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We are
having a wonderful time with Christian. He is SO MUCH
FUN and happy all the time! We are SO blessed he is a
part of our family.
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My trip to Changsha, Hunan Province was a wonderful
experience! My daughter Emilee is almost 10 months old
in this picture and we'd been together for only one
week. I love to look at this picture because it shows
how happy she was right away. She is such a little
cutie. Smart and sweet too! She made such a happy
addition to my family. When I hear of others about to
travel to China, warm feelings come over me because I
know that they are in for a trip full of love and
excitement.
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Hester Family. TX
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Toly’s adoption was done in
August
2005 from the Vladivostok region |
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I feel Pretty...Oh so Pretty....
Here's
Our Siberian princess, Kyra. She was adopted from Tomsk,
Russia on April 28, 2006 at age 18 months. She is now 29
months and thriving!
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Our kids were adopted from Smolensk thru CHI in 2001.
Our daughter was 26 mo. at adoption, our son 9 mo. They
are 7 1/2 and 6 now.
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Lillie,
adopted from
China in August 2006.
She is
doing GREAT! |
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We adopted Jordon on
12-12-05from
Guiping SWI, Guangxi
province, China. |
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Kate ThuNgaThi Waterstreet Shoemaker
Nguyen Thi Thu Nga - HCMC, Vietnam
G&R date - 12/8/06
Kate is amazing! Kate and I arrived home in Alpine on
12/23/06. She has only been home for 2 months, but it
feels like she has always been a part of our family. She
is a very sweet, loving, and active little girl! She
spends her days playing with her brother, Zane, chasing
the dog, or eating!!! She loves to color, sing, and
dance. Her favorite place to be is outside at the park,
sliding, swinging, and running through the grass. She
gives the best kisses and loves to be cuddled. She is
absolutely perfect in every way!
I have been blessed with the most wonderful daughter in
the world!
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Levi
One of our Texas families....
Focus on the Family |
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Does it Feel like She’s Really Your Daughter Yet?
 When
I was first asked the question, I had to stop and think. I
hadn’t really thought about it like that. It’s kind of hard
to explain what it feels like to be mildly jet lagged,
experiencing a little bit of culture shock and still hungry
for some familiar food (any kind of familiar food) when a
complete stranger who doesn’t speak a word of English places
your daughter in your arms for the first time. The whole
process of meeting Savannah (we were in a room with 12 other
couples) was rather chaotic and surreal. Honestly, the
thought that was going through my mind was more along the
lines of, “Do I feel like a dad to you?”
As we held her for the first
time, Sarah and I told her that we loved her and that we’d
been waiting a long time to see her. I said she was my sweet
girl and that I loved her and even in those first moments I
really did. At the same time, I knew all the words coming
out of my mouth had to sound as odd to her as the words of
the orphanage directors sounded to me. And I could tell by
her smile when they touched her hand that whatever they were
saying was more comforting that my words.
Last January, after our
paperwork was logged in Beijing, we knew that the little
girl we would be adopting was probably already in an
orphanage and we prayed that she had nannies who really
loved and cared for her. Two months before we traveled, we
got our referral from CHI. We found out where our daughter
was living and saw her Chinese name, Xing Fu Lin, for the
first time. When we got the referral, a friend of ours who
was also adopting from China said "I wonder if anyone would
notice if some white people just showed up to lend a hand at
a Chinese orphanage." We were wondering the same thing but,
to be honest, we were more preoccupied at the time with
preparing our home and our three-year-old son for Savannah's
arrival. We tried to explain to Noah that he had a little
sister who lived in China in a way that it would make sense
to him. We'd talk about how when the sun went down for us to
go to sleep, it was going to China so Savannah could play.
Sometimes he showed some interest in our attempts to explain
things and other times he just wanted to play with his
trains. But at bedtime he would pray his thank you prayers
that almost always ended the same way. “God, thank you for
me and for mommy and for daddy and thank you for my little
sister. Keep her safe until mom and dad can go get her. In
Jesus name, amen.”
It was really only in the last
few weeks before we traveled to China that I started letting
myself think about what she might be doing each day. As soon
as I’d start down that road, all the details and paperwork
and deadlines and expense would get lost in the emotion and
the realization that even though I already knew that I had a
little girl, she didn’t have any idea that she had a dad
yet.
I vividly remember when our son,
Noah, was born. I was eagerly waiting for “the moment” of
epiphany or emotion or elation as I saw my son for the first
time. All I remember from seeing him for the first time was
feeling a little puzzled and slightly overwhelmed. That was
all I got in the way of a big revelation. But I also
remember the slower realization that he was really my son,
and I was his dad. I didn’t feel like a dad. I felt more
like a kid (and honestly I still do most of the time). But I
knew he was my son, and I wouldn’t give him up for anything
in this whole world.
When Sarah first told me were
going to have Noah, it was a bit of shock in and of itself.
At that point Sarah and I had assumed that we would probably
adopt. We knew that the doctors didn’t hold much hope that
Sarah and I would be able to conceive. But about the time we
started to think it might be a good time to try … ta da.
Sarah’s doctor looked over her chart when she went in to see
him and just shook his head, “You know you’re not supposed
to be able to have children.” Noah is truly a gift from
God.
For the next year and a half we
didn’t think much about adoption. We had our hands full with
a very active little boy, and we just assumed that having
Noah had answered the question about adoption. But as we got
settled into the rhythm of being a family with a kid, we
started talking about it again. Over the next months, the
realization slowly started to grow in my heart that God
didn’t plan for us to adopt as a way to have children, but
that the desire was in our heart because there was already a
little girl half way across the world who was our daughter.
