Two Years Ago

So, I pretty much abandoned my blog last March. It has been nearly a year since my last post and a lot of things have happened in this last year. I am not going to do a recap, but I do want to post a few things this month. I have yet to make a blog book of our adoption journey and this is something I really want to do. So, my plan is to end this with a couple of posts for our daughter and then have it printed. 

Today is Mia Grace's two year Gotcha day. Two years ago we walked in the gates of Hannah's Hope and left those same gates with our daughter in our arms. Two years ago we ended our long and painful wait for our sweet daughter to come home with us. 

 When I look at these pictures I see that I was overflowing with joy and our sweet Mia was filled with uncertainty. We were so happy to be reunited with her and she was just trying to figure out who we were and where we were taking her.

 She saw this picture yesterday and said, "what am I doing? That's  my daddy?" She couldn't recognize that face she is making because of course now she adores and loves her daddy. Two years later she feels safest in our arms and knows the joys and the love that a family brings.

 March 4th is a day that we will always celebrate because it was the day our daughter left an orphanage as a daughter and a sister. Thankfully, we were able to share this special day with the 4 families in the picture below. Experiencing those first fragile days with these sweet people is something I will never forget. They are all a special part of our journey. When I look at this picture I see a lot of little ones who weren't so sure about the people who were holding them and a lot of happy, but exhausted parents. Thankfully we know that the Lord has transformed all of these sweet ones into happy, healthy, and secure children who know they are deeply loved.

 We started our day by watching Mia's Gotcha Video together. We sat on the couch in our pjs and I tried not to shed too many tears. Oh, how we love our girl!! We gave her a giraffe and an "I love Ethiopia" bracelet that we bought for her in Ethiopia.

 Daddy made us a big breakfast and we enjoyed eating and being together. It worked out nicely that school was canceled today due to icy weather.

 Mia Grace wore her dress and we went to a friends house to eat king cake in celebration of Mardi Gras and Mia's gotcha day.

We are thankful to God for that day two years ago and what it means for our family and even more than that we are thankful for all the Lord has done in our lives since that day. We are a family and we can't imagine our lives without our happy, fun- loving girl.

Happy 2 year Gotcha Day Mia Grace Mestawet!!!!