Unexpected Journey: In Sincere Gratitude

Since we documented much of our journey, first for extended family, then for our children to see what was happening each day in China, and now with the intent of publishing this blog for ChunMing's sake someday, I want to take the opportunity to record our deepest gratitude to those who have supported us.

From the very beginning of this adoption adventure we have received positive feedback from most everyone we told; especially family, who knows us well enough to tell us we were crazy, but didn't. We were given encouragement when we were discouraged. We even received some financial assistance from a couple of friends who wanted to show their support and knew the financial strain involved. Then there was our Chinese born friend who translated documents, answered questions, and even brought over some Chinese food for ChunMing. Friends watched over our children while we were away: taking them out to lunch, having them over for dinner, and keeping their spirits up. There were some sweet friends who organized our newly installed kitchen and others who installed our refrigerator and freezer. We left with overgrown plants invading our walkway and came home to a trimmed and weeded plant bed. Finally, we were the grateful recipients of what my friend calls, "Extreme Makeover, Playhouse Edition". I know what you are thinking, "Is that a new show on the television fall line up?" Not quite, but it should be.

We were just a couple of months away from picking up ChunMing and life was very busy. Our renovation looked more like devastation, but life kept happening and there was never enough time in a day to get any progress done. I called a friend for help and without hesitation she and her entire family came over to help us paint... but it didn't end there. Next, she recommended her handyman and then assisted him each day he was here, in order to save us money. Then came the playhouse.

I made the mistake of mentioning how difficult it was for me to move from my recently renovated home to a much larger one in need of renovation and how guilty I felt to put my kids in another project. With no place to relax and play, I knew it was taking it's toll.

We came home from China to this:

We happen to know from our spies at home that there were loving elves
that assisted our friends in this huge undertaking.

Our friend even recruited another kind friend of ours to sew the curtains. They are perfect Susan!

I particularly love the vinyl lettering on the wall; the words couldn't be more appropriate. "Faith Hope Love"

A couple of days after returning from China I mentioned to my older children that I was ready for a vacation. Their quick response was that it was our friends who needed the vacation! I couldn't agree more. From the demolition, which resulted in a broken finger, to debugging, sanding, insulating, sheet rocking, and then everything in between and all the way to the smallest detail like bottled water and popcorn, our friends spent endless time and resources. They even hired someone to de-moss the roof and trim the trees surrounding it. Our entire family has been overwhelmed by the sacrifice, kindness, and love on our behalf. We wish we could express our gratitude to each member of their family who gave up so much. The playhouse will be a monument of love in our very own backyard.

Here are the "sort of before photos". I say "sort of" because this doesn't even begin to show the reality. Our friend had already cleared out all of the junk (I won't even begin to list the stuff she found) and you can't see the mass amount of spiders, bugs, and water stains. Trust me... it was gross enough that our children weren't allowed to set foot inside up to this point.