Our Trip--The Beginning

Here we are at the start of our trip. We left around 4 p.m. on Thursday and we arrived shortly after 12 p.m. on Friday. I am posting the one above because JiaLi is holding Jenise's "J" pillow that she received a few years ago from her Aunt that Jenise just loves. Well, on one of the pit stops as the kids were approaching sleep, I wanted to get a diaper/pull-up on JiaLi(she still wears them when she sleeps) and in the process, we believe the pillow fell to the side of JiaLi's seat and when the van door was open, fell out:( They did fall asleep with a little nudging here and there--poor Dan was stuck between Joseph and Edward who alternated resting their heads on Danny's shoulders. Joe and I were very thankful for the coffee pit stops. I hate to drink that much coffee but I was excited at how fast we made it to Atlanta:) We got the kids lunch when we arrived at the hotel and they were giving each other cheers for making it to Atlanta:) And here we are the reason for our trip...I need to take the time to label the pictures to show the then and now. If you look at Annslee's blog, you will see similar photos labeled. I ended up on the side taking photos--I'm short and it was just an easier location;) I never realized that in the adoption of our daughter that not only would we have a daughter but a whole new family. I am so thankful that I finally got to meet everyone that was there to help Joe on his Journey to JiaLi--you all did help him! In his journal from his trip to China, he mentions each and every one of you in one way or another. Two weren't able to make the trip and were definitely missed!!