Pictures Speak Louder Than Words

I hope the following photos will accurately capture better than my words, the joy and blessing the Lord has graced us with by allowing Kirby to be a part of our forever family.

Kirby's First Birthday

Dedicated to the Lord

Oct 24th the sermon was "Spiritual Adoption"

Born to carry a pocketbook 

Kirby, Katherine and "Mr. Beason" on
the Samford campus

It's my Birthday !

Larry our Veggie Tale Christmas Tree ?

A Christmas portrait - 5yrs in the waiting

A Christmas angel

Kirby talks to Ho-Ho

Happy Girl :)

Spiritual Adoption

Kirby was dedicated to the Lord on Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 during the worship services at 1st Baptist Spartanburg. Dr Wilton preached a powerful sermon from God's word using Kirby's adoption as an analogy of how God does the same for all who accept His son Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He also explains how everyone can experience their own "gotcha day" into God's family.

Our prayer is for everyone who watches the video below, they will clearly see God desires to adopt all of us into His family. The phone numbers you see on the video are open 24/7 and I encourage you to call if you have any questions about your relationship with the Lord or if you have any prayer request.

I invite you to share this site with anyone you believe would be blessed by what you have seen here.

God Bless You

Finding our New Norm

We have now been home for 5 and half weeks. The memories of our journey are still so fresh it seems hard to believe its been that long; on the other hand, we have been wide open from Sunday morning August 8th when family and friends started coming by to meet our new princess.

Katherine and I have been overwhelmed by the out pouring of love and acts of kindness since our return. Perhaps this is why it seems we have been home longer than we actually have. Kirby has been truly amazing in her adjusting to all of the changes in her short little life. Simple things like new smells, language, air conditioning, a mom and dad, 2 Jack Russell's, car seat, hardwood floors, big people, a large extended family and more love than any one little girl may have ever received.

Check out our slide show - click on the link in the left margin "Kirby's Story".

Here are some photos from the last several weeks since we've been home:

Eating eggs and peas -
Yumm

Ashly and Kirby in a squealing contest.
 Kirby won

Everybody likes sleeping
on Mom !

Kirby with her "boyz"

Granddaddy Jimmy and
Grandma Kay

A small sacrifice to pay -
BIG brothers sitting in
the third seat...

Kirby's favorite PJs - washed
 daily

Playing in the grass

Playing with Grandma Ann's
necklace

Re-Entry and Introductions

Cousin Kathy welcoming us
 home
at Charlotte Airport

We made it home ! What a trip - I think Katherine probably said it best when she compared the journey home to birthing a child; 'its no fun while you are doing it but the end result quickly makes the memory of the pain fade quickly'. We arrived into the Charlotte airport right at 11pm Saturday night and were pleasantly surprised to see cousin Kathy waiting to welcome us and to meet Kirby. She probably didn't realize what a big help she was as we gathered all of our luggage and waited with Kat and Kirby as I went into the night to try a remember where I left our car. Not too much longer, we were under way on our last leg of our trip home. We knew placing Kirby into a car seat for the first time for our 1 1/2 hour drive would not be a good thing especially after being confined for most of the last 30 hours. We nailed this one - about the time we hit Blacksburg, she was done with the car seat and at that time it was much safer for her to ride the rest of the way home on Mom's lap than risk Baba having a wreck.

Kirby meets her brothers and sister
for the very first time.

As we rounded the corner home about 1am, I began to cry as the totality of what God placed in our hearts years earlier was now coming to a point of our forever family meeting for the first time. It is difficult to describe the pure joy and thankfulness I was experiencing but to say the least, it is a time in my life I will never forget - God writes the best stories. As we rolled into the drive way, the first thing we say was a big pink bow on our mailbox and another one on the front door along with a poster made by our children welcoming all of us home. It wasn't until the next day we fully realized many friends had decorated the house and prepared meals for us to last the week - we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!! We enjoyed about 2 hours together as a complete family before we all fell into our beds and enjoyed a nice comfortable bed and some overdue sleep.

By the time the three travelers woke up, the older children had gotten up and gone to Sunday school and Church. The rest of the day was a very sweet time of family and friends stopping by to meet "the princess" and the answer to their prayers.

