In July 2006, the month before my husband and I got married, we went to China with Bring Me Hope as volunteers. The time we spent with our kids made it very clear that adoption was an absolute for us. We actually tried to adopt one of the little girls in our group, but China regulations did not allow that to be possible for us at the time.

While we were in China we had the opportunity to visit the orphanage where the children who came to camp lived. This experience in visiting the grounds and all of the other children just reinforced for us that we would absolutely want to include adoption as a way to grow our family.

Fast forward to March 5, 2010…

As most of you know, John and I have returned home from Ethiopia with our sweet baby Sam. We got home last Friday and today is the first day I feel a bit adjusted. Ethiopia was an absolutely amazing trip. I am however incredibly happy to be home.

Sam is really doing great. John and I smile the second he walks in the room. It has been an amazing journey because he was not very fond of us the first few days we interacted with him 🙂 He also came off as being a very high strung, aggressive little boy that would not smile. We were really preparing to have our hands full when we returned home with a tough transition. However, he completely changed almost as soon as we took custody in ET.

It is very clear to him that we are mommy and daddy and he absolutely LOVES us!! He is very laid back, laughs a lot, loves to tease us, very playful, and very affectionate. He loves to give kisses (especially to his older brother Kieran). They do fight over toys but working it out…tonight, Kieran counted to three and then put him in time out 🙂 Kieran is struggling a bit with the transition but if Sam is sleeping, he wants me to go wake him up. So I guess that’s encouraging. Anyhow, we just absolutely love him to death!

The Thurman Family