Myah's First Christmas

This will go down as a very special Christmas for us as we celebrated Myah's first. We were trying so hard to not get caught up in the hustle and bustle and really take it all in. This is the first year that I can recall Mark having the days before, during and after Christmas off. It was so nice to have our own celebration at home and then head up north for our family gatherings. Myah wasn't really sure what opening presents was all about, she hasn't had a birthday party or anything yet that she has had to open presents, so as with most little ones, she loved the paper and bows and would rather play with them as opposed to playing with the great toys that were inside the fancy wrappings. We made a few stops to see a few of Mark's relatives that had not yet met Myah and it was so nice to see his family. Four years ago, Mark's dad passed away and so did his grandmother, three weeks prior. We used to have a huge Christmas with all of the aunt, uncles and cousins. Since their passing, we don't get together anymore as a whole. It was so good for Mark to see his family and share our little girl with them for the first time. We also celebrated with his immediate family at his mom's house in her new "holiday room". Myah loved it because there was a special ramp made so that Great Grandma Fahlsing could get up to the room with her walker and Myah must have walked up and down that ramp a hundred times. Mark and I also attended the candlelight service at the church we were married in. We don't get back very often but it is a special place for us as his family still attends there, Mark's parents were married there and Mark was baptized there as a baby. We had a nice time at my parents also, it was definately crazy with the three little girls running around. Dayton, bless his heart is sure a trooper with all of the little girl stuff! Myah loved the fact that every time she walked up to someone they would offer her a cookie or cracker. I swear she gained five pounds over the holidays! She also gained 3 new teeth! Ironically, Dayton lost a tooth on Christmas day. We laughed because he lost his first tooth on Christmas Eve five years ago. What is it with our family and teeth on Christmas!? Myah also went to see Santa for the first time. We weren't sure how well she would do but she sat right on his lap and actually put her head on his shoulder. This is just more evidence of how much more comfortable she is with us. She would go up to all of our family and hug them even when she had just met them. I am so glad that she has a loving heart. For so long she would get so timid around everyone but the three of us. She is really loving life and is laughing from her belly, smiling the biggest smiles and has a new scream reserved for when she is really excited. She also has a new obsession with wearing boots, I have caught her many times trying to get her new boots on all by herself, she is even trying to step into daddy's big work boots. Our only disappointment this year is that there hasn't been any snow!!!! Not that I LOVE snow or anything but we didn't even see one flake in December! We would love to take Myah outside and push her in a sled down our hill but I am beginning to wonder if we will have to wait till next winter!! I guess I better be careful what I wish for right!!!! We were very excited to start the new year, we have been so crazy busy ever since Myah arrived with adjusting to our new life, settling into Mark's new position, Mark's finishing up of his Masters, Dayton's schedules, and life in general, that we haven't had much "down time". We are anxious to see what 2007 will bring for our family, I am really excited to announce that I am starting my own photography business, this has been my passion forever and I can't wait to play with my new camera and equipment with my little China doll! I hope you all had a nice holiday and that 2007 brings you much happiness.

Eighteen Months Old

Today we have officially been home for 6 months with Myah! One minute I am amazed that it has only been 6 months, it seems like she has been with us forever, in the next minute, it feels like just yesterday that we held her for the first time. We are gearing up for the holidays just like everyone else, we are much busier this year! It has been so much fun finally being able to shop for two children, it seems that Dayton's presents cost much more than Myah's and they are much smaller than hers too! We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving, Myah was just amazed at all of the lights. We have many ornaments that Dayton has made through the years, some with his pictures on them. Myah wakes up every day and looks at the tree, she sees Dayton's pictures and says "Date" and waves her hands up in the air in excitement! I went to Frankenmuth for my Grandma's birthday and bought some special ornaments for the tree that are for Myah. I love the glass vintage looking ornaments and found a Chinese flag, a ladybug and a princess crown and had her name put on it. We are so excited to take her to see Santa this week, it will be really interesting! She is just blossoming on a daily basis. I took her to my family Christmas and she "worked the room", she wandered away from me on her own and was walking up to people and was hugging them. I am amazed at how she has come out of her shell this past month. She is letting other people hold her, even when I am in the room. Everyone just loves her wherever we go. I have said that she reminds us so much of Dayton at that age, she does so much of the same things that he did. I just picked up photos that we had taken of the kids back in August and they are just gorgeous, but it is as if I am looking at her face and seeing the same baby on the outside but she is such a different baby on the inside now. We have definately made huge strides in her emotional and physical developement. She also has more confidence. She is very strong willed and is learning how to "charm" us when she knows she is in trouble. She is saying new words just about every day, some of her new favorites are yes, juice, shoes, down and Chloe. She went through a two week period last month when she kept falling on her face, she was so swollen for a few weeks, she was a mess! We are adjusting to Mark's new schedule and trying to keep her quiet during the day is a challenge, good thing Mark is a deep sleeper! She will stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell "Da Da". She is quite a character. We are so in love with her and can't wait to see Christmas through her eyes. It is so sad to think that last year at this time she was six months old living with her foster parents and not even celebrating this holiday. Another mom who has adopted from the same orphanage as Myah has put together a scrapbook album for the Tuanfeng orpanage each year to send over and also sends something for the foster parents. We sent along a page that we decorated for her. We sure hope that someone will recognize Myah and take comfort in seeing her happy. I have been thinking alot about her birth mother lately and I hope that God has comforted her heart when her thoughts turn to the baby she left on the steps. I also think about little Myah and am so grateful to God that she was protected during those moments when she was completely alone, my heart doesn't let my mind play out the scenerios of what could have happened to her. Her birth certificate arrived the other day, it was very basic, I am sure there are many blanks that were left that way, blank. But the most important part was where it named us as her parents, we will love this little girl forever! Our best gift this year is definately one that won't fit under the tree..... or should I say that won't sit! Thank you all so much for caring so much about our family and about our daughter. This year has been just amazing for us and we are so glad that you shared it with us. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2007!

Seventeen Months Old

How appropriate that this month we feel as if we have turned a new leaf in our family. So many changes have taken place over the past two weeks. Little Myah just becomes more and more comfortable with us. She has really opened up her little heart and accepted us and all that we have to give her. Since she started walking last month, her world has opened up, she literally walks around the house all day long. We took her for her check up and the Dr. was very pleased with her health and the progress that she is making physically and emotionally. It is just amazing to me that we brought her home 5 months ago today. I was reading my entries from our China trip and I just can't believe how much Myah has changed. She is so funny, we laugh at/with her all day long. She is definately head strong "spicy" as the Chinese call it. She is getting better at "going with the flow" on a daily basis. Today I took her to get groceries and she was an angel, a few months ago we couldn't make it down the first aisle before I was ready to leave. She is a smart litte thing, she is saying new words almost on a daily basis also, her favorite words are, Dayton, ball and shoes. Her new trick is to go to the refrigerator or pantry and beg for a snack. Now that she can walk she is able to interact with us so much more. She even walked up to me the other day and was trying to get my attention about something, I finally figured out that she was telling me that she had gone potty! Let's hope that she will potty train easy! We have had a major event happen in our house this past week as Mark became a police Lieutenant. We had learned the day before we received our travel notice in May that Mark would be promoted but that it wouldn't be until November, I remember thinking about how far away it seemed. Honestly I can't believe that the time went so fast. He is on midnights for a while so we are trying to get used to a baby and nights again, just like when we had Dayton! We are all getting adjusted to this new lifestyle and hopefully in a few weeks it will all be routine. As Thanksgiving approaches, we are really excited to share these special holidays with our families. Many of our family members will be meeting Myah for the first time, she is a charmer and I know they will love her instantly. I was finally able to meet up with my Adoption Buddies on Monday, this was the first time that the 4 of us had been able to get together since before we got the girls. It was so fun, we met at the mall, and did we ever get looks while pushing our beauties! We definatley are thankful for all of the wonderful people that we have met throughout our adoption, they are like family to us. We can't wait to gather with our family and friends to celebrate in the coming days, we pray that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy these weeks ahead as we aproach the most magical season!

Myah's Baptism

We had Myah baptized at our church on October 15th. We were so happy for Myah and excited to share this moment with our close family and friends. It was very touching and Pastor Kelly did a wonderful job of making us cry! He showed the same video that he had shown during his sermon on adoption that day in church when I fell apart! This time it was nice to watch it with Myah sitting on my lap and keeping me busy! She healed the wound in my heart! When it was our turn, Kelly's voice started to crack and he said "Mark and Leslie, you have done a good thing". Believe me, we didn't do it alone! So many people made our journey to Myah a reality that is for sure. Besides, we feel like she has brought so much joy and spirit into our lives that she should get all of the credit. I think of how brave our little Myah is and she doesn't even know it. It was a very special day for our family and it was nice to have our first of many occasions honoring Myah. Since we missed her first birthday, it was nice to have the family together to celebrate her life.Myah wore her Chinese dress that we bought in China for her that she wore on the famous red couch at the White Swan Hotel for pictures. Our good friend Liz made a very special cake for the occasion, it was delicious! A man from church makes beautiful oak boxes with a cross on top for all of the children being baptized as a place to hold their keepsakes, it was so pretty. Great Uncle Charlie made Myah a gorgeous toy box , this little girl is getting pretty spoiled! We received many special gifts for Myah, it was fun opening things for a little girl! This was a special date in our family's history because Mark's Grandpa Fahlsing would have been 99 years old. I know he was looking down on us with pleasure. We are so happy for Myah and are looking forward to many more special days ahead.

