I am telling you that this day couldn't have gone any better already. We were having a glorious time with our kids, cousins, and grandparents. Everyone was in a great mood, the park was not crowded at all, the rides were glorious, the shows fantastic, the lines short and sweet, and the refreshment of the getaway completely fulfilling. This is a picture of me just minutes before we got the call. We were watching a great show on Eagles and birds.
Following the show, it was time to eat! As we approached the eateries, we stopped to check our options when my phone rang. It was our local social worker. As we had just been spending the last few weeks tidying up all of our dossier documents (again), I was confident that she had a question about our paperwork. Sure enough, this is how our conversation started... sweet steph, "Hey Shannon, are you near a computer?", me, "No, we are in the middle of Dollywood." We then discover that sweet steph had just been to Dollywood days before. sweet steph, "Do you think you can access a computer?" me, "uh..I think we will be able to when we get back to the cabin. We have some internet service there, but we won't be getting back til later this afternoon." sweet steph, "hmmm, ok..." me, "Is there a problem with our paperwork?". sweet steph, "NO, there is just a little girl in ET that is waiting on you to bring her home!!!!!!!!". AAAAAAGHHHHH! The tears started rolling. At this point, I am standing in the middle of a thoroughfare in the middle of Dollywood. Chris is wondering how long this convo is going to last so we can order food, the folks that are moving around me are wondering when I am going to get out of the way, and the kids are hungry and tugging at my side. I slowly moved to the edge of the sidewalk with obvious 'ugly cry' emotions running wild. This kind of a cry usually emits the 'there's been a death in the family' kind of alarm. I could see it on their faces as my family looked at me with horror. Grandma comes up and asks what is wrong. All I can manage to whisper is, "we have our girl!!!!!" She knew instantly. Smiles began to abound as she passed the word along. To be honest, I can't even remember Chris' reaction at that point. I believe his back had been to me all this time with his eyes glued to the menu board of the restaurant!! But when Grandma spread the news, Chris was by my side in an instant. He was glued to me, our hearts as one. We stood there in the middle of Dollywood as sweet steph gave beautiful details. I tilted the phone and we shared ear to ear the first news about our little girl. From beginning to end of the phone call my emotions were in full throttle. Chris was in shock. It was surreal. We were in the midst of themepark extravaganza and were experiencing our own thriller of a rollercoaster ride. It was so amazing. The Lord couldn't have picked a better place or time to deliver the news. It was almost as if the Lord wanted to provide the best backdrop. Sure, I wouldn't have personally picked this particular place, but God did. Kind of like, "here ya' go. This is a celebration time, a time of rejoicing, fun, being surrounded by the people you love. This is the time, the moment that I want to share something special with you!!"
It is funny, because the rest of our time at Dollywood was pretty much a blur. Sweet steph sent a pic of her to my phone. It was like my lifeline. I looked at that pic every few minutes. Smiles couldn't be hidden. I was distracted constantly as I read bits of her history over my smartphone in the tiniest print. I did this til my battery faded away.
Here is a pic of us that evening after our big reunion dinner.
What a glorious night. We were able to share our news with the big family clan. We can't post pics of her until we pass court, so that is why she is blurred out in the image. I can't wait to share her pic later!! She is absolutely the most beautiful doll I have ever seen. Our sweet little daughter. Cannot wait to bring her home!!
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