Lisa's China Story

Hey everyone! This is Kelsey. I have been posting blogs and facebook for my family while they are in China. They would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, and comments and to let you know that unfortunately they do not have access to facebook or their blog so they can not see your comments until they return. If you would like to contact them, however, they would gladly receive your emails at : Lisatich1817@aol.com. Thank you and here's their message:

Hello All! The last 4 days with Kaylee have been just wonderful... and so interesting. It will be difficult to condense them, but I will try. Gotcha Day, as you can imagine, was an incredible experience filled with so much emotion. First of all, the anticipation was killing us, then as we were filling out necessary paperwork, the nannies kept parading the children in and out of the waiting room, once bringing Kaylee right up to us, only to be chided by our guide and hustled back into their own waiting area, but once we'd had a glimpse of them, it was all we could do to concentrate on the task at hand. Kaylee appeared to be limping as she was tugged by the hand back and forth. Dave and I commented to each other something about that being the expected-unexpected detail left out of her record. We suspected there may be one, but it didn't matter to us. The details of our first meeting are already somewhat fuzzy (thank goodness Mattie recorded it) but we watched as the Fraziers received their 20 mo old Meili, and the next moment, we heard "Yung-zhe" and were motioned to come over for our introduction to Kaylee. I think I hugged her, not sure, but I remember bending down to her level and patting her on the back and asking the official to tell her that we think she is beautiful and are so happy to have her in our family. She looked at me and mumbled something in a soft, shy voice which I was told meant "Thank you mommy". I stayed down next to her, stroking her back as Dave and I asked questions of her nanny, about her schooling (rode a bus to school, 1st grade), schedule ( up between 6-7, nap 10-12, bed between 9-10), hobbies (likes dolls), friends ( I can't pronounce their names), everything we could think of until my knees hurt, then we moved to a nearby bench where I pulled her onto my lap. Though timid, she seemed to warm up to us right away. I remember Mattie and David talking to her, and then we pulled out pictures of Kelsey, Hannah, LIndsay, Daisy our dog, and our house to show her. The official translated for us and she seemed to understand and smiled shyly. Then we walked her over to where the other families were gathered and introduced her, as we watched them interact with their new children. (The baby Meili had stopped crying, 12 year old Dan Ni had started crying, as the realization of leaving home and friends forever swept over her.) Mattie showed her how to catch and pop the bubbles that Jing JIng was blowing and we played a little while Dave left the room to sign forms and pay tens of thousands of Yuan (RMB's), approx $5000, a gift to the orphanage who raised her, and another 450 Yuan as a reimbursement for her "Finding Ad", which they were required to run in the local paper for about 3 months after she was found. I have not been able to bring myself to look at it yet. When Dave returned and swept her up into his arms, then on his back for a piggy back ride and swung her all around the way only daddies do, she really opened up and giggled. Mattie presented her with a stuffed cat, Mommy gave her a pink purse and Daddy gave her a pink pearl & yellow gold pendant from the pearl factory in Beijing, with the Chinese character for "Happiness" on it .  When it was time to go we realized that she was no longer walking with a limp. Not sure if it was fear, reluctance, self esteem or ill fitting shoes, but it was gone! We gathered her and her suitcase: a small, white plastic bag which held a water bottle, teddy bear and disposable camera from our care package, and a small red memory album with the same photos we last received of her in the orphanage. Her little fingers clung to a small package of paper thin wafers, which she readily shared with us once we were on the bus. The ride back to the hotel was full of hugs and smiles, and when we got to our room, more giggles filled the air as Mattie taught her how to jump on the beds, and back and forth from one bed to the other. We gave her a small bead making kit and she and Mattie made bracelets and keychains to tie on their purses. She caught on so quiclkly, and then we gave her the suitcase of clothes we had brought for her and she was delighted, holding them up and wiggling back and forth. We were impressed at how neatly she folded and put back each piece, and lined up her new white tennis shoes under the side of the bed before she climbed up. She learned "thank you" very quickly and uses it often. We took her to McDonald's for dinner, then after pj's, teeth brushing and prayers (she had no concept of) collapsed early that night, as we were all emotionally and physically spent but so thankful for the incredible miracle we had just experienced and the answered prayer: attachment was not going to be an issue, Thank you Jesus.