10 years ago, life changed forever. We went from being a couple, married for 11 years (having celebrated our 11th anniversary in Beijing) to 2 days later becoming a family, a forever family. It was March 12, 2001, the day our lives changed forever. The first day we finally met in person and fell in love (all over again) with Li San Yue, in Tuanfeng, Hubei China.

The journey started with paperwork, then waiting, more paperwork, more waiting, official notarizations from the county, the state, the federal government and the Chinese government, then more waiting, and then the day the Fedex package arrived, waiting on that too. The long awaited package containing the most important paperwork of all ~ the picture seen at the left and all the biographical information about our soon to be daughter arrived on January 22, 2001.

Skip forward to March 12, 2001, anxiously arriving at the Civil Affairs Bureau, stepping off the elevator and hearing the distant cries of babies. Heart pounding, palms sweating, stomach in knots… knowing that in just a few moments we would finally get to hold our daughter in our arms for the very first time. I could go on and describe the entire day, the next two weeks, and the journey home, but that is for another post, at another time.

Now we are in the present, 10 years after our first meeting. The little baby we met so many years ago has grown, blossomed, and is developing into quite the  young lady. Bright, creative, and independent and still the most amazing gift I have ever been given. Happy “Gotcha Day” my Chinese firecracker.