India Heritage Camp 2006

This weekend we attended India Heritage Camp hosted by our adoption agency, Dillon International. This camp is held annually to allow kids (and parents) to connect with others who are adopted (or have adopted) from India. It's a two day camp...well actually about a day and a half. There are lots of activities for the kids and workshops for the parents. Ian was too young to participate in any of the activities for kids, so he stayed in the nursery. We attended the adult workshops. Both days of workshops were wonderful. Saturday was especially great because Anju, the director of the orphanage in Kolkata was there. The topic for that session was "Relinquishment Issues." We talked a lot about birth mothers and how the children actually come to the orphanage. Some of it was a little hard to hear, but it was very informative. I have to keep reminding myself that it's a completely different culture in India. One of the things that we learned was that the orphanage is no longer taking babies that are under 2kg in weight. It that policy had been in effect when Ian was born, he would not have been admitted into the orphanage. That made me shiver. Ian was only 1.5kg at birth. We knew it all along, but once again we were reminded that God truly had a plan for Ian. We gained other valuable information from Anju and enjoyed visiting with her. She was thrilled with the progress that Ian is making and how happy he is.

We were able to meet lots of people that we've corresponded with on the Dillon India Forum. It was nice to finally put faces to names. The kids are all just beautiful and have such sweet personalities.

Friday afternoon we had an opportunity to swim and play in the water. This was Ian's first time in the pool. He was a little apprehensive at first...but then....wow...he LOVED it. I'll post a picture or two (have to be selective as daddy got a few shots that show a little too much of mommy's cleavage). He was totally exhausted after about an hour (of course it was 102 degrees). He practically fell asleep in the splash pad. We gathered our stuff and headed home. Of course, he was asleep in the car seat before we were out of the parking lot.

Friday evening, we had dinner with Angie, Dustin and Mia. What a great reunion. Mia is such a sweet little girl. It was so much fun getting together with them. We are so blessed that they are so close. Both kids did exceptionally well and were happy throughout the entire meal. They both have outgoing and sweet personalities. Little Mia has her Miss America wave down pat (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist). She gives kisses, kisses, kisses. But...she also has a frowny face...that we were experienced very early in the evening. She warmed up to me pretty quickly, but was still a little uncertain of Charlie. I'll post a few of the pictures of the two of them together and then we have one of both of our families...one of many to come I'm sure.

We were also able to finally meet Grace. She and her husband Shane live in Hulbert and are in the process of adopting Jadyn Grace from Kolkata. They have hit a slight snag with their guardianship, but we're all hopeful that things will be resolved quickly and that they'll be on their way soon to pick up their princess.

Overall it was a fabulous weekend and one we will remember forever.

Pictures to come.