Welcome Kylie Gavin!!!!

Lisa, Jackson, and I just received "the call". We only have a little information to go on right now and no pictures yet, but we are all thrilled beyond belief. Our family will soon be together. Jackson is so excited to be a big brother!

Here is what we know: Xu Chun Tao (Kylie Gavin) was born on May 6, 2007 (so she will be one year old next week). She lives somewhere in the Guangdong Province, see below. Unfortunately, that is all the information that we have on Kylie today. We will be receiving the rest of her information (and photos!) mid-week next week.

Xu Chun Tao's name translates like this:

'Xu': the family name (surname or last name). Often, children in Chinese orphanages are named after the orphanage, the region or the orphanage director.

'Chun': the generational name meaning 'spring'.

'Tao': the first name meaning 'peach'.

'Chuntao': may be used together, 'spring peach'.

Travel:

Though we don't know the dates of travel yet (hopefully before the end of June), our trip to China will last around 3 weeks. For the majority of the time, we will be in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong. Guangzhou is also where the U.S. Consulate is. Every family must pass through Guangzhou on their way back home from an adoption in China. Since we are going straight to Guangzhou, this will simplify our trip, which will be great as Jackson will be travelling with us.

Here's some brief information on Guangdong/Guangzhou:


Guangdong is a province on the southern coast of China. Guangdong neighbors the Jiangxi and Hunan provinces in the north, the Fujian Province in the east and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the west. Although not apart of Guangdong, Hong Kong is located just off the South Eastern Coast.

Guangdong overtook Henan and Sichuan to become the most populous province in China in January 2005, registering 79 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who have lived in the province for at least six months. The provincial capital of Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are among the most populous and important cities in China.

Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate (tropical in the far south), with short, mild, dry, winters and long, hot, wet summers. Average daily highs in Guangzhou in January and July are 18C (64F) and 33C (91F) respectively, although the humidity makes it feel much hotter in summer. Frost is rare on the coast but may happen a few days each winter well inland.

Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong, and the center of its political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural life.