So, how about a recap? Fortunately I have lots of pictures!!! Ready?
Stacy, Abbi and I flew into Manila to spend the night before flying into Cebu. None of us had ever flow such a distance, but fortunately all went well and we arrived safely! One of the first "God kisses" was our driver to the hotel. He spoke fluent English, which most in Manila do, BUT he also had a Bible on his dashboard! :) He offered to give us a tour, however, our flight departure didn't allow us to do this, so we told Ricky we would call him on our return. We checked into our hotel and fell asleep!
The following day we got on our plane to head to Cebu. The orphanage takes that day off so we wouldn't be able to see the kids until Monday, but just getting to their homeland was so exciting! To think we were just about to meet our sweet kids!
We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Cebu. Unbeknownst to us Cebu is the #1 grower of mangos. OH MY GOSH!! Indeed, I'll never forget the taste. Every morning we went to the buffet for breakfast and Abbi ate 4 mangos. :) I'll also never forget breakfast on Monday, July 14th, Meet You Day. I remember when we flew to Oklahoma to adopt Abbi, how we felt. It was so surreal and yet so peace-filled. This day was just the same, only 15 years later Abbi was about to see how we felt when we came for her! Mitch, from CSC was picking us up at 10:00. How many times did we look at our phones? How many questions did Abbi ask us at breakfast? Too many to count.
I can't explain what goes on in your head at a time like this. I had brought an adoption book on the plane to re-read. It was SO depressing. But I had prepared myself for the worst. According to experts, mom's are the last of the family for adopted children to bond to. I remember thinking, they may not give me the time of day! How's that for positive thinking? We kept telling Abbi, "Keep your expectations super low and you won't be disappointed." Cause you just never know.
So Mitch met us in the lobby and we pretended like this is just a regular ole day. How are you? How are the kids doing? Trying to not think about all the crazy drivers who were weaving in and out, honking at one another. Who knew that there was a honk system? Who knew lights were optional at intersections? Mitch explained it best as we tried to remain cool, "It just ebbs and flows, and you go with it." Wow, thankful we didn't have a rental car!
The moment came when we stopped at the gate and Mitch honked the car horn. We got out of the van and guess who was waiting for us?
Can we breathe a sigh of relief? We've made it. So many times we didn't think it would happen. But it did.
The following day we got on our plane to head to Cebu. The orphanage takes that day off so we wouldn't be able to see the kids until Monday, but just getting to their homeland was so exciting! To think we were just about to meet our sweet kids!
We stayed at a beautiful hotel in Cebu. Unbeknownst to us Cebu is the #1 grower of mangos. OH MY GOSH!! Indeed, I'll never forget the taste. Every morning we went to the buffet for breakfast and Abbi ate 4 mangos. :) I'll also never forget breakfast on Monday, July 14th, Meet You Day. I remember when we flew to Oklahoma to adopt Abbi, how we felt. It was so surreal and yet so peace-filled. This day was just the same, only 15 years later Abbi was about to see how we felt when we came for her! Mitch, from CSC was picking us up at 10:00. How many times did we look at our phones? How many questions did Abbi ask us at breakfast? Too many to count.
I can't explain what goes on in your head at a time like this. I had brought an adoption book on the plane to re-read. It was SO depressing. But I had prepared myself for the worst. According to experts, mom's are the last of the family for adopted children to bond to. I remember thinking, they may not give me the time of day! How's that for positive thinking? We kept telling Abbi, "Keep your expectations super low and you won't be disappointed." Cause you just never know.
So Mitch met us in the lobby and we pretended like this is just a regular ole day. How are you? How are the kids doing? Trying to not think about all the crazy drivers who were weaving in and out, honking at one another. Who knew that there was a honk system? Who knew lights were optional at intersections? Mitch explained it best as we tried to remain cool, "It just ebbs and flows, and you go with it." Wow, thankful we didn't have a rental car!
The moment came when we stopped at the gate and Mitch honked the car horn. We got out of the van and guess who was waiting for us?
Guess who came running to hug me?!!!! MICAELA JOY!!! Trip was worth it.
Love this picture of Micaela practically hugging Abbi into the ground.
She was inseparable from her new big sister.
Me meeting my son, Cayden John.
Can we breathe a sigh of relief? We've made it. So many times we didn't think it would happen. But it did.
