Merry Christmas

While Christmas Day is still going strong in the US, it is the morning after Christmas here in China. I don't expect many after Christmas sales and we definitely won't spend the day returning gifts that don't work or don't fit. I do look forward to a little exploration as we have a free day here. We completed Davidson's adoption yesterday. Now both kids are legally ours.  We will stay here in Zhengzhou until Friday night so that we can receive Davidson's passport. We will then travel to Guangzhou to complete the US side of the adoption.

Christmas Day was tiring as we had to travel back to Luoyang to apply for Davidson's passport. That was basically 5-6 hours in the car with a small break in the middle at the passport office. In China there are no car seats so Davidson stayed in his Mama's lap the entire trip. Yes in one day he has become Mama's boy.  He will not let her leave his sight.  We are thankful that he is bonding to her so quickly. We have even had several people tell Lauren that he looks like her.  I'll admit, I am a little jealous that he doesn't care for me too much yet but all of this will come in its own time. He was perfect in the car. I'm fairly certain that given the same opportunity my biological children would have ended up tied to the seat to preserve everyone's sanity. He is easy going and likes to play with his toys.  He is a little bit of a ham and like to entertain everyone around with funny facial expressions.  We think his roommates at Maria's Big House of Hope have taught him a few tricks since we left here in September. We couldn't be more thrilled that Davidson is back in our arms. Don't expect him to be put down any time soon.

Ming Yu had her best day yet. She slept in the car most of the trip. When we returned she got a call on Skype from her Ayi at the orphanage in Yantai.  She was animated and smiled and laughed continuously through the conversation. I was afraid that she would be upset when the conversation ended but she was upbeat the rest of the night. I tried all day to download some of her favorite Chinese songs to her iPad with no success. While we were in the car a song came on the radio that I knew and I heard her singing. I asked if she wanted it on her iPad and she said yes. When we returned she got her first song for her iPad, Gangnam style.  Ironic that a Korean song loved all over the world helps bring together an American father and Chinese child.  She will listen to songs from my iPad and seems to keep returning to My Savior My God by Aaron Shust. I know that she doesn't understand the words or the meaning, but I pray that soon she will.

Despite the fact that our Chrstmas wasn't traditional in any sense of the word, we are thankful to be where we are.  We  miss our  family at home, but we know that they are being taken care of. We are also thankful that we have a Savior who was born to die for us, our family, and anyone who will accept Him. We are thankful that He adopted us into His family so that Lauren and I could adopt these two children into ours. I pray that everyone back in the US has a Merry Christmas, and between the meals and the presents remember to thank God for the blessings he has given us all, most importantly his Son.