Gotcha!! (one year later...)

November 2, 2008. We had been waiting for this day for a long time. We met up with Morgan in the Beijing airport (oh, how grateful I am for Morgan--he was a wonderful guide and a great friend!), and he snapped this picture. In just a few hours, we would finally meet Grace!!

We also got to meet the other members of our group in the Beijing airport. We had the most incredible group of families on this trip! It was great to finally meet Sheila. I had talked to her on the phone and we couldn't wait to get our girls! Here she is with her daughter, Emma, husband, Jim, and Jim's mother.

Here are James and Dawn. I just talked to Dawn today. What a wonderful family they have!

And here are Vicki, Richard and Alyssa. Alyssa prayed for a little sister from China for a long time. Faith was certainly an answer to those prayers.
Our flight to Guizhou was delayed, but we did make it there that night. We checked into our hotel, and very shortly after that, it was time to meet the girls!!!

We went downstairs, and walked into the meeting room. This was the first moment that we saw our little princess. Isn't she just precious?!!

Here we are, just a few minutes later. Do you notice the Hello Kitty doll on the table above? Well, Grace was so terrified that she actually started hitting me with the doll. She is not a hitting sort of girl, and now when she sees these pictures, we both laugh and laugh, remembering how she hit me with her doll. lol!

I have to say, the other kids look a little traumatized, as well. But, honestly, even though Grace was crying hard, I was just so very happy and thrilled that this little girl was finally ours. I was sad for her fear, but knew that she would come around.

And she did! Here she is a couple of hours later, playing cars with the boys in our hotel room.

I finally got her into pajamas (it was really late, by this time!), and coaxed her into eating some fruit snacks.

Lily, helping Grace with the magna doodle.

And the first real smile of the night!! Beautiful!

Grace snuggled up with her kitty that night and fell quickly asleep. She also snuggled up to me (I slept with her), and truly, she hasn't stopped snuggling ever since! It's a rare moment that she isn't in my arms, or somewhere close by!

This picture was taken last month. Look at Grace's smile! This past year has been such a blessing. We love Grace's laugh, her smile, and her sweet spirit. We are grateful to our precious Father, for giving us this delightful daughter/mei mei. We are so grateful to be a family!