Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...

As we make the final preparations for another Christmas, and what we hope to be the last Christmas with just the two of us, we look towards the coming year with anticipation of the unknown as we come towards the climactic end of our journey towards completing our family dream. Will we really be traveling as soon as February? Do we have everything we need and everything in order? Will it be a boy or a girl? Will it be one child or a sibling pair? Are we really ready to travel half way around the world?

In our weekly email from our caseworker she shared the following Christmas song about adoption that pretty much sums up our feelings this Christmas and our hopes and dreams of next Christmas, not to rush things since time flies already. Please copy and paste this link into your web browser to hear the song on Youtube titled “Merry Christmas” by Third Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAwYBBuXIyM

The lyrics are below if you would like to follow along:

"There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are
But half a world away
I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his lifeAnd prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas"

The end of this year has brought all sorts of suprises regarding the adoption. Once we found out what region we were assigned to we joined a message board of families who have already adopted from Taraz or like us are headed that way. We have made contact with a family that may be traveling the same time as us and two who have recently adopted from there. One of the families actually lives in Ellicott City not far from us. How nice it will be to know that there is another child from the same region in the area for our child or children to connect with.

Last but not least, as we attempt to learn the Russian language before our trip, not going so well, we discovered that a friend of ours has a daughter-in-law who is from Russia. They just moved back here to the area this summer. It looks like we may have a tutor/translator to help us out here at home.

May you all have a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year!