History in a Box

The other day, we received an amazing gift in the mail: our wonderful Show Hope family sent a box full of goodies for Asher, and some priceless treasures for  the rest of us too!  

Disclaimer: I tried really hard to capture this event "on film," but once again I will beg your forgiveness.  Almost-two-year-old boys are too wiggly for non-professional cameras!

Opening the box... but still holding on to a couple cars just in case the contents aren't as interesting as Mommy seems to think they will be...

Snuggly friends!

They sent him a Shaoey Bunny and a Lamb Bundle...

... I was especially excited about the Lamb Bundle because it was the same as one he was given at Maria's Big House of Hope.  The sweet ladies at Baby Be Blessed made one for each of the kids at MBHOH, and I was really hoping that when we "gotcha-ed" Asher, the lambie would come with him (but of course, nothing of his did).  Of all the few belongings he had in his life before us, this lamb was the only thing that was, in my mind, irreplaceable.  I thought it was a truly special keepsake.  What a special gift to be given another just like it.  He loves his lambie and sleeps with it every night now!

Asher with the original Lambie at MBHOH

New Lambie

Lambie & Shaoey Bunny

Getting a little carried away...

They also sent a fun "I'm a Show Hope Kid" tee...

... which will fit him properly in about 4 years! ;)

... and now, more pictures that I thought were cute:

OK... sorry... I get carried away with the cuteness!  Back to the box!

The next item was a piece for Asher's quilt.

They picked Cars because Asher was in the Cars room at MBHOH

They also sent a page for his scrapbook, signed by everyone at Show Hope

... and in case you didn't notice, it's covered in clouds, just like MBHOH...

... By the way, Deb, I snagged your picture here... thanks!

As cool and wonderful as all this stuff is, the best part of the whole box was a disc full of pictures and videos of Asher's life at MBHOH. If you read back in older posts, I mentioned how, typically in a China adoption, you are told to expect maybe two or three pictures in your child's match file, and that's probably it. If you who follow my blogs, you may have noticed that I like to take LOTS of pictures of my kids. Although I was mentally prepared to deal with it, I wondered what the issue of not having any pictures from the first 18 or so months of my child's life would be like for him as he got older, but clearly, amazingly, and thankfully, that's not going to be a problem!  So, I'm ending the post with a handful of fun shots of Asher-man at Maria's House.

On the trampoline

With his wonderful ayi

Hanging out with "Uncle" David Trask. 

David has had a special connection with Asher from the first time they met. He was Asher's first sponsor at New Hope in Beijing, and named him "Hutch," in honor of his best friend. Those of you who know my maiden name may notice that the nickname is rather appropriate... God doesn't even leave the smallest to chance, does He?

Look at those chubby little cheeks!  This pic must have been taken right around the time he first came to MBHOH, at about 10 months old.

At a birthday celebration with Mikey, Show Hope's liason at MBHOH

"Helping" make Rice Krispie Treats, thanks to the supplies sent over by the wonderful Deborah Shipley, who is adopting another little boy from MBHOH

Love Lily!

With the amazing nurses...

... our little guy was and still is tremendously loved!

So, to our Show Hope family, thank you once again, with every fiber of my being, for everything! Thank you for taking care of Asher. Thank you for loving our family through this process and beyond. Thank you for your relentless, passionate work on behalf of these little treasures! Thank you for all the fun stuff, and thank you for the irreplaceable gifts you have given us! When we started this process, I never ever dreamed that our paths would join like this. It has been an amazing journey, and you will always be a huge part of our family! We love you all!