We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!


Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.

Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.

Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Travel

We've done a bit of traveling lately.

We went to Disney World for spring break.
This was our first 'big' family vacation since we went to China 4 1/2 yrs ago.
Weather was great. It was warm enough to swim at the hotel pool in the evenings, and only rained part of one day.
It was a bit more crowded than I originally thought it would be. Apparently everyone thinks spring break is a good time to go!
Leila LOVED the 'big' rides. Dark ones like the Haunted Mansion scared her, but the bigger and faster ones (like roller coasters) were super great.
We went to a Princess breakfast in Cinderella's castle - very cool.
And we ate another breakfast with Mickey Mouse and his friends. (The big kids really liked that one.)
Wouldn't it be nice to go to Disney with at least a month and an unlimited bank account?



The weekend after we home from Disney, I went on a one-night trip to Indiana.
This was just my mom, my mother-in-law, my friend from church and her mom.
It was Vera Bradley's annual factory outlet sale.
It was in a coliseum and was a huge affair. And a fun little break.
My friend and I had been talking about going for a year now - ever since we heard about it.
It was bad timing for me that it just happened to fall right after Disney (no $), but David said to go ahead and go - it would be fun (and it was).

2 weeks later, my very talented (and handsome) cousin was in from NC and playing in Charleston.
We went to see him, and it was like a family reunion.
Trust me - he's going to be big!
He's not on iTunes - yet, but I'm sure he will be. Right now, you can check him out on www.reverbnation.com Go to The Mikele Buck Band to see.



Then ... 2 weeks after that - was our annual 'girls week' at the beach!
6 of us ended up going this year.
We were originally supposed to go to Carolina Beach. (We've been trying to go somewhere different every year.) We got to Carolina Beach, and things weren't as they were supposed to be. They were doing construction - putting in a pipeline - and we couldn't get to the beach!
We called our 'travel people' and early the next morning packed up and moved south to Myrtle Beach.
Weather was great. Resort was nicer. But most importantly - beach was accessible.








Just after coming home from Disney, Austin started a new job.
He got on at Toyota!
They have a plant just about 20-25 minutes up the road.
It's an amazing job at a fantastic company.
I'm SO very proud of him.
To get on with a job like that at only 19 years old - he has a great future ahead of him.
I know Rural King hated to lose him, and he'll miss some of the friends he made there, but what a great step for him.

I know I've had a great couple of months - but, gosh ... now I have nowhere else to look forward to for another whole year!
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