We are all close to having our "clocks" reset to EST and Kirby is sleeping almost through the night with the exception of about 30mins to an hour when she needs to get in the in our bed to settle back down before returning to her bed a couple of feet away. This week was a sweet time of getting Laura Sims ready for college and planning our trip this Saturday. We are excited because she is ready for this next step in her journey but obviously will greatly miss my "first princess" sweet daily presence in our home. We love you Laura Sims :) !!!!


Here a a few of our favorite pictures from the week:

Grandma Ann playing "paddy-cake"

Grandma Kay loving on
 her new Grand baby 

Kirby checking out
 Granddaddy's  glasses.

My Queen and two Princesses -
I truly a blessed man !

Kirby's first morning at home -
I think she likes it !

Our first family photo

Coming To America (tomorrow)

Happy Birthday to Aunt Katie!!! We love you!!

Shortly after learning our plane seat assignments are across the aisle from each other, we were practicing our "hammock position" with Kirby. I think she likes it!

Levi and Kirby. Levi was adopted by a wonderful family just before his 14th birthday and is a great young man.

Dad giving Kirby a pedicure

Kirby and I have a game we play - we lean our heads from side to side and follow each other laughing

Mission Accomplished - All the paperwork is now complete, new friends for life have been made, tourist sites have been seen, gifts have been bought, weird food tasted and tried. The last thing to do is bring our princess home so everyone can see how beautiful she is and how blessed we are. We leave the hotel at 5am in the morning and if we remain on schedule we should be rolling in our driveway 33 hrs later. If you picked up that this is a prayer request - you would be correct. Thank You!

As precious and cute as Kirby is, she is making up for lost time being in an orphanage. She has gone from not being able to sit up by herself less than 10 days ago, too crawling any where she wants and trying to pull up on everything. She is a "wiggle worm" like we have never seen. The funnest thing and also a concern for anyone on the plane with us all day tomorrow, is she has discovered how to sequel at the top of her lungs just cause she can and its new. I did bring hear plugs and I'm thinking I may be able to fund the trip by selling them to our neighbors on the plane..... It will be an adventure for sure. We are rejoicing this morning because we were able to get seat assignments on our flight next to each other; up until now we were not even on the same row. A direct answer to prayer - thank you Jesus!

Yesterday we piled onto a bus with many of the other families who are adopting from AWAA and headed across town (actually a huge city) to the American Embassy where we declared all of the information we had provided to the US government concerning our adoption was true and accurate. It was a very nice feeling to be on American "soil" even if it was 8,000 miles from home. All U.S. adoptions for all of China are processed through this one office and we were there with many other families from other agencies, about 100 total. Each family sat with their child trying to recognize the child's Chinese name as this is the way they called us up to sign our final declaration of accuracy. Then came over the loud speaker "Zhuang Lu You", and Kat and I looked at each other and said "is that us - it could have been ??" We looked around to see if anyone else was responding to the call. Our Chinese is as bad now as when we began the trip. Nobody moved so we went to the window and sure enough the nice lady had a picture of Kirby and asked to see our passports and sign the form and return to our seats. It happened so quick, Kat said it didn't give her enough time to cry that would come in a few more minutes when a deputy secretary came out an lead us in an oath and congratulate us on what we were doing. She went on to recognize the adoptees who have August birthdays and tell us some stats on what their office has processed over the last 3-4 years. Several of the adoptees were slightly under the age of 14 which is the maximum age children can be adopted and she emphasized the significance of their adoption. Overall it was a fitting time to celebrate the finality of our adoption and made us very thankful and humble God has trusted us to be Kirby's parents. 

We look forward to "coming to America" and seeing each of you as soon as we can.

God is Faithful,

David, Kat and Kirby

Rookie Mistakes

Even though David and I are veterans we had a few great rookie moments this week...

We had no early appointments yesterday so we put Kirby in the bed with us in the morning and were "sleeping in". The sun rises incredibly early here so the hotel has good, dark curtains. David got up and boiled water for the bottle, my tea, and his coffee. We are using bottled water and boiling it so he grabbed the partially used water bottle from the night before, made everything, and we all crawled back in bed. After Kirby finished her bottle, I drank my tea and it tasted funny, not bad but lemony. David said his coffee was funny too. He got up to check the boiling pot and discovered he had put a bottle of Gatorade instead of water in the pot!! Kirby didn't seem to care and drank the bottle completely. We did have a few extra diapers that day. 

