Visit #1

Dear Kaelyn & Bryn,

We made it safely to Victoria's country.  We left our house at 6:30 am on Sunday morning and arrived here at 10:00 am on Monday morning.  It was a long flight, but it went well.  One of our bags got left in New York, but it looks like they are shipping it to us, so hopefully it gets here soon.  Luckily it was the bag full of clothing donations for the orphanage, so not too big of a deal.

We are staying with an American Family that work for the US Embassy here and they are so wonderful!  They have made us feel so welcomed and at home, it has been such a blessing.  They have 3 fun little boys that have kept us entertained.

Today was a very special day.  This morning our facilitator and driver, who are very lovely people, picked us up and took us to the Ministry of Education where they asked us some questions about ourselves and why we chose to adopt a child from their country with Down syndrome.  The meeting went very well and they gave us our paperwork to be able to go to Victoria's orphanage.

When we first got to the orphanage and were checking out we could hear many children playing outside on the play ground.  We went up stairs to meet with the orphanage director, doctor and social worker.  From what we could see and learned from the director, it seems like a very nice orphanage.  The people we met with today were very kind and it was apparent that they loved the children there and were happy that Victoria had a family coming for her.

After a few minutes someone came in carrying a tiny little girl.  I almost couldn't believe it was Victoria, she was even smaller than I imagined.  My heart skipped a few beats, she is so cute.  She was crying a little and had a sad look on her face.  They then told us that she was sad to leave all her friends that were playing outside.  We all went into the playroom and pulled out some toys.  At first she didn't really look at us and was quite clingy to the social worker.  I pulled out some bubbles and started blowing them and she started getting more and more interested in the two stranger.  Next we pulled out a little green rubber ball, like the ones you both got for christmas, and played catch with her.  She has quite the arm and could throw really well.  Each time we threw it back to her she would out the cutest little giggle.

Next I pulled out the photo album with the pictures of our family.  She went through it many times and every time she would see a picture of me or your dad, she would say the word for man or woman and scoot over to us and tap our leg.  It was so cute!  Then when she would see the pictures of you girls she would make a little sign for "little".  She loved the bows in Bryns hair.  We also did some coloring and she played the little ukalalele for us.  She is so smart and very good at following instructions.  They told us that she plays well with other children.  We had a wonderful time visiting and playing with her.  We are excited to see how she reacts to us in the morning.

Daddy and I miss you like crazy, but know that you are being well cared for while we are away.  Its crazy that even though we are so far away and we don't understand much of what is being said here, we just feel like this is all normal.  We have a wonderful sense of peace and know that we are doing what we are suppose to be.  Victoria is such a sweet little girl and will be such a wonderful sister to you both.  She is going to do so well in our family and neighborhood.  Here are some pictures that we took today.