"Meet-ya" Day!!!!

We are in China!!!!

We are FINALLY here! We arrived about an hour later than schedule...about 12:30 AM! After sorting through customs, etc., we walked out of the terminal to see Meredith ready and waiting for us...one of the only Americans in the sea of people out there! She had the orphanage van waiting for us for the 1 1/2 hour trek to New Day. Unfortunately, this trek actually took longer due to the flat tire and missing tire tools to make the necessary tire swap! Thanks to a willing trash truck driver at 3am in some city which I can't pronounce, we arrived safely! Meredith's command of the mandarin language is amazing and SO helpful in our travels!

Fixing a spare tire at 3 AM on the side of the road in China...

Welcome to New Day!!!

Happy to be here!

 We awoke after a short night’s rest and found ourselves an hour early for breakfast (we forgot when calculating the time that Allison’s computer was set to Indiana time) This brought back memories from our Grand Canyon sunrise trek…believe we were two hours early for that occasion!!! Anyway, that left us time to walk through the village and get some freshly made bread…so good! It was so neat to see the village where Meredith lived and worked all summer- she loved showing us around and knows were all the “best shops” are :) Came back to Brooke’s foster home to meet with the director and join the staff for prayer at 8:00. What a blessing to know that the home where Brooke has been has been so bathed in prayer.

The delicious bread shop...Larry is obsessed!!!

Erica skipping through Brooke's village- Qingyundian!

I cannot even tell you how amazing our initial meeting with Brooke went! I can truly say that your prayers and the amazing nannies here at New Day did a great job preparing Brooke for her “Mama and Baba”. They even had a sticker chart/calendar counting down the days to her forever family with our family picture on the 3^rd of May.

We also had our own “John the Baptist” (aka…Meredith) preparing Brooke’s heart to receive our family as she came several days ahead of us and warmed Brooke up. As we waited for the director to take us into the foster home to meet Brooke for the very first time, Meredith was waiting inside the playroom with Brooke in her arms- ready to meet her family for the very first time. As we walked through the door, we saw Meredith holding Brooke- both of their faces pressed up against the glass as Meredith was excitedly pointing out her “mama and baba”. I was delighted that she came into my arms from Meredith’s and didn’t cry at all!! She went right to her baba a little later and then let Allison and Erica help feed her during snack time! Food is definitely the way to this girl’s heart!! We had an amazing time together. We followed Brooke all day during all her normal “day to day” activities and had a blast with all the kids in the Foster home… as well as loving on Brooke!

Seeing my baby girl for the first time!

She loved the monkey :)

Trying to figure out who this crazy lady is :)

Meredith explaining to Brooke that we are her family!!!! 

Finally holding her!!! 

Baba with his TWO precious China girls!!

Love, love, love this!

Brooke is well loved, well fed, and cared for. During her nap time we met with her nannies and physician and preschool teacher and received all the information on Brooke’s development and care. I am a little nervous about getting the “exact” dosing on her one medication so that her heart rate doesn’t drop too low…shouldn’t be too hard…but in all the joy of the meeting her, it did bring Larry and I back to reality that we do still have a little girl with a very serious heart condition. We are still so amazed that the surgeon we have chosen in Tulsa is the same man who has been right where we were and prayed for our daughter several times when he came and visited a year or so ago. We are so blessed by God’s sovereign hand in every detail of this adoption. We were also given a precious book that had been filled with about 10 of the most beautiful photos of Brooke’s first few days at New Day- some of the earliest photos we have of her. Let me tell you- the cheeks have ALWAYS been perfectly chubby :) We were also blessed with a monthly journal from her nannies detailing her progress from month to month, as well as a CD FILLED with over 1,000 photos of our sweet girl over the last year she has been here. Those of you who have gone through an international adoption know what a blessing this is- with most adoptions we are lucky to have 10 pictures…we could have never imagined being given a gift this great. We will treasure it.

With Brooke's precious nanny. 

Daddy with his girls! Now just missing the boys :)

Brooke and Erica...bonding over food :)

The girls! 

After spending time with her in preschool, we said goodbye for the day and went back into the village with Meredith and some of her friends who live here long-term. They took us to a delicious, extremely authentic restaurant and we tried lots of wonderful new foods! We also hit a little shop on the way back to stock up on some essential snacks for Brooke when she joins our family forever on Monday! We were all exhausted...going to bed EARLY and we know it will be a great day tomorrow!!

Brooke's nanny taking Erica and Brooke to see the goat at the foster home!

Playing with Dad!

Playing with Erica!

Love my girls!!

Best friends :)

Erica is going to be the BEST big sister!!! 

It has been a special day and we are blessed. Brooke is delightful and we thank you for all your prayers!!! 

Erica is THRILLED to be a big sister :)