One day we ventured out on our own to the Pearl Market. The hugest shopping area I have ever seen. We walked around for 4 hours and never saw any non-Asian. Well of course I was hungry so when I saw a Pizza Hut symbol I was trilled. It was more of a regular Chinese restaurant that also served pizza. Kirby needed changing so in my very best charade I asked the young waitress where I could change her. She pointed to a booth in the restaurant right near everyone. Well I had no choice so I changed her as fast as I could. She rolls so much when changing diapers, David held her still while I  got the diaper on and off in record time. I then sat her on my lap for lunch. Not one minute later I told David these where terrible diapers, I could feel her going straight thru them. When I looked down, I realized I had put the diaper on so fast that I only gotten it on only half of her "bum-bum" and sure enough she had just gone straight on me. But in a country where children where slit-pants and are allowed to go go potty anywhere at anytime, nobody seemed to care. 

We miss everyone very much and can hardly wait to get home and be a united family. 

We are off to our oath taking ceremony, our final step of paper work and hurdles to bring Kirby home. 

A Fun and Crazy Day

We enjoyed a beautiful night cruise on the Pearl River which runs through the middle of Guangzhou.

Kirby and Will are shopped out!

All 26 children (and moms of the little ones) adopted with our group. A beautiful sight :)

Modeling is exhausting work so a nap was in short order - is she an angle straight from heaven or what???

The three of us take a big adventure to the center of the city to what can on be describe as the largest shopping area we have ever seen or could have imagined. There must have been a million people and 100,000 shops and we were the only non Asian people there. It was very educational and a great experience. Everyone is so curious, friendly, and love Kirby and think it is great she has a Mama and Baba.

A nice swim at the end of a hot day is welcomed by all. Kirby loves the water and is looking forward to big brother David to give her some lessons.

Kirby all dressed and ready to go to an Italian buffet. After a very interesting taxi ride and Kirby having a "blow out" messy diaper in the middle of dinner, it was another adventurous day in a land far, far away...

Eating Italian in China - we enjoyed the change....

The pics do the best at summarizing the day. However, a couple of things they can't accurately record is just how blessed we are. The "we" I am referring to is all of us who God in His sovereignty allows us to live in a country that is free and beautiful. Over the last 12 days I am understanding and appreciating this blessing which I have taken for granted far too long. It makes me more resolved to practice what the Bible teaches - to much is given, much is required. Not just monetarily, but its much more than that. I am still processing everything and asking God to continue to show me what He expects of me because of where He has placed me. If nothing else, I am thanking Him for this over looked blessing in my life and hope to be much more appreciative of these things in my life. The one theme which comes to mind more and more while I have been here; Christianity is not a destination but a journey and what a wonderful journey it is when He is writing the story and not me !

Our schedule for Wednesday is our US Consulate appointment at 9:30am and then off exploring and experiencing more of the culture of Kirby's birth place. Then Thursday afternoon we will go to our Oath Taking Ceremony and receive Kirby's Visa. This is our last hurdle for her to becoming a US citizen as soon as we land on US soil on August 7th. Legally she is ours and all of the rights and responsibilities have been transferred to us as her parents, we are just completing the US paperwork for Kirby to enter as a US citizen. 

Thank you for your written comments and encouragement on the blog, it has been such a blessing to us - Thank You!

In HIS strong love,

David & Kat
Kirby

P.S. 

Kat and Kirby got caught in her bath robe in the lobby of the hotel going between the swimming pool and the room. Very funny and one of those "life's most embarrassing moments" haha.

