What you see are a number of souveniers that we will be taking to hand out while we're there - Canadian flags, pins, pencils, any low cost items with Canada on them that we can hand out to people that we run across in our travels. You will also see some things that will be gifts for the people in the orphanage and other people who have been involved in Samantha's life or are helping us through the adoption process. Things such as maple syrup and ginseng teabags are unique to Canada and apparently are well received.Then there's the stuff for Samantha. Very little in the way of toys - stacking cups, rattle and a couple of stuffed animals are about all we are taking in that respect. The rest are the necessities - diapers, bottles, formula, blankets, creams, medications... The list goes on. Basically we look at it as if we were going into isolation for 2 weeks and need to take the necessities with us. Who knows when we will get time to buy the things we need, and if we would be able to find what we would need if we have the time. We would rather take too much than be stuck needing things we can't get. The other thing we're taking is 2 small books, "The Wong Family" and "The Penner Family". These are soft-covered books with individual pictures of each member of our families (thanks everyone for your patience while we took pictures). Samantha's joining the whole family, so she might as well get to know everyone, and that includes Rusty!
Yes, there are a few things there for us. TP, snacks, thermos's, flashlights, etc.. We are probably packing way too much, but based on experiences of others who have traveled before us, we're covering our bases.
The other things that we need to pack are the wonderful gifts provided by the Penner family at Christmas 2005, when the traditional gift exchange was replaced with purchases for the orphanage in China.
The picture on the left is a carry-on of that theme. Shirley was scanning the Robeez baby shoe website when she noticed that they have a program called "Heart and Sole" supporting the needs of infants and children in need. This also includes supporting their international adoption customers, and providing for the orphanages. Shirley sent a very heart-felt email to the people at Robeez describing our plans, what the Penner family had done, and questioning if Robeez would like to participate and make a donation. After a brief phone call with Shirley, they agreed to send us an assortment of 50 pairs of shoes in sizes from 0 - 24 months.This was far more that we could have imagined, and we thank the kind people at Robeez for their generous gift. We're sure these will be welcome to the Chinese orphanage and the foster home where Samantha is currently being raised.