Betsy Day:)

                                    
                                      

 I don't even know where to begin. This has been an unbelievable day! We got up around 6:00am.(Sam and Ellie about 5:45am!)We all slept well, but were ready to get going. We took our showers, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. As we were finishing our breakfast we noticed a family coming in that "looked" American. Let me just say we are the foreigners around here! When we got up to leave they came up to us and asked if we were from the United States and if we were here to adopt a child from Harbin. Their guide had told them about us. We were SO excited to meet them! They have a 7 year old bio daughter, and a 5 year old adopted son from Ethiopia. It was such a blessing to run into them...such a sweet family! Our God cares so much about every detail of our lives...he sent this family to be here at the same time we are! One thing I was really worried about when thinking about coming to Harbin was the fact that the Heilongjiang province has done very few adoptions. I knew for a fact we would be the ONLY Americans here...God knew differently:) After we talked to them for a few minutes we went upstairs to get everything we needed for the BIG day! When we were ready we went down to the lobby to meet Teresa, our guide. She was already there talking to the Vopels, the family we met. They were waiting on their guide. We talked to them a few minutes and Teresa said it was time to go!! I was so excited and nervous too! We had to drive about 30 minutes to the Adoption Center. When we arrived there Teresa said the two children, Betsy and the Vopels daughter(who is 18m old), would arrive in about 45 minutes. Sam and Ellie were a little sad that she was not already there waiting on us;) We went up to the third floor, and Todd and I had to sign a few papers. Before we knew it the children were there! The Vopels daughter went right to them, but Betsy was another story. She cried really hard, tears streaming down her face. It was heart breaking. Tears filled my eyes ,but I held it together pretty well. Ellie was very sad, but knew this could happen. We started digging around in our "bag of tricks", a backpack we brought for Betsy, filled with bubbles, gummy lifesavers, and several other goodies! She would have nothing to do with me...would only let her Nana hold her. We tried several things, but the cup with Cheerios finally made her smile. She allowed the Director of the Adoption Center to hold her. After a few minutes, she went to Todd. She really liked him! Sam and Ellie got out the bubbles, and she really started warming up to them. She still didn't want anything to do with me. She loved the bubbles, and would let Todd blow them. Little by little she began to look at me, but that was about it. The director got out a picture album we had sent, and she knew each of our names in Chinese. After taking several pictures, and blowing many bubbles it was time to go. She let Todd carry her outside, and sat on his lap in the van on the way back to the hotel. On the 30 minute ride back to the hotel she warmed up to each of us more and more...even me:) She laughed and we all had alot of fun with her! When we got back to the hotel she let me carry her inside. I was thrilled!! Teresa went up to our room with us, and answered several questions I had. She is great! We have had a really good afternoon. Betsy, or Miao Miao is doing very well. She is so smart! Teresa kept saying she is very clever. Teresa also said her Nana loves her so much. She was very sad to leave her today. Teresa also said that Miao Miao was one of three or four children that was in this woman's care. She said she was very well loved by everyone at the orphanage. Knowing someone has loved her so well makes me very happy and thankful. Thanks again for all the prayers...we have felt them covering us every step of the way!