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.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Spring 2017

Leila finished her 1st year doing competitive cheer with GC Starz.
She was on the 'Mini' team.
There were a few ups and downs, but overall, she really enjoyed it.

Most of their competitions were in OH, but their final one for the season took us to Hershey, PA.
They had a great performance, but they didn't place as well as they wanted. They were a little disappointed, but it was okay, and they'll be better for it.
All of our 'big kids' arranged their schedules and went with us that weekend, so we had a little mini vacation.
We got to go to Hershey World and Hershey Park.



I had some super chocolate.


And David, Leila and I made a short side trip on the way home to York, PA so David could tour the Harley Factory.


I'm grateful for times like this.

In Feb, David and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
We were (really) surprised by a party at the church with family and friends.


The love and work that went into planning and pulling this off for us was wonderful.
And then to have so many people come and spend their evening with us, was amazing.
The last 25 years, have had a LOT of ups and downs, but we must be doing something right!
Here's to 25 more!

Easter is always nice.
We had beautiful weather.
We started with sunrise breakfast, church, and then dinner at home.




David FINALLY got his long awaited motorcycle in May.


The kids treated me to lunch at the Chinese restaurant for Mother's Day.
(They can be so sweet at times.)

Leila started biddy league volleyball.
She's the smallest one on the team (on all the teams actually).
She does pretty good hitting the ball, but serving is hard - that net is still a LONG way away.


Summer comes before we even realize it.
Leila has finished 3rd grade.
Darrell has finished his 2nd year of college.
Austin was hired on 'full-time' at Toyota.


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