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.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Summer - 'Showers'

Leila has been letting her hair grow for awhile now.
She wanted to donate it to kids with cancer.
She got 11 inches cut off.
This was all her idea.
Sometimes she makes me so proud.
She's such a giving child at times.


We have a few new members in our church.
We're so blessed they've decided to join us.
They are active and have some great ideas to get us up and out and going.
We had a painting class in Aug.
Something no one had thought to do, but everyone seemed to enjoy.



Big things are coming.

We had Darrell and Haley's wedding shower.
We made it 'Friends' themed.


Once we were through with the wedding shower, it was time to plan Austin and Casey's baby shower.
Our theme for that was 'Ahoy - It's a Boy'.


I've kept some of baby things from each of the kids.
For Caleb's shower, I dug out Austin's baby clothes.
I copied a picture of Austin wearing each of the outfits and put the clothes and the pictures in a box for them.
I wasn't sure whether to do this or not - turns out it was a fantastic idea.
They loved it, and several people said they either wished they'd thought to do this in the past or they're planning to do it now for the future.


Leila also made the jr high cheer team this year.
Being in the 6th grade, she's still at the elementary school, but can participate in jr high activities.
This also meant getting to be a part of homecoming - dance, parade, etc.

Yes, she's still cheering for GC Starz too.
I foresee a busy fall.

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