1 year ago today...

...our travel journey began! 

 

April 4, 2013

 

We were finally on our way to get our girl,

Audra Qi Jia

 

I remember being so excited and so nervous at the same time...

 

I had never flown longer than 2-3 hours...

 

By the end of our travels (20 some hours later!)

we would be on the other side of the world...

 

I would miss my other children at home terribly...

 

I loved this little girl so much already, having never even met her,

and I prayed that her heart would be open to our love...

 

There were so many unknowns about the journey we were about to begin.

 

But we boarded that plane in New York City bound for China

with our eyes shut and our hearts wide open,

and we never looked back!

 

We were headed to our destiny, our girl, and our future.

Nothing else mattered.

And nothing could hold us back.

The precious little face we had been staring at in pictures and videos for the past 4 months was waiting for us on the other side of the world.

 

And we couldn't wait to get to her...

to hold her,

to kiss her,

and to shower her with the love bursting from our hearts.

 

Without ever seeing or touching her in person,

she was our daughter.

It is an indescribable feeling!

 

We were able to share our journey to China

(and our entire adoption journey)

with Sean's brother, Tim, and his wife Dawn,

who were traveling to adopt their new little girl, Charlotte, at the very same time as us.

What an amazing blessing!

 

Below is a travel video I put together a while ago,

but just recently figured out how to upload to this blog!