We are a family blessed many times over by adoption.  Susan, Shea and Sophie are all adopted.. Michael is the odd-man out in this household of girls in more ways than one.  When thoughts turned to whether or not we should add another child to our family, it was naturally assumed that this child would come to us through adoption and China pulled on our heart-strings yet again.

In our move from Texas to Colorado in the Spring of 2005, we started talking more seriously about not “if” we would adopt again but “when”.  Pretty quickly we realized that requesting an infant was not the right option for us this time around.  We decided to look for a “waiting child” who was older, possibly with some minor health issues.  I was already a member of several yahoo groups in support of China Adoption and I joined even more that had to do with waiting kids - - children who agencies are trying to unite with their families.  While initially our time frame was “sometime later this year,” within a week or two I learned of an agency who had the files for two girls . . . a 5 year old and a 12 year old.  Wow, I thought, a 5 year old would be perfect for our family.  Then I made a very fateful decision.  I chose to ask for further information on both girls.  Why did I do that?  Up to this point, we had never even discussed a much older daughter.  Shea had requested that she remain the oldest in the family.  Of course, when the agency replied to my email, the 5 year old had found her family so they sent me a short note about the 12 year old and her photo.  Later that night, as we were sitting on the couch, I pulled up this photo and showed Michael and then read him the short blurb that said she was at the top of her class and that she was happy but wanted a family of her own.  Even as I read those words, I looked over and both of us were in tears.  We just knew instantly that there was something special about this girl.  I requested further information from the agency and by the time I received it just a few days later, we had decided as a family that we wanted to proceed and adopt this sweet girl.  Shea was an important part of the process.  Once we showed her Wen Yan’s photo and she read about her, her response was immediate and heartfelt, “We have to adopt this girl, I want to be her sister."

While the thought of adopting a teenager is a little scary at first, it was not a decision we took lightly.  We believe strongly in the power of prayer and seeking spiritual confirmation for important decisions and we prayed much that weekend and spent many hours discussing the options.  Once we made the decision to proceed we have never doubted this choice for our family.  We believe that each one of us has a mission to fulfill on this earth and are grateful that we will be able to be a part of this special girl’s life.  A precious daughter of our Heavenly Father will have the opportunity to come to this wonderful land of freedom and choose who she will become and our family will be so blessed to have a 3^rd daughter to love and cherish.

So, as our walls remained bare, and boxes unpacked, we immediately went to work gathering all the documents necessary to complete the dossier that is sent to China.  While we have been through this before for Sophie’s adoption, there is still that sense of urgency to bring this child home as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, in adoption as in life, many things are out of our control.  While we were able to quickly complete our requirements, the BCIS took their sweet time to issue the last piece of paper that we needed for our dossier so our initial estimate of traveling to China in November has turned into hoping for early 2006.

While we wait we are trying to remain positive and stay busy with everyday life.  We have been able to send WenYan packages and we had a cake sent to her orphanage for her birthday through a lady who has contacts in China that help facilitate care packages.  Our current project is to make fleece blankets for WenYan and the older girls at the orphanage who we understand live in separate area with their teachers.  We have heard that the rooms of the older kids are usually bare of anything personal, colorful or cheery so we want to send them warmth and hugs through these blankets.

We want to use this website to share our journey with family and friends and also to encourage anyone who is considering adopting from China, most especially an older child.  We have been inspired by other families who have been open about their experiences and we hope to be able to do the same for someone else.