Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Gift of Life

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.

For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

-Unknown

Happy Birthday Ellen!! Ellen’s birthday started off VERY early as we left for the airport at 5:30am. Two of the families traveling with us went home yesterday and we said goodbye to the other two families today. I am so happy to have made good friends during this experience and know that we will keep in touch!

Since we couldn’t book a flight home today, we decided to celebrate Ellen’s birthday in Hong Kong. So we said goodbye to Guangzhou and arrived in Hong Kong at 9am. We wished my cousin Darren was still living here to give us a tour, but we had fun exploring some of the sights this afternoon. We took a tram up to Victoria Peak where we enjoyed an amazing view of Hong Kong. Then we made a quick stop at Stanley Market to see all the shops. Our first purchase was a Haggan Daas ice cream cone for everyone which made for happy children! Our last activity was a sampan tour through the fishing village of Aberdeen-very, very fun!

The kids were all really good today considering they got up at 5am. We decided to enjoy our last dinner at a restaurant in the hotel where we enjoyed some delicious Chinese food. After dinner we found a cake at the hotel bakery which we brought up to our room for Ellen’s party. The kids blew up balloons and passed out hats and party horns. When we lit the candle on Ellen’s cake and started singing “Happy Birthday to you” she froze up and began to cry (and I don’t blame her, none of us are very good singers)! After we dried her tears and the boys promised not to have a balloon war in the room we slice the cake and opened a few presents. Ellen sat perfectly still on my lap and ate every last bite of her cake….mmmm, sugar! Gramma gave her a darling silk Chinese dress and a puzzle. The kids gave her a small panda bear we found in Beijing that plays the “Happy Birthday” song. When Ellen heard this song again, the tears came flooding back! So we chucked the panda and just enjoyed the rest of the cake!!

Tomorrow we head for home! We will start our day with a trip to the Hong Kong Temple. I can’t think of a better way to end our trip. After all, building families is what it’s all about! And after just 12 days together, we can’t imagine life without Ellen! We know that she was meant to be in our family and we are so blessed to have her!

This adoption journey has certainly brought our family closer together and I am so glad we could share this wonderful experience with all of you. Thank you for the many prayers on our behalf and for the love and support you’ve given our family. We’ll continue to update the website when we return after Ellen gets settled in her new home.

With love from China,

Debbie, Jason, Connor, Tara, Spencer and Ellen RuYu Elizabeth Wickham