Sunday, November 9, 2008



As we waited in the lobby to leave to pick up our kids we were all sick with anxiety. Our hopes were, of course, that it would all go smoothly but nobody knew what they had in store for them. Our four families descended on the registration office to meet our children for the first time. I don't even know how to tell you how it felt for all of us standing outside in the dark hallway looking into a room lit only by sunlight searching the small crowd for our childs face. We quickly spotted our Amy Meng and she spotted us. Her face lit up, she pointed at us and quickly walked towards us. I have been trying to spend my time and energy preparing for the worst or even a bit of bad - what a waste of time. Our daughter is beautiful, sweet, delightful and outgoing. She is not shy. She cannot speak much english but knows many words.
As we walked back to the hotel she would take our hands and kiss them. She is soooo wonderful. Mike had a book with pictures to learn english/mandarin from and Amy Meng loved it. She would point at pictures and say the word in english. The best part was when she said "I like watermelon", Mike made a face and said "I like watermelon too!". After that she kept saying "Father likes watermelon!". I cannot tell you how precious she is, actually I guess that I have about a million times!!!
The other families babies are adorable!! There has been a bit of crying but not much. They are such a blessing to us. We have all talked about how people seem to think that we are doing a wonderful thing but ALL of us feel that we have done it for selfish purposes and have been the ones with the biggest blessing.
Thank you all for your love and support! We couldn't have done it without you.
More later.


8 comments:

l said...

OOOh, he he he! I love it. We are all gathered around the computer crying tears of joy. She is sooo adorable! Now just come HOME! God bless all of you. Hello Amy!
The Tiffans

m&a said...

We were anxiously awaiting your gotcha day post. Sounds wonderful, what a lucky family!

Kim Swanberg said...

WooHoo.... She is beautiful. She fits right in with all of you. I can not wait to see her in person and start sharing in her life as part of the family. She just seems so sweet. Love you all!!!

Kelley said...

wow - more tears. I am just so happy for all of you. It is all just so beautiful. Thank you for letting all of us share in this experience. I met a couple last night at church who are leaving next July to go on a mission to China for three years. They don't have any children but anticipate coming home with a family. I told them about what was happening with you at that moment and they were so touched and excited for you. Everyone here sends their love.
Lots of love - K

Unknown said...

I hope you don't mind I've been getting my friends and co-workers involved in your story and shared their blog with them. I guess I'm just excited to be an uncle again and really envy everything that's been happening with you there. Keep posting because you have a lot of addicted readers over here in Southern California!

Unk and Leez

Kim said...

I cannot even imagine the joy, the happiness and the excitement! Tears fill my eyes! I am so excited to show my 4 boys this entry in the morning!! They keep asking when you will be home with Amy... they are going to be thrilled to see the pictures!

Kim and family

Lisa said...

HELLO Mike - Joyce & your family of 7!!!!!! I JUST found your blog tonight! (Can't believe I didn't know about this!) I'm wiping tears from my eyes - tears of joy at seeing your beautiful Amy Meng in your family. The pictures are precious and we are looking very forward to following along on the rest of your journey. We've been praying for you and we'll continue to do so. Blessings and have FUN in China! I'm missing it already!

Unknown said...

Way to go we are all very happy over here. Now we have somthing to really be thankful for. Lots of love to all seven of you. all is well here. Dusty