Oh good golly, y’all!
What a whirlwind of a week! Our sweet little girl is here!
It is hard to believe that the sweet little face we saw on the computer screen in February is actually sleeping in her bed at night in our home!
This past Sunday, we drove down to Georgia to the Atlanta airport to pick her up. She was flying with many other orphans to the states. Children are getting hosted all over America this summer through Project143. We found an app that allowed us to see exactly where her plane was! It was fun to watch the plane as it flew from JFK to Atlanta!
When we got to the airport, we met some of the other host parents and grabbed a bite to eat. We were all so nervous and excited!!
As I have mentioned before, we are hosting her through Project 143. This is a HOSTING program, not an adoption program.
When we decided to host our girl in February, we asked Project143 if she was available to be adopted because we knew we would fall in love with her once she was in our home. :) Not all of the children who are hosted are available for adoption, but our girl was. We immediately began to feel led by the Lord to purse adopting her, so we started the process in March through an agency called CCAI. They have been wonderful to work with! Our dossier is about to be sent off, and we are praying to be matched with her before she leaves on August 2nd so we can tell her that she is our forever daughter. :)
They gave us some P143 tshirts at the airport. The “143” stands for the 143 million orphans in the world which has now grown to 153 million since P143 started five years ago.
Here are my sweet boys ready and excited about meeting their host sister! We made a sign for her, and Cy brought her a bunny stuffed animal.
The moments leading up to her arrival were surreal. We weren’t sure what to feel, but we were definitely nervous. I filmed the whole thing on Periscope, a new app, which was pretty darn cool! My family and friends from afar where able to join us in this special moment. I have since uploaded the video to youtube, and will share it with you at the bottom of the post.
We spotted “our girl” from afar and couldn’t wait to see her up close and give her a hug. I cannot tell you what a thrill it was to see this beautiful face that I have looked at a million times a day on my computer for the past five months and have prayed for so fervently.
I can’t show any front views of her face without blurring them. :( But I still wanted to share these pictures with you.
Here is the moment our eyes met….
PRICELESS!
I will never forget those tired yet brave little eyes. She just turned 8 years old last month and yet traveled 15 hours across the world to a new country to stay 5 weeks with a family she didn’t know and who didn’t speak her language! Can you imagine?!
What an amazing and brave little girl she is!!!
After she met our whole family, they gave us her backpack and a few instructions, we took a family picture, and then we were free to leave. CRAZY!
We stayed at a hotel near by so she could rest from her long trip. We got adjoining rooms. She and I stayed in one room, and Cy and the boys were in the other just to make sure she felt comfortable.
The next morning, she entertained the boys with the coloring books we gave her.
These boys LOVE her. I am so proud of them! They are strong and loving and brave as well. They have accepted this little girl with their arms wide open! I wish you could see how gentle, patient, and caring they are toward her. My sweet Adam cried himself to sleep Tuesday night because he couldn’t imagine her having to leave us in August. He doesn’t want her to ever leave. I assured him that “God has got this,” and that we have to say a “temporary goodbye” so we can say a “forever hello.”
Our hosting time is over August 2nd, and she has to fly back home. Lord willing, Cy and I will be able to fly to her home country before Christmas and bring her back home forever. That is our heart’s desire.
And let me tell you something else….I love my husband more than I ever have!
I have always known what an amazing man, husband, father, and friend he is, but to see him with our little girl has made my heart explode. He ADORES her! He loves her as his own. If he has it his way, our sweet girl will NEVER be fatherless again!
She loves him too. She gives him a hundred hugs and kisses all day, and she runs into his arms every time she sees him. #bestillmyheart
My mind cannot hardly grasp how the Lord has taken this little girl and placed her perfectly into our little family. We don’t deserve this type of love and favor. I pray we can honor the Lord as we love on her.
We are not expecting everything to be easy, but we know that all things are possible through HIM. I think He will stretch and grow and bless our hearts beyond our wildest imaginations!
All we know is that this little girl didn’t have a family. And we didn’t have a little girl. And somehow, someway, God has brought us together. And we are forever grateful!
Thank you for all of your encouraging comments and emails. Thank you for your prayers!! Please continue to pray for us over the next few weeks as we continue to grow closer as a family.
We know that it is not a “sure thing” that we will be able to adopt her. Adoption never is a sure thing. But one thing we know for sure is that God has called us to this time and this place in our lives with this little girl.
We are trusting Him one day at a time!
What a sweet post….tears of joy for you as I read it. Prayers to your entire family.
Our mighty God does have this! You and your family are angels and so blessed to love on this sweet girl! I wish you all the best and blessings on you all!
A child grows in your heart – any child. I wish you and your family every good thing that God has to offer.
You are so blessed as is that little girl. Thank you for sharing your journey.
