T-Minus 15 Days and a 100 Good Wishes Quilt

We leave for China in 15 days! I can't believe it! We just received word today that our travel group is now complete and we will be a group of five families. How exciting! Three families are adopting baby girls from the same orphanage and the remaining two (us included) are adopting boys from different provinces. It will be good to befriend these fellow FTIA families!

We're still not packed. The weekends just fly by and I can't believe how much still needs to be done. We have most of our Christmas shopping complete and I have everything wrapped and ready to go. Still have to get the last few things. That will take some pressure off! I am so grateful for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend! Hopefully we'll be able to get everything taken care of and we can spend the last couple of days relaxing before we travel (ROTFL!! I crack me up!)

On November 8th (exactly one month before Jackson's birthday), we received our completed 100 Good Wishes Quilt from our dear Betsie. She did an amazing job and I feel that this heirloom is a masterpiece!

I can't begin to adequately express my gratitude to all who contributed to this project for Jackson. When we started this project so long ago, we honestly thought that we would be adopting an infant girl. Who would have thought that we would be so blessed with a son! Luckily, we had so many people contribute such wonderful, colorful fabrics that the quilt is very much "unisex!"

For those that don't know the tradition, it's referred to as “Bai Jia Bei” (100 Good Wishes Quilt).

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 family and friends to contribute a square patch of cloth and a “wish” card. The patches are sewn together into a quilt for the new arrival. The quilt will contain the luck, energy and good wishes from all who lovingly contributed. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. These quilts are beautiful keepsakes and we everyone that participated will help our son feel warmly welcomed into our family.