This is the 14th installment in a series of columns I am devoting to the adoption journey my wife, Claudette, and I started in 2005. Hank Bond, publisher and editor of the Greenup Beacon, asked that we share our story with you. Maybe you have an interest in adoption or know someone who does. If so, I hope this information is helpful. We adopted our daughter, Josie Claire Siyan, from China in 2007.

An entry in “Our Journey to Josie” website dated February 1, 2007, said:

“Claudette, Josie, and I had a nice, long nap this afternoon. It was long overdue! We watched an old movie on HBO--"Roxanne," starring Daryl Hannah and Steve Martin. Claudette had never seen it and it has been years since I have seen it. Josie slept right through it.”

“After Josie's nap was over, we got ready and went downstairs to move some American money into Chinese yuan. We then made our way to one of the hotels four restaurants and enjoyed . . . SPAGHETTI (just like it's made in the U.S.)! We had garlic bread, and pizza that was a little different (no sauce--just cheese and tomatoes), but good. For dessert we enjoyed . . . VANILLA ICE CREAM with chocolate sauce (on ours--not on Josie's). Josie thoroughly enjoyed her meal.  She wanted to feed herself again and sometimes became annoyed when we would try to help her. She's very self-sufficient, especially for a 2-year-old. Needless to say, all three of us thoroughly enjoyed our dinner this evening.”

“We're now back in our room. I'm giving you this update while Claudette is giving Josie a bath. Prior to bath time, I took these photos. Enjoy!”

“Claudette brought Josie in from her bath, bundled up in a big white towel. Claudette then put her on the bed and Josie went wild when I brought Claudette the baby lotion. Claudette put some in Josie's hand and she went wild rubbing it all over her belly. She's now prancing around the room and just hopped up on the bed to enjoy a banana while watching television with Mommy.”

“Right after dinner we decided to take a walk on the ground floor of the hotel.  Just past some shops there is a fountain. Claudette put Josie on the edge of the water; Josie enjoyed the lights and fish in the fountain.”

“We're doing some touring tomorrow. I've been shooting many more photos than what's been featured on our web site, so Josie can have a good sense of where she's from and the culture here. I'll include much of that in the DVD I plan to produce when we are home.”

“Have a great day today!”

Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Ph.D., is a professor in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Marshall University, and an eastern Greenup County native. He may be reached at hapney@marshall.edu.



Josie watches television in our hotel room in Nanjing (Jiangsu Province), China.

Josie enjoys a chocolate chip cookie while in bed.

Our beautiful gift from God--Josie Claire Siyan Hapney!