I cannot tell you how much this post has warmed my heart to the fact that you and your family have opened up your heart and your home for this wonderful little girl. One cannot help but shed tears of joy for your family….I hope that all goes well with the adoption process as it is clear that she belongs with your family. Such a great time of joy and blessings!
Love seeing your beautiful, sweet family embracing this precious little girl and showing her God’s great love for her! It brought tears to my eyes. I’ll be praying for her time with your family and for her adoption.
OMG you are making me cry!
Oh Tracey, My heart felt so full reading this post. I, too, am a mom to boys and we were blessed beyond our wildest dreams to adopt our daughter through foster care last year. I KNOW exactly what you’re feeling. I am so happy for your little family. She is a lucky little girl, but you will soon learn that in blessing others, we are blessed tenfold. You will feel like the lucky ones. Big hugs! Yay…your not the only girl in the house anymore! Hee hee.
What a beautiful story!! Praying for you all. You’re right, God’s got this!!
That is so precious. What a blessing this experience must be to your family. Your adoption is in my prayers. I have a friend whose family is also hosting a child through Project 143 this summer. In fact, I actually spotted them in the photo of your guys holding the sign. :-)
Absolutely precious! I can’t help but have happy tears as I read this. I will continue to keep your family in my prayers. When she has to leave in August it won’t be goodbye…it will be see you later. A phrase I use all the time as a military mom.
Thank you for sharing your journey. This just touched my heart. I will be praying for you and the family. Have fun and enjoy every minute!!!! Our God can do mighty things. God Bless.
Oh Traci, I can’t even begin to put into words the wonderful emotions swirling thru my heart from following this amazing story! It is awesome how God works things out and I am praying daily for Him to work out the adoption! You have a beautiful family that can give this little girl a wonderful and complete life. I so admire you and Cy and your commitment to God first and then to this girl. I’m so thankful that God led me to your blog. I have been following you for a couple of years and I have been blessed beyond measure! Keep your eyes on Him for I believe He has great things in store for you and your precious family !
Much love and many prayers,
Debbie Peel
Traci, I have tears streaming down my face right now….your comments about Cy and his “little girl” are just darling!! What a blessing it has been to share with you along this journey. The Periscope app was great and all your FB, Instagram posts are wonderful!! What a blessing this is to others and it’s obvious God has His hand all over this!! I would love to hear how the communication is going etc. Anything you share is so much fun to read ;-) you ALL are in my prayers!! God bless you all for bringing her into your home!! ;-)
What a mighty God we serve. I can’t even see what I’m typing, My husband would say “it’s dusty in here.” :-) Love everything about this. Praying for your precious family. ALL of you!
So heartwarming! Praying for your family!
I am not a crier, but I had tears of joy reading this post!! God bless you and your little sweetie pie! You and your family have been, and will remain in our prayers!
Big fat tears of joy. What an angel she is and such a gift. The comment about Adam crying… oh my heart because I am already wondering how in the world you all will be able to send her back. God is for sure in control and He will get you all through those months. Praying for the adoption agency and those overseeing the process in her home country that everything goes as smoothly and as quickly as possible. xoxo
What a precious and moving account of meeting your girl. I just prayed for your family and that The Lord would intercede and allow the adoption to go through. Blessings to you.
I am so happy 4 ur family!! You DO deserve her & I pray she will b part of ur family Very shortly. Love all the Instagram pix of ur journey; we can all see how much u all have bonded & love each other!
Praying for you and your family that all will go smoothly in the adoption process and that most of all, you can tell your sweet girl that she is yours forever by August 2. Again, that you for sharing this journey with us!
P.S. I shared this post with my hubs and he had tears in his eyes when he finished!
Your Girl!!!!! I am so excited for you. Will keep in prayers that the adoption goes through. Know how much you all want this precious little girl. Love Ya
Tears in my eyes. Joy in my heart.
Congratulations! She’s adorable! Praying you have a wonderful summer with her and that very soon, she will be your forever girl!
I started crying from the beginning of your story. good luck to all of you and I know you will enjoy your summer.
I cry and pray each time I read a new post or think of you! My daughter and I are fervently praying that she will become your “forever” daughter. Leaving you with Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
It will be 13 years tomorrow that we were able to bring our newly adopted 9and 12 year old sisters home with us from Russia! They are beautiful young women whom we love with all our hearts! It wasn’t always easy, but when the Lord And your heart say do this, well you do it!
The oldest has a semester left at university and with her sweet new husband are volunteering in an orphanage in Romania for the Summer. The youngest works with the elderly and just married as well. We have two grown sons in their forties who love them dear lie as well. I wish you all the blessings and joys to come in this time!
Traci…I watched this with the biggest smile on my face and joy in my heart for you, your family and your “sweet little girl” ! It’s so adorable to see how very excited your boys were to be getting a little sister! She is a very lucky little girl to come into your loving family! I wish you much joy and happiness for your next 5 weeks!
What a big heart your family has. I have three sons so your son’s tears to keep her in August brought me to tears. God Bless
Loved the video! You all have hearts of GOLD! God Bless you all. Your daughter is so cute! Have fun! Hope you all have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!
I’m so happy for you and your family and especially for your girl. I have no doubt that her life as well as yours will be forever changed. Thanks for sharing your story with us! Can’t wait to hear more about her.
Traci, SO excited for you all! ENJOY every second and prayers for a hedge around this adoption process!
I cried through this entire post. The pic of you greeting her and caressing her face with your hand is just precious as is the excitement in all of y’all’s voices when you are waiting for her. I do believe Gods perfect plan for her and your family will prevail.
Thank you for touching my heart. Prayers coming your way.
Aww! Thanks for sharing with us…I’ll pray you have a smooth road for the adoption and you get to be with her always.
I cried through this whole post! Thank you for letting us be part of your journey with this sweet little girl. My brother has adopted two children and it truly is such a sweet and special experience. May God bless you along this journey! Sending prayers and love from Utah.
Thank you for letting us be part of your journey with this sweet little girl. My brother has adopted two children and it truly is such a sweet and special experience. May God bless you along this journey! Sending prayers and love from Utah.
What an amazing experience! When I first read the name of the organization, “Project 143” I couldn’t help but smile because 143 is “code” for I love you. I thought it was so fitting because it’s obvious you and your family are already in love with her. :) May God bless you on this journey together.
Boy Traci is your mothers love shining down on you!!! What a wonderful thing for you and your husband to do. You are all blessed but this little girl has been blessed so much, what a loving family she is joining. Look forward to watching her grow through your posts.
This is sincerely the best blog I have ever witness. Congratulations and I hope everything works out”
BAWLING MY EYES OUT! :’) :’)
Many happy wishes and blessings to your family! 2 of our 3 daughters are adopted, one of which was 8 yrs old also! You are all extremely blessed!
This news made me smile, be blessed!
I’m so happy for you and for this little girl! Hope you keep her – everybody deserves a family and to love and to be loved!
Traci & Cy,
Our God is awesome, isn’t He? He knows the desires of your hearts and now you all have the opportunity to give this young lady an introduction to Christ and, Lord willing, a forever home. I have never, ever cried like this during a web cast. God has touched my heart, and I promise to have you and your entire family in my prayers. Please know that we feel blessed just “knowing” you and your incredible family.
Love,
Doni
Oh, Traci! My heart is just bursting. I’m so delighted for all of you and will certainly be praying! If you need any tips on being a girl mom, I got you. :) Just let me know.
Oh how I love this! My sister is waiting on her daughter right now who is in an orphanage in the Philippines. We can’t hardly wait! Wouldn’t your mom just eat her up!?
By the way, you had Prayers for Jed on your blog for a long time. My son, Jed, is now 8 and healthy and continues to scan clean from muscle cancer! I can’t thank you enough for keeping the prayer button on your page for so long! We will never know the number of prayers that went up for him!
God is so good!
It’s been a few weeks since I checked into your blog. What a lovely surprise to see you’re in a paper pregnancy!! Congratulations! I’m waiting on our approval from China to bring our son home later this year. I am so tickled that a favourite decorator/blogger is now an adoptive mom like me!! Praise the Lord.
Oh my! I was watching the video with headphones on while Alan and the kids are watching a movie and I just started bawling! Alan stopped the movie to check on me. Love you guys so, so much!
This is so precious! I’m so happy to see that you are together. Praying forever!
Oh wow, what a wonderful blessings.
Tears of joy! I’m so very happy for y’all.
Oh my goodness I am crying my eyes out over here! I am so over the moon thrilled for you and your family, Traci! Saying lots of prayers this sweet little girl will be yours forever. <3
Oh my goodness, I have tears pouring down my face – I am so incredibly happy for you all!! Saying lots of prayers that your sweet girl remains with you all forever.
Oh goodness, sorry Traci! I didn’t think my original comment went though b/c I got an error message. My apologies for the duplicates! Please delete. :)
I haven’t been on here in forever and my heart was pounding right along with you for her arrival. I had 3 different exchange students over the years and they were here for a year. I can remember the wait for our student. God bless and pray that everything works out.
I just found your blog and can’t resist commenting on your post regarding your daughter. I too, am a mom of twins, found via the internet when they were infants, halfway around the world. I remember meeting them at the airport in ATL and seeing them come off the plane for the first time and them LOVING their new big brothers. God is amazing in putting families together from all parts of the world. God bless you all!