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This song made me cry the first time I heard it just thinking about adoption. The original lead singer of Third Day was waiting to adopt when he wrote this. In fact they were ahead of us by 1 week in 2007 since their daughter was from the same province as Nadia. Last year I really cried a lot listening to it because we were actually waiting for Amelie through the Christmas season. This year I still cry thinking of all the families waiting for their children, but I am so grateful to be seeing Amelie’s delight about all things Christmas!

There’s a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma’s arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home
Your family is here and yet you’re somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I’m warmed by the fire’s glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven’s angels come to carry you here

It’s Christmas time again but you’re not home
Your family is here and yet you’re somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It’s Christmas time again and now you’re home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I’ll hold you in my arms
And I’ll tell you from my heart, and I’ll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

We had a camera sent to the orphanage while we were waiting for Amelie. When they handed it to us it appeared that it had been opened. So these were the only 3 photos on the entire roll that came out. I think they were taken for Chinese New Year.

Click the photo above to see all the photos.

This year we hosted the 5 Texas families from our travel group over the weekend of July 22nd. (we invited everyone else, but it didn’t work out. We saw the Hatcher’s in GA on our road trip, so we actually spent time with 6 families this year) That was our 4 year Gotcha Day anniversary and it was a delight to spend it with some of our travel mates. Michael, Lisa and Angelina stayed with us and we all had a great time. They came a day early so we hit the Fort Worth Science and History Museum in the morning. The girls had a blast! Check out the giant light bright.

That night we had everyone over for some pulled pork and other goodness. It was a relaxed time for the girls to play and get to know each other again. Click the photo below to see the album from that day.

The next day we met up at the zoo in the morning. It was BLAZING hot, but we had a great time. It delighted my heart to see the girls playing and having a great time together! Us parents are like the paparazzi with the kiddos. Now on to the photos!

We headed back in the afternoon for naps (or for some – shopping!) In the evening we met at the hotel for a pizza and pool party. The girls had a good time to play and the parents had more time to visit also.

It was a wonderful weekend and such fun to see how big the girls are getting! Thanks for joining us everyone. And to those who missed, we wished you could have been with us too.

Amelie, Reagan and Nadia. Click the photo above to see the entire album.

The adoption agency Dillon International  hosts a China Heritage camp in Tulsa, OK each summer. We have known many families that have taken their bigger girls, but children must be 4 to attend so this was Nadia and many of her buddies first chance to attend.  We made plans with local friends and with friends from the Internet that I had never met in real life. All of the girls were in the same class – The Dragonflies. Each day we dropped them off at 9:30 and then picked them up at 3:30. Throughout the day the girls did Chinese language, cooking, Kung Fu, crafts and more. On the first day they had a ceremony for the parents and children complete with a lion dance.

Amelie was not excited about the lion dance. She kept covering her eyes like above.

The first night we invited everyone to our hotel for a pizza and pool party. Our friends the Cannons who live outside of Tulsa came out that night so we got to see them and Alyssa again. After we had pizza and before the swimming the girls played and played. It was so adorable that I actually teared up watching them because I was so overwhelmed by the fact that God brought them halfway around the world to be a part of all these families.

The next day we dropped the Nadia off and when we got back to the car Amelie was saying, “Nadia, Nadia” and pointing at her empty car seat. We told her that we would come back to get her later. Then at the hotel she wandered around the room saying, “Nadia, Nadia”. It was cute to see her wondering where her big sister was. The second night they had a picnic and swim time at a local park, but we were fairly tired and the girls were very sleep deprived so we grabbed some to-go food and had dinner with the Landy’s at the hotel.

At the end of the last day we joined the kids for a Chinese lunch and their program. The kids were all so cute and there were a record setting number of kids attending this year – 258!

After the ceremony we got some photos of the girls (Kiy we missed you). They were SO.TIRED. from going for 3 days.

Nadia fell asleep in the car when we were less than a mile down the road. She slept about 90 minutes and then woke up and talked for almost 2 hours about everything she had done for the last 3 days. We asked her every night, but she didn’t say much; she apparently saved it all for the ride home. We plan on going again as do many of the families who have attended.