Our journey to Michaela is one that started in March of 2000.  After 3 months of paperwork, visits from a social worker, and immigration qualifications, we sent our dossier to our adoption agency, Great Wall China Adoption in Austin, so that is could be sent to China and logged in.  After 12 months of waiting we finally received our referral and for the first time was able to put a face with the child we had already fell in love with in our heart months ago.  It took another 6 weeks before we were able to hold her in our arms but she was a child that was well worth the wait.

Many people have asked us what made us decide to adopt from China and not the United States or another country.  I can give them all the logical reasons of how China has many children that need homes, how these children are healthy and there is little risk of getting a "drug baby" or one with fetal alcohol syndrome, and the fact that China's adoption process is one that is stable and well organized.  But the real reason is that in our hearts we knew that our daughter was from China and that there was a special little girl waiting there for us to bring her home and call her our daughter.

The following pages are pictures of our daughter, Michaela Nian, as she has grown and filled our lives with joy and love.  We praise God for giving us this child that fits perfectly in our lives.