Wednesday, July
5, 2006
Wow! What a trip this has been! I cannot believe we are coming
home, finally! We leave early tomorrow morning, Wednesday night
for you all in the states. Please pray for safe travels, that
Reagan does well on the flights, and that Sean and I do well
too. It is going to be very tiring, over 24 hours of nonstop
travelling! Our flight leaves Guangzhou at 8:15 AM to Tokyo. We
will then fly from Tokyo to Detroit, and then from Detroit to
the Tricities. We are supposed to arrive at the airport at 9:27
PM Thursday night. You can check our Travel Itinerary for
specifics about the flights. Pray that our girls and my parents
have safety driving to meet us there. We are so excited to get
home and introduce everyone to Reagan!
'Today was a great day. Reagan has continued to improve. She
still sounds bad and has a runny nose, but she doesn't have any
fever! Praise God! We give Him all of the glory! We are so
thankful to all of you for praying her through this. Please
continue to pray for her health and for her to learn how to eat
solid foods. We know it will take some time to train her because
she is already one year old, so she is smart enough to know when
we try to sneak new things in on her. She is so stubborn and
refuses to try anything else other than her bottle with formula
in it. God will pull her through this too! I want to thank you
all for all of your emails and posts containing advice and well
wishes for Reagan, but most of all I want to thank you for your
prayers. I know that I haven't been able to write any of you
back personally, but just know that we read every one and feel
blessed by your concern and love. Thank you again!
Today, we went to an elementary school today here on Shamian
Island. It was one of the highlights of our trip! We enjoyed it
so much! We went into a 4th grade classroom and spoke with the
children. They spoke incredible English. We introduced ourselves
to them, and then a they took us around there school. They were
so excited to speak and spend time with us. We led them in
singing "If You're Happy and You Know It." They loved it. Then
Sean demonstrated his soccer skills for them. That was their
favorite part! A lot of them like England, so they thought they
were meeting a star! The kids were great!
Later in the afternoon we went to the Consulate to finish
Reagan's visa and for an oath taking ceremony. They explained
all of the things to expect in immigration. When we hit Detroit,
we will see an immigration officer. We will give the officer
"the brown envelope" and show him or her Reagan's passport. When
he or she stamps "Naturalized Citizen," she is a US citizen! God
bless the USA!
We will never forget this amazing journey that we began at the
end of January 2005. It has been amazing! We will cherish every
moment of it, the good and the bad. We will remember all of the
memories that we have experienced here in Reagan's homeland, and
we hope to have been able to document it well enough for her to
know this place of her birth! The people here have welcomed us
with open arms - and many stares! Most of all, I will remember
and thank Reagan's birthmother. She made the best choice - to
give Reagan life. I cannot thank her enough for making that
sacrifice and for allowing us to raise her as our own. Reagan is
OUR child! God had her planned for our family from the beginning
of time, but none of this could have happened without one
Chinese birthmother's loving choice to give her life and then to
place her where she knows she would be found! We may never know
her, but we will never forget her, as I am sure she will never
forget Reagan.
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Ashton and
Kieron,
Can you believe it?! We are coming home! I cannot wait to see
you at the airport and to hold you tight and hug and kiss you! I
also cannot wait for you to meet your little sister that you
have prayed so long for! We miss you more than words can say,
but we are almost there! Make sure to pray for us and yourselves
as we all travel to meet and come together as a Forever Family!
We love you so much!
-Mom and Dad
Big sisters,
I am coming home to you tomorrow. I cannot wait to meet you and
to get into your stuff! I know you already love me, and I
already love you! I am so proud to call you both my Jie Jie's!
You will be the best big sisters ever! I love you and cannot
wait until I get off of that plane!
- Reagan
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Our Guangdong travel group -
one big extended family!
The school we visited on Shamian Island.
It was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel!
Some of the children who led us around
the school with "the soccer star!" HA!
One of the classrooms in the school.
Kids playing table tennis in their free time
at the school.
Isn't she just the cutest little thing?
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