A family of seven-

It has been a very long day for us, but more so for our new daughter- Su Xue Wei is now with us. I am not sure where to begin, adopting an older child is not for the faint of heart. This will be a challenge in more ways than one, but she is sweet and smart, and will be worth every bit of it to find out who she is. We are told she is very outgoing and very happy, lots of smiles, and never stops talking. Katie may have some competition.
Our day began at an office building of foreign adoption affairs. Our guide was under the impression that we would meet her there. Three other families filed in, one from Australia, one from Sweeden- all receiving their children as well. After some quick paperwork we were told we would be heading to the orphanage to meet our children. We were all a wreck waiting, not sure if she would be walking in any minute. Kellan even said on the way over that he was very nervous. So we got back in the van and headed over to the orphanage.
We headed into the building, into a large conference room where she was waiting with her foster family. The foster dad had his camcorder out and was taping us coming in with tears streaming down his face. This started all of us crying. after some hugs, the foster grandmother brought out three albums of pictures of Su Xue Wei from the time she was a baby. She started to explain each picture, when it was taken, and how old she was, like any proud Grandmother would- with a huge smile on her face. This family was so welcoming and warm, I said to Jim that they felt like our family, to which he responded "they are now" and he is right. We may not be able to communicate well, but somehow we were right at ease with each other.
The director interupted that they wanted to give us a tour of the facility. So we all went off to take a look. The first stop was the baby room. There were five beautiful little babies in a playpen area, all smiling up at us. One little one held her arms up to Kellan, he picked her up and held her a bit. We were able to tour some of the classrooms with the older children, and the preschool room, which was empty.
We stopped on the way out of the building on the steps to take a picture of all of us together. Something that we will all treasure. We are invited to their home tomorrow to visit, and for dinner with them. As difficult as this will be, it will be a good thing for all of us to spend some time together.
As far as Su Xue Wei- she has been wonderful with the girls, thank God we brought the kids with us. We thought it was the right decision, now we know it was. With them we are seeing her smile and laugh a little. With us she is pretty withdrawn, I think she is just really overwhelmed and scared. She has every reason to be. Her english is very limited. She has not tried to communicate much to us yet, but was able to say this evening that she was very tired and needed to get to bed. My heart breaks for her, and I wish there was more I could do to comfort her right now. She is a brave girl. Say some prayers for her as she makes this huge transition.
For pictures from today click here. The backpack she is wearing is the one we sent to her-
Love to all of you from Shanghai
Sandy, Jim and kids