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December 16
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| Today is the morning of the 16th. I was unable to
post yesterday as Joe, Gabriel and I went to Foshan, the city where our
son was born. I was happy to be able to see the sights and experience
if just for a short time, the place where our son spent the first nineteen
months of his life. The drive over was lovely, beautiful landscape,
including large potted trees down the center of the road. It was
amazing. The traffic, well, I do not know what to say about the
traffic, if you have been here you know what I mean. If you have not
been on the roadway here you will find that you just pray alot and go with
the flow. Joe and I believe Gabriel knew where we were headed.
Once entering the city of Foshan, Gabriel became silent and
withdrawn. He tried to bury himself into me and did not want to look
at anything. I am afraid he thought this new life, he was so loving,
was about to come to an end. We were very careful to keep him close
at all times. I will write an email with details for my Foshan
Mommies and try to send it out to all of you in the next day or two.
For everyone else, I will have to explain our trip to Foshan to you in
person, I am not allowed to discuss it on the Internet. Joe and I
want to respect the privileges we have been given in China and honor the
people who have gone beyond what they should in making a way for us to
better understand our son's life before we were so blessed to be his
family. After our long day, Gabriel had a very restless night.
He has been running fever and coughing alot. He is on antibiotics
and hopefully he will be feeling better in a few days. He is talking
more and more, by that I mean he says "ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma" and
babbling and babbling. We are now working on da-da! I am sure
it will come next as he clearly loves his daddy. Joe is able to get
the biggest belly laughs out of him. This afternoon we will go out
wandering about the island. It is so beautiful here. Then this
evening we are having dinner with our guide Judy, her husband and
son. She is taking us to a Restaurant that serves Shunde food.
I also received wonderful news yesterday from our priest, Father
David. He has agreed to baptize our son on Christmas Eve. I
could not have asked for a more wonderful homecoming for our son.
This Sunday, Gabriel will also attend his first Mass here in China.
There is a lovely Catholic Church here on the island. We are meeting
another mom there at 8:00 who is here alone adopting a son. So now I
move on to tell all my kiddos at home, WE LOVE YOU! WE LOVE YOU! WE
LOVE YOU! We will be home in less than a week. Just remember
when you are young men and ready to leave home for college, that the way
you are feeling now, is how I will be feeling then. So happy for
you, yet an ache knowing I am not seeing you daily. Ga-Ga, I do not
even have the words to tell you thank you for keeping our home up and
running while we are away, for comforting and caring for our children, the
love of our lives. Alice, thank you for raising the best son in the world,
who in turn became the best husband and father in the world. Dad,
Lynn, Ashley and Austin, thank you for believing this baby needed to be
our son and helping make that come true, Daryl and Shevaun, for just
everything you have done, way beyond what most would do, Thank you, we
love you. Doc, Darleen and Deandra, because of your generous gift of love,
both of my children will help make this world a better place for the
future, you took a huge burden off of our shoulders and I don't know of
anyone who would have been so generous for the sake of my children.
Joe and I will never forget what you have done to help make our dreams of
family come true. We love you! Pat and Joni, because you were
willing to work together, Joe and I have this beautiful child in our
arms. You both know how I feel, thank you is not enough.
Melissa, thank you for knowing that dreams can come true and believing
that Joe and I were destined to parent these beautiful children and for
the constant prayers you have said for our family. Gary and Zea,
through reading your words and witnessing your faith during the most
difficult time in your life, my life has forever changed, my faith in God
is stronger than ever due to the life of your daughter. Misty, thank you
for being my personal Notary, I will never forget. Just be ready to
start again. Lisa thank you for letting me measure your daughter to
find out just how big my son was, he will make a fine boyfriend for
her! Julie, thank you for being Julie and welcoming all my kiddos
with open arms and a loving heart. Jan and Lou, thank you for the
use of the name Allen, and for loving us, worrying about us, and just
always being on board for what Joe and I choose for our lives. Gene
and Nene, thank you for all the prayers, we have certainly needed
them. All our family, we thank you for checking on us, praying for
us and loving our children. Leila, gosh the hat was just so darn
cute. Thank you for being that extra grandma to our kids. We
love you. Bill and Espy, the Godparents of this boy, we love you
both and can't wait for his baptism, be ready! We love you too,
Ashley! Melissa and Tom, thank you for sharing Darby Grace with us,
our love for her led us to China. Hallie, I would never forget to
thank you, thank you for almost daily correspondence over the last 1 1/2
years. You have been my friend, and my sanity on days when I did not
think I would last until I had our son in my arms. Last but not
least, Father David, thank you for what you bring to our lives every week,
Christ. Blessings, Alicia, Joe and Gabriel
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Gabriel |
Gabriel playing ball |
Gabriel |
Gabriel's bed at Shunde |
Gabriel loves his daddy and the toy car he is clutching |