New Years...2011..2012

As I sit here, taking time to reflect on the year gone past, it's been a rollercoaster ride of a year. We started this year knowing we will finally get to see and hold our precious daughter. That was enough to get excited about 2011.

While waiting for our LSC (letter seeking confirmation) and our final travel plans, I lost my uncle Bert. He has been ill for a while and he is in a better place. This made me stop and think how precious life and family really is. We miss you Uncle Bert!

As time approached for our departure date for Beijing, Jason and I were getting more excited as the days passed. We continued to follow our daily routines and did our everyday living musts!This was really hard. Staying focused was hard when you mind and heart was on the other side of the world. Finally May 5th came, Jason and I boarded the plane for Beijing and fell in love with a country and a little princess. We never dreamed that we would be so eager to return to a country that seemed to so far away and so different from our own country. We cannot wait to return to China, it's a beautiful country, the scenery was amazing, the people we friendly and most importantly, it's our daughter's homeland.

I read Rumor Queen religiously, I read the Inner Mongolia Yahoo group posts daily and try and stay on top of daily happening in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, just for our daughter. I remember sitting in the lobby of the Sheraton hotel, when our guide came and told us about a little boy who was abandoned the night before, in the park near our hotel. I asked Sandra if I could have the newspaper with the article regarding this little precious little boy. I brought this newspaper home with us, just to show Madisyn later on in life. This little boy is still in the orphanage that Madisyn was in, he will probley be there for another year or so before he is made paper ready for adoption. Another year without a family and another year living in a institation. This makes my heart ache, I know that my heart would love to bring another child home but things are changing in the adoption world and making it harder!

My new years resolution is to help those less fortunate and the orphans of the world. I somehow want to offer my love, life and time to the orphans of China. My heart was broken to see all the children living in Hohhot SWI, that it has changed the way I feel about life, love and family. For those people who have donated money on Madisyn's behalf to half the sky foundation and other foundations, we cannot thank you enough. This is the greatest gift you could have given us as a family.

Happy New Year to you and your family and lets remember those who have a family waiting or maybe no family at all.

God Bless,
Emily