Sixteen Months Old

Ok the months are really flying by now! Little Miss Myah is walking everywhere and is getting into everything! She is definately making up for lost time. She has no fear, she likes trying to climb up anything that looks interesting. What a character, she is surely becoming a Friend/Schultz family member with her fun loving attitude and her gift of gab. She started saying "hi" tonight and can now say Mama, Dada, Dayton, ball, book, all gone and gentle ( she liked to hit so this one was the first one she learned!). We just love her so much, I can't stop kissing her cheeks, they are the chubbiest little things you have ever seen! She has the best giggle, she loves to be chased around the house and she will just squeal when we go after her. She is going to be baptized this weekend, we are really looking forward to this special day for her. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She has touched so many people, everywhere we go she attracts attention, at the restaurants it gets really crazy, everyone stops by and asks all about her. Now that she is interacting more with people, she eats up the attention and becomes quite the charmer. This gets her free balloons, food, and crayons. We can't wait to celebrate all of the fall holidays with her, we took her to her first pumpkin patch today, she loved the animals and tried to catch the kittens. She is going to be a lady bug for Halloween, we wanted her to be Snow White but the costumes weren't small enough. She is our fairy tale come true and she is our princess every day!

Fifteen Months Old

Has it really been 3 months since "Gotcha Day"? The time is just flying by. Dayton started school yesterday and today is his first full day back. Myah has already been looking around for him. He has been home with her ever since we have had her. It seems very different having a baby at home now too when he leaves! So many changes, it's all good. Myah has been making many strides in her development this past month. She is walking! Wow! She has taken at the most 14 steps at a time but she can get around pretty good between walking on the furniture and scooching everywhere. She has really claimed this place as her home and feels very comfortable. At the Dr. the other day she weighed 24 pounds and was 32" tall. She is doing great! She is an imitator and loves barking like a dog, meowing like a kitten and roaring like a lion. She also likes to try to climb the stairs at any chance she can get. We keep them gated off so she can't get to them. One day we followed behind her just to see how far she could go and she actually made it to the top, she only stumbled 2 times ( I caught her of course!). She has no fear! We went to a birthday party for one of the girls that was in our adoption group and we got to see 3 other girls from Myah's orphanage, they are all doing so well, it was great to see them. Many of you have asked and we are still collecting quilt squares for Myah's 100 wishes quilt. If you would like to contribute please let us know, I will try to post a folder on here so you can get the information, we would love to have your participation in this special keepsake for her. Myah also has two new friends in the world, our friends the Steckels had their twin girls on Sept. 1st, they were premature but are doing well, please keep them in your prayers that they can bring them home soon! We sure have appreciated all of your love for our family and the support that you continue to give us, we need it! Myah has finally started to cuddle with us and it is just wonderful, each new day we feel like we are gaining her love and trust. She actually holds onto me and Mark the way Dayton used to when we rock her to sleep or carry her to bed. It is just precious and reaffirms our decision to adodpt over and over again. We needed her love just as much as she needed ours. PS: There is a new song on the Homepage, Martina is my all-time favorite and this song reminds me of Myah.

Our Adoption Buddies

We been blessed to meet some of the wonderful families that we are adopting with. Last May Leslie met with two of the mommies that are in our group, Laura and Sheri. Since that day we have emailed each other and have met on several occasions for dinner or lunch. I get to see Laura quite often because she doesn't live very far from us. Her and her husband Jay actually went to Ferris with Mark and lived in the same dorm, what a small world! Our mommy lunch group grew last week with the introduction of Robyn, she fits in with us so well and she is just one more reason why the trip to China will be so enjoyable. What a wonderful bond we will have with them and our daughters. We also just met a great couple in Pinckney who live 2 miles from us. They just got back from China on New Years Day. They are going to be a great resource for us! Myah will definately have many little playmates once she arrives! It is wonderful to share this journey with these great families and we look forward to raising our little China girls together! The song playing is called "You and I " by Celine Dion. It is a special song to Mark and I and ironically, when we got together for the first time with our travel buddies for dinner this song was playing over the radio in the restaurant, it was quite the red thread moment!

Home For Two Months

Two months ago today we brought Myah home. Our little girl is really coming out of her shell and seems more and more accepting of her new life every day. To our delight she has started to cuddle with us. She would never hug or sit still with us. She has just started letting us rock with her and she will snuggle and hug us when she is tired. It feels so nice to receive this physical acceptance from her. She seems to understand that she is here to stay and that we are safe. Adopting a one year old is very challenging. She has her own routines and likes and dislikes, we took her away from all of that and have spent the last two months trying to reconstruct her lifestyle by trial and error. She is ours now and we know that she will conform to our ways, but she has a set way of doing things and can't tell us what they are. If she could only talk! Then it would be in Chinese and we couldn't understand it anyways! Ha! She is just blossoming! She seems to be smiling so much more and is really making most of her strides this month in the physical department. She is scooching everywhere, she doesn't get up on all 4's but instead slides on her tush and pulls with her arms, she gets anywhere she wants to go doing it her way so we aren't trying to change it. She also has decided that she can pull herself up and is starting to walk along the furniture. The other day I caught her climbing the stairs! She has no fear! She is tackling all of the big milestones all at once. The gates have gone up and we really have to watch her now. When we first got her she could just sit, she didn't even try to move anywhere! She is also becoming very vocal, she loves to bark like a dog and meow like a cat, she loves animals! I am not sure if she had a pet at her foster home or not but she definately seems comfortable with animals. We stayed at the Winters' house this weekend and she would crawl as fast as she could when she saw the cat! We have been in touch with a few families from our group and have enjoyed watching the girls interact with each other. Sarah started rubbing Myah's back when they were standing next to each other and she put her head on Myah's shoulder. It was so sweet. Ruby came over to play and we had a lesson in sharing! Myah is a brute!! These girls sure attract attention wherever they go. We are amazed at Myah's beauty everyday. She is just so striking, her hair makes her so unique, people just can't get over it and want to touch it all the time. I do wonder what her birth parents looked like and I wonder if they think about her, I would love to know who she resembles. She is a big girl for her age, she is in the 95% for height in American babies, it is unusual for a Chinese baby to be larger. Like I said, she is just unique. Mark took her to the Health Dept. today and he said people came out of their offices, customers were coming up to him and he said there was a crowd around him looking at Myah. She does get alot of looks. God has truly sent an angel our way. She loves to dress up and put her shoes on and her jewelry also, it is so cute, she is a girly girly for sure, she loves her baby dolls and sleeps with one every day. I am in Heaven!!!!! Mark is still trying to learn how to do her hair! It is so cute! We are still adjusting to a little one in the house again, especially since we didn't live here when Dayton was small so it has had to get completely babyproofed. Dayton is still doing great as a big brother, you can see the love in her eyes for him already! She loves crawling into his room and playing with his baseball cards. We can't believe that summer is winding down, school starts in three weeks and I am not sure how she will react when Dayton leaves for school. We will miss him being home with us during the day, what a blessing that they were able to bond this whole summer with no interuptions. This summer has been magical and we will never forget the summer of ' 06 for as long as we live!

Six Weeks Together

This summer is flying by! I can't believe it will be August tomorrow! We are enjoying the time off from everything! We are done with baseball and are able to play and get to know Myah better. She is doing amazing, she is getting stronger and stronger every day. She is scooching everywhere, she won't crawl on all 4's but she manges to get anywhere she wants to doing it her way. She also pulled herself up to a standing position today for the first time. It is incredible considering that she couldn't even roll over when we first got her. Every day it is something new. She is so funny and continues to try to make everyone laugh at her. She also has a temper when she is tired or hungry, she has a screech and she lets everyone know that she isn't happy. Sometimes I forget that she hasn't been around English speaking people her whole life because she seems to understand everything that we say. Like I said, it is amazing. We have been venturing out and meeting friends and relatives now that she seems more comfortable with being around more people. She reaches out for blondes and older people, it is so funny especially since I doubt she ever had seen a blonde person before. Dayton is adjusting very well to his big brother status. He loves getting her out of the crib and having her hold onto him. He also runs as far away as possible when diaper duty calls. I don't blame him! She is pretty attached to me and gets upset when I leave but she is learning that I do come back! Mark loves his daddy time with the kids. He is so great with both of them and has such a funloving way of playing with them and teaching them at the same time. He sees things in a totally different light than I do at times and puts such a fun spin on the simple and ordinary. We are so happy right now, things just seem so much more relaxed now that all of the waiting and the trip is over. Mark asked what I wanted for my birthday and I really couldn't think of anything special. We have been so blessed by having our family completed and a wonderful trip to China on top of it. I feel very content. I am just enjoying being a family.

Our First Month Together

Myah's first month with us has been just amazing. I can't believe the transformation in her personality since we got her that first day in Wuhan. She has opened up so much more to us and is so eager to learn our ways. She has been such a blessing to us and everyone she meets. I can't take her anywhere without her getting attention. She is really fitting in! I think she thinks that we are ok also! She loves Dayton and always squeals when she sees him in the morning, he can't wait to pick her up out of her crib each morning. The time has just flown but in the same respect it seems like we have had her forever. I told Mark the other day that I can't believe that we are back already and she is here with us! After all of that waiting, everything went very fast once we received our travel approval, and our trip to China was so busy that it was a blur too! Thank goodness I journaled every day because I have forgotten the details already and it helps to refresh my memory! I got all of the pictures back that we took on the trip and I just love looking through them. We also received a photo album from the orphanage when we got her and those pictures are just priceless, we have pictures of her from the day she was left at the orphanage up until her first birthday. They took pictures each month for us. We are so thankful for them. She is loving meeting our family members as I knew she would. Everyone just loves her too. She is quite the character, she loves to be silly. She is also understanding many of the things we say. It is incredible. She kisses goodnight, waves bye bye, is trying to crawl, says mama, dada and Dayton. We are starting to enjoy our summer vacation and starting to venture out more. We took her to Mackinac Island and the Toledo Zoo. She loves to be on the go. She has met her Great Grandma's this week and let them give her a bottle. We are so happy and are very blessed to have our family complete now.

