ML resident's grandson adopts two Chinese orphans

Cappuccios planning Orlando visit in fall

Ida Cappuccio is quite the proud great-grandmother, for never having met her great-grandchildren.

Earlier in the year, Cappuccio's grandson, Shon LeGette, a resident of Orlando, Fla., and his wife adopted two little girls, Jada Ling and Jordan Fen, from an orphanage in China.

"They were over there in China on the little girls' birthdays on Feb. 20," Cappuccio said. "They were waiting on visas, so they came home around the first of March."

"My wife can't have children, and we both wanted to have children," explained LeGette, a computer operations manager in Orlando.

He said that his wife Terri did the research, and found the legalities of United States adoption a little unsettling, with the possibility of parents being able to reclaim their children, so they decided to pursue international adoption through China.

Cappuccio said the LeGettes broke the news to her and her husband Frank about their pending adoption early, in order to get a sense of their feelings.

"I said, 'You know, if this is what you want,'" Cappuccio remembered.

So the LeGettes put their name in to be considered for adoption in September 2002, and received word in December 2003.

"He called me New Year's Eve and he said, 'Grandma, we've got our babies,'" Cappuccio said. "I said, 'Babies.' He said, 'We've got two.'"

LeGette said they were very fortunate to get twins. They'd put in for twins, but he said that to actually receive twins is very rare.

Cappuccio said the LeGettes were pleased from the very beginning, considering that they only were expecting one child, meaning that there was some scurrying around to obtain extra supplies, such as an additional crib.

She said the two girls were unable to walk when they were adopted, even though they were a year old, because walking and feeding themselves are not encouraged by the orphanage.

"(It's been going) real good; they've adjusted quite well," LeGette said. "We had a bit of a language barrier in the beginning. They still have a hard time speaking, but they understand more than they speak."

Cappuccio said a trip is planned for October so that she can finally meet their grandchildren. There were plans to greet the newest additions to the LeGette family upon their arrival in California in March, but they took a different route home to Orlando because they were traveling with several other families, she said. Another trip was planned for the beginning of April, but Cappuccio was unable to travel for health reasons.

The Cappuccios have lived in Moses Lake since 1970. LeGette was born in Washington and lived in Seattle until he turned seven years old, but would often visit his grandparents.