And this was the little lady we saw when we visited Gabi for the first time. She was such a joyful girl .... so very happy. Yesterday Gabi and I were talking about our first visit ... how she felt and what she thought. She said that even though she looked so happy in our pictures she was really scared and didn't think that we would want her. She said she thought that we wouldn't be happy with her and maybe she would make a mistake and we would decide that we didn't want her in our family .... she shared that there was another family that was going to adopt her a few years back, something happened and they never did. I didn't know how to respond ... we had not heard of this. 
During our car ride home we continued our conversation .... I explained to Gabi that we had been waiting for her to join our family for over two years. We had a long, long journey to bring her home, it was not an easy journey and yet we knew that someone needed us as much as we needed them. When I explained that we believed that God knew all along that she was the child for us and that we believe that He led us to her, she told me that she knew that was true. She said that she felt that way too. The smile on her face grew as we talked.
Do you remember this picture? It was taken the day we climbed the mountain .... that smile lit up our world for the 4 months we waited to see her again.
Even though Gabi has changed in appearance since we met a year ago she's still got that million dollar smile .....
6 comments:
Such a beautiful smile! She sure is such a happy girl, I love seeing all the things shes learning and doing...it sure has been a fun filled interesting year!
Catherine
oh I was going to ask as well, does Gabi still speak to Ganka or read books she brought from Bulgaria? I sure hope she remembers a lot of it because Oksana is forgetting so much. I worry that the only thing she remembers is how to spell her name in Russian. :(
If you ask me...it's a TWO MILLION Dollar smile. We so enjoyed our time with you. It was really the first time we really got to talk with Gabi. At least not with a lot of other people and excitement going on.
Hi, I love reading about your adopted family. My husband and I are hoping to adopt from BG and your blog gave me some good ideas. My blog is:
http://bulgarian-adoption.blogspot.com/
Good luck with your family and thanks for all the great info!
Gabi is full of sunshine! What a beautiful girl she is! I haven't been keeping up on the blogs much, but enjoy reading every post. I especially enjoyed the re-adoption post. We are planning to do the same once Krasi has settled in and understands enough to realize what a special event it is. BTW - we travel back to Bulgaria this Saturday!!
Has it been a year already? My goodness. She's blossoming on all levels because of you, Jack and Hailee. I'm so happy for you. ;-)
BTW did you get my email? We'll be up in your neck of the woods in mid-June. Would love to see you and meet your adorable daughter. Please email me back at karen_pere@yahoo.com.
Talk soon,
Karen
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