December 26- Day of New Beginnings

December 26 will always be a day of new beginnings for our little girl.  One year ago today she was given a new breath of life when she was wheeled into a hospital operating room in Chongqing China and was given her life saving Glenn Shunt procedure.  I begin to cry when I think of the hundreds, maybe thousands of people who stood behind her and said her life was worth saving.  Only the Lord knew at that time she would become our daughter one year later.  Today December 26, 2013 Jessica Sihua walked into the US Consulate with her Mom and Dad and applied for her Visa to enter the United States!  Praise God!

 Celebrating with some good Thai food!  The Oehlhof girls love Thai noodles.  One is better with chopsticks!

Yesterday we went to to top of the Canton Tower in Guangzhou.  It's the third tallest building in the world and has the highest lookout observation platform.  As the sign says-No jumping!  They have a ride that orbits the perimeter of the building.  I got a kick out of the rules that included no alcoholics or psychotics allowed on that ride!  Sometimes the English translations are really amusing!  The elevator we rode to get to the top was half glass on the front side.  I was very glad to be standing on the back side of it!  Sihua is not afraid of heights as she walked the perimeter of the glass bubble overlooking the city.  It was a beautiful evening as the sun went down on Guangzhou.

On top of the tower at 450 meters (approx 1500 feet).

We found the play set at our hotel today.  She loved the spiral slides and went on over and over.  Can you start to see we may have another adrenaline junkie on our hands?

We head out tomorrow for Chongqing for one night.  Then we will be boarding our flights back home Saturday, Dec 28th!  We actually arrive home the 28th because of the time change....I guess we go back in time coming back home. We connect through Shanghai and then Sihua will become a US citizen upon arrival in Detroit on Saturday! We are to arrive home about mid evening in Madison, if all goes well.    Keep her in your prayers, as this is a long flight (one flight almost 14 hours) for her heart to endure. Pray for her oxygen levels to remain stable and for us all to have the patience and endurance to manage the long travel with a two year old.







A special thank you to Love without Boundaries, aunt Katie, and all those who believed this little life was special enough to save.  As I watched her fall asleep tonight,  just amazed by the glory of our creator, she is just incredible.  Martin Luther said "We ask for silver, and God gives us Gold."