Our Visit to Meet Christy!

Nearly two weeks ago, Daryl and I headed out to fly to the other side of the world, to meet our daughter, Christy.  What an adventure!  Our travel to go see her was uneventful, except that I was struggling with a cold.  We left on Thursday, had a short layover in Paris, had a long layover in London (got to see the British Museum), and then flew to the capitol of her country (south east Europe).  After one night's sleep (well, we kind of slept), we were driven to the city where where she lives in a group home.  After sleeping there, and a morning walk along the river and seeing some of the town, we were driven to see here. We were allowed to visit with her three times for three days.  On our last visit (Thursday) I had come down with a new cold (the first cold had been conquered by Monday), so only Daryl went (no photos of that visit).  He found that Christy was also coming down with that cold, as well as several other children there and some of the workers - even the director!

 Here's some highlights of our visits with her....

Day 1, First Visit

Our first ever hug!  She just melted in my arms!

                                  

I was able to feed her lunch and dinner every day!

Day 2 Second Visit - 

This visit was incredible.  She was a little sleepy when we got there as she had just woken up and had a snack.  We played with her for a while and then we were able to take her out into the backyard.  I held and hugged her for a while - she really loves snuggling.  Then Daryl took her and a miracle happened before my eye - I can't describe it, but I can show you the videos!

Right before our eyes her character and personality just blossomed.  She began cooing and babbling and that turned into laughter!  What a thrill to experience all that on our first day.  She also cuddled with her daddy too - here are my favorite photos from the day, plus a few more too!

Christy meeting her family through a photo album I created
that my sister had gifted to us!

 

She gives hugs just like Esther does, with her hand turned out!

Day Two - 

She loves be bounced, and love playing on the play mat with the ping pong ball we brought.  With some experimenting we found that the she enjoyed rough housing.  She loved it when Daryl would roll her over from her tummy to her back, and also if he slid her across the mat.  But her favorite was being spun around.  She would laugh and laugh and laugh!  We were delighted.

She loves to talk and has a great time expressing herself!

But she also loves her cuddle time too!

She is most definitely a Daddy's Girl!

Third Day - Amazing Bonding~

Butterfly Kisses!

We were able to go with her to watch her receive her bi-weekly physical therapy!

One Very Happy Girl - She Loves to Play!

If you want to read all the things I wrote about the details of our trip, including our travel, visit my blog about this trip - Connecting With Christy!

We will be going back to to bring her home sometime around February if all goes well with the paperwork and legal process.  Please pray for this to go smoothly!