One Year Ago Today...

Lately I have found myself saying those words..."One year ago today..." and applying it to our adoption journey. Today is particularly sweet...it was the day we left for China. Yes, in just 2 days it will be our Gotcha Day! I am overwhelmed with emotion pertaining to these days. I feel totally nostalgic about China and our trip. I can't believe it has been a year...it seems like only a few months! Because it is all so hard to put into words I put together the video below to "commemorate" our first year. I hope you enjoy it! If you are in the same place as we are you might just watch it an reminisce. If you are waiting, I pray you watch it and take heart that it will be you sooner than you think...I promise! In just 2 days I will have Gotcha Day pics up to post! Enjoy...

My Montage 2/16/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Valentines Day and Stuff!

The boys dressed Taryn up as Indiana Jones!

She is such a "girl" with her purse and her cell phone inside! She goes everywhere with her purse.

Garrett and his Valentine Candy!

Taryn and her Valentine Suckers!

Yummy!

We are buried under snow here in KY! Nothing like those in NY or WA, but we are having more snow here than I have seen in awhile. The boys are having a blast. Poor Taryn, however, is not getting out in it much because it requires one parent to go with her...and Mama doesn't like cold! :) So, she hasn't gotten to play in it as much as her brothers.
I can't believe it is February already. We have already been contacted by our SW for our 1 year follow up! OUR ONE YEAR FOLLOW UP! It will be one year in March! Can you even believe it? It feels like it was just yesterday (or at the least a few months ago!) that we were in China! I will have to let everyone know how our follow up goes...as well as our 1st Gotcha Day! We have already made plans to get with one of our traveling couples and go eat Chinese Food with the girls! So, enjoy the few pictures from Valentines Day...until next time!

Snow Days!

Yes! Taryn's brothers took her sledding...!

I guess they are having fun...hopefully!

Snow bunny!

The Chinese would be very pleased with the "bundleing"! :)

Beginnings...

Taryn and our niece, Eva, playing in the water area ...

Taryn and Wesley playing in the bubble room of the Museum...

Wesley...pretending to walk on the moon!

"Beam me up Scotty..."

1st haircut!

Playing a game on Christmas Eve!

Her new "baby"...

How cute is this Santa?

Our Family...

I can't help but reflect to where we were this time last year. We had just gotten our referral and were so darn happy to be getting ready to travel. Fast forward 10 months and we are still so "darn" happy to be alive and to be the parents of our newest daughter from China...Taryn Joy. This was the time of year for many "firsts". It was Taryn's first Christmas, her first hair cut and her first time at the Children's Museum. All of these "firsts" happened within one week so I combined as many pictures as I could of these events!
I hope the New Year is nothing but joyful for all of you. I pray that those of you waiting to receive your child from China (or any other country!) will hear good news this year. I pray for all of the little ones who will not be placed into a family this year...that they will somehow be protected and kept safe until their family comes. I especially wish all of the new additions to many new families this year, nothing but the very best. It is still hard to believe she is home with us! Thank God for her, and for our family...Happy 2010 everyone!

Reflections...

Below is a December post (well, one of them!) that I posted this time last year. It still rings true today and I felt it deserved mentioning again. As you can see, if you read it, we had not yet recieved our "gift"...Taryn. One year later, all of the "heartache" of waiting is behind us and our gift is growing and learning to love and be loved every day. I hope this Holiday season finds everyone well and I pray that your gifts are delivered safe and sound and QUICKLY! Merry Christmas!

Returning to an older post...

Steve and I just finished watching The Nativity Story for the first time. It went straight to my heart, for many reasons. The people that make up this story are all very different and very crucial to the coming of Christ. Mary, Joseph, Zachariah, Elizabeth, John, the Three Wisemen, the lowly shepards...even King Herrod! I am in amazement that God sent his son to earth in the form of a baby! And what about the humble people chosen for the ENORMOUS task of raising Christ into a man!
That is what struck my heart the most....Out of all of the people in the nativity story, Joseph was one of my favorites! He rose above prejudice from others against his unwed, pregnant, soon to be wife. He made the choice to not only marry Mary but to raise Jesus as his own son.
Isn't that the choice so many of us have made with our adoptions? We have chosen to take a child, birthed by someone we probably will never know...and raise it as our own. The essence of adoption is, to the core, a spiritual decision. In order for God to adopt all of us as his own children, Joseph had to adopt Jesus as his son here on earth,
To adopt a child is to love a child in your heart instead of your womb. To know that you know, that the child you are adopting has been chosen for you and your family by God...just as biological children are chosen. Our adopted child is destined to fulfill a glorious purpose, as we all are! Those of us parenting any children, adopted or not, have the same awesome responsibility as Mary and Joseph were given...to raise our children to glorify God!
When Taryn comes...and I am back to saying when instead of if...she will be loved no differently than our boys. She has been growing in our hearts for almost 4 years now. Through all of this heartache with our adoption...and it has been a literal "ache" in my heart...I have been made aware of the fact that she is so very much loved-already!
So, just like Joseph, and following God's example, we are perservering through this challange of adoption! Not that we thought otherwise, but it has been such an uphill battle! I am thankful for the example shown in both of these stories...and I am especially aware of it this time of year. The birth of Jesus! The adoption of Jesus by Joseph...the chance for our salvation through the adoption into Gods family...
Merry Christmas to all of you...and especially to all of the waiting families...may God bring our gifts home soon! 2 comments