It was a different way of becoming a parent, but just as
miraculous as having Noah.
I can’t really explain it, and
it doesn’t really matter to me if people think I’m just
being sentimental. Savannah isn’t ours because we filled out
the paper work and paid the fees. She’s our daughter for the
same reason Noah is our son, because of the goodness of
God.
During the trip, one of our
translators was talking to an older Chinese woman who wanted
to know why were adopting girls from China. She told us
later that the woman had said, “those are blessed little
girls.” With a confident grin she told us that she had
quickly corrected her, “No. These parents are blessed to be
getting these girls.”
~ Sarah |
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I'm Going To Be
A Star!!
 As
I write this, I wonder about a little girl in China. We
don’t yet know her name or where she is in China, but here
in Texas, she is certainly in our hearts and in our
thoughts.
She is the treasure who will
become our second daughter and our first daughter’s Mei Mei.
Our dossier is in China now being translated. I wonder what
she is doing, who looks after her, dries her tears, changes
her diaper cloth, and feeds her. The adoption experience is
the best thing I have ever done. (that’s why we are doing it
again.) We grew as humans, I became a first time parent and
we became a family. Our first daughter Mei Li is now almost
2 years, 8 mos old, adopted at age 13 mos. on March 14,
2004. She is so funny, caring and loving. If I am mad about
something like traffic, she pipes up with “Mommy, are you
happy now?” And the world is a better place!
 And
so am I. Yes, dear Mei Li, I AM happy now!
Thank you CHI for making this
possible.
Cheryl, Jann and Mei Li
Bonfils-Rasmussen
waiting for her Mei Mei.
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Kim Weaver
and Daughters
What a happy
family! |
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  It
was all part of the plan...
Our Family Story….By Astrid
Jones
When my husband and I were
dating, he told me that he was adopted. He also said that
someday he wanted to adopt to give a child a life like he
had.
So, fast forward to marriage and
two biological children, 21 months apart. Busy was the word
at our house and adoption was pushed far from our minds.
Most of the time. Every once in a while, I found myself
surfing the web, looking at adoption sites. About the time I
realized I was no longer over-whelmed by the constant care
of infants and toddlers, the adoption bug came to me through
a friend. She a had a little boy from China. Now, life was
pretty comfortable for us and another year went by before I
had the courage to mention to my husband and boys that my
brain was consumed by the thoughts of little children
without parents. Nevertheless, as soon as I plucked up the
courage, they were all for it! For my husband, it was (and
still is) a dream come true. We immediately called our
friend and asked her which agency to use. Children’s Hope
International came so highly recommended that we never
looked back. We have been impressed ever since!
 We
researched the different countries CHI worked in, ruled a
few out for various reasons, and then asked our boys to pick
a country. They both immediately picked China, so the
paperwork began!
Through the paperwork stage, CHI
was always ready with an answer. I never had to wait more
than a day! Once our paperwork was complete, CHI checked on
us regularly during the 13-month wait we endured to receive
our referral from China. (Wait times have since become
shorter) Once we had our referral, CHI was again there for
every part of the trip preparations and the trip itself. Not
only have they brought joy to us, they have touched everyone
who has come in contact with them.
.jpg) On
August 21 of 2002, we received a referral for the most
beautiful baby girl we had ever seen. She was waiting for us
in the Hunan Province of China. Yong ZhiYu, now Clara Grace
Jones, has been a joyful addition to our family since we
first held her! Watching her blossom and grow has been the
one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives.
So rewarding in fact, that we
decided to adopt again! On January 31 of 2005, we received
our second referral from China. Another beautiful girl! This
time, Gao ChunZhu, Caroline Joye Jones, was waiting in the
Guangdong Province. Once again, we felt so richly blessed.
 Had
I known how much joy and love these girls would bring to our
world, I would have spoken what was in my heart so much
sooner. Not only have they brought joy to us, they have
touched everyone who has come in contact with them. Their
warm, loving and sometimes fiery spirits have had a profound
impact on their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and so
many friends.
These girls truly belong to us
and us, to them. Every time one of them says, “That’s MY
Mommy.”, my heart rejoices, as does my husband’s when it’s
“that’s MY Daddy.” Their brothers could not love them any
more or differently than if they had been born biologically
into our family. And that, in short, is the whole idea.
We are a family. |
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See how I've grown!
  
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Stella,
We had a great experience
with our adoption. It was almost as if we went through a
pregnancy, though a long one. CHI was so helpful along
the way and all of our questions were answered very
quickly. Our trip went so smooth though I would have to
say the plane ride served as the delivery. Its the plane
ride we will have to forget in order to start our next
adoption. I'm sure it is much like natural child birth,
you soon forget the pain you go through because of the
blessing it brought.
The most fascinating part
of this journey for us, being parents of two children
already, is that from the second we held Lottie there
was no doubt that this was OUR baby. There is absolutely
no thought what so ever about her being anything but our
baby. We are so grateful for the courageous act her
mother demonstrated in carrying her against all odds,
but Lottie is our baby and nothing will ever change
that. In fact it was amazing to us in China after just a
few days how perfectly the babies seemed to match their
new families. As I look at my precious child I
wonder about the thousands we left behind in China. I
pray that soon many will have their heart touched and
that soon the little ones we left behind will also be
held!
God Bless,
Greg Byrd
Blessed father of Lottie & Emma Byrd
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