12/16 Life as we know it changes tomorrow

It is Sunday evening here in Guangzhou, China. We just sat in outdoor cafe by the Pearl River eating fried rice, quesadillas and listening to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" with lighted Christmas trees beside us. At the next table, a family from the East Coast shared a meal with their 10 year old whom they just adopted. We saw them earlier in the day and followed them around. We couldn't get up the nerve to speak to them but when we walked in the restaurant tonight and sat down by them we knew we had to do it. They said that it was going well and their daughter was adjusting to her new life.

Today as we shopped, we saw the babies pass one by one in strollers.
As we ponder our new life which begins tomorrow, our heart goes out to all the orphans around the world. Most of us have had the love of some family member -- a mother, father, grandparent, aunt or relative who raised us or cared for us. So many, like our Jen, have never had anyone. I think of the song from "American Tail" which goes something like...Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight, someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight. To us this is the orphan's dream...of someone to care about them. Well we have been stargazing many a night since March -- waiting and loving and thinking of her and looking forward to this day. In less than 24 hours we will be united. We have been practicing our Chinese for that first meeting. We tried it out on a few shopkeepers and it is working with a lot of kinks.

We are having trouble seeing the blog or posting pictures at the moment but we can post -- can't see the comments either. But we hope to get pictures up after we get Jen. Sorry this post is kind of scrambled -- my thoughts are a mess. Kristy is still sick but we hope she will shake off the cold. Her heart raced a little today when the Papa John's pizza delivery guy went by on a bicycle. You can't keep a Wisconsin girl and her pizza apart for long...even in China!!

For me, the easiest part of the journey has been coming to China itself. This paperwork makes the trip seem like a piece of cake.

Tomorrow, we'll have Jen and so we will have a lot to post. Please pray that she will have courage to face all the changes that will come her way.

Thanks for checking in on us. We really appreciate your interest.

At 2:30pm our time (12:30 am Central) our little Jen will finally be home...10 years and 4 months after she came into the loving care of her caretakers in Zhuhai.

With the sight of so many precious babies rolling by, we are so thankful that her time has finally come as well.
With love from China