“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you , plans to give you hope and a future.”
~Jeremiah 29:11

We received our pre-approval to adopt Emme Jade on January 13, 2011. Her Chinese name is Yang YuQiao. She is currently living in the Jiangsu Province of China at the Yangzhou Children’s Welfare Institute. After connecting with other families with children from Yangzhou we have learned she is in a very special place! It is clear from the pictures and updates we have received thus far that she is well taken care of and very loved! We are so thankful for this!

We first saw Emme Jade’s adorable face on New Years Eve, 2010. Her referral file described her in this way: “She is extroverted, smart, well behaved and she has a quick smile. She shows her smile naturally when seeing others!” The file went on to describe her as a deep sleeper!!!! Thank you Lord!

After we received our first approval from China we were blessed to meet some other families with children from Yangzhou who had plans to travel to the orphanage in the spring. We reached out to them to ask if they would check on Emme Jade for us. They graciously agreed, and after their visits they sent us encouraging emails about her, and sweet photos too.

In late January we received our first update about YuQiao from her orphanage. It was during this January update that we found out she had a best friend at the orphanage. A little boy named ShaoWu who would soon be meeting his family. The orphanage told us they had nicknames for this precious pair. They called them “Golden Boy” and “Jade Girl.” They went on to tell us they were inseparable. Before “Golden Boy” left Yangzhou with his new family in February we were able to send in a cake so they could celebrate their forever families together! We hope to keep these two special friends in touch when Emme Jade gets home! We were blessed to connect with his new parents! This update went on to tell us that YuQiao loves beautiful clothes, and dolls! (She will fit in perfectly here!) They also shared with us that she likes to be held, likes baths, and she likes to play with other children!

Since January we have been abundantly blessed with photos and information about Emme Jade! In almost every photo she is happy.

When you are waiting for your child, there is nothing more that you can ask than to know your child is being loved! Until she is finally in our arms, we will continue to pray for protection for her. And, we will continue to give thanks for the loving people in Yangzhou who clearly are doing a wonderful job of taking care of her!

Lastly, we chose to name her Emme (sounds like Em-mee) because it means “Embracing Everything!” We just felt like this described her.

And we were so thankful that we learned her nickname so we could incorporate it. We can’t wait to finally hold our precious and beautiful Emme Jade!