A Year Ago

A year ago today we were in China. Actually, Abigail and I left for China on January 2, 2016 and arrived very late on January 3. We then got up early on the 4th and went and picked up Piper. The next day we had to go out early and get Piper's passport and then catch a flight out to the next province. 

Piper on the day we picked her up. She was out of control wild once we got back to the hotel.

We landed in the next province on Tuesday night and when we were picked up we were told we would be getting Tess in the next hour. We were still in the airport and realized that she would get to our hotel just a few minutes after we did. We were a little surprised, as we were supposed to go pick her up the next day. We were exhausted from the running around and Piper was not on her best behavior, but we were excited. A few minutes after we arrived at our hotel Tess was brought up to our room. We could hardly believe that within two days of arriving in China we already had both girls. 

Tess, right after she got to our room -- she was very quiet and said almost nothing at first. We were so tired that we took very few pictures. Tess was so different than Piper. She was very quiet that first night - and I mean for the first night only. She also cried when she went to bed. She didn't cry out loud but we heard her sniffing and we knew. I lay down beside her until she seemed better and then she fell asleep. The next day she was a different person. 

The next day, Wednesday, we got up and ran around doing all the stuff you have to do - pictures, etc. Then we went back to our hotel and took the girls out for a walk. It was nice to get out by ourselves for awhile and let the girls walk off some energy.

It was quite a trip and Abigail and I remember it fondly - with a few bad spots. But, it went rather smoothly. We had time to shop and walk around and the hotels were all very nice - something I wasn't used to when traveling to adopt. Abigail and I have been talking about our trip and sending and showing each other pictures from it for several days now -- usually saying "a year ago today". 

The girls are doing great. Even better than I expected. I know we could have some attachment issues and I may talk about that later, but for now things are going very well. They are great kids. I am so glad I decided to ask if there was any way we could adopt from China when I saw Piper's picture one night. So glad I gave it a shot.