First a Pearl, then Three Rubies!!: Video

Celebrating Ruby Tuesday!

12:01 AM |

One year ago this beautiful tiny blessing joined our family forever!

Some of our favorite photos of Ruby Mei while in China!

One year later, like the meaning of her name she is Precious & Beautiful!

Excerpt from "Journey to Ruby Mei" Video

For one year now we have replayed "Ruby Tuesday" in our minds. We have walked the steps to the elevator in the Nanchang Civil Affairs Building that took us to our daughter. We have anxiously scanned the room for her. We found her in a sea of babies... The only one with barrettes in her hair that said the word, "love." We have experienced the magic of having one of God's children handed to us by a loving nanny who is saying the words "this is your mama" to her. We have walked in circles on that 26th floor repeating the words "I love you" in Chinese to our new child to ease her grief. We have experienced loving someone so unconditionally that it has consumed us. We have traveled thousands of miles together, and we would repeat it again in a heartbeat to have this precious child complete our family. We have been blessed by this journey!

There are so many things to say, but we think the Chinese said it best in this Ancient Proverb:

"An invisible Red Thread connects those that are destined to meet regardless of time or place. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."

Ruby Mei, there is no question that you were destined to be our daughter and we were destined to be your family. It has been an amazing year as we have watched you blossom and grow in your trust and amazing love for us. We cherish each day together and the memories that have already been made. We thank God for choosing you for us and us for you!

Happy Ruby Tuesday precious girl! We love you,

Your Mama, Daddy & "A"

P.S: Ruby's Adoption Site has been updated today too.

Celebrating The Day We Got "The Call!"

5:50 AM |

One year later looking at her referral picture!

(You may have to hit the play button twice)

*You may want to pause the music below on the playlist at the very bottom of these pages!
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Excerpts from my journal on March 7th, 2007:

Dear Ru,

It has been 48 hours now since I heard your name for the very first time. I am going to do my best to describe how we learned about you, and what has taken place since the week began.

March 5th began very early for me. Caymus (our dog) actually woke me up at 4:30. Since I was up, I decided to turn on my computer to see if there were any updates on RQ from the European groups. The very first subject line said, "October 24th is the cutoff!" I stared at the screen barely able to breathe. When I opened the message there it was! "The internal CCAA website says referral cutoff is 10/24/05!" I can't tell you how long I sat at my desk crying tears of joy. It was like being frozen in time. I grabbed my Bible and it opened to 1Samuel 1:27, "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." Oh, how I had been waiting to shout those words!

Next I walked upstairs to tell your Daddy. Somehow I was able to blurt out, "You are going to know who your new daughter is today!" That clearly got his attention! Your precious Dad just held me while 17 months of tears landed on his chest.

Your Dad was scheduled to leave for a business trip to AZ that morning. Since we didn't know for sure if we would get our referral that day we called our FC at AWAA and asked her if he should stay home. As we were driving to the airport, Amy called my cell phone and said, "I can't tell you anything, but tell Jeff not to get on that plane this morning. I will call you back!" Enough said, we turned the car around and quickly re-arranged Dad's trip. After some quick errands, we went home and waited for the phone to ring..

At 12:10pm, on March 5th we saw AWAA on the caller ID! We ran into Mom's office and answered on speaker phone. "The Call" that we had waited so long for started like this, "Congratulations Jeff & Diana, you have a healthy and beautiful baby girl and her name is Yue Meng Ru. She is waiting for you in the Jiangxi Province of China! She was born July 31, 2006 and she is living in Foster Care." She told us you were registered with the Yugan SWI, but you had never lived there. At this point, I started to cry. I had specifically prayed for months that you were safely with a caregiver that could tenderly care for you. To me, that was your Foster Mother. The other thing was that you were a July baby, just like your Daddy. Amy spent more time describing you to us. She said you were absolutely beautiful. That you had big brown eyes, beautiful skin coloring, and tons of hair!!!

The fact that you were only seven months old meant that you had been conceived around the time we began our adoption process, in May 2005. And, you were born on a Monday which was the day that Mommy had her weekly Prayer calls. All red threads that have connected us to you!

On March 6th we saw your face for the first time. For as long as I live I will never forget this moment. AWAA had told us to expect an email early in the morning followed by a fed-ex package by 10:00. I took your big sister to school and rushed home. By now your Daddy was in Phoenix so our plan was to open our emails together. And, that is how it happened. As you filled up my computer screen you took my breath away. You were more beautiful than Amy had even described you. There you were staring at me, your mommy! Amy told us you were a love at first site baby, and she was right. Your eyes, your beautiful lips, and adorable nose... Perfect! It was clear to me that you were loved and being taken care of. Answered prayer!

What followed was a flurry of emails, phone calls, visitors and wonderful guest book messeges. I don't think I slept until Thursday when your Dad returned. We celebrated you at a special dinner with your big sister that night. Six days later we finalized your beautiful name.....

I tell you all this because I so desperately want you to know how much you were loved before you came home. God was so faithful when he answered our prayers. You were so worth the wait! God picked you to be my daughter. What a privilege! I promise to do my very best raising you to be the child God intended you to be. Don't ever doubt for one single minute that you are special, wanted, and loved!

I love you,

Mama

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Now we fast forward one year, and we celebrate our first "referral-versary" (thanks Leeanne for the word) and we pause to give thanks. You have been such a gift to your Daddy, sister and me. We have been blessed to watch you bloom before our eyes. We have all grown as a family this year! So, Ruby Mei thank you for being so brave. Thank you for trusting us. Thank you for making us laugh everyday. Your joyful spirit is contagious! Our lives are all richer because you are in it.

"The Flower that Blooms in Adversity

is the most rare and beautiful of all."

~Mulan

Blessings to you, our precious beautiful gem, Ruby Mei!

Love,

Mama, Daddy & Ainsley

Celebrating Ruby Tuesday!

Celebrating The Day We Got "The Call!"

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