Three years ago today...

I'll never forget that day. I'll never forget trying so hard to memorize every second of it. Willing my mind to never forget a single moment.

We got up really early to have our luggage outside our door then headed down to breakfast. After that we sat around in the hotel lobby, in Beijing, waiting until it was time to go to the airport (9 or 9:30 if I remember right). It seemed like forever. Once we were checked in at the airport we sat around for what seemed like hours. Oh wait, it was hours! There wasn't anywhere to sit or anything to eat and we were all just anxious to get on our way.

I remember leaving the airport in Jiangxi and walking across to the bus. Then the ride across town to the hotel. There was the bridge we crossed into the city, the rice paddies, the green hills. At the hotel we were told to wait in our rooms for our luggage, get ourselves organized and meet in the conference room at 4:30. The excitement was so hard to contain! The maids were busy delivering cribs to all of our rooms where we also found a baby bath and a stroller waiting. It was starting to feel very real. It was finally going to happen. Finally our turn after so many years!

Once our stuff was ready we headed down to Tom and Diana's room for a quick refresher course on making formula, last minute camera checks and gift wrapping. By four o'clock we couldn't stand it any more and decided to head down to the conference room where we discovered we were not alone in our inability to wait!

We stood in that hallway and later in the conference room listening to the sounds of babies and wondering if ours was there yet. Wondering what she would look like, how she would react to us and WHAT WERE WE THINKING!? A baby. Wow!

Before I knew it they were calling our name. I was shaking so hard that I could hardly walk and tripped over a chair in my haste.

Then we walked around that corner and there she was.

Our lives changed forever that day. Not only did we now have a daughter but we experienced the indescribable feelings of traveling along the path to adoption and seeing it come to completion. There just aren't the right words. We will never be the same.

We love you Paige, with all our hearts. We loved you before you ever were and we will love you forever more. God chose us for each other and He couldn't have chosen more perfectly!

Happy Family Day!