After nearly 9 months Myah and Ivy see eachother!!!

More than ten months ago I started communicating with a precious lady named Mary.  Like us, she had a daughter waiting for adoption in the Hangzhou Social Welfare Institute.  This precious little one had a serious heart condition and desperately needed medical care.  Mary and I shared emails, talked and prayed together.  When we went to the orphanage after adopting Myah, we had to privilege of taking a sweet gift to Mary's daughter and to take pictures of her.
  
Shortly after returning home from China, I was looking at pictures from our trip.  Myah got a glimpse of this picture.....  

and tried to leap into the computer to get to her!  This is precious Ivy Joy, Mary's daughter!

In November Jeff, Myah, Samuel and I were able to visit with Mary and her husband Bryan, while in Arizona for Thanksgiving.  We had a great visit and knew that we would see each other again.  

In the months to come, we saw pictures as Mary received updates.......

and prayed that the day would come quickly for Mary to travel to get Ivy.....

and in February if finally happened!!!

 Mary texted me this precious picture, just a short while after Ivy joined their family.

This was another darling picture that she sent!!!!

Myah loved seeing every picture I showed her of Ivy.  

All the while, this precious little one grew in my heart as I saw the connection that Myah
certainly had with her.

In the months that followed, Ivy faced life saving surgeries and we faithfully prayed
and continue to pray for her!  Myah noticed the tubes around Ivy in the pictures of her while in the hospital, and the look on her face showed sadness that Ivy didn't seem quite right. 

New pictures and videos of Ivy made Myah very happy! 

As summer was approaching, I began talking to Mary about our upcoming trip to Arizona and we began making plans for our sweet daughters to spend some time together.

Recently, I discovered that Ivy is listed in Myah's baby book as being Myah's best friend!  That explains why Myah gets so excited every time she see pictures of her!  I have no idea why I never noticed that, but what a great treat to find out, prior to our trip to Arizona.

On Thursday, July 5th that day finally arrived!!!!

We met in the parking lot of The Gymboree Play Class! 

 At first they were a bit unsure of what to think.....

Inside the class,

 Myah had fun playing.... 

Ivy was not all that sure!

After the class we loaded into the car...

with a snack and a short ride to lunch. 

We opted for Chinese food!

 Before we went inside, we took a few pictures. 

They still seemed a bit unsure of what was happening. 

 and each girl ate, mostly in silence.... both attempting the use of chop sticks!

 They hugged each other after lunch.... 

 and while riding in the car Ivy slept and Myah held her special friends hand! 

  At Ivy's house they played together.

 And shared Hershey's kisses together..... 

 lots of Hershey's kisses.... 

 More kisses.... 

 Lot's of empty wrappers.... 

 Happy chocolate filled girls... 

 giving loves again to each other....

Unfortunately our time together had to end.... and we had to wave goodbye....

But we are oh so grateful that we have many many trips to Arizona planned in the future.....

and I am sure that our precious girls will see each other again!!!!

In the mean time, I ask that you continue to pray for God to heal Ivy's heart!

Tonight, this momma is happy that our girls were united again, with Mary and I 
to watch it all unfold.