Happy Halloween

We are positively "quackers" over our little duckling.

Zombie Caden isn't nearly so cute or cuddly....

And Granny Lan needs a good set of dentures.

DOSSIER HAS LEFT FOR CHINA!!!!!

Please, take a moment to turn towards the west and wave to our dossier as it starts its flight to the Far East.  Yes, the day has finally come that the seemingly endless stream of stamped, stapled, and authenticated almighty adoption papers are completed and due to arrive at the China Center of Children Welfare and Adoptions (CCCWA) in Beijing on Monday.

I've been holding my breath so long that I think when I finally released it today it may have caused the earth to rattle in California???

Chinese Toddler Hit By Car And Ignored

A sad commentary on how humans can turn away.  Bless the scavenger Chen Xianmei who did something.  Interestingly it would be she that is not respected in today's run for riches.  She is "just" a garbage picker, a migrant worker.

Praying for you little Yueyue.  Fight hard and come back.  And may your battle now inspire others to take a look at themselves and REACH OUT.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/18/world/asia/china-toddler-hit-and-run/

Postscript
LITTLE WANG YUEYUE DIED ON 10/21/2011.   There is nothing to say.  So very sad your life was too short.  May your family feel some kind of peace and the world remember humanity through your sacrifice.

She Waits. She Watches. She Wistfully Wonders.

I recently tracked down about 70 photos from our daughters' orphanage.  There are rosy cheeked children at play, at an amusement park, at the lake, at a performance all sparkles, glitter and lipstick.  There is obvious delight and joy on their faces.  They are an active part of the world around them.

Dishearteningly my daughters are not among them.  It is understandable.  They don't walk.  They are difficult to take out and about. They are at risk of injury.   But then, I saw our Jaeya....our Jaybird in the far background of one photo.  You must look closely but my gentle hearted daughter who is trapped in a fragile and easily broken body is there.  SHE IS THERE.  I see you Jaeya.  I SEE YOU MY SWEET DELICATE BIRD.

She sits on the tattered tiny chair which has taken the place of her legs and been her support and her access to the outside world.   She who has been nurtured in the baby room for 11 years.  She who hobbles on her awkward and bowed legs to help the aunties feed the opened and waiting mouths of the hungry babies  with cerebral palsy who cannot move their snacks from hands to mouth.  She who is not allowed to attend formal school due to her physical limitations.  She who has missed the playful and delightful rights of childhood.  She who is said to have learned to remain quite positive in spite of the difficulties that she faces.  She who still finds how to sing with the tiny, sweet voice of a sparrow.

She sits at the edge of the orphanage cement walkway watching.   Wondering.  Wishing. Yearning for her chance to move from the edge and join the world.  Year after year after year after year.  She has waited.

This is why, no matter the obstacles that continue to present themselves during this adoption we will not give up.  We will not leave her sitting in that well worn chair.  We will come.  We will come.   

We will cradle her as gently as we can and introduce her to life outside of the walls that hold her now.  And we will do the same to her little friend who will forever become her sister.  When people ask why on earth we are doing this again, this is why.  No one else has come.  We will come.  We will come.

Homecoming 2011

Narration needed?  Nope.  Pretty clear our precious Taisha was a princess on the outside too.  Glad you had so much fun!

Lan's Lovely Leg In Waiting

Happy Birthday Little Orchid (Shaolan)!!  She was blessed to be met by Child Life upon our admission to Shriner's bestowed a divine smelling Raspberry Vanilla Scentsy Cat.  Oh the staff of our beloved hospital know how to make a child feel extra special!

Then if was off to the Prosthetics Dept. for Dr. Scott to start the casting and molding for her NEW LEG.  After that it was rehab with Caden.  Its so handy to have a brother to share exercises with.

We have the state authentications for the China dossier

Cha cha chaaaaa!  We picked up the state authenticated dossier from the Utah State Capitol Building.  Don't these documents look B E A U T I F U U U U U L?!??!?!?!  They are no longer in my hands as they are currently on their way to Washington DC and the US State Department, then the Chinese Embassy.  Yeehaaaaw.

BOOOO! What did I start?!

Many years ago when I was oh so much younger, playful, and "knew everything", I changed my front porch for every season.  It used to bring me delight...now its more like a headache and a too fully packed garage!  But, alas I started a tradition that my children delight in and that I must continue.  So today I worked on the change over from Sunflowers to Halloween.  If you are ever in my neighborhood you are welcome!

(And every year the motion sensored Pumpkin Boy scares a yelp out of Ammon.)

Our Maiden Post On Our New Family Blog

Welcome to our inaugural post of the Ellison Escapades.  We are a crazy, chaotic, charismatic family created through marriage and adoption.  We are a family comprised of Dad, Mom, and 15 amazing children.  Half are now grown up and living on their own though it seems as one leaves the nest another one (or two) will join it.  We have been approved for the adoption of two delightful, creative, bright, artistic new daughters and anticipate them to arrive home in the spring of 2012.

We christen this blog with the lyrics of a beloved family adoption song "Yours".

"You didn't give me your eyes, or the color of your hair.
I've climbed the family tree and found there's no one like me there.
Sometimes I've felt like an alien that came from foreign shores
But look inside your heart you'll see, I'm yours.

You didn't give me these feet but you placed them on the right path.
You didn't give me this voice but you taught it how to laugh.
You didn't give me these hands but you taught them to open doors.
Look at who I am, you'll see...I'm yours.

Do you think the ones who gave me life will ever know
The gift they gave to me by letting go?
I hope that somehow heaven will reveal the depth of gratitude I'll always feel.

You didn't give me these arms but you gave them a family to hold.
You didn't give me my body but you've truly shaped my soul.
Your love has given me wings and how my spirit soars
Knowing that I always will be yours.  Forever and for always
I    AM    YOURS.