The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3

The Journey to Emmeline

We began the paperwork and home study update for our second adoption from China in July of 1997. By late October, our application and "book" of paperwork was at the China Center of Adoption Affairs in Beijing. This wait was much easier than the wait for our first daughter, Elizabeth. During this wait, Elizabeth kept us very busy - and we also moved and started construction on a new house during this time. We expected our referral to come some time in October of 1998, so imagine our surprise when we received THE CALL on June 30, 1998! Our daughter was Zhang Er Hua and she was five months old. She resided in Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu province. The picture on the left is Emmeline's referral photo, taken when she was about two months old. She looked so thin and frail - but we loved her and knew that she was our daughter! I worried about her health throughout our wait for travel. The picture on the right was taken a few weeks after our return home - look at those cheeks!

About her name: Her Chinese name is Zhang Er Hua. The Zhang is the surname of all babies in the Zhangjiagang Children Welfare Hospital. Er means "two" or "second". We later learned from the orphanage that she was the second healthy baby they received in 1998. Hua means "flower or blossom". About her new name: Emmeline was the name of one of her Mama's ancestors. Mae was the name of Mama's wonderful, precious Nana, who went to heaven in 1978. The Hua is of course explained above.

We were originally given a travel date in mid-August. One week before we were to leave, our travel was delayed for three more weeks - which was a real test of patience. The extra time only worsened my worries about Emmeline. We finally left for China on September 10, 1998. Big Sister Elizabeth traveled with us and was so wonderful on the long flight over the Pacific Ocean! We arrived in Beijing on September 12, met the two other families of our travel group, ate a delicious lunch, and toured Tiananmen Square during our seven-hour layover. Later that evening we flew to Nanjing. We collapsed into our hotel beds that night - we would meet our Emmeline the next day!

On Sunday, September 13, 1998, we ate at the hotel's wonderful breakfast buffet and tried to keep ourselves busy until the babies arrived later that day. We took a short walk down the street, but it was so hot and crowded that we decided to return and tour the inside of the hotel. Elizabeth enjoyed walking her Beanie Babies in the stroller up and down the hallway on our floor.

We weren't given an exact time of when the two Zhangjiagang babies would arrive. Around 3:15 p.m., I was talking with Jane (whose baby is from a different orphanage), and down the hall came two Chinese ladies, each holding a Chinese baby! We knew these were the Zhangjiagang babies, since there were two of them. I got a very good look at the baby in front as they passed by us. She was precious and looked big and healthy - and somehow, I just knew she was our Emmeline. She looked nothing like the referral photo, so I don't know how I knew. I ran to Todd, who was in our room, and said, "I just saw Emmeline. She is precious and looks so fat and healthy!" By now, I was crying - what relief I felt at seeing the apparent health of the baby I had so worried over for months.

Within five minutes, we and Howard and Louise received the call from our guide - "Your baby is here. Come to my room"! We walked in, our guide introduced her to us, and Emmeline viewed us from the arms of a smiling lady (who we learned later was the vice director of the orphanage). Then I took Emmeline in my arms and introduced her to her Daddy and her Big Sister. She calmly took it all in - and before I knew it, the vice director took her away and began to feed her a bottle. We sat there and watched and oohed and aahed over her. I just couldn't believe how plump, healthy, and extremely alert she seemed to be. We spent a long time in the room getting to know her and her nannies at the orphanage. They evidently loved her very much and were reluctant to hand her over to us. I couldn't wait to be able to hold my new baby in the privacy of our room and kiss her beautiful cheeks! We took the orphanage people to dinner that night and were able to learn all about her life in the orphanage and also the circumstances around how she came to be at the orphanage. We will keep the story private for her and share it with her when she is older. We will always cherish the fact that she is truly a miracle.

Her first night with us went very well - she was so exhausted from all of the action that she fell asleep and only awoke once during the night. We learned right away that she was an avid eater and that she rarely refused food!

The paperwork process within China went very smoothly. We visited the Registry office in Nanjing on September 14th and then boarded the bus bound for Suzhou (about a 2.5 hour drive). The orphanage staff rode with us on the bus and took turns taking care of Emmeline. We didn't want to appear overbearing, so we let them take care of her. They knew this would be the last time they were able to do this. The scenery along the way was beautiful - Jiangsu province has a very lush, green landscape. Our Suzhou hotel, the Suzhou Sheraton, was magnificent and had only opened three days before our arrival. We visited the notary office on September 15th, and that is when Emmeline officially became our daughter! Later on that morning, we had a nice ceremony in a hotel room during which we were given the official adoption certificate and a small gift from the orphanage. We then gave them the bags of items for the children at the orphanage and the gifts for the director, vice-director, nannies and driver. They were appreciative of everything and seemed genuinely a happy to receive the supplies for the orphanage. Then it was time to say good-bye, which was difficult for the nannies. They loved Zhang Er Hua very much and had given so much to her during these first months of her life. They were crying (and of course I followed suit) as they hugged Emmeline good-bye. We promised to keep in touch, and we will.

The next day (September 16th) was Elizabeth's third birthday. I unfortunately came down with a very bad cold/flu bug that morning, but by that evening I was feeling much better. We had a small party with our travel group and our guide in our hotel room. The hotel's french pastry chef prepared a delectable, beautiful cake with Elizabeth's Chinese name written on it. As the party began, the hotel business manager called to tell us that the cake was compliments of the hotel, since Elizabeth was the hotel's first birthday! Elizabeth opened her gifts and we had a good time playing with her new toys. We really tried to make Elizabeth feel very special - she was such a great little girl on this trip and really loved her baby sister, despite the fact that Emmeline was, for the time being, the center of attention.

The remainder of our time in Suzhou was spent touring and falling more and more in love with this beautiful new member of our family. On Friday, September 18th, we landed in Guangzhou after a wonderful, smooth flight on China Southern Airlines. We loved the China Hotel, where we stayed. There is lots to do in the vicinity, and there is also a MacDonald's just across the hotel driveway. We took very quick, inexpensive cab rides to Shamian Island, when we so wished. One evening we shopped at the grocery, which is located in a small shopping mall next to the China Hotel. We bought Elizabeth a red, plastic Autumn Moon Festival lantern that lit up with a switch. She carried it, lit, as we returned in the dark to our hotel later that night.

On September 24th, we left China for home. Elizabeth constantly chanted, "Bye-bye, China" as we rode in the taxi to the airport. Finally, at 9:13 a.m. on Friday, September 25th, we stepped off our Delta airplane at our home airport! Family and friends greeted us. We had gone 36 hours without sleep, but we were home and our girls were both healthy - who could ask for more?!

This China trip was another wonderful, amazing event for our family. God answered every prayer (and then some)! I now look back and wish I would have trusted Him more. Every adoption is a leap of faith, but I should have had more faith that God would answer my prayers that I had prayed for so long. We are so happy with our little Emmeline. She is a happy, laid-back baby who also is obviously very smart and inquisitive. Upon listening to her heartbeat at her first examination in the U.S.A., her pediatrician said, "This baby is going to be lots of fun - she's so laid back - even her heartbeat is slow and steady!" Emmeline is very strong and active - her personality is so different from Elizabeth's - but that's what makes life interesting! She has smiles for everyone and seems to really like people. We are so thankful to God for giving us another beautiful, perfect blessing from the wonderful country of China. See below for some photos of our union with Emmeline and our first moments back in our city.