Myah's Second Week Home

Myah has really bonded with us! Mark went back to work and had to work alot of overtime this last week so Dayton and I really got to spend alot of time with her. We took her up to see my parents and go out on their new pontoon, she seemed to like it, I wasn't sure because she is just warming up to the bathtub and has freaked out when she sees a pool. She actually fell asleep on the lake! I feel so blessed to have her in our life. Our family feels so complete now and I really feel like I could not ask for more. We are so happy and are so glad to be settling in. We are enjoying just being a family right now. It has been such a long time coming so we are going through alot of adjusting but I think that in time this will all become routine to all of us. Mark and I celebrated our 13th anniversary last Monday and we just wanted to be with our kids. We don't get alot of time together as a family with work and sports and other committments and it was so nice to share our special day with them. Our doctor called the other day with all of Myah's test results and said that she is just wonderful. She also said that within 2 months if she hasn't started walking or crawling that we will get her into a physical therapist. We are working on strengthening her stomach muscles. I actually got her to giggle the other night. She is looking at us like we are familiar and we make her happy. She will squeal when she sees us. She likes to eat and gets really angry if you have food and she doesn't ! Today is her first 4th of July. She is a new US citizen and I can't imagine what her life would be like if we wouldn't have brought her here. We will never take our freedom for granted, especially after spending time in China where they have to ask permission to have a child, they have to retire early in order to give the young people a job, and where they have to sign in with their local officials in order to leave the town that they live in to visit another place. We have it so good here. I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday!

Our First Week Home

It is so good to be home! We had a rough start, Leslie got really sick right before landing on the plane and didn't start feeling better until Tuesday. So super dad Mark came to the rescue and didn't get any sleep for 53 hours straight! Myah was up most of the first night home, it was her daytime. But then after that night she has been sleeping about 10 hours each night. She is just an angel. Poor little thing has been to the Dr's office 3 times this week for her physical and then shots. She sure doesn't like going there now! Dayton was glad to be home to and catch up with his buddies. He had 6 games since we have been home so basically our life has been Dr's office and ball games. Myah has met quite a few of the neighbors and our friends and family. Everyone has fallen in love with her just like we have. She is such a blessing to us. She is really adjusting to her surroundings well and has a very happy personality. Today we went to church for the first time and she liked dancing to the music. I had to keep giving her snacks to keep her occupied. Even the lady at Krogers today said that she was so adorable that she had to give her something. One comment that we hear over and over is how much everyone enjoyed this website. I am so glad. I am probably going to keep it up for a while because it is so convenient for me to keep in touch with everyone especially when so many of you live far away. Besides, this journey doesn't end now that China is behind us, it is just beginning. It is so wonderful to finally see her using everything that we have had prepared for her for so long. She is very healthy, our Dr was very happy to see that all of her tests came back great. Yesterday I was able to meet up with a few of the families from our group. It was so nice to see them and the girls again. I really have been missing everyone. We spent so much time with these people and shared so many wonderful moments with them that it makes me sad to not see them every day. Myah has fit in so well and I know that the other families feel the same way. I think we are wearing her out, we are always on the go. I tried this weekend to just let her be at home for a while and it felt good. We have all suffered from a bit of jet lag but are getting better now. It is a whole new world again, but a wonderful one. We have waited so long for a second child and I know that God has answered our prayers with Myah. She is so beautiful inside and out and each day she reveals a bit more of her personality to us because she is trusting us more and more. She said mama today and it was so special. She has been saying da da and has been very attached to Mark. This weekend Mark had to go back to work and she was with me the whole time. She is really warming up to me more now and cries when I leave the room. Baby steps. Thank you all so much for all of your love, it has been wonderful sharing this experience with all of you. May Myah continue to grow in your hearts as well.

Day 13

We made it!!! It is now 10:10pm here and we have been up since 4:00 am yesterday morning. Most of those hours in between were spent in the air. We took a 4 hour flight from Guanzhou to Tokyo, in Japan. There, Myah decided to unload her diaper and made a huge mess. I had to throw her clothes away! There was a nursery in the airport that had a table and a big sink, I had to rinse her off in the sink, Mark a I looked around for a towel and there wasn't even a tissue square, so we grabbed the shower curtain that they had and dried her off on that! We then took an 11 hour flight from Tokyo to Detroit. Myah was perfect and slept almost the whole time. The Bonner's were on our final flight so we got to see Baby Claire one last time. LONG flight! When we arrived we went through customs and Myah became a US citizen right there! We had all of our luggage! We then walked through some doors and there was our family and the Voight family waiting for us with big signs and tshirts made by the Dolans with Myah's pics all over it. What a great sight. We then came into our neighborhood and saw the house decorated and many of our friends and family on our front lawn. I will never forget that sight. Myah did fine with everyone, still clingy to daddy though. I developed really bad stomach pains and have been out of it since we got home. I went a laid down and woke up to everyone gone, Myah in her bed and darkness. I started to cry (crying again), I missed everything that I have been waiting to do for so long. I walked outside and just enjoyed the clean air, my flowers, and just being home. Everyone was so generous and I could hardly stand to open gifts. I hope it is just nerves and not a virus like so many of us had in China. I thought I was out of harms way. We'll see. Myah went right down in her crib Mark said. I peaked in on her and she looks so perfect in there. Mark covered her up with a blanket that Robin and her little girl made for us with ladybugs on it, lucky ladybugs...... I just want to say how happy I am to be home, surrounded by our loved ones. My perspective on life has changed so much in 2 weeks. These 12 little girls have entered into all of our hearts and I pray that as each of them walks into their forever homes tonight that they will always be proud of their native country, but never forget how loved you are here. I miss all of them already, I feel like we are all one big family of sorts, the Tuanfeng and Nanchang babies. Thank you so much for all of you support and loving gestures, life begins for Myah now and we hope that you are all a part of her life as well. God bless you all!

Day 12

Today I will only write a bit because we have been up late packing and we really need our rest before making the big flights with a baby. Today we went to a folk art museum, it was so neat, I was glad that our last tour was to a beautiful place. This island is so beautiful and my only regret is that we just did not have enough time to spend more here. We also went to the US Embassy and officially made Myah ours for good. We will have to go through customs in Detroit and she will be a US citizen right then. We took an oath with a whole group of people and that was it. Pretty much the most simplest part of this whole ordeal. We were very excited and grateful that this is over and we can move on with our lives with Myah at home. I know it will be a huge transition for all of us. We did a bit more shopping here, it is just so overwhelming and the chinese people are right on you when you are looking, you really feel bad for them but you feel like you make a friend too. These people are very sweet and we will miss them all, everyone who we encountered was as polite as they could be. They go out of their way to open doors, help you up steps with your stroller, fan you when you are hot, and walk you to the hotel with their umbrella, even if you did not buy something from them. We will be bringing home a precious gift in Myah but our memories of this trip will always be a special treasure in our hearts. I am ready for a diet coke and ice!!!! And some meat!! I just didn't trust it here! We are going to really miss seeing all of these families as well, they were Myahs first friends and neighbors. I know that we will always share a special bond with all of them. We have been through soooo much together! We are anxious to get tomorrow over with! What a sight it will be to see Metro airport! Thanks for all of your support and prayers while we were here, you kept us going!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!! See you soon!

Day 11

Day 11 · June 14, 2006
Shop till you drop! That is the name of the game here in Guanzhou! This town is just amazing! First of all, the hotel is magnificent. The shops in here are nice, the breakfast buffet is beautiful, the staff is very efficient. I can even turn on the music in my bathroom to beautiful piano music. Let's just say this is a nice place. Then, you literally walk outside the door and the shops and shopkeepers are awaiting your arrival. This town was settled by the British so the buildings are very victorian and European looking with a splash of Florida with the palm trees. The weather is HOT and muggy, we are just messes. My Hubei Hair was bad but Guanzhou hair is worse! Plus while we were shopping we had huge down pours and Mark and the kids came back to the hotel while me and my friend Sherry still shopped in the rain with no umbrella. Lovely. I spent $100 dollars today and filled up our bed with stuff. We also had Myah's physical this morning and she is fine. We are making up time now from what we lost yesterday. Today we took the traditional red couch pictures at the White Swan.. Every group comes through here and has this picture taken. Myah cried again through the whole thing but she looked so cute in her pink chinese outifit with tutu! I bought her some sqeaky shoes today, they are so cute, little leather shoes with squeakers in the soles for $3. a pair. We then went to a Cantonese traditional dinner tonight. I have not been very adventurous since that night in Wuhan when I was sick. Mark has explored much more than I had. He ate eel the other night, he said he could feel the tentacles!! YUK! No thanks! The chinese people eat everything. A man named Jordan was telling us today that he likes cat better with beer! Double Yuk! At dinner tonight I had ordered a cake from the hotel to celebrate Myah's first birthday, we missed it by a few days upon getting her so I wanted to celebrate while we were still in China. She cried through that too. But she looked cute in her birthday hat! It was so nice to see all of our friends from the Nanchang group finally, their babies are so sweet. My friend Robin has been sick for the last few days, I really feel so bad for her. It was great to see all of the babies together for the first time on the red couch. We also received our official Barbie Doll today from the White Swan. This is definately the baby hotel, there are American's everywhere and babies too! This is everyone.'s last stop before going home. The US Consulate is here. We have our appointment tomorrow afternoon. Both Dayton and Myah are doing great. Dayton is a great Ge Ge (big brother) and Myah is a sweet Mei Mei (little sister) to him. She sat in her stroller alot today while we were shopping and she did wonderful! Yeah!!! She was pullling stuff down off of shelves, siome of these stores are so narrow. The people here are sweet too, one lady was actually fanning me while I was looking around her store. I am not used to this kind of treatment. Myah is really getting attached to us now and I really feel like she is trusting us. She reaches for us to comfort her and she needs us. She can stand up and walk with us holding her, it won't be long and she will be doing it on her own. She is a sweetheart. You will all love her, she melts you with her smile! I am sad that tomorrow is our last day here, we have to pack up for the big trip home, we need to be up by 5:30 to leave on Friday. We are going to cram everything in again tomorrow, maybe a 12 hour flight might not be so bad. Yeah right! Thank you all for your messages, it has help the time pass quickly. See you all very soon!

