Ben already loves his sister!
PRICELESS!
Finishing Up Paper Work2/22/05 (9:00 p.m.)
Everyone is sleeping now, including our little China doll all bundled up in her soft, pink blanket. What a sight! I know how beautiful she must look to all of you in the pictures that we’ve uploaded, but I promise the pictures don’t do her justice. You absolutely cannot capture in two dimensions the essence of this little girl.
Sonya and I were talking a few minutes ago about how all this is still very surreal. Reality has yet to set in. I’m usually pretty good at describing my emotions, and you know Sonya is never at a loss for words, but we’re both fairly speechless at this point. I guess a statement I made to her earlier tonight sums it up very well. I was talking about how good God has been to us when I said, “I’m amazed, but not surprised.” Everything we’ve prayed about, God has answered in a way that shows us how much he honors our prayers and provides for our needs.
OK, let me try to summarize the day as briefly as I can…
After a nerve-wracking morning of packing up and getting on a plane headed for Nanchang, we were met at the airport by our guide, Grace, which is interesting because we were told our guide was going to be Mary; however, Grace has been great (hey, there’s a hymn about that…”Grace that is greater…”). Anyway, you can tell I’m slightly delirious. Then it was off to the Gloria Hotel, which was also a big surprise since we were told that we would be staying at the Lake View. But again, it turned out to be a good thing.
We unpacked our things, met up with our friends from B’ham, Gary and Sommer, and went shopping for a few items for our baby girls (bottle, formula, etc.). Then at 4:00 p.m. it was off to the Civil Affairs Office. This is the same office that Lisa Ling, et al, visited in the National Geographic Explorer episode about Chinese adoptions. That was freaky seeing it all in person. As soon as we walked in the door of the “meeting room” there were two nannies sitting with our little girls waiting for us to arrive. They stood up, handed us our daughters, and just like that, we were a family of five. Fortunately, I had heard about how quickly these things can happen and already had the camcorder going and the digital camera in my hand.
We were then rushed out almost as quickly as we were rushed in. We took a few official photos then got back on the bus for the hotel. We spent an hour or so bonding with Katie Lin and dressing her up in, you guessed it, PINK. Then we met with the orphanage director and his associate to sign a few papers and discuss KL’s health, habits, and history since our last update when she was six-months-old. We all had dinner at the buffet downstairs afterwards, but KL was pretty sleepy at that point, so we went back to our room and put her down for the night.
I wish you could see her two big brothers. They are absolutely IN LOVE with this girl. I literally have not been able to get very close to her all day because they are always in between me and her, giving her toys, rubbing her head, snapping her clothes, helping with diapers, etc. Ben got up at least five or six times after he went to bed and just stared over the crib at her. He said, “I just can’t stop looking at her.” He even wants us to wake him up if she gets up the middle of the night so he can spend time with her. We’ll see about that!
Well, as you can imagine, Sonya and I are exhausted in every way right now. Our adrenaline is keeping us going, but it’s time to try to get some sleep. We have a busy morning at the Civil Affairs Office tomorrow. After that we should have a couple of days of bonding with our little princess, followed by a few days of local tours before heading to Guangzhou next Tuesday for our final four days in China.
I can’t tell you how much your prayers and encouraging words have meant to us. We are so honored to have so many friends and family members who love us and love this little girl whom they have yet to meet. God bless you all. We’ll keep sending pic’s and posts, I promise.
Jeff, Sonya, Drew, Ben and Grandmother
Everyone is sleeping now, including our little China doll all bundled up in her soft, pink blanket. What a sight! I know how beautiful she must look to all of you in the pictures that we’ve uploaded, but I promise the pictures don’t do her justice. You absolutely cannot capture in two dimensions the essence of this little girl.
Sonya and I were talking a few minutes ago about how all this is still very surreal. Reality has yet to set in. I’m usually pretty good at describing my emotions, and you know Sonya is never at a loss for words, but we’re both fairly speechless at this point. I guess a statement I made to her earlier tonight sums it up very well. I was talking about how good God has been to us when I said, “I’m amazed, but not surprised.” Everything we’ve prayed about, God has answered in a way that shows us how much he honors our prayers and provides for our needs.
OK, let me try to summarize the day as briefly as I can…
After a nerve-wracking morning of packing up and getting on a plane headed for Nanchang, we were met at the airport by our guide, Grace, which is interesting because we were told our guide was going to be Mary; however, Grace has been great (hey, there’s a hymn about that…”Grace that is greater…”). Anyway, you can tell I’m slightly delirious. Then it was off to the Gloria Hotel, which was also a big surprise since we were told that we would be staying at the Lake View. But again, it turned out to be a good thing.
We unpacked our things, met up with our friends from B’ham, Gary and Sommer, and went shopping for a few items for our baby girls (bottle, formula, etc.). Then at 4:00 p.m. it was off to the Civil Affairs Office. This is the same office that Lisa Ling, et al, visited in the National Geographic Explorer episode about Chinese adoptions. That was freaky seeing it all in person. As soon as we walked in the door of the “meeting room” there were two nannies sitting with our little girls waiting for us to arrive. They stood up, handed us our daughters, and just like that, we were a family of five. Fortunately, I had heard about how quickly these things can happen and already had the camcorder going and the digital camera in my hand.
We were then rushed out almost as quickly as we were rushed in. We took a few official photos then got back on the bus for the hotel. We spent an hour or so bonding with Katie Lin and dressing her up in, you guessed it, PINK. Then we met with the orphanage director and his associate to sign a few papers and discuss KL’s health, habits, and history since our last update when she was six-months-old. We all had dinner at the buffet downstairs afterwards, but KL was pretty sleepy at that point, so we went back to our room and put her down for the night.
I wish you could see her two big brothers. They are absolutely IN LOVE with this girl. I literally have not been able to get very close to her all day because they are always in between me and her, giving her toys, rubbing her head, snapping her clothes, helping with diapers, etc. Ben got up at least five or six times after he went to bed and just stared over the crib at her. He said, “I just can’t stop looking at her.” He even wants us to wake him up if she gets up the middle of the night so he can spend time with her. We’ll see about that!
Well, as you can imagine, Sonya and I are exhausted in every way right now. Our adrenaline is keeping us going, but it’s time to try to get some sleep. We have a busy morning at the Civil Affairs Office tomorrow. After that we should have a couple of days of bonding with our little princess, followed by a few days of local tours before heading to Guangzhou next Tuesday for our final four days in China.
I can’t tell you how much your prayers and encouraging words have meant to us. We are so honored to have so many friends and family members who love us and love this little girl whom they have yet to meet. God bless you all. We’ll keep sending pic’s and posts, I promise.
Jeff, Sonya, Drew, Ben and Grandmother
0 comments:
Post a Comment