May 17, 2010

Here She Is!






Praise God for His amazing grace toward our family. The day we've been waiting for is here. We welcomed Eliana Hope Beach into our family at approximately 11am today. As she was brought to Amy, she reached her arms out and embraced her. From that first moment, she did not cry or fuss. She engaged us directly and was as if she had always known us. She is bright and inquisitive, pointing and gesturing and babbling. The orphanage workers were very kind and returned all the items from the care package we sent a month ago. That included a family photo album we sent to get her acquainted with our faces. When we asked the workers about Eliana's personality (through an interpreter), they giggled and spoke in Chinese. Then our interpreter said, "Active. Very, very active". After signing some papers and having some official adoption photos taken, we played with her until it was time to get on the bus and head back to our hotel. She fell asleep just as we sat in our seats and slept all the way back. Even now, she is snoring a few feet from us in our room. She sounds a tad congested, but other than that, she appears fine. Still much to do over the coming days, but again, we thank you all for your continued prayers for our journey.