Day 10

We made it to the White Swan in Guanzhou! Sorry I didn't get anything up yesterday, we were supposed to be on a 1 1/2 hour flight here and we ended up with an initial 1/2hour delay and then the weather was so bad in Guanzhou that we had to circle in the air and finally land in another airport a few hours from here and we sat on the runway until we could fly into here. 6 hours later we made it, hungry, tired and with 7 upset babies. We had to go get her Visa pictures taken and Mark had to fill out a lot of paperwork to get us caught up. Mark took Myah for her physical this morning because we missed our appt. yesterday and if we didn't hurry and get all of this done to catch up to the other group we would have to stay here another week! Thank God we were able to make it! So we really lost our whole day here. This place is incredible! I have never stayed anywhere quite this nice. President Bush and Queen Elilzabeth have stayed here. There have been bathrobes and slippers at every hotel we have been in here. We have a beautiful view of the Pearl River. Mark just walked in and said Myah is healthy! 21 pounds and 77 centimeters. He said she screamed the whole time! Poor baby! We are going to breakfast right now so I will stop for now, I will have to post pictures later. I am going to shop till I drop today!

Day 9

Today was very exciting around here, we had a new batch of babies coming in! My cousin Steve and Trudi and their group arrived last night and got their babies today. It was so fun for all of us to see their before and afters! The babies are so adorable and the parents are all doing well. We had an appointment at Civil Affairs this morning but it got pushed back due to their appointement. So to kill time our guide took us parents and babies to a Buddist Temple. It was very interesting. We then went to the Civil Affairs and got our certificate making Myah officially ours! Yeah! We all clapped for ourselves. We also received her passport today. Life here has not been easy at all but we have really made the most of it and are sad that this is our last night in Wuhan. We all went to a very nice dinner and celebrated one of the babies first birthdays. This group of people have become a family of their own and it makes me teary to think that after today who knows if these babies will ever return to their homeland. We are so thankful that we made this trip. I could have never explained to Myah all of the cultural ways that we have experienced first hand. Dayton has learned so much also , I can't believe how he has changed and grown. This is something that he will never forget. We went for our last walk in the park tonight, all of the women are dancing, the men are doing Tai Chi and there was an older man painting caligraphy with water on the sidewalk. We have learned to cross the streets pretty well I must say, it is literally taking your life into your own hands. We leave in the morning for Guanzhou!!!! White Swan Hotel here we come! The staff here at the White Rose have been so wonderful, they are so sweet and helpful.We see the same people working here day and night, they put in very long hours. Tomorrow we have more paperwork to do, and more appointments. We look forward to meeting up with the rest of our group, I can't wait to see their babies! We leave on Friday and we all can't believe how fast this has gone. Maybe we are just too busy to get bored! Our guide Rosilyn is the best! We fly for the first time tomorrow with Myah! Cross your fingers, it is just an hour and a half ride, gearing her up for the long flight home!

Day 8

Today we woke up and had slept in to 8:00am, it felt so good! Myah sleeps all night long, she is such a good little girl. She is really blossoming today. Every day she opens up more and more to us.. She is actually very happy, only crying when she is hungry. She is so precious, we are so thankful to have her in our family. She has just fit in perfectly. We have found her to be ticklish and she giggles so hard. She is going to be a bruiser I think, she likes to hit! I think it is just because that is all that her arm muscles can do so we let her get away with it right now. Good news, my cousin Steve and Trudi arrived today! We were so excited, I can't tell you how cool it was to be in the lobby and at first see an American and then have it be your family! Wow! Their room is right across the hall from us on the baby floor. We met the families in their group. They all are pretty tired after that long flight. Our group was glad to see them arrive, they get their babies in the morning. We have an appt. at Civil Affairs in the morning at 9 and theirs is at 9:30, we might see their babies there. Today we woke up and went to the East Lake Park, it was just beautiful, and huge. We all loved it there. I had to laugh as we had stopped for ice cream and drinks for a minute and I pushed the stroller away from everyone so they could have their turn, then Mark walked up to me and I looked down at his stroller and Myah was looking at me, it took me a minute to realize I had walked off with someone elses stroller and baby! We all laughed, the funny thing was, her parents hadn't even noticed she was missing! Thankfully it was someone in our group! We then went to a Turquoise factory. In Hubei it is the only place in China were this gem is found. The craftmanship and detail that goes into everything over here is unreal. Tonight we went for another walk in the huge park across the street. There is a beautiful fountain show everynight and crowds gather there. People just like to hang out together. Little kids play in the middle, riding bikes, babies walking, people fly kites and some just stroll together arm in arm. The best part is the ladies dancing to music, it is kind of line dancing, tai chi, aerobics. It is so cool! Old ladies and young gathering and just dancing. We are quite the site when we are in public, tonight we had a huge crowd gather around us, a young man knew some English and was trying to talk to Dr. John. People are so sweet. Everyone wants us to see their children, I have learned to say hello and a few other things, I so love interacting with the locals. I guess I am a Chinese social butterfly too. Dayton on the other hand freaks out. He gets worried, I am trying to help him understand that many people have never seen Americans before. Seriously, there is one other man here that is American and that is all that we have seen. We have to pack tomorrow for Guanzhou, it is going to be quite the chore. I have really settled into this place. Our first home with Myah. I love the people that we are here with so much and our little girls have shared so much together already. We have so enjoyed your messages, it is the first thing we do in the morning and the last thing we do at night. Sounds like Dayton's team is doing so good! He can't wait to play again. He is the hit here, all of the little brothers really look up to him. He went on a roller coaster today at the park with Grady and Cameron, he thought that the cars were hooked together until Grady's car took off and Dayton was left in the next car alone! We laughed! Our Chinese outfits came today, they are so beautiful! The ladies are so shy when you try to compliment them. Tomorrow we go and get more paperwork signed and get her passport before we have to leave Wuhan. We are also going to have our last dinner here as a group, we are going to celebrate one of the babies birthday's also. We are going to go put this little girl down to bed, she doesn't need her beauty sleep but we do ( have you seen my hair? I need a major conditioning Cindy!!!) This water and humidity have turned me into a Dolly Parton, Shirly Temple want-a-be! Goodnight!

Day 7

Today we visited the Yellow Crane Tower. It was a traditional Chinese looking building that we can see from outside of our hotel room. It was originally built in 223 A.D. and it burned and was rebuilt in the 1980's. It had earned the fame of the No. 1 Tower among all of the landscapes. Many men had climbed the tower to write poetry. There are over one thousand pieces of poetry at the tower. It was just beautiful. We got to ring a bell called the Millenium bell and you ring it 3 times. Each time has a meaning behind it and the last time is for family prosperity. Dayton rang it for us. We also bought Myah a beautiful silk fan inside with the tower painted on it with peony's and a man wrote her name in english and chinese. We are going to go to the spa in the hotel in a few minutes to get foot massages. We aren't sure what this will entail. The menu on the spa is quite different than what we are used to. The little girls are so cute and doing so well. Myah has really started giggling and eating for us. She loves Dayton and loves beating him up. We are going to try and go shopping tonight. My cousin Steve and his wife Trudi are arriving tomorrow night to get their little girl Sophie, miraculously, they are staying in the same hotel as we are. What a small world. It will be great to see them and it will really break our trip up for us. The time is flying! We will be home in less than a week. I haven't really ate much, since getting sick the other night I am just playing it safe. Sounds like my buddy Laura is very ill in the other Province. Poor girl! I can't wait till we meet up again. The weather is sunny here, the pollution is very bad here and the sky always looks hazy. This is a very industrial area and they make cars here. French cars. All of the taxis are the same French car. Isn't that funny. I heard from my parents this morning and it seemed so nice to hear their voices. We haven't gotten homesick at all yet, too busy to , but we do miss the comforts of home. I told Sheri today that if we can do this here, we can do it anywhere! The ball games will be a piece of cake compared to this! We are mixing bottles at museums, chaning diapers on the bus, carrying the babies on our sides, while sweating up a storm! Times by 7! I guess it is time to go get our massages, I will write more later.

Day 6

What a difference a day made, Myah is really warming up to us today.. All of the mommies stayed back while the daddies and family members went to visit the orphanage where Myah lived in Tuanfeng. From what I hear it was quite the emotional journey. The orphanage director Mrs. Li greated them and served them lunch, they were able to ask a few questions and they took us to the babies finding place. We are very fortunate to have went on this journey to the orphanage, many times couples are not allowed to go. They didn't want the babies to come back so the mommies all got together and played with the girls. Myah started dancing with me to the song on our web page, Slow Boat to China. All of us were dancing with the girls in Sherry's room and Myah started squealing and smiling up a storm. She is much happier and we are starting to see her personality shine through. We also were sitting at lunch and little Sarah started eating and smiling at her mommy Sherry, something she hasn't done yet, we all started crying. She also started winking at us, it was so funny! We are getting through!!!!!! The agency always said give it 2-3 days and you will see a big difference in the girls. This little girl loves her big brother, right now she is pulling the blanket off of his head and then smaking him with her little tamborine! She started blinking at us too. We laugh at her so much, what a blessing she is to us! The five mommies went for a walk to the park, we literally felt like Frogger, we must have been a sight with our parade of strollers! I am sorry that no pics were posted yesterday, the computer was acting up a bit and I was too tired to mess with it. I posted some today for yesterday so you will have to go back to day 5 and check them out.

