Praise God we've got her!

Dear Family and Friends,

Peter and I slept 2 hours last night and by the time we flew to Nanning, Guangxi at 7:30 am, we had only a brief time to take our luggage to the hotel and meet our guide to go pick up Rosalie. On the way to get her today, our guide, who was trying to prepare us for the worst, told us to expect a lot of crying from the "little girl". He went on to say that ages 4-9 seem to handle adoptions the hardest and to expect quite an adjustment. Peter and I felt the timing of that conversation was a little "off". We understand that he was trying to prepare us, but on the way to meet our little girl? We had already heard that before and had turned it over to the Lord. Still, our guide goes on to tell us that a few weeks ago a family got a 4 year old and the child completely rejected both parents and had an absolute meltdown from the time they got her to the time they left China. Wow, thanks for the encouragement, Glenn (his American name). Peter and I looked at each other and just prayed. Needless to say, I was nervous but walking in absolute faith.

We go to a hotel down the street from where we are staying. (Words can not describe the difference between this province and Beijing. Although we are in a "small town" (words from Glenn the guide) with 6 million people, it has a third world feel while Beijing has a true western influence.) The hotel is where the orphanage workers come to bring Rosalie to us. We walk in to the room where there is a family about to get their 18 month old baby.

We are so happy to see their baby walk in with the caregiver, that we barely see Rosalie come barreling in! Out the corner of my eye, I see a figure on the couch next to where I was standing- I look down and when I looked into her face, I knew it was Rosalie. I say, "Peter that's her!!" He opens his arms and (get this!), she runs into his arms and says "Ba-Ba!"(Daddy) She is laughing so loud and squealing with so much joy, I don't even hear the caregiver speak to me. I'm just standing there in awe. Her foster mom had little hair attachments in her hair and she had curly little pig tails. Oh, what a sweetie. I held it together beautifully mainly because I was in shock when she ran to me and said, "Ma-Ma!" I pulled out a dolly from her little Winnie the Pooh bag we had brought for her, and she just hugged and hugged the baby and laughed! She never looked back and I can say from the bottom of my heart that she is one of the happiest little girls we have ever seen.. She is so happy to have a mommy and a daddy.Our guide says he place 100 babies with families this year, yet he has never seen such a bond with adoptive parents from the beginning. She has super high energy and is the size of a three year old, weighing in at 30 pounds. She is tiny and as tough as nails. After having her for only a couple of hours, we had to say "Boo-Boo" (Chinese for "no") about 5 dozen times because she wants to play too hard and hits while playing. We see clearly that her foster mother (we found out there is a father also) loved her but spoiled her! She has met her match however and she will learn fully how to show respect. She is so sweet in her heart despite the strong will and I already see her loving the gentle perimeters we are already having to put on her. She runs around the hotel like a 2 year old and loves to jump on the beds (a big no-no in the Kennebeck house). Yet, we are sensitive to what is happening and are letting her "get away" with more than she will be allowed to in the near future. I just can't believe we have her. She is asleep in the little crib next to our bed right now. She settled right down and held her little baby (Jennie she absolutely loves the praying baby- please tell your girls thank you for sharing!) and went to sleep. When the baby says, "amen", she says "amen". Not speaking the same language is tough at times but sign language is working great. At dinner tonight, she had to go potty so she held up her dress. She clearly knows we do not speak her language. We love her so much and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was hand-picked by God to be a Kennebeck. We can't wait to take her home to meet her sisters and brother! We KNOW you were praying for us especially today and felt the prayers immensely!! Pray for us as we spend the next 3 days in Guangxi; that all paperwork will go smooth and she will continue to adjust well. Oh, and please begin praying for that 17 hour flight home.

PS- I can not connect to my blog in China, so Kathleen is updating it for us, so if you are leaving a message for us on our blog, just know we will get it when we get home.Praising God for keeping His promises to give strength to the weak and hope for the weary- we are headed to bed right now...I can only live on so much adrenaline! I love each and every one of you!!

Faithfully His,Nancy