Gotcha Day

Eliana, August 2007 in China

Eliana, August 2008 in Chelan, WA

We celebrated Eliana's Gotcha Day, August 19, at Lake Chelan with my family. I am finally getting a few shots from that day up. It is hard to believe she is the same child. One year later, we have a long way to go, but I know more each day that she is our little girl and that one day we will look back on these difficult months and not be able to imagine not having persevered through them.
I remember the day we got that pathetic picture above and how it tore my heart up inside of me. I often try to think back to that day when we are having a particularly difficult time with attachment, and I remember knowing that we had to bring her home. It broke my heart to imagine that sweet child alone in that hard empty crib with no Mommy to rock her to sleep and no Daddy to give her kisses. She was then and is now our little Ellie and we are thankful that God chose her for our family.