Day 5

Last night around 11:00 I got sick, chills etc. I was very worried that this would last a while. Phyllis is still a bit sick to her stomach. I was relieved to wake up this morning much better. Thank God for Pepto Bismol! Mark was my rock as usual and helped me through the night, I may have been dehydrated, I started getting a little loopy, ( I know it is hard to tell). Your messages have kept us going, we look so forward to logging on, especially because the phone calls aren't working. We will try to get that fixed. Everything gets lost in translation. We went to the Hubei Museum and saw some ancient bells that were found in an ancient tomb from 425 BC. We got to see a concert with some replicas, very beautiful. We then went to a carpet factory. We drove into a neighborhood that barely fit our huge bus and we went into the upstairs of this building and there hung some of the most beautiful Chinese rugs I have ever seen. These people work tediously on one rug only getting about 2-3 inches in a row a day. They tie individual knots on the whole piece. Just incredible. We were able to mingle with the locals before boarding the bus. We attract many people, they are so kind and happy, we need more of this back home. I have never seen so many people working so hard to please us. It brings tears to my eyes that they are treating us like royalty, who are we. The housing is so different than ours, many apartment buildings with their laundry hanging to dry , they call it the land of 1.00 flags because of the clothes hanging everywhere. We are learning so much about the culture just by being here. I will never take clean tap water for granted again, or ice cubes, we are getting used to warm drinks. I simply gave a young girl one of Myah's pictures yesterday and she said that she would treasure it forever. Simple acts. I so enjoy waving to people while we are on our bus, they always smile and wave back. Many of the women come up to Myah and comment on her looks. Her hair is very special evidently. She is so precious. We are peeling away the layers of her personality one at a time. A snails pace. Many of the babies are laughing all of the time and playing very actively. That is not our little girl. She is taking her time, making sure that we can be trusted. We earn every smile, trust me! She is just very content. Quiet and peaceful. Not like our family at all!!!! We will bring her out of her shell eventually. I can't imagine what these little girls are going through. You can always hear someone crying at one time or another. They are all doing so well though considering. They are all Spicy girls. That is a nickname given to girls of this area. They like things hot so evidently they are to be spirited and strong willed. I do see that in many of the girls. They are just as precious as can be. Sisters of a sort. Most of them had their first poopy today and we were all so glad, I know gross but with adopted babies that is a huge milestone! We had to say goodbye today to our China coordinators from the agency , Ming and Mary. They are going on to Hubei on a 13 hour train ride to set up an orphanage rebuild that our agency is going to fund/build. We will miss both of them. They have brought us together with our daughters and shared tears with all of us. They are our girls fairy godmothers. Miss Myah is sleeping now, she has to be exhausted, we just get very little down time and these girls are paying for it. Tomorrow Mark gets to go to the orphanage. Our group pitched in and are buying 2 air conditioners for them and we went tonight and bought some outifits and blankets. I am wore out so now I am going nightie night!

Day 4

This morning we woke up around 5:30 (just because we can't get adjusted yet) and Myah was still sleeping, she slept all night without making a peep. This little girl is very low key, somewhat mysterious, and content. She stares at us with those huge dark eyes and you just don't know what she is thinking! Today we went to the Civil Affairs office again and filled out paperwork for 3 hours, wasn't bad at all. We had our first photo taken with her. We also met her orphanage director Ms. Li. Ming was able to come on the trip so she was interpreting for us. Everyone is intrigued by all of her hair. I have asked why the fascination and Ming said that it is very unusual for girls to have long think hair and it is very pretty. We draw a crowd everywhere we go and people are very sweet. This culture is very gentle and caring. An older couple walked up to us outside of the office and they spoke very good English, they loved Myah and told me that she is very lucky. I said we were the lucky ones. We had the rest of the day to just hang out which was so needed. We have been going non stop since Saturday and it was time to settle in and settle down. We went to a nice store called Careforrs and it is a huge department store. We were able to pick up some items that we needed. We went with out guide Rosaline and a few dads. Our group is so sweet and we love all of the people so much. We also found a KFC and it was good! A bit different (spicer) than at home but good. At the dept. store we stopped by the fish section and saw turtles, eels, huge fish shrimp, all alive, soon to be eaten! Yikes! We then came back to the hotel and have just enjoyed being here. Miss Myah likes to go out and see people, she giggles and smiles when we leave this room. Bring her back in and she is very quiet. Very strange! We are uncovering all of her mystery bit by bit. A young girl today named Echo told us that she thinks Myah will be outgoing because she had connected with us so quickly. Another woman said that it is fate that we got these girls because they all seem to be adjusting so quickly. We said it was the red thread and she was pleased that we knew about that tradition. Dayton is down in the pool right now and Mark is on his way to buy a new video camera, ours has been acting up and we were only able to capture our gotcha moment by the grace of God! I think I better go, Myah is crying and I am not sure why. She hasn't had any yucky diapers yet, I am sure she needs to go! Grandma Schultz has been down today too. Feeling a bit better now and her luggage just arrived too. We are loving all of your sweet messages, it really makes this world seem so much smaller! She is really taking a liking to Mark, he loves it, doesn't surprise me one bit, he always makes kids smile! We are doing well but missing home, this group does feel like a family though so we really don't feel lonesome. Our buddies get their babies today and I can't wait to see their pictures, wish we were all together.

Day 3 Gotcha Day

Day 3 Gotcha!!! · June 06, 2006

Today we received our little girl! We got on the plane at 10:45 and arrived in Wuhan. Phyllis' luggage was put on the wrong bus that went to the airport so it is going to be shipped tomorrow along with another couples luggage. Then once we arrived here we had 25 min. to get ready and go to the Civil Affairs Bldg. at 3:30, we could hear babies crying from outside, I didn't think that they would be ours. As we walked upstairs we had to walk through all of our daughters to get to the room. What a moment as we all were trying to recognize our little girl. There was a little girl with tons of hair and 3 pigtails who was just beautiful and I thought it might be Myah. It was! She was so pretty! Then we had to sit through a few announcements and sign a few papers before they started bringing in the babies! One by one in they came, the first one was crying her head off. After a while the whole room was full of crying! Adults included! Myah came to me pretty easily and after a few minutes started to cry. She is so cute! Tons of hair and very thick! She is chubby! But still weighs around 18 pounds. We then hopped back on the bus and she fell asleep on me. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at each other, she just stares at us. No emoitions except for a little crying every now and then.. She started playing with the buttons on Mark's shirt and started babbling a little bit. She then started hitting Dayton in the face, he enjoyed that! We went to the hotel restaurant tonight and had pizza. She liked french fries. When we got ready to go out of no where she starts waving bye bye and smiling! This little girl is saving the tricks up her sleeve for just the right moment! Both of my babies are sleeping and I hope I can too soon. Our exhaustion is really setting in. We are in a different hotel than originally planned, we are now staying at the White Rose Hotel. This day was incredible, I really hope tomorrow we can start fresh, (after 3 hours of paperwork) and this will all sink in! My curling iron blew up so my hair has been a disaster! My other buddies who are in the other province are leaving tonight. I will try to write more later when I can think more clearly.

Day 2

Our first day in China and we are absolutely exhausted beyond belief! We woke up at 4:30 because we asked for a 6:30 wake up call and they called us at 4:30 instead! We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and were able to see all of the couples in our group, it was great to see them finally in China! We have packed about a weeks worth of touring into one day. We went to the Jade Factory, climbed the Great Wall ( awesome and exhausting at the same time!), ate an authentic Chinese meal went to the closionne factory, pearl factory, Temple of Heaven, another Chinese restaurant and then onto and acrobatic show. We were falling asleep in the end. We leave in the morning for Wuhan so this was actually our only day in Beijing. Dayton is a trooper, he climbed farther than any of us on the Great Wall. I was dying! I actually told an old man to go around me! My legs were jelly from the long flights and then to climb those steep stairs was very difficult but I got up pretty far. The guys all went higher than the girls! China is very neat! People everywhere, riding bikes, on buses, and walking. The driving is really scary! We had a guide today named Coco. She knew so much about the history and culture. We have 38 people in our group, very big! We ride around in a big bus and everyone waves at us. Dayton is a hit and they like waving to him. Phyllis is hanging in there, it was a long day for her too. She opted to stay near the bottom of the Great Wall, smart lady! Tomorrow is Gotcha Day for us, we get Myah! I am hoping to sleep tonight and get rested up for the big event!

Day 1

Day #1 · June 3rd/4th, 2006

We are here! What a long flight, we held up pretty well but I have been up a total of 30 hours with a one hour nap! The plane was packed and crammed but we survived! We chase daylight the whole way so we never saw night until now. We flew over Canada and Alaska and then the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo, Japan, our flight was delayed and extra hour there so we were delayed a bit getting to Beijing, China. All went well though. The mountain range over Alaska was breathtaking, the whole ride we didn't see any civilization until Tokyo. We are a little shaky and dizzy right now just from sitting so long!! Dayton only slept about a few hours too. Our hotel is beautiful called the Riverview Hotel, maybe in the morning we will see the river. We are going to be up by 6:30 am and will be at the Great Wall!! Tuesday we get her!! That is one more sleep and she will be with us! I really need to get to bed but wanted to send this out before shutting down for the night!! We had four families on our plane and I haven't seen everyone else who came earlier yet. I know everyone arrived safely. Miss you!

