This is a day I will never forget. It started this morning with a lot of pacing and nervousness. We loaded up the bus at 2pm and headed to civil affairs. They told us we would wait in a room and they would bring our children to us. We were with two other families. As we were getting on the elevator, one of the people in our group recognized Layla who was already on the elevator. We didn't know what to do but they hustled us on the elevator and we were right next to Layla. She was beautiful and she just looked at us with her brown eyes wide open. I had tears running down my cheeks. We then went to the room and waited. After a couple minutes they brought her in and and handed her to Shelley. Layla seemed at peace and just looked around. After about 5 minutes she fell asleep in Shelley's arms. We then meet with orphanage director and her nanny and they told us about her and gave us a picture book of the city and where she was found. She cried when her nanny left and has been in our arms most of the rest of the night. She is a very precious child and we are so thankful for the amazing blessing. Shelley will give a more detailed post tomorrow. We are both exhusted and happy.
20 comments:
Wow; I'm at work reading this and now can hardly type for the tears in my eyes. Congratulations! What a wonderful Christmas gift.
amazing! everything on schedule as planned. we are so excited for you guys! can't wait to meet her.
Congratulations! I am Amy Owens' sister and have been following your journey! It is so wonderful to see you and Layla together!!
The video of Shelley reaching for Layla got me. I'm in tears...but good tears. It is so amazing...like she just knows that you are Mommy and Daddy. Congratulations.
Justin and Shelley- She is just perfect! I have been following your blog and am so happy for you. Congratulations and enjoy the rest of your trip touring China and falling in love with Layla!
Yep, I've got tears too! Thanks for all the pictures and even video. My favorite part of the story is that she fell asleep in your arms after just a few minutes. Clearly she feels safe already. CONGRATULATIONS!!
hey guys...i'm organizing meals for the wolfenbergs...and i wanted to get the word out to you all as well. Unless i hear otherwise, you can sign up to prepare a meal from Jan 2nd through Jan 18th. Just email me if you want one of those days. And i'll provide details on how it all works when i hear more from Justin and Shelley. email paul at powens@crossroads.net. respond quickly if you want in, because our staff will jump all over this.
What a beautiful addition to your family!
OH Justin and Shelley - she's BEAUTIFUL. I love seeing her in your arms - an orphan no more! Can't wait till you get home so Henry can meet his new little sis!
Hey - on another note - Beth and Zhenya will be home tomorrow. THe 0-18 family is growing!
Woo hoo!!! I am so excited for all 4 of you! She's is so stinkin' cute!
Congrats. Looks like Nicole and I have some catching up to do.
Beautiful!!! What a wonderful miracle. You guys are awesome. What a beautiful child. This brings me such joy. Yahoo!
It sounds like she was being well taken care of by the nanny that she cried when she left her. That sounds like a wonderful sign to me. She will be ready to receive all the love you are going to pour all over her. Praise God!
Hallelujah.....Layla in your arms!
The pictures made my day and brought tears of joy. Congratulations!
Oh my! I love seeing you all together! Zhenya just came in and wondered why I was crying! I explained tears of joy which come very quickly tonight! Congrats to your family and I can't wait to see you at home too!
when henry woke up from his nap i showed him the pictures. He got a huge smile on his face. He told me what she was doing in each picture. Driving, sitting on mommy, standing with daddy. He cant wait to see you guys. We all cant wait. Love you guys.
We are so proud of you and happy for you! Can't wait to see you all. David will get with you about the video conference. Of course we are interested. Henry will be thrilled. We love our new granddaughter already. See you soon.
Hi Congratulations! We are so happy for you. We can't wait to meet her. Merry Christmas!
We will see you in a few days. Such blessings and worth the wait, trip and new experiences. Chloe is such a joy, very smart. See you in a few days.
God Bless you
Mark, Angie and Chloe Clinton
Great talking to you guys. I haven't figured out how to upload photos so hopefully you can see our new profile pic of the boys coming out of their bath tonight. The other picture we have of them was censored as Carter's towel slipped open :) They had a ball and ran around in their pj's afterwards pretending to be a dinosaur (Henry) and a bear (Carter). Surprisingly, both went right to bed despite the excitement. Henry has been a joy to watch and SO easy. Carter and Kate are having a ball playing with him and as I mentioned, Kate mimics everything he does. Enjoy your day with Layla and we look forward to the next updates.
Chuck and Kathi
How wonderful! can't stop crying at how wonderful God is!
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