* "HAPPY (belated) MOTHER'S DAY!"...to our mothers. To them we owe so much, and yet they expect so little. From them we can learn so much, and they wait patiently for us to be ready for teaching. There are no words adequate enough to thank you for your love, patience, guidance, and care over these past 30+ years. Grandma Gail and Grandma Linda, we love you.
Also - a very special "Happy Mother's Day" to the other mothers (babies home or still waiting) with whom we've shared our adoption experience. I am so thankful for the network of support we've found through our on-line community. I am grateful for the support, encouragement, and knowledge shared by these wonderfully intelligent women and feel so blessed to have 'met' them during the course of our journey. I know that many of us will be in touch for years to come. I love you.
And - one more special greeting and "Happy Mother's Day" to all of our good friends and extended family who are mothers. You have seen us walk this path of hope and to Hope and we thank you for everything you've done for us along the way. You've laughed and cried with us, listened to our story, hugged us when we needed support, and now you're preparing to see us 1/2 way around the world. We love you.
To hear those words, "Happy Mother's Day," spoken in my direction yesterday gave me waves of goosebumps. Me? A mom? Really? Then I looked at Hope's picture and thought a quiet "yes." Yesterday (well, pretty often, but more yesterday), I also thought of Hope's birthmother. What an amazing gift she shared with this world...a little girl she will never know. How can one person's sacrifice bring such immesurable joy to another? We will always be grateful to this woman for making the amazing choice to love her daughter and to deliver Lin Ke Xuan to a place she'd be found, thus beginning the China end of our red thread. Now also we remember Hope's foster mother. When we first meet Hope, and when she grieves, this is the woman she'll remember. Again, we are thankful for her care and love and pray that she is well and that she knows her foster daughter will soon be joining a family who will love her forever.
* Hope was 11 month's old yesterday! I can't help but wonder what she looks like now. Think she still has all that hair? Babies seem to change so much between referral and gotcha day. I just can't wait to see her.
* We'll be flying home as a family of 3 -- 1 month from today!
* We finalized our flight arrangements with the travel agent today. I'm very excited to say that we'll be traveling with one of the other families in our group. It will be wonderful to have familiar faces with us on the planes. Here is a sketch of what our flights look like:
5/29/07 - Depart MSP to LAX (7:15 a.m.)
LAX to Narita
Narita to Beijing
We'll leave MSP at 7:15 a.m. on the 29th and arrive in Beijing at 8:05 p.m. on the 30th.
6/14/07 - Depart Guangzhou to Narita (9:15 a.m.)
Narita to LAX
LAX to MSP
We'll leave Guangzhou at 9:15 a.m on the 14th and arrive at MSP at 8:30 p.m. on the same day)
* OK and lastly, please take a peek at these dresses! They are so sweet! Ron took me out for a little shopping yesterday afternoon. We've been looking for red, white, and blue, dresses for a couple of the special appointments we'll have while we're in China. I can't wait to see them on our little girl!
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6 comments:
And Happy Mother's Day to you, too, Beth!! I so wanted to get a little something for you to celebrate the day, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I hope you had a fabulous day. One of the first things I thought of this morning when I woke up was, "Two weeks from today Beth and Ron leave for China." YEAH!!
The dresses you picked out for Hope are adorable...and what a great idea!! I love it.
Guess what we did for Mother's Day?? We went geocaching on campus! It was so much fun...and Mark found all three of the caches before I did! I didn't even "let" him find them first...he did it all on his own. Now he's hooked. LOL At the last cache, Mark was putting it back and Hope said, "Daddy caching." hehehe Maybe she's hooked, too?
Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you guys before you leave.
Love you!
Melody
Love the dresses....red, white and blue, how appropriate! I wish you God's speed and safe travels. I'm sure the days can't go fast enough for you now.......
Blessings to all three of you,
JK
Happy Mother's Day to you! The dresses are adorable and very patriotic! I hope you have a wonderful trip to China.
Kim
Oh someone's been shopping! Hope will look so cute in those dresses! I see you arrive in Beijing 1 hour before us. You'll have to show us around the hotel ;) You guys are great! See ya later, Amy
Happy Mother's Day Beth! Your post about Birth Moms had me in tears again... It is so true. Their tragedy is our treasure. What strong people these women are. I can't imagine the heartache they endured. I admire them deeply.
I've been trying to think of a ritual of sorts to honor Lucy's bio mom, something I can start now and continue with Lucy when she is bigger....
Smooch
PK
What ADORABLE dresses!!! Cannot wait to see her in them!!
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