We Leave Today

It is 6:30 and I am wide awake, not that I slept much last night! I didn't think I was very nervous but my body must know better. I cannont believe that after 18 months of paperwork, planning and waiting that today is actually here. This week has been a celebration and every day we have said goodbye to people, I have to keep reminding them that we aren't going away to war, (well, maybe we are!!! Ha!) but that we will return in 2 weeks! I do feel a sense of sadness this morning honestly, I went into Dayton's room and watched him sleep. This will be my last morning with just one child. He has been such a blessing in our lives and in so many others lives as well and I can't help but feel a bit sad for him, knowing that his world is going to completely change, for the better I am confident, but still it will change! I pray that I can continue to be a good mom to him and give him the attention that he deserves. Last night our good friends surprised us with pizza after their ball game and we were so excited to see them! We have shared so much with all of them and it was a great send off for us. The neighbors stopped by to wish us luck also. We had rain for a few minutes while the sun was shining when I was saying goodbye to my parents on the phone and a huge full rainbow appeared over our house, is was a partial double too! I took a picture of it because it looked like the end was on our house at one point. God's miracles are all around us! He was giving us a proper send off too! My friend Laura and Jay left yesterday, I can't belive that I won't see my buddies again until Beijing! What a celebration we will have when we finally meet up! I should get going I have so much to do yet! We are so grateful to everyone for their support and prayers, we really have felt the love! Myah's first birthday was on Thursday and it felt very strange knowing that we weren't able to celebrate her life with her. We will surely be celebrating soon! I pray that she accepts us and will feel our love for her. I am not expecting her to welcome us right away but I hope that within a few days she will enjoy our company. LIfe is about to change for the Schultz's! It is about time!!!! China here we come!!

Many Thanks

We appreciate everyone's support so much and we would like to thank each and everyone of you! Your love and friendship has kept us going throughout this most precious moment in our lives. We have been so blessed with wonderful friends and family and you may never know how deeply we have been touched by your love and support. Your messages have been uplifting, encouraging, sympathetic and humorous at times. This journey will undoubtedly be a very special time in our lives and we appreciate your taking the time to make it a special part of your life as well. We do have a few people that we would like to say a huge thank you to, for without their cooperation this journey of the heart would not be possible!
Thank you to:
GOD! For placing this answer in our hearts and giving us the means to make it all possible. Also for keeping Myah safe while we wait. This list could go on and on.........
Kelly, Linda, Jordan, Austin and Whitney Voigt: For showing us the way to our daughter. For all of the prayers, dinners, friendship and love and above all your support and encouragement and undying optimism that this day would finally come and be so worth it!
Mom Schultz: For saying absolutely! For your unending support and love! For getting all of those nasty shots so you can travel along side us! For buying a pink coat and matching gloves and then having to buy a pink sweatsuit and then having to buy pink shorts to wear in China! Thanks for being flexible!
Mom and Dad Friend: For the love and support and encouragement. For the laptop that will be our lifeline while we are away!
Our Siblings: Thank you for your love and laughs, you have kept us sane throughout this long process. The phone bills always say Midland and Battle Creek the most!!!
Our Friends at Shalom: Thank you for the prayers, love, friendship and hugs. We have a beautiful church family and we love all of you! Thank you for keeping us going and reminding us that in God's timing all will work out!
Our wonderful neighbors: We love our neighbors and are so grateful to be sharing our lives with you! Thank you for always caring and looking out for us!
Ken and Pam Ritola: Thank you so much for watching the house while we are gone!
To Sherry and Jeff Smith, Mike and Cheri Steckel, Tom and Heather Archer, Randy and Kym Sieler, and Les Sharon: Thank you so much for the beautiful letters for our home study, they brought tears to our eyes! We love you all very much and hold you all very dear to our hearts!
Karen Jackson and the staff at Adoption Associates: Thank you so much for making our dreams a reality. Thank you for being able to answer every question Mark had for you ( I know he can ask alot, it is the police officer in him!). Your promptness and ability to make miracles happen is a gift! We will never forget your part in all of this!
Canton Police Dept: Thank you for being so flexible at a time when we know it isn't easy to be! Your support has meant so much to our family! In addition to the adoption we had another major event to deal with and it wasn't easy but you helped us more than you will ever know!
Mrs. Calderwood and Mrs. Pelto's 5th grade class: Thank you for a wonderful year and for letting us take Dayton out 2 weeks early. He enjoyed this year so much and I know he was a little bummed about missing the last few weeks of fun! Thank you for understanding the importance of having Dayton join us on this journey.
Pinckney Pirates U10 team: Sorry we will miss the tournaments, thank you for letting us take Dayton and Coach Schultz away for a few weeks! Hit some homers!
Ashley and Jason: for the ride to the airport!!!! What would we do without you!
My adoption buddies: Thank you for being you and for opening your families to mine and for all of the tears, heartache, emails, Applebees dates, laughter and for the great time I know that we are going to have together in China and beyond!

Our Travel Itinerary

June 3rd: Leave Detroit Metro Airport at 3:35 pm
June 4th: Arrive in Tokyo, Japan at 6:25 pm, fly to Beijing China arriving at 9:15 pm, go to hotel and sleep!
June 5th: Sightseeing in Beijing, Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Shopping
June 6th :Leave Beijing and fly to Wuhan, Hubei. Go to hotel and maybe get Myah that evening.
June 7-12th : In Wuhan, Hubei. June 7th is probably going to be "Gotcha Day". Spend our days getting to know Myah, filling out adoption documents and sightseeing.
June 13th: Fly from Wuhan to Guangzhou and stay at the beautiful White Swan hotel.
June 14th: Paperwork turned into U.S. Embassy, shopping!
June 15th: Our U.S. Emabassy appointment, get Myah's Visa to travel to the USA.
June 16th: Fly from Guangzhou at 8:20 am to Tokyo, Japan. Leave Tokyo at 3:55 pm. Arrive in Metro Detroit at 2:40 pm (Detroit time). China time is 12 hours ahead of us!
Please pray for our safe travels and for us to stay healthy while we are in China. These are very long flights up to 13 hours on a plane at a time.

Tickets Are Bought!

We learned that we are leaving on June 3rd and getting home on June 16th. We have had a very busy week to say the least. I have crammed into one week things that would normally take me 3 weeks to do. We had Dr. appointments, made our travel arrangements,met with our agency, received our visas (not credit cards!) and installed baby gates. Things are moving at a very fast pace now, it seems so funny that for months we waited for this and now it will all be over in a matter of days! I can hardly wait to get her in my arms and claim her as ours. I am not expecting her to love us right away but I want her to feel loved right away. I think having Dayton along will help her warm up to us. I am so excited about getting her, in the adoption world that day is called "gotcha day". I am hoping to have our itinerary today and we will officially know when our "gotcha day" will be. Her first birthday is on June 1st so we will just miss it. But we will celebrate it over there and will probably have some sort of a party when we get back to celebrate. We have spent alot of time researching and learning about her needs. We have learned to keep her in a baby carrier while we are in China. This encourages bonding with us and face to face contact, she can learn to trust us. We also have learned that we are to be her primary care givers, ( like we wouldn't be) and she needs to learn that we are her parents, permanantly. She has been in foster care so we know that she has been well cared for but we also know that she could be grieving for them once we get her. We have to be careful not to overstimulate her, which knowing us could be a problem! Ha! We are going to try our hardest to keep life simple for her. Luckily when we get home Dayton will not have school and we can be home together getting to know each other. I am sure that she will fit in just fine! We are looking forward to the trip, we are expecting very hot weather and very high humidity. I am already preparing for my hair to be a curly mess! We sure appreciate everyone's prayers and well wishes. We know that Myah is coming home to a community of love like she has never known. I am so ready to get her home and start living our life as a family of 4! Finally!!!! Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare this week, we aren't world travelers by any means so this is all new and overwhelming to us but we know that our faith guides us and we believe that everything will all work out in the end. We look forward to experiencing the Chinese culture and hope to gain knowledge about her heritage so that we can share it with her. But as excited as we are about China, we are even more excited about gaining a daughter and sharing our life and culture with her. China here we come!!!!!!

Travel Notice

We talked to Karen today and she said that we will probably leave on June 3rd as opposed to this Friday! Whew, I am so glad, I have been running around like a mad woman trying to get everything ready. I could use an extra week that is for sure! We actually got to put our plane tickets on hold today until we have a written confirmation that it is the 3rd, as soon as we know we can call the agency up and say go ahead! Yeah! We are excited! I also talked to my cousin Trudi today and both of our girls are in Hubei! I can't believe it. We didn't even know that each other were adopting and then we learned that we had the same log in date and now we will be going to the same place and could be there at the same time! How incredible!

We Are Going To China!