Blue Spots

When we got Kirby on Monday the guide explained that it is a hard day for the children. Many times it is their first time in a car, and in a big city. Then they are handed to someone who looks and sounds and smells different (that would be me). She suggested that we leave them in the same clothes for the first night, and so we did. Tuesday we gave her the first bath and it was full of bubbles, we made it short and quick to keep a happy time. On Wednesday, we took a great tour of the pavillion in Nanchang and Kirby spent most of the day in the front carrier and it was very hot. When we got to the hotel and I changed her diaper I noticed a blue spot on and around her tailbone. I tried to rub it off and was afraid it was a bruise from sitting in the carrier to long. I then noticed a blue spot on MY thumb and just assumed we had both touched something that faded. I even tested the Chinese Pampers to see if the blue stripe on them fades, but they don't. I  knew we had a medical examine on Saturday and I didn't want some strange doctor (or any doctor for that matter) thinking I let my child get into something blue and didn't get her clean. I really don't know why we have an examine or what they look for, I just know its part of the adoption process, we are in China and I don't want anything to go wrong. So on Thursday and Friday I had David come help me  bathe her by holding her so I could scrub her blue spot. I was sure I saw it fading and so I scrubbed some more. When we had the medical exam on Saturday the Chinese doctor who spoke  English, rolled her over and pointed to the spot and said "Mongolian Spot".  Now I had read about Mongolian spots before I came. I know many Asian children have them and they can look like bruises so you need to show them ahead of time to caregivers, but I expected them to look round like the animal in the Dr. Suess book who gets all the colored spots. I expected them to be a deep blue, black, brown color like a bruise. I had just spend days scrubbing what is basically a birth mark. We had ourselves a good chuckle over that, but not nearly as good as our Chinese guides Linaker and his wife Amy who just kept shaking their heads and laughing as I was retelling the story. Amy and Linaker explained that they are not like birthmarks because they fade and will usually be gone by the time the child is 10 and now my thumb is clean. I have no idea what my blue spot was but its gone after all that scrubbing. 

There is a moral in this story somewhere, a lesson to be learned. Certainly an awareness of how very different cultures can be. A lesson that no matter how much you read, its not as good as first hand experience. But in the end probably just a good lesson in how to laugh at myself and the certainty that will not be the last silly thing that I do. 

Transition day - One step closer to home

Friday we traveled from Kirby's province capital of Nanchang where we successfully applied for and received Kirby's Chinese passport (a vital doc and major step to bringing her home) to Guangzhou. A large city where the American consulate is locate and we started our next series of medical examinations and application for Kiby's visa which will give us passage to bring her home next Saturday.  We left our hotel after saying our goodbyes to many of the excellent hotel staff would took great care of us as we navigated this large and sometimes confusing city. A special shout out to Andi who was a "breath of fresh air" who "held our hand" many times. Andi is from Oregon and been in NanChang for the last year and is a duty manager at the Hotel where we stayed - I cant tell you how nice it was to know she was always close by to help with directions, language issues, ect...   Thanks Andi !

Kirby asleep on the bus ride to the hotel

We left the hotel at 3:30pm and Kirby took her first airplane ride to Guangzhou; about an hour flight but after a delay and meeting up will many other families in the Guangzhou airport, we arrived at our new home away from home around 11:30pm and fell into bed for a good night sleep. You can do the math on how much time we spent in airports, and the Nanchang airport has no AC, so it was quite an experience. I kept saying to myself a verse from Psalm 118 "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" I love that verse because it is just happy and perfect for those great days, but the greatest thing about that verse is that its part of the psalms our Lord and Savior sang after the Passover meal(Lord's supper) as He and the disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane. To realize that on the very day the he was crucified He sang "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." Wow!! Every day is a day God made and the circumstances that I find myself in should not keep me from rejoicing in HIM. I will leave this subject by saying that I had to remind myself of this fact many, many times during that very long travel day.  

It has been a most exciting blessing to seeing all the families (26) who we spent 3 days getting to know in Beijing and after fanning out all over China, each family now has a precious new addition to their  families. It is so obvious God has ordained these divine appointments because of the pure joy and unconditional love each family has for these little angels. So many adorable faces from 9 months to 13 years old, such a variety of families, so many amazing stories of God's love and provision. Thank you for following ours.
Katherine

Our small group fixing to leave for the airport after an unbelievable 5 days together - where two of us families became parents again and two couples became parents for the first time.

Kat has the 'precious cargo' and I'm responsible for everything else, including the extra suitcase we had to buy today so everything would fit.

Kirby getting ready for her first flight

 Kirby up and ready for her Saturday morning for her medical examination. Hard to believe but she gets cuter everyday.

Kirby did not like it one bit, these nurses weighing her and measuring her . Actually the pic was only a brief spell, she did get and passed with flying colors - Praise The Lord !

 After such a long morning Kirby perked back up after sharing Mama's lunch

This is Mama's lunch. This is what Kat calls "going wild" eating in China - not sure "going wild" on the desert bar counts but Kirby sure did liked it !!!