China
Guatemala
Russia
Vietnam
Brazil
India
Ethiopia
Dear friends at FTIA,
One year ago today, I was drowning in a sea of documents, paper chasing my way to parenthood. Today I am just celebrating!! Four months ago today, I carried our daughter, Julia Grace, out of her orphanage in Rostov, Russia and into our family forever. What a reason to celebrate!
I believe
all the glory, honor and praise belongs to our Heavenly Father! James 1:17 tells
us, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
the heavenly lights" And what a wonderful gift we have been given!
Today I want to take a moment to extend my gratitude and appreciation to everyone at Families Thru International Adoption who helped make our family's dream come true. From the very first phone call I made in February 2000 to the last cry for help from Russia in December 2000, we were treated with total kindness, truthfulness, understanding and efficiency. Keith, Ted and Tina did a wonderful job leading our family to Russia and back and back again for our new daughter.
Julia is a
bright, beautiful, healthy and happily adjusted one year old. She is walking and
talking and loves to be tickled. She eagerly gives hugs and kisses and squeals
with delight when her daddy walks in from work! She loves to play with her toys
and look at books. She claps her hands and dances to all kinds of music. And any
VeggieTales® video will stop her in her tracks! She is a constant joy and we
remain in awe of this little miracle we affectionately call "Dolly".
We cannot thank you enough
for helping us fulfill our dream of adopting a little girl. We encourage you to
keep doing what you do at FTIA, helping to bring children to families who so
desperately want them and to bring families to children who so desperately need
them.
Chris, Karen, Britani, and Julia
