One Year Ago...

First day meeting Flor

The past year has been...a whirlwind. There have definitely been ups and downs. There are things I regret and things I am proud of. There have also been many happy moments filled with laughter. Our family has grown and with our newest addition, there have been challenges, but there has also been so much joy. I know without a doubt that, though bringing Flor home has been by far the most challenging thing Devin and I have done in our marriage, it has also absolutely been the right thing. 

I was reminded today in a really powerful way how much the Lord has had his hand in helping us bring Flor into our family. I had been reflecting all day on the fact that it is the one year anniversary of our meeting Flor in Ecuador last year. Then, I came home from work to find that a scrapbook had come in the mail from a wonderful woman who ran Flor's second home, Precious Miracles. This scrapbook is a miracle itself to me as it contains pictures of Flor's life from ages 1-4, most of which I have never seen before. There are pictures starting basically from when I left her in March 2006 until beyond her 4th birthday. Such a precious gift to us. How could she have timed it perfectly to arrive on our 1 year anniversary? I don't think that was coincidence, but another reminder from the Lord. Stacey wrote Flor a very sweet letter in the beginning of the book, talking about her time with her. I was reminded during reading that of another family in Ecuador who had Flor in their home in a foster care type situation for about a year. They had hoped to adopt her, but for some reason, things didn't work out. I wish I had a relationship with that woman so that I could let her know how the little girl she was a mom to is doing. There are many pictures of Flor and this family in the book. I was brought to tears as I thought about the journey Flor has been on to find her way to our family. Such a powerful reminder of our obligation to her and our need to be grateful in the blessings that have been given us. 

Thank you, Stacey, for your amazing gift and for your years of dedication to mothering and caring for Flor. We will forever be grateful.

I was looking back at some pictures today of our arrival there (HERE is the beginning of the daily posts if you are bored and want to go back. I don't think I am ready to read them all, but I did read the first day) and kept thinking how much Flor has changed. She looks so different! Like a big girl, skinnier? (that can't be good!) I don't know, she just looks grown up. Sniff, sniff.

Our 2nd day in Ecuador- December 2011 and on the right is just a few days ago- December 2012

(Also, I know I have not yet mentioned Flor's official diagnosis on the blog...but we recently found out that she has something called 1P36 Deletion Syndrome, a genetic disorder. This means that she is missing part of her first chromosome. We also found out that she does NOT have a fructose intolerance, so her diet has gone back to 100% normal. wahoo for her! We will know more about the 1P36 when we meet with the geneticist at the end of January and I will post more then.)