A Letter to our Son

July 30th, 2008
Our Dearest Son,
We can hardly believe a year has gone by since we first held you in our arms. You are an amazing gift of God's grace to us and we couldn't be happier that we were chosen to be your parents. God first chose us to be apart of His family and then He chose you to be a part of ours.

It has been an incredible year for both your Daddy and I as we have watched you grow from 11.3 to 27 lbs! You have filled our life with joy unspeakable. From the way you light up a room with a smile, your truly infectious laughter, frankenstein walking, even your lying down on the floor with both fists flying and screams of dismay coming from your lips, these make us glad we are your parents. The way you call your dogs "azzie" and "adney" is so adorable. Your unstoppable curiousity, boundless energy, lack of the need for sleep, and your love of food makes our life so happy! Your concern for your sister is truly amazing, even though you often push her out of your way, you will look at us with concern when she is wailing, and when you know she is hungry you offer her food! Such a sweet little boy.

Our son. You call us Daddy and Mommy. Not because you came from us but because God created you to be a beautiful boy and placed you into our hearts and arms. Many people prayed for you to come home safely to us. We are humbled by the mystery of it all. We were meant to be family. It is an awesome thing to have been adopted and even better to be privileged to be your Mommy and Daddy. We have many hopes and dreams for you and us together as a family. Our biggest hope is that we will all walk together with Jesus, not only because He saves us from the power of death, but as our friend, someone to model our lives for as servants to others, and someone to lean on in times of trouble. He kept us going in the uncertainty of waiting for you to come home to us. We also dream to someday travel to your birth country together, and if you wish, make contact with your birth mother if God wills it. We will be here to help you with your dreams, dear one.

We want you to know as you grow up, that you are a very, very special boy, and you are so very, very loved. You are much more than we could ask or imagine!!!

We love you, Michael, more than you could ever know.
Happy 1st Gotcha Day, baby!!!
Daddy and Mommy

ps if you haven't already don't forget to see Michael's Gotcha Day video montage below