What a JOY

The whole process up to this point has been amazing. The prayers of a righteous man/woman avails much and it is evident that a lot of righteous people have been praying for us. We can't thank you enough. We have always stated the prayers mean more than the money and after this past week I stand by that statement more than ever!

There are two main things about our girl that we have noticed right off the bat. She can eat and sleep. Typical teen I guess. Friday morning, after another restless night for me (Rachel) I ended up sleeping until almost 11. When I prodded her to get up just a few minutes later she was pretty resistant. 

And man, can the girl eat. I don't know if it is because she has never had this many choices in her life or if this is how she has always been but either way, she eats as much as Brian. 

Friday we checked out of our hotel in Nanning and began the trip to Guangzhou. At the airport Joy made a call to her foster mom which brought on a lot of tears but that was nothing compared to saying good bye to our guide, Jane. Jane has known Joy since last May and throughout all this time of preparing her to be adopted they have gotten very close. Plus, while we were in Nanning, Jane was our life line for translation. She broke down and sobbed when saying good bye to Jane. It was heartbreaking. She quickly pulled out of it though and once on board the plane she could barely contain her excitement. We let her sit in the window seat and it was absolutely precious to see just how happy she was about the whole thing. She even turned to me at one point and "mommy, this make me so happy". Of course, I teared up at that. She loved every minute of that flight until we landed and then she got really sick. Thank goodness she didn't throw up but told us she was close. Please pray for that specifically, she gets car sick really easily also. Once we got to the hotel she was a ball of excitement all over again. She started running around the hotel room and pointing to everything and laughing and giggling. It was so amazing to watch. So much we take for granted. I am sure she has never seen anything so nice in her whole life. 

Today was a super early start. We had to meet in the lobby at 930 in order to go get visa pictures done and the medical check. This time around the medical check wasn't like a cattle call. There were only about 10 other adoptive families so things went pretty quick. Joy had to have 3 shots, a blood draw, ENT visit, physical and eye check. All were perfect except her eyes. Poor girl is blind as bat. We suspected the minute we got her because she squinted so much but today it was confirmed and its pretty bad. That appointment is the first on the list when we get back. 

The rest of today was pretty hum drum. Since I didn't get even 5 minutes sleep last night I needed to lay down which was good for her too. Lucky Brian got to do the paperwork appointment which is basically just Holt helping him make sure he can get through immigration when we land. 

Tonight after dinner we walked around the hotel and found a Foosball table. We spent about 45 minutes playing and it was the most fun we've had up to this point. She laughed and laughed which was a priceless sound. 

Please continue to pray. We still have 5 days left and I am struggling the most. I've already spent 2 days sick and I am missing JG more than I can even articulate. I know she is doing well and I am not worried about her at all. Just sad. I know I have to focus on right now, its just hard. 

Thank you again for coming alongside us. We could NEVER do this without you all. We are also praying for you guys. 

Oh and thanks for feeding our kids while we are gone. That has been invaluable. 

Until next time...

Blessings. 

Saying good bye to Jane

Learning how to crush some candy

About to board her first flight

Too much excitement

I got to watch her draw this today
so much talent