Completing pre-adoption paperwork

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

MADISON, Miss. (Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008) – Just when you thought you had nothing left to, up pops a horde of additional paperwork that you have to prepare before heading to China to complete a foreign adoption.

I just spent about an hour or so completing paperwork in advance of traveling – I guess I had to do something, though while my lovely wife spent Sunday night at Target spending more cash in advance of our epic journey.

Anyway, we are about a week away from travel. So tonight was time well spent.

On Monday, I am expecting a FedEx package from Holt International Children’s Services with our official travel invitation from the People’s Republic of China. We need the information in this packet before we travel.

I also expect to spend a good bit of the day working with our travel agent, Lotus Travel, in Bellevue, Wa., working out the itinerary for China and arranging hotel and flight reservations. This could be tricky particularly because of the short window we have.

For our 2006 trip to China, for example, we had about a three-week window to arrange everything. I understand the cost of just about everything in China – from travel to in-country expenses – has risen noticeably in the past two years. It will be interesting to see how that affects our travel costs.

With Thanksgiving looming ahead on Thursday, arranging travel and trying to get our tickets all before the weekend could be risky. I’m hoping we can pull this off because Pam, Camryn and I hope to travel to Slidell on Thursday to visit my family.

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To the left is a photo of He Wu Di we received last summer after Holt International matched us with him. From what we understand, this infectiously happy photo won the hearts of staffers at Holt – as well as his new parents.

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On a quick, unrelated note: Despite trying to overcome a bad sinus infection, Pam and I took Camryn today to see Walt Disney’s “Bolt” in 3-D. It was OK. The 3-D effects were nice. Camryn seemed to enjoy, although at one point she got hysterical when she thought the little girl, Penny, ditched her dog, Bolt.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino

Cassreinos prepare for Dec. 1 China adoption trip

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

MADISON, Miss. (Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008) -- Welcome back to Cassreino Online, our family blog and an archive of our April-March 2006 trip to China to adopt our daughter, Camryn Ai Hua.

It’s been two years and eight months since that momentous occasion. You can look back at our trip by visiting this blog’s archives on the left side of this page. From there, go to March 27, 2006, and you can follow our trip day-to-day until we returned to Mississippi after a nearly three-week stay.

Since then, we moved from Hattiesburg, relocated in Madison County just north of Jackson, I took a job as communications director for the Mississippi Democratic Party, Pam works as a teacher in Madison County Schools, and Camryn continues to grow and amaze.

The big news for us, however, is that Pam and I are returning to China on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008, to adopt a little boy. And we will chronicle every step of our trip through this blog, offering readers like you an update probably twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon; sometimes we’ll update more often.

You can expect more of what you experienced during our last trip: Observations about China and what’s different two years since our last visit; a critical review of airline food (and with all the extra fees they are charging, it ought to be better than the garbage we had last time); a critical review of the different Chinese beers based, of course, on observations and reports from our new son (who has had more than a year to try them before we arrive in December); and, more importantly, an intimate look at our adoption.

The world has changed a lot in the past two years. We moved to Central Mississippi after quickly selling our Hattiesburg home in the end of a booming real estate market; the state and national economy has crashed; we have a new president who no doubt will right what had been a sinking ship; “The Sopranos” is no longer on television and I have nothing for anyone to tape on television while I’m gone; and Blu-Ray discs have replaced DVDs (at least for me and my sick addiction to buying films) in home libraries.

But one thing hasn’t: The need for innocent, abandoned children to find a new home. And that’s what we plan to do. After months of stressful waiting, Pam and I are finally ready to head to China on a trip that will end with us adopting an orphan boy. He Wu Di was born on March 16, 2007. And he’ll be 1 year, eight months when we get him.

Check back daily beginning today and follow our journey. Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us, too, by sending an e-mail or commenting on our entries. And something new this time: Look to the left-hand column and you’ll see a link that will allow you to subscribe to our blog by RSS feed.

Look for more on He Wu Di and our complete travel plans in the next couple of days.

Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino, all rights reserved.

Starting the adoption process again

Saturday, July 6, 2006

We've just made it official: Pam and I are applying with Holt International Children's Services to adopt a secondchild from China. A welcome packet is on its way from Eugene, Ore., about the China program.
Ofcourse, we are familiar with the program. So, while it will be once again tedious work compiling documents, it should be easier because we've been through this already. My best guess is that we couldhave a dossier ready to ship to Holt and China by about October or November.
If the wait time holds up, we could be back in China for another adopting by the end of 2007.

-- TERRY R. CASSREINO

Mother's Day and our seventh anniversary

Saturday, May 20, 2006

HATTIESBURG – I’m running a little late, so sorry.
But here’s to Mother’s Day and our seventh wedding anniversary. This short photo gallery is a nice look back at Mother’s Day weekend. The photos are not in order, but you’ll enjoy them anyway. -- Terry R. Cassreino

PHOTO 1
Camryn enjoys a ride in the basket at Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Hattiesburg as Pam spends hours and hours walking up and down the aisles looking at every item for sale and reading all product labels. I’m not sure when the photo was snapped, but I know it was recently and it is kind of cute.

PHOTO 2
OK, so I’m cheating a little. This wasn’t exactly Mother’s Day. But it does feature Granny Jo feeding little ol’ Camryn. Actually it’s Na Na Jo. Another nice photo if grandmother and baby. And a nice shot for Mother’s Day whether or not it was snapped that day.

PHOTO 3
Mother’s Day morning, before we attended Mass at St. Thomas. Here, Camryn sits in her high chair staring at a Cheerio minutes after she rampages through the house clanging pots and pans and screaming in Mommy’s ear.










PHOTO 4
Later that day, Pam and Camryn sit on the front steps of our house for this nice shot.













PHOTO 5
On Monday, May 15, we stopped at my sister’s work to visit before Pam and I headed to Uptown New Orleans for our anniversary dinner. Here, Camryn holds onto my fingers as she shows off how she can stand.

PHOTO 6
I love black and white photography. There’s something about it, a timeless quality. This is a particularly nice shot on grandmother, Maw-Maw Gay, and grandchild.












Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino

Letter from the president

Sunday, May 14, 2006

HATTIESBURG - Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there.
And in celebration of this momentous occasion, I thought you'd like to read thetext of the letter President George W. Bush personally mailed to our daughter, Camryn, to mark her citizenship in the United States.
- Terry R. Cassreino

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Dear Fellow American:

I am pleased to congratulate you on becoming a United States citizen. You are now a part of a great and blessed Nation. I know your family and mends are proud of you on this special day.

Americans are united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals. The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, and that no insignificant person was ever born. Our country has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by principles that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests, and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every citizen must uphold these principles. And every new citizen, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American.

As you begin to participate fully in our democracy, remember that what you do is as important as anything government does. I ask you to serve your new Nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens building communities of service and a Nation of character. Americans are generous and strong and decent not because we believe in ourselves, but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.

Welcome to the joy, responsibility, and freedom of American citizenship. God bless you, and God bless America.

Sincerely,

George W. Bush