This morning we learned that our travel acceptance letters from China came in! I wasn't expecting it for a few more weeks so this took us by total surprise! We have been so crazy getting ready for Mark's interview for the Lieutenant position and after 2 days of agonizing waiting we found out yesterday around 4:00 that he made the promotion list and will be promoted in Oct/Nov. We were celebrating and finally starting to relax after weeks of stressing/studying/preparing, when this other exciting call came today. We learned that we could be traveling as soon as Friday or Saturday. We should know by Monday for sure. So now we are frantic! I am somewhat ready but by no means ready for travling to China by next Friday. I guess I will have to be!!! We are so thankful for all of these wonderful blessings that have been coming our way. We are excited about the possibility of having Myah for her first birthday on June 1st. That would be wonderful, especially because Mark's is the day before! Look out China, here we come!!!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day has become a special day for me for some years now and today was no different. I was actually due on May 14th, which happened to be Mother's Day in 1995 with Dayton. I remember wondering if I would be a mommy or not on Mother's Day. Dayton was born 2 weeks early on May 1st so yes, I was an official mommy 11 years ago. This year I also had wondered if I would be Myah's mommy on Mother's Day. Unlike her brother, she didn' t come early! Nonetheless, I feel like I am her mother. I might not have woke up this morning to my son and daughter showering me with hugs and kisses, but I still felt a connection to her. Mark bought me a beautiful necklace that I have been eyeing for quite a few months from Red Envelope. It has a pearl and silver pendant. The pearl piece is on top and has the symbols for mother and daughter in Chinese and the underlayer is silver and it says mother and daughter in English. We are getting closer and closer to meeting Myah and I feel like there is less distance between us every day. She is in my heart, sometimes my heart actually pounds harder when I am thinking about her. I know that God has placed us together and I know that somewhere she is feeling my love for her in her heart also. So much has happened over the past two weeks since we received her referral. We had more paperwork to send in to make this official. It seemed very real when we signed her name officially. We had always said that we were going to add part of her Chinese name to the American name that we have given her. We want her to always have a connection to her country so we kept her first name Wen and her last name Li as a middle name. I like that her initial is W because that is Mark and Dayton's middle initial too. I also went and met with my adoption buddies for dinner, it was just wonderful sitting down and gabbing about our little girls finally! We were smiling and laughing and it felt so good to finally celebrate together after all of these months of speculation, heartache and uncertainty. It has been so wonderful sharing the news with everyone, we can't wait to bring Myah home to all of our friends and family. We have been busy shopping for items to take to China. We are using this time to prepare the house for a baby. I am anticipating her walking if not when we get her but soon thereafter so I am clearing the house of anything that might hurt her. We have been polling our friends with young children for the must haves and wouldn't live withouts. This time is flying as I figured it would with Dayton's school and baseball schedules. We will be in China before we know it. We have to apply for our visa's this week, one step closer to getting our little girl. Next year on Mother's Day I will have my two kids with me. Dayton and I went into Canton to meet Mark for lunch while he was working. We laugh that our life is never normal and today proved to be another example of that. When we got into Applebees Mark was already sitting waiting for us. We hadn't been there longer than 10 minutes and Dayton spilled his drink all over the table. We were cleaning it up and the waitress was telling Dayton not to feel bad, and that she spills things all of the time, just as she was saying that an elderly lady walking behind her fell to the ground in front of us, Mark rushed to her and helped her up, she seemed to be ok but I am sure she was shook up. Not 5 minutes later I felt something hit my head and this guy sitting behind me stood up and apologized over and over for hitting my head with something, (I still don't know what it was, a spitball, a fork ,food who knows! ) So needless to say dinner was definately memorable! Everybody always stares at us anyhow when Mark is in his uniform and we try to act normal, kind of hard today!!!!!! Canton's finest and his family!!!!!! Always an adventure with the Schultz's!! Happy Mother's Day!!

Pinch Me!

It is really happening! I just can't believe it! What a full circle moment for us! Tomorrow Dayton turns 11 and I always get a little emotional every year at this time. We have such a wonderful son! He makes us so happy and proud. He has been the light and joy in our lives since the day he was born. I have always called him my little tulip. He was due to arrive on Mother's Day 1995 but decided to come into this world 2 weeks early, on May Day. The day of his birth, we left for the hospital and saw that the only tulip in the yard of our new (to us) house was beginning to finally blossom. We pulled out of the driveway and the tulip looked pink, I thought it must be a sign, my baby is going to be a girl. Well, 8 hours later we learned that he definately wasn't a girl! My parents had come down to stay at our house and when they called the hospital the next morning, they informed me that the tulip wasn't pink after all, it was red. Years later, I looked at the pictures that were taken in the delivery room and realized that there was a picture with hundreds of tulips on the wall. Every year, we still plant red tulips at our house. This past week, the tulips were ready to burst, one had accidently been cut and so I put it in a bud vase. On Thursday morning, it blossomed. I really belive that it was a red thread moment. A connection from Myah to us. A sign that she knew that we were getting our call that morning. As simple as it is, I was comforted when I saw that tulip. I knew that things were going to be alright. God makes everything perfect, and he picked the perfect little girl for us. The fact that her picture was on a police car really struck us immediately. And then we saw those cheeks and that hair! What a beautiful child! We just stare at her pictures and praise God for this miracle. Even though we did not create her, she is ours and we feel a connection to her already. She is our daughter. Dayton no longer will carry around the title of an only child. We by no means ever let him feel that he wasn't "enough" for us. There is never a moment that we ever felt slighted that he is our only child, we are so grateful and blessed to have him, he is our miracle. It is different this time, I really feel like we all wanted Myah in our lives and it was a family decision that we all came to simultaneously. God put Myah in our hearts and gave us the opportunity to act on our desires. Her little face, oh her little face... it has graced our refrigerator, our dashboard, wallets, classrooms, police department, picture frames, friends and family's homes and on this website. Her face makes everyone smile (some people have cried ...... I won't mention any names, you know who you are!) I can't imagine the joy that she is going to bring to our world once she joins our family forever. I know that she is being loved by her foster family. They seem to be taking excellent care of her and are giving her a family atmosphere. I pray that I can take the place of the only mother that she has ever known. I pray that God will allow her heart to embrace me and reassure her that we are her forever family. I want her to feel safe with us.
We have been so touched and overwhelmed by everyone's well wishes. These last few days have been a whirlwind and such a happy time for our family. Our heads literally are spinning. We are so happy!! I can't quit smiling. My friend Debby Kowalak said that I am glowing, I guess that even a paper pregnancy can create that special "glow". It is just such a relief to finally know who our little girl is and to see her face. I am so proud to be her mom already. We are just so thrilled to share her story and her pictures with everyone.. FINALLY! I know that these next 6 or so weeks are going to fly by and we will be traveling before we know it. I actually allowed myself to finally buy some clothes for her, Li Wen Ting. I am like a fish out of water in the little girl clothes dept. There is a lot to it!! Help!!
Well, I have rambled on long enough, I have so much to say, but I really can't even attempt to put into words what we are feeling. We are so happy, blessed and grateful and can't wait to share her with everyone!

Myah's Life Story

Myah's life story was unfolded to us today as we received her translated information. What a miracle is it to receive such detailed information about her. Besides containing all of her standard health questions we received personal information also. We learned that she was brough to the Tenfeng Welfare Institute on June 12, 2005. We know what she was wearing and what she was wrapped in. She was given a physical and then admitted to the orphanage. She then went into a foster home 3 days later. She was about 2 1/2 weeks old. We learned that at 4 months she could stand up with support. She babbles "yiya" and giggles. She loves her foster mother and smiles when she sees her. At 6 months she could sit for a while on her own. She can now stand on her own and cries hard when she is hungry and her foster mother is coming towards her with a bottle she will be very impatient and starts waving her hands. She fits in already I can tell! She likes to be held and can babble "mama". She likes to play outside in the crowd (?). They said she giggles hard when she sees her foster mother coming home. She has quite the feeding schedule, and goes to bed at 8 pm. She likes music and rattles and " is a lovely adorable girl". The orphanage gave her Li Wen Ting as a name " in hopes that she would grow up happily and to be a beautiful charming person." I thought that was very special. We have quite a bit more information, 4 pages to be exact, I won't go into every detail, but be assured that we really got a feel for her personality and her schedules by receiving this invaluable information.

Myah's Orphanage

Here is Myah's orphanage. I have located a few pictures through other families who have daughters from there. She went into foster care 3 days after she was brought here but she has to visit weekly for playtime and check-ups.

Daddy's Journal

A letter from Dad

Myah...
I want to share my thoughts with you as we wait to come and bring you home. There is so much excitement surrounding your arrival. We have asked God so many times to bless us with another child and until now He has asked us to wait. Sometimes we wondered why we had to wait so long but we had faith that God was leading us where He wanted us to go. Last January, God finally said that it was time and today he has blessed us with you!
God knew long ago that he was going to bless our family by bringing us together.
We want you to know that you are already loved and will continue to be loved by us forever. You will never again be alone, you will never yearn for affection, you will never wonder if you are loved, and you will always have a warm and loving home to call your own.
I also want to tell you a little bit about your Mom, Leslie. Let me start by saying that she is the most caring and loving person that I know. I was blessed when she chose to spend her life with me and you will be blessed by this as well. God could not have chosen a more loving and compassionate person to be your Mom. Your Mom is so excited and anxious to come and bring you home. She has always looked at little girl’s clothes and wondered what it would be like to love and pamper her own daughter … and now she will wonder no more. You and your mother deserve each other and you both will complete each other. She prays for you every day asking God to watch over you and keep you safe. The day that we finally see you and are able to hold you is the very day that God has been preparing us for. When your Mom holds you in her arms for the first time, you will have not doubt that you are loved and you are safe. In fact, I am sure that God has already comforted your heart, knowing that you are loved very much.
What about your big brother, Dayton ?!!!! Well, he is so excited to come and get you. He has been praying every night for you and he always says, “And God bless Myah”. How cool is it that you have a big brother that is asking God to watch over you. He loves you so much and that is the neat thing about your brother, he loves you because you’re his little sister. In fact, last January he came to your mother and I and told us that he would like a little sister – I think this had a lot to do with your friend, Whitney (you will get to meet and play with her very soon). Also, I hope you like baseball because as soon as we get you home, Dayton is going to want you to watch him play ball.
Myah, I just want you to know that your big brother will always watch over and protect you and will love you with all his heart.
Today when we went and got your referral we met our other parents there and we were able to see pictures of your other friends who are coming home with you. You will be so blessed to grow up and make lifelong friends and memories with these girls, some of which you have known since birth.
So many of our friends and family have been praying for us and especially for you. We are surrounded by a special group of people in our lives and we could not ask for anything more. We can’t wait to get you home so everyone can enjoy you!!!
Each and every day, Myah, I pray that God will wrap his loving arms around you and comfort your heart; knowing that soon we will come and bring you home. I pray that your wonderful caregivers will watch over you and keep you safe; please know that the hugs and kisses that they give you are extensions from us. We are so blessed to be your parents; you will bring so much love to our family.
We will be there soon!! Your in Gods hands now and we know that he will keep you safe until we get there!!
I love you,
Dad

