some excitement. The Chinese consulate should have processed our Visa applications by then, and Legal-Eaze will have their courier FedEx's them back to us. Tracy recorded the tracking number of the return package, so we can watch it travel across the miles to us. I know we sound a bit goofy about the paperwork chase, but folks who become parents without the advantage of adoption do some pretty goofy things themselves - do they not? (Odd foods, Belly touching, mood swings, gaining weight) Actually, I have gained about 10 pounds per child - adopted or not. Chasing the paper helps the time pass as each day brings us 24 hours closer to Maggie Jo. I can not help but wonder if her caretaker/Nannies are counting down the days as well. I am not sure if they know when the babies are about to leave them, or not. I hope it isn't a case where one day they find out that they are all taking a bus ride to the big city, and that is the last time they will see them. I remember from the last trip for Lili, how many of these Nannies had even prepared special gifts for the girls. I am not sure if they realize these small gifts become treasured momentoes for the parents, and someday in our future, our daughters will understand the significance as well. I remember thinking that the Nannies loved our little girls the night we all received our children. We were also very fortunate last time to have some pictures from when Lili was younger. In every one of them, there was caring and love in the Nannies' eyes.
Last night we did some school clothes shopping for the boys and I picked up a little girls outfit. All pink with booties, and the obligatory OSU Buckeyes Logo. Tracy over ruled me on the Scarlet and Gray ensemble, so I relented and chose Pink and white. You can be sure to see it later on this site as I hope to get quite a few pictures of Maggie Jo modeling it in China. I need to have Lili teach her to stand up during half time, and yell go Buckeyes! -Scott
August 7, 2005
Last evening we went to church and Lili was turning on the charms. She was sitting quietly, being in her seat, being a little angel and then . . . . she proudly announces "Mom, I have to go Potty!" She didn't just say it, she ANNOUNCED it. And when she says potty, it sounds like she was raised in the United Kingdom. Now I have nothing against the wonderful sound of an English accent, but coming from a three year old (Yes on August 15th she will be three) It turns folks heads! Instantly the brothers3 all said Shhhhhhhhhhh!! even louder. Tracy and I just about died right there. I kept telling myself that "this too shall pass." The children are very well behaved while in public, especially at Church. I believe they will enjoy it more, if they can see and hear the priest, so we have a tendency to sit down in front, third pew on the right. They were not misbehaving, but we don't like to be a distraction, and with all 6 (soon to be 7) of us filing in, taking up nearly an entire row, people know when the Davis's have arrived. Bye the way, Lili made it until the end of the service without incident..
I find myself increasingly distracted at work, by thinking of our upcoming trip to China. Tracy warmed up to the idea of being new parents again earlier in the process than I. Me, I worry too much about making it happen financially, and she says a prayer and smiles. She works full time very hard at home and also works outside the home as a nurse, but she seems to be more confident than I that things will always work out. She also "sicks her angels on me" to come around to her way of thinking. After twenty years of marriage, they all know my whereabouts. This is the time in the process that I catch up to her anxiousness to have another baby. I love telling people that "yes, we are Catholic" when they see all the kids climb out of the Excursion, and then watching their expression when they learn that all but one are adopted! Yes we have chosen each and every one of them. FTIA will let us know in about three weeks when we will travel to China. I am guessing though that we will be in China around the 18th of September. It helps me pass the time if I have a departure date in my mind. I remember counting down the days until we went for Lili and I am even more excited this time around. It doesn't seem possible to be more excited, but I believe that one of the reasons is the trip itself.
Last time when we went to China to bring home Lili, the people of China were so welcoming to us, and the older people who spoke no english were able to convey a love for our children through smiles, and the constant tucking in of the baby's clothing. I believe that the Chinese don't think we dress them with enough layers, even if it is 80-90 degrees out. It is not done in a critical way, but everywhere we went the same thing happened. You would be holding your baby, and an older Chinese women would smile at us and Lili, and then almost as if on autopilot, her hand would reach out and gently tuck in something. It took a bit of getting used to to have people reach out and touch our precious new little daughter, but it was always done with love and kindness. I truly felt we never met a stranger while in China. Everyone smiled back when we looked at them, but few would initiate eye contact. I don't really know how to explain it. Almost as we needed to say "it's OK" for them to share their love with our daughters. I have heard this from many other Chinese adoption parents, so I don't believe it is just me. We are traveling to another province (Jiangxi Information) in the South Eastern part of China that offers outstanding natural beauty. I find myself setting up the photos in my mind as I sit here in air conditioned comfort at the office. I am taking my good camera, and a tripod so we can have pics of the four of us. (Michael - 13 is going with us this trip) I am also setting up the ability to talk to Nicholas, Christopher and Lili while we are in China via an online service called SKYPE. Bruce - my best friend and Lili's Godfather and I ordered headsets to see if we can test it before we go. Well, I better fix a couple more computers - I am signing off for today. -Scott
PS.
If you want to send Lili a birthday card here at my office, her address
is:
