Dear Friends and Family,
One year ago today we woke up at 5 am on the other side of the world, unable to sleep with the excitement of knowing that our wait was over- the blessing God had planned for our family was about to be delivered into our arms... our daughter, granddaughter, and baby sister. We paced around our room in the Hefei Holiday Inn in Hefei, Anhui China- waiting for the call from Anna that Shen Si Yu had arrived. Addie and Grammy (Denise's mom Mary) couldn't take the wait, so they took our walkie talkies and snuck down to the lobby. They reported that it was a sea of babies and orphanage nannies, but that Bengbu SWI was running late. It wasn't long untll the walkie talkies chirpped and Anna giggled that "Your baby is here- get to the 5th floor". We got to the conference room before the babies and waited and paced some more. Finally, around the corner came a curly haired nanny carrying the most beautiful baby with bright red cheeks, bundled from head to toe... Shen Si Yu- our Molly. She was scared and quiet but came right to us and didn't cry until the nanny took her from our arms. She was a "baby", not the 18 month toddler we had expected. She didn't walk or crawl and could only sit alone for a few minutes at a time. She couldn't even chew solid food- just let it dissolve on her tongue. When we held her not an ounce of her body reached out or held on. None of this mattered, we were in love with this little person whose picture we carried in our wallets for so long, and so thrilled to finally hold her, smell her, kiss her, and touch her. As I write this 1st Gotcha anniversary update I have to laugh as Molly is running through the house, talking at the top of her lungs and going a mile a minute. She is the sparkle in all our lives and it is amazing to see how she has grown and changed and settled into "family life" as if she has always just been here. We are so thankful to God for placing this little girl into our lives and giving us the honor of parenting her. Today, we pray for Molly's birthparents, that God would touch them and that somehow they would know that Molly Shen Si Yu is happy and thriving and at home where she belongs with her Forever Family. Thank you all for sharing this wonderful time in our families lives, and for all your prayers and support during the process of bringing Molly home and during her first year here.

Love,
Tom, Denise, Addie, Noah, and Molly

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