On December 7th of 2007 we received our adoption referral and saw a picture of Hope for the first time. In the weeks up to that Christmas we had a sense of sadness, knowing that we had a daughter in China and wishing that she could be with us. We wondered if she would have any knowledge that it was Christmas time or if the Chinese observed the season at all, even less likely we thought, in an orphanage.
Last year around the first of November we began to ask Hope what she would like for Christmas. She didn’t really grasp the fact that she was about to be showered with gifts and her response was puzzling. She didn’t ask for much, but the one thing that she was insistent upon was that she wanted a big sack of candy. She would hold her hands apart about six inches and say, ‘a big sack of canny Daddy”. I thought it was odd that she asked for the candy. It reminded me of how my Dad would tell of Christmas when he was a boy, and the brightest memory he had was of the candy and fruit. He loved hard Christmas candy all of his life.
Well, we made certain that Hope found a good sized sack of various kinds of candy on Christmas morning and she approved with glee. Of course she was also a bit overwhelmed with all of the toys. It was a Christmas that will stand out in our memories, the first one for our little Hope Marie.
Later in the year, Becky was surfing the net, looking for people who might have visited Hope’s orphanage. We have tried to piece together all we can of Hope’s past. Becky found a lady who had been in Hope’s orphanage during Christmas of 2007 She worked with a group called “Love Without Boundaries” and she was kind enough to send us a DVD that might have Hope on it.
We watched the video intently. It was a Christmas party for the kids of the orphanage put on by the “Love Without Boundaries” folks. We watched for a long time and we saw dozens of kids, but they seemed to be mostly in older age brackets than Hope would have been. It was a great party with some songs in English and most in Chinese. The kids were having a blast.
After about fourteen minutes and several songs and dances by various kids the camera began to pan around the room. All of the kids were wearing Santa hats and many were sitting at low tables. All of the kids had little red sacks of candy that they were showing off and eating. Finally the camera reached two very little girls in big Santa hats. There was Hope with a sack of candy in front of her, her lips glistening from the candy she was eating.
It touched our hearts to know that someone was willing to spend their Christmas in China to show unconditional love to those orphans, one of which was our daughter. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Our Lord left the comfort of Heaven to give us that unconditional love.
Hope meets Ivy.
Daddy and Hope checking out the dolls at the American Girl Store
Caleb and Tyler did not know they would be visiting a DOLL store...Caleb called a friend (girl) on the phone and said "You will never guess where I am" Thanks guys...you helped make this day very special for Hope even though you were a bit 
That tree really is big mom
Beautiful birthday cakes for a beautiful little girl.
One top of everything else ... PRESENTS!
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