Myah's Referral

Here is the little bit of information that we do know about Myah. Her given name is Li Wen Ting. In China, the last name is always first and with orphans it is usually the name of the orphanage director or some other special name, that all of the little girls share. So her first name is actually Wen and her middle Ting. We learned the meaning of her name, Li means black, plum, sharp, strength (it's also her orphanage director's name); Wen means cultured and refined; Ting means slim and graceful ( we chuckled about that!). She was born on June 1st 2005 in Hubei and was brought to the orphanage on June 15th, she was then put in foster care 3 days later where she has been ever since. The Chinese bundle up their babies in layers, several layers! Even in the hot heat! So we weren't surprised to see her all bundled up today. She has such chubby cheeks but she weighs 18 pounds and is 28 inches. She must be mostly cheeks (and hair!) I have not seen a referral with so much hair! She has 2 teeth, can stand up, likes music, picture books, tearing paper (made us laugh), she likes to laugh and imitate. Dayton liked the fact that she could hold a biscuit on her own. She is a heavy sleeper and active! Sounds like she fits right in! We have more information that needs to be translated for us and hopefully we will get that tomorrow. We are just thrilled beyond words. What a day!

Our Adoption Process

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break. Ancient Chinese Belief
There is alot of paperwork involved in adopting a child! We had to prepare a packet of information which is called a dossier, these are all of the documents needed to send to China for review. In addition to immigration papers, we had to apply for passports, complete a homestudy, had physicals, and were fingerprinted. We had to have letters of reference from friends/neighbors and teachers. Then every document has to be notorized. We then took everything to the Office of the Great Seal in Lansing to be sealed with our state seal. After our papers were sealed we went straight to Kinkos in East Lansing and Fed Ex'd everything to a courier service in Chicago who specializes in Chinese adoptions and she took our papers to the Chinese Counselate in Chicago. We literally kissed all of our papers good bye! That was the last time we would see them! A red seal was put on each document and when they were finished our courier sent our dossier to our adoption agency in Jenison and we just made the May deadline! We learned that 13 other families had also made the May deadline. We were very relieved to have that part of the process behind us,although we didn't really encounter any problems, it would get frustrating waiting on people to approve certain documents, which would either hold or speed up the process. We would like to thank everyone who had a part in this stage with us, your letters were wonderful and we appreciate your promptness! Someday we will share our dossier with Myah and it will be a great keepsake for our family.

What A Day!!

I am going to have to write later, I think I am running out of steam, it is late, but I wanted to say something today! We always wondered how this day would feel, I can honestly say I never imagined that it could be so wonderful. I have been smiliing all day. She is so adorable, I can't believe her hair! I can hardly wait to accessorize! It is a good thing that the only thing I have been buying is hair bows! This day was magical and spent sharing this news with all of our loved ones. We were able to share this moment with some very special families and it is a day I will cherish for the rest of my life. The girls are just beautiful, we are so lucky. We were bummed to learn that our group was split up, unfortuately my buddies are split up, but at least we have 2 going one direction and 2 going another so we each have someone, in addition to the other great families that we will be with. And it will only be for the middle part, we start out together and end together. We laughed, cried, laughed some more! We ended the night at Kelly and Linda's, we felt that they were really our inspiration in all of this and we couldn't wait to share the picutures with them. So our early morning, late night is coming to and end. This is a day that will always be special. I put Myah's pictures in frames in her room and it just feels so complete now. It is hers. Her toys, her bed, her clothes and our daughter. Wow. This was bittersweet though, my good friend Debbie lost her mom Sharon Banning, yesterday, she was a wonderful woman and I had really hoped that she would have had the chance to see Myah's face. Our friends are like family and my heart is heavy. I know that Sharon will log on in heaven and sneak a peak at our little angel. Please keep her family in your prayers too! Thanks to everyone for the calls and well wishes today! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breathe, Breathe, Breathe!

Ok, I was getting Dayton ready for school this morning and Linda Voigt called to see if I was going to water aerobics around 7:30 am. Mark beeped in and asked if I had checked the CCAA website and I told him no and he said that it had been updated overnight and that they are sending out referrals for people logged in between May 31 and June 6th!!!! We made it finally!!!! I couldn't believe it! Everyone said that around the 25th things happen and once again the rumors were right. So obviously I skipped water aerobics because I wasn't sure if I needed to be home or not today. We have since learned that the packages were mailed out on Tues in China ( they are 12 hours ahead of us). So we are expecting that maybe this week we will have our referral in our hands! Can it really be happening? It has been a year since we saw our documents last, and 4 months prior to that of preparing them. It has been a long wait but one that we are sure is worth it! Dayton's 11th birthday is Monday May 1st, what a gift it would be to have her info by then! My head is spinning today and I am really not accomplishing much, I can't complete many thoughts ( which is probably pretty evident if you are reading this!). I am so thankful and grateful to God that this is finally happening! I can't imagine what she will look like, what her birthday is, where she is etc..... ! She is ours now, even though we will just be staring at her picture for a while, she is already in our hearts and we love her. My stomach is doing flips, this is a much different type of labor than what I had with Dayton! Longer too!!! As soon as we can we will post her picture on our homepage so that you may all get your first glimpse of her too! It warms our hearts to know that we have been surrounded by so many loving people throughout these long months. Your excitement has made this experience just that much sweeter. Thank you everyone!!! There are so many more exciting moments to come and we look forward to sharing them with you!

Referrals Are Coming Soon!

Sounds like referrals are going to be sent out this week!! I am starting to get excited, we are 98% sure that we will be in this next group. We have learned to leave a little room for the unexpected! We hope that maybe by the end of the week or early next week we will be staring at our little girl's picture!!!! The excitement is building but we are so used to waiting that I really don't know if it will actually sink in right away when we finally get "the call". I was sitting in the living room with Dayton today and we heard a loud thud on the deck, we looked outside and the glass to our table shattered and was in a million pieces! I couldn't believe it! Our front door did the same thing a few months ago. Dayton said that God must going to give us good news for all the things going bad around here! I have to believe he is right. I did however park far away from the ball field tonight while at Dayton's baseball practice, I don't feel like cleaning up any more glass today! Keep praying for us and for our little girl, I can't wait to finally see her face!

Spring Break

Spring Break
April 13, 2006
We are going to Florida this weekend for Dayton's spring break. We have put off any type of vacation for 6 months for fear that we would miss "the call". Now we are so close and I feel like we need the break more than ever. We are hoping to receive our referral once we return home the following week. We have been busy with Dayton's baseball season and look forward to his first game once we get back. We will be sure to post Myah's pictures as soon as we get our little hands on them. The suspense is mounting around here and I am so glad that we are going to get away, sitting around here for a week staring at ourselves would be painful! We laughed because last spring break we were in Florida and we said that it would be our last one without Myah, never guessing that the process would take so long! Let's pray that next spring break she will join us! She has to meet Mickey! Thanks for all of the prayers and support, our friends and family are the best! Keep stopping by the site and hopefully in the next 2 weeks Myah's little face will be staring back at you! Won't that be wonderful! God' s timing is perfect and we know that there is a reason why we have been waiting so long.
**we ended up cancelling our trip at the last minute due to rumors swirling that referrals were on their way!**

100 Wishes Quilt

These are the instructions for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt that we sent out before Myah arrived. We would love to have you participate. Please email Leslie at daysmom@charter.net to request our address.
Dear family and friends:
While we are waiting for the arrival of Myah we are working on a project that we would appreciate your assistance with. We are creating a “100 Good Wishes Quilt”.

To welcome and celebrate new life, there is a tradition in the Northern part of to make a Bai Jia Bei, or “100 Good Wishes Quilt”. The custom is to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is passed down from generation to generation. We would love to have our family and friends send us a square, but please don’t feel like you have to:

Here is what you do:

Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a piece of clothing or the fabric store.
2. Cut one 9” square that will be used to make a quilt.

On a sheet of paper or note card, write out a “good wish note” along with your name. Attach a SMALL piece of the same fabric to the note. The notes will be placed in a scrapbook which we will give to Myah when she is older. She will be able to read your good wishes and then find your square on her quilt.

Ideas for Selecting Fabric Squares:

-Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.

-100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.

-If there are several members of your family, please feel free to send more than one good wish note and piece of fabric. In , these quilts were originally made from the garments of family and friends surrounding the child with their good wishes.

Idea for Good Wishes Note: What would you wish for Myah to have in her life? Is there a prayer or anything else you would like to share with her? You may also want to include the reason you chose the fabric.

It would be great to get the fabric soon before Myah comes home. The adoption of Myah has been prayed for and nurtured by so many of you, and it will be incredibly meaningful to have you be a part of this.