A Little Background

The Morrison Family

Sara, Steve, Aurora, and Laura

My darling hubby and I have adopted "the most wonderful baby in the world" from China. We started the process back in October of 1995. After gathering tons of paperwork, getting everything authenticated and sent off for translation, our dossier went to China on April 30, 1996. We got our referral on August 30, 1996. We got our verbal travel approval on December 5th and our written approval on December 23rd. We FINALLY got to travel to pick up our little girl January 12th - 23rd!!! "Gotcha Day" was January 17, 1997!!! Click here to see our beautiful Chinese daughter.

We also have the most wonderful, gorgeous, brilliant child in the world. She is our 22 year old daughter, Sara. Vocal Performance major, Theatre minor and actress extraordinaire! Click here to see our beautiful "homemade" daughter.

Life has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Sara is on her own now, just graduated college. Aurora is in fourth grade and growing strong and tall. Over the years I've gotten teased and criticized for having my daughters 12 years apart, but it's all worked out. Both girls are thriving and happy. We are so blessed.

One thing I learned about the adoption process. It's different for everyone. People who sent in their dossiers after us got their babies before us. Some people who sent their dossiers in before us, travelled long after we were home. Every family is different. Every adoption is different. It's frustrating, there's not a thing we can do about it, but be patient (*REALLY* hard for me) and trust in a higher power. We became closer to God through this process than we had ever been before. Our new daughter is absolutely perfect for our family. Her personality and spirit fits right in with our family. Some call it the "red thread", others call it "the Hand of God".. I believe it's both. All I know is that everyone I know who has adopted from China got the perfect baby for their family. It's absolutely magical. God has really been Good to those of us adopting from China!

There were times in this process that we were scared. Times we were frustrated. Times we were hopeful and times we were depressed. Times I felt like someone poured hot water on a down comforter and draped it over my head. Times I walked in the clouds. Sort of like any "pregnancy". But, you know what? It all worked out.

I've become so involved in the adoption process, most people know me as The Assistant Stork. While talking to some parents on the list, I found out that there was a need for a good courier service to help adoptive parents get their dossiers authenticated quickly at the U.S. Department of State and the Embassy here in Washington, DC. So, I started my own courier business. I now expedite dossiers and visas through the process quickly and correctly. I not only do paperwork for China, I do every Embassy here. If you want more information, click here or please email me at "laura@asststork.com".

The best thing to happen to me during this adoption process was finding a network of friends going through the same thing I was. There is a wonderful support email list for parents adopting from China. Everyone shares ideas, stories, helpful hints, advice, and just basic hand-holding while we all go through this. There is a list for almost every one. To find a list of "list-serves" click here and subscribe to the list that best serves your needs. But I'll warn you, it's addictive! Oh! And subscribe to the digest version or you'll receive hundreds of messages the first week.

Our family goes to a really fantastic church. It's called New Life Community Church. Steve's the editor of the Church's Newsletter and I teach 1st & 2nd Grade Sunday School. Steve, Sara, and I sing in the choir. Aurora just basically runs around, looking adorable and keeping everyone amused. (She's good at her job. What can I say?)

For fun, I LOVE is Scrapbooking. I'm really hooked on the Creative Memories albums, and I'm working on my 4th album right now. Each album holds 45 pages and each side of each page is covered in pictures. So I guess I'm addicted!

In my free time (what free time?) I enjoy reading Oz books, listening to Christian Talk Radio.

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