A Special Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!! What a special Christmas we are having this year! Everyone seems to be doing well aside from a few colds, and I am especially enjoying each of the children on their vacation from school! Sarah is fitting in so well that it seems miraculous. She has bonded with our family, and seems to charm everyone she meets. She's such a sweet lovable baby with an adorable, funny personality. She gets a lot of attention everywhere we go. I think at first people are staring at her because of her cleft. Then she shoots them a huge grin and they can't help but smile back. What a gift from God she is!

The boys and Kimberly are doing fantastic too. Jack is still struggling with some separation anxiety, which he has had off and on since I was sick. He also complains of tummy trouble often, and we're thinking that's related. He is still my snuggle bug, even at eight, and I love it! Nathan loves Sarah and smothers her with hugs and kisses. He is adjusting to having to share Mom and Dad a bit. But he's excited to move up to big boy status at the same time. Daniel has really grown up a lot this year, and we are proud of his growth in character especially. He has even been babysitting for me some, and doing a great job. Kimberly is a gem to have around - so fun and helpful for me. It's so cute to see how crazy she and Sarah are about each other, although I think Sarah is finally starting to realize that I am her mother, not Kimberly. Kimberly is growing up too. In fact, we've started looking for a used car, since it will be so helpful for her to drive this April. She's thrilled.

We have had a few doctor visits for Sarah. Her routine blood tests have all come back normal. She will have her first surgery on January 12th to repair her lip. Then she will have another surgery to repair her palate at the end of June. She will probably be getting tubes in her ears during one of those. She also will likely have a nose touch up surgery sometime next fall. I'll keep you posted as her first surgery approaches. Please pray for her as these surgeries are painful, and somewhat complicated. She'll be going to the new All Children's Hospital in St. Pete. We hear it is really nice. Martin or I will stay with her constantly.

They're Home!

Martin, Kimberly and Sarah arrived at midnight on Saturday night at the Tampa airport! I went with Daniel and Jack, all of us eagerly awaiting to spot them walking down the hallway. Picking them up was a big party, because Martin's parents and his brother, Gary, and Stephen and Hannah went too. So far, we are all adjusting extremely well to Sarah and she to us. She fits into our family perfectly, like she's always been a part of it. It's so amazing to see her apprehensive of strangers and yet she's never acted that way towards us. God has answered my every prayer about that. What a dream come true she is - so adorable and sweet and fun-loving. She definitely prefers Martin and Kimberly still, but she goes to all of us. The boys can make her crack up, and her grin just melts your heart! Our biggest challenge right now with her is that she seems jet lagged and wants to be up for a few hours at night. Pray that she will adjust to American time soon. Thanks for all of your prayers and love for us throughout this journey. It has been such an incredible experience for us, and we are overjoyed and praising God for all of the many ways He has worked to bring this very special little girl into our family.

t's Thursday today, and Denise reminded me that I hadn't posted anything since Sunday.  I guess the reason for that is that each day looks like the one before.  Not that I'm unappreciative of being in China.  It's been a great experience, both for me and Kimberly.  Yesterday we had the famous Red Couch photos.  Every family that comes through Guangzhou usually stays at the White Swan hotel.  There are several red couches in one sitting area, and everyone gets their photos taken on the red couch.  Here's one of all the families that were part of our group.  We've made some good friends, particularly one christian family from Fort Collins, Colorado, the Atteberrys (they're at the bottom of the group photo with the boy in his mom's lap).  They adopted a sweet little 5-year old boy, Timmy, whom we knicknamed "T-bone".  That's because he has several surgery scars on his little chest that make him look like a street fighter.  He kept going around saying "Ya-ma-ha" to everyone. 

 

This afternoon we went to the consulate to finish Sarah's visa paperwork.  This was the final step of her adoption here in China, so we get to go home on Saturday!!!!  Most of the families in our group leave tomorrow, but we have one more day to get packed.  We can't wait to get home.with a set of chopsticks.  Totally not  

 

Earlier today, I explored the area around the hotel with a couple of the other dads.  We some some strange wares, including centipedes on a stick, live snakes, eels and toads, and various other things we can only guess at.  There was one young lady sitting at a bowl of live scorpions, counting them out one by one.

 

We very much appreciate all your prayers.  The whole process could not have gone more smoothly than it did.  Sarah has really taken to Kimberly and I, and so we pray that she will do so with Denise as well.  She had a cold, but is getting over that.  She does not have an ear infection, which was a big concern for her flight home.  Please pray that our travel time home goes well.  We fly from Guangzhou to Beijing, then to Newark, NJ, then back to Tampa.  It will be a very long day, almost 30 hours. 

 

Much love from Guangzhou,

 

Martin