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.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

May 2015

It seems that my posts get fewer and farther between.

December was the usual busy Christmas season.
We had the school program, the church program, parades, Santa, and the 'normal' Christmas events.

Mom and I also took 4 days at the beginning of the month for a quick trip to NYC.
We saw a few things this time we haven't seen on previous trips.

We didn't have a lot of snow storms in Jan, but the few we had were pretty big ones.
Winter is also swim season, of course.
Darrell was captain this year.
It was a bittersweet year, because swimming is his favorite sport, and he's really going to miss it.

We made a weekend trip to TN to see my brother and his family in March. That's always a nice little get-away.

April was busy, busy, busy.

We took an overnight 'girl's trip' to IN to the annual Vera Bradley outlet sale. (Spent too much money, but had lots of fun.)
Easter day was one thing after another.
We started out with Sunrise service and breakfast. (Our Sunday School class cooked.)
We followed that with Sunday School and Worship Service at our church and then onto Austin's baptism.
Everyone came here for Easter dinner in the afternoon.

Leila is now in spring soccer.
She's on the same team she was on in the fall.
She's certainly not the best, but she's making remarkable progress - and she likes it.

Darrell decided to run track this year.
I don't know why - he hasn't run track since his freshman year, but he's certainly stays active.
His senior year is winding down.
They've already had their senior prom. (He actually went twice - Alyssa goes to Parkersburg HS, so they went to both).
He's starting to branch into politics a little with some of his various clubs and organizations - FBLA, YLA, etc. - and he's discovering that he has a bit of a flair for it.
I'm grateful for the opportunities he has to explore some of these different avenues.
A few more weeks and graduation will be upon us.

Austin and Casey are in the middle of planning their wedding (August).

We had the chance to purchase the house beside of us for a really good price.
It needs (A LOT) of work, but I think it has the potential to be really nice once we get it finished.
Our original plan was to fix it up and rent it - and thus, ultimately pick our neighbors.
Now, Austin and Casey have decided to buy it from us once we get it fixed.
Fixing it up has turned into a family project, and we'll have them beside us when we're finished.

So many changes coming up in the next few months.


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