N O V E
M B E R 3 - 4
Well, the
i's are dotted, t's crossed, and the
'sealed' brown envelope is in our hands. This envelope
remains sealed until immigration officials upon
landing in L.A. open it. It was given to us today at
our U.S. Consulate Oath appointment. In addition to
the 'brown envelope" we were asked to swear that all
information given was accurate and correct etc.. and
this was the final step in our long journey for
Elizabeth to become our daughter! The room at the
Consulate was full of adoptive parents and due to
increased security, no cameras were permitted. We all
raised our right hands, took the oath, and then there
was a cheer and applause as the paperchase was OVER!
Back on the bus, as we were making the 45 minute
return trip to the hotel, the families in our group
began to sing the Star Spangled Banner. It was a very
sobering few moments.
Next, it has quickly become a tradition for adoptive
families in China to gather the babies together for a
group photograph on the famous White Swan red couch.
All of the babies in our travel group (except two) are
present in the photo! I think most of the babies had a
harder time with this than the medical exam!
We said goodbye to some of the families leaving
tomorrow and realized that many new and wonderful
lasting friendships had formed among some of the
parents. One of the families had their 4 year old son
named Cole with them. He reminded us so much of John
even in appearance. We have really enjoyed watching
Cole interact with his new sister as this is what we
will be looking forward to in the days and weeks
ahead. We are very excited to introduce John to HIS
new sister!!
Throughout this journey we have met some very
inspiring families. Probably the one that jumps to the
top of our list, is a 53 year old single mother who
came to China with her 5 year old adopted Chinese
daughter to adopt #2. Her second daughter is a special
needs 2 year old, and this woman came by herself
without another adult to help. In further
conversation, she told us that her only other child, a
31 year old daughter, was recently killed in an auto
accident. Her 31 year old daughter knew about the
adoption and had been involved with the process. We
were so taken by her courage.
Another family we met had applied to adopt an infant,
but was referred an adorable 4 year old little girl
whose paperwork had gotten lost by the orphanage and
that is why she had to wait over 4 years to be placed
with a family.
I could go on and on with stories of many of the
families. Each with their own miracles that brought
them so far from home to find their children. We can't
believe that we finally are sitting here watching our
blessing sleep.
With Love,
Susan and Dave. |
We were
told that these Monks would spend
hours upon hours chanting to these bright
brass statues in unbearable heat.
It seems so sad that these statues can
neither hear, or save them. We are so
thankful that we serve the Living God.
The Red
Couch rite of passage
The Hanchuan Hubei Babies and our
group mascot Cole wondering why all the fuss
Now that's better, just me and my panda...
...and it just keeps getting better now
that Dad's got me |
