Gotcha Day 2006

Gotcha Day is one of the most special days of the year for us. On this day in 2004 we held Desheng Darling in our arms for the first time. We celebrate this day every year with great thankfulness. We had no idea what a blessing DD would be. She has come a long way in 2 years. It’s hard to believe that when we first got her, she didn’t even know how to kiss. It breaks my heart when I think of all the little things in life she might have missed. Without hesitation, I can say that she’s not missing anything now (except for maybe a little discipline.)

Adoption is a wonderful thing! Unless you’ve experienced all of the expenses, paperwork, doctor visits, home study visits, fingerprinting experiences, visits to the notary public, secretary of state, and consulate’s offices, the eternal wait for the I-171H, and referral, along with the challenge of traveling internationally and returning on a 15 hour flight with a baby who cried for 14 of those hours….it’s hard to imagine everything we went through just to get her here. It ranks right up there with 9 months of pregnancy and 14 hours of labor! (Been there too.)

Most importantly God has shown me an important lesson through all of this:
Everything we went through to make DD a part of our family is minute in comparison to what He went through to adopt us into His.

Here are pictures of Gotcha Days 2004 and 2006. It's amazing what a little love will do. I wanted to post a picture from 2005 too, but I just couldn't get them lined up like I wanted. I'll get better at this!