A Perfect Ending to an Awesome Year!

I finally figured out how to add a video! Scroll down to "Put your little foot" - My sister and mama just love the Mia to pieces.

Merry Christmas to All!

All first Christmas' are special. Yet somehow Mia's first Christmas is especially tender. She is our joy and we enjoy every moment in her presence. Every first for her is re-lived by those who see her expressions. Right now she's freaking over an annoying house fly. She pays close attention to the tiny details of life and is so sensitive to world around her. We love to watch her reactions to new things. I just sit and marvel at how the year has turned out. This has certainly been a year to remember.

10 month Anniversary

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It's unbelievable that she's been ours for 10 months. This same time last year I was beginning to think that the adoption would fail. The batches were creeping by in a snail pace and just as our "number" was about to come up, the cut-off date missed us by one day. As sadly as 2006 passed, 2007 has been a year of rejoicing. God blessed us with our referral on January 3rd and even though we were skipped in the December batch, we ended up traveling with that same group! If you have a moment, just scroll down to last years posts and see what a difference a year can make. I could go on and on about the many ways God has proved to us that His hand has been in this adoption from the beginning of conception.

On November 11, 2004, with hearts sensitive and open to adoption, we were given an opportunity to consider adopting from China, at that same time a little girl was conceived in Yunnan province. Nine months later she was born just as our paper-work landed on Chinese soil. What started out being an 8 - 10 month wait suddenly clamped down and the referrals were halted to a trickle. "Why?" we wondered. But God knew that the baby that was to be ours would not be given up by her birth parent until June of 2006. As we neared our 12 month anniversary of our log-in in Beijing, the orphanage in Kunming was just preparing the paper-work of one year old Guan Yun Zhu. She was to go to a foster-family for a short while where she must have been loved very much. I can only imagine how hard it has been for all those who've been a part of her past to let her go. We are eternally grateful for their love and care.

On January 3rd I received the wonderful news that our little girl was from Kunming, the city of eternal spring and one of my favorite tales, the lost city of Shangri-La, a city known for high mountains in the clouds. My scripture verse that day read, "Let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it.." Isaiah 45:8 (NASB) Many people say that we've "saved" a little girl, but I know for certain that she is "saving" us in so many different ways.

This year has been a year of abundance. Our hearts have grown and our Mia is happy and healthy. I can't begin to express my thankfulness. "

"Joyful, Joyful we adore thee!"