A shower of blessings

This afternoon, our dear friends Melanie and Bill hosted an open house for our church family to come together and celebrate the upcoming addition of Abbie to our family.  There were so many special touches that made it extra meaningful, such as a slideshow of Abbie's pictures, Chinese banners outside and inside, a wishing well for friends to write wishes to Abbie and our family, and a terrific spread of good eats and drinks (including a huge cake!).  It was a lovely afternoon and we are grateful and humbled by the show of support. 

Here is the outside banner. It says something in Chinese - we're not sure what yet, but we'll figure that out soon!  :-) 

This is the wishing well and photo frame that our friend Cady made.  She is incredibly talented!  People wrote wishes on the slips of paper, put them in the red envelopes, then dropped them in the well for us.

Bill pulled out their world atlas and we noted our itinerary with post-it notes so people could see where our journey will take us in a couple of weeks.  (Note that the map is only of Eastern China, so for those of you who know your China geography, don't be alarmed.)

And the cake!

I had the honors of cutting and serving it.

I know there are many of you reading this blog who were there with us today, and several others who were not able to make it, but who have been following our journey and encouraging us.  Please know how truly thankful we are for your friendship and support.  We are delighted to bring Abbie home to a community of such kind and generous people.  You are a blessing to us and our daughter waiting in China.  Thank you.