Forever Family Day

August 28th 2007 is the one year anniversary of our life with Pearl. We will never forget the moment we first met her. It had been a very rough few days for us preceeding that. We were sick and Pete's brother had just passed away unexpectedly when we arrived in Beijing.

Pearl was so thin. She had a big smile on her face and she walked right up to the three of us (we had Chloe). She approached Pete first and addressed him as "Baba", then she looked at me and called me "Mama". Then she looked at Chloe and called her "Mei Mei" which means little sister. She seemed so happy to see us. We immediately left the small conference room and were given a tour of the orphanage and we met her teachers/nannies. She proudly showed us off to everyone we met. It wasn't until we headed for the van to go, that she began to realize she was leaving the only home she had ever known for three and a half years, and she started to cry. Fortunately, it didn't last long.

Following is a list of adjectives describing Pearl starting with the letters of her name:

P = pretty (we knew she was cute, but didn't expect her to be so photogenic)
E = enthusiastic (this girl has enough energy and excitement for two kids)
A = amiable (she is eager to please and has a friendly disposition)
R = restless (she is always on the go and fidgets constantly, even in her sleep)
L = loveable (she is very engaging and charming...what a doll)

Pearl is a joy to have around and it is especially great to see the love between her and her little sister Chloe. We are so lucky to parent these two girls. Here's to another wonderful year with our daughters from China.