Join the Quilt for our daughter

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei,
or
100 Good Wishes Quilt.

It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a square patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth and a wish. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt. We would love if you could participate in this project for our daughter.
The main 8×8 patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other small part of the cloth goes onto a wish or blessing note for the child. The quilt contains the thoughts, prayers, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.We have decided to begin a quilt for our daughter! Our daughter will come to us with very little family history, so this is a way to surround her with love and give her a special keepsake from her forever family.

Can you spare a square?? To participate, please do the following:

1. Find a good quality, 100% cotton piece of cloth that you like. It can be from a piece of clothing or from fabric store. You can choose the fabric that YOU like and something that represents YOU and/or your family.

2. Cut ONE(1) 8X8 Square (this is the square that goes into the quilt) and (1) small swatch (like a 1x1 or 2x2) from the fabric.

3. On a 5x7 or smaller note card/cardstock, glue or somehow attach the small piece of fabric on it and include your blessing, wish, prayer, note or verse for her. Also, please put your name on the blessing card and maybe a little explanation about why you chose the fabric that you did.

4. Mail it to us before our 1 yr anniversary log in date to china 9-29-07

Why we decided to adopt

About a two years after Brett was born, Kurt & I went to an European Adoption informational seminar. Through it, we figured we would consider China. There were pluses and minuses. The pros were you only have to travel once, the Chinese government chooses the infant for you, it is permanent, the children have clearly been abandoned, the health of the children were among the highest for international adoptions, and our wishes to have a girl. The cons were that the cost was higher and the wait was about a year.
Well, Kurt was interested but still not committed. Soon I was pregnant with Garrett and a wonderful child he is! He keep us very busy for the first 5 years.
Last March (2006) the topic was brought up again. This is because as we get older, we wondered if we should even have a third child and naturally or adopt. I was the one hesitating now. God then must of lead us because I met two really nice families that had adopted and felt more secure about the process. Over a really nice & relaxing spring break vacation, we felt this was the path we are destined to take.
After some research and excellent recommendations, we choose CCAI for our adoption agency. That will be another post another day.