Reunion

On Thursday afternoon I drove to the Kansas City airport all alone. As astounding as the alone part was, the exciting part was that I was picking up my friend Mindy and her two little girls, Nadalyn and Jayde. They were flying in from Utah and on their way to a wedding in Oklahoma. We were lucky enough to get to have them spend a night and day with us before they were on their way.

I hadn't seen Mindy and her girls in a year and a half. The last time I saw them was in Hanoi, Vietnam. Mindy was one of two other women in my adoption travel group. Jayde was her newly adopted baby and thankfully Mindy didn't have any difficulties getting a visa for her baby.

When we arrived home from the airport all five younger kids had a great time playing outside together. Nadalyn (who is 3 1/2) and Jenna hooked up and in a surprise twist, Ryan and Jayde stuck to each other's side. Emma was the odd one out, not that she cared. We all know that Emma walks to the beat of her own drummer. Shoot, she stole the drum from the drummer and makes her own beat.

For bath time we threw them all in my big tub.

{Yes, I've been busy drawing fig leaves again.}

Five children fit in my tub just fine. Guess I have room for two more. Hahahaha!

Jayde giving Emma a hug after much coercion. Jayde is about 10 days older than Emma yet is so much taller. And she seemed so much older too.

The next day, Mindy and her daughters left.

As Mindy prepared to go, Jayde had just woke up from her nap and was upset. Ryan, the comforter, is rubbing Jayde's back trying to make her feel better. How was I so lucky to get such a sweet boy?

Earlier, we got a picture of the four younger kids outside. Left to right: Nadalyn, Ryan, Jayde and Emma. Notice that Jayde's head is on Ryan's shoulder. I told Mindy that I didn't have any problems with arranged marriages and feel free to start discussing the details of Ryan's and Jayde's marriage at any time.

The best picture of MANY taken of Emma and Jayde. Notice Mindy's hand in the foreground.

Jayde and Emma are from the same orphanage. At one point on Friday, I had picked Jayde up and was holding her outside. As I looked at her sweet little face, I realized that there was a 1 in 3 chance she would have been mine. There were three women who received referrals of three babies, the only three babies available. It was by the grace of God that Mindy received Jayde's referral and I received Ella's. I'm not a big "what if" person. After Darrell's accident I realized that Jenna almost went with Darrell on that fateful flight and I allowed myself 5 minutes to freak out over it and then I told myself I was done. Yes, she almost went but bottom line was she didn't. So I admit that I was a bit surprised with myself for going down the "what if" road as I held Mindy's baby. I realized that had I received Jayde as my referral I wouldn't have suffered the pain of Ella's death, receiving Emma's referral, being stuck in Vietnam alone and frightened, dealing with Emma's RSV. And as I thought of all that I looked at my own angel sitting on a swing and my heart ached at the "what if" of not getting my precious Emma. Emma Linh Joelle is worth every moment of pain and more so. I can't imagine life without my Tasmanian Devil. I can only thank God that He's worked out all the details so perfectly.