A couple of weeks ago, I come home from work on a Friday evening and had been missing our friends Dan & Sherri. I asked Jack why we couldn't just get in the van and drive to Texas and see them.
Jack was supposed to have a Union Meeting at work the next morning to vote on a new contract, but he made the mistake of saying "I don't have to go to it."
That was all it took! At 5:30 I was on the phone to Dan asking him if they were going to be home all weekend. We decided not to tell Sherri we were coming and surprise her!
By 7Pm, Jack had changed the oil in our van, I had packed us all a bag and we were headed to Texas.
We got to Texas about 6AM. Dan was kind enough to get up several times in the night and sneak around his house to call us and check in without Sherri hearing him!
When we got there, he told Sherri to come outside and see this cool thing he's bought at a garage sale. It was still 1/2 dark and Sherri come out and I stood there and said "Hi!".
It was so funny to watch her stare at me and watch the realization come over her face, as she figured out that her friend from Missouri was standing at her house in Texas at 6AM on a Saturday morning.
All the neighbors realized it too, since Sherri screamed bloody murder when she realized it truly was me!
The first thing Jory noticed was this statue across the street from where we stayed. He really liked it and so we had to snap a photo with it! (He had just dropped my camera and broke the battery closure on it, so he wasn't very happy!)
A close up of the stained glass sculpture
Later Saturday morning after we rested up a bit from driving all night, we went to IHOP for the best breakfast I ever had! I'm still dreaming of those blueberry pancakes!
There was a guy there making balloon animals and Jia got a penguin.
We were all amazed at the details of Jory's monkey! This guy really was talented!
While Dan took the boys to Texas Motor Speedway and the ballpark, the girls went running around!
Sherri's school where she works was having a carnival fundraiser, so we headed there.
Jia waited patiently in line to get her face painted.
Jia with her butterfly cheek.
And of course I couldn't go to Texas without visiting Sam Moon's! Even Jia was excited!
She was so good durning the 10 hour drive and was such a trooper for us all weekend.
We felt very privledged to get to attend church with Dan and Sherri on Sunday. We were able to meet Dan and Angie who just received their referral for their daughter Emma from China!
We all went out to lunch together and quickly became fast friends with Dan and Angie! Needless to say, Angie and I have kept the internet line between our computers hot for the last couple of weeks!
It's very neat for me to be able to watch their journey, answer their questions and just know what they're going through and realize that less than a year ago, Jack and I were going through that and had all that excitement as we were traveling for Jia.
Dan sat by Jia at lunch and quickly won her over!
Dan and Angie have a son, Joshua who is 9, but he and Jory were off karate chopping and wrestling one another! Too bad we missed that photo. They immediately took to one another and Jory can't wait to go back and visit his friend in Texas!
Sherri and I...
Heather and Jia...
Melaine and Jia...
Jia and Q...
Sherri and Jia! Sherri is the one who twisted our arms educated us about adoption until we decided to go for it! Her shoving gentle pushing towards adoption finally paid off and we are grateful she shared with us about adoption and how amazing it is.
Sherri and Dan went with me to our first meeting with our adoption agency waaaayyyyy back in 2006! She has had a vested interest in our adoption and was as excited as we were when we got Jia's referral!
Soon after we brought Jia home, Dan and Sherri moved to Texas and it broke Sherri's heart she wasn't going to be around to see 'her' Jia as often! Jia has a special place in Sherri's heart and Sherri has a special place in mine!
Thanks Dan and Sherri for sharing your story of adoption with us!
Finally, Jia just being cute!
