Go back to August of 2005. I was a 10-year-old girl. I was happy with my life. I loved my family; life was good. I had a mom, dad, and two biological brothers. When my Mom and Dad had just gotten married, my Dad mentioned international adoption to my Mom. She thought it was a crazy idea at the time. She wanted a boy and a girl, better known as “the average American Family.” My Mom went to a spa day that my Dad had gotten her for Mother’s Day but she had put off going. God had a plan. She finally went, and the woman who did her massage talked about her China adoption and how beautiful and wonderful it was. God planted a seed. When my Mom left the spa she called my Dad and said “Hal, I think we have a daughter in China.” My Dad had a simple response, “I have been praying you would say that.”

So, it began. My parents announced they were adopting in a fairly simple way. They really didn’t have much choice since I was 10, Adam was 6, and Hayne was 2. My Mom came to me and said, “So, Ashton, How do you feel about a little sister?” I was estatic and was jumping “I would love one!! Is there one in your stomach?!” She laughed. “No, not this time. We are going all the way to China!”

I couldn’t believe it, but from that moment, I was thrilled. I didn’t question; I didn’t wonder; I just knew. Soon I would have a baby sister! When we started the China adoption process, the wait was said to be 6 months for paperwork and 6 months waiting for a referral. God’s hand was clearly on our adoption as we finished all of our paperwork in 2 months! It was unheard of in the adoption world at the time! We were expecting to have a baby by January. Boy were we wrong. The wait slowed down. Slowly the wait went from 12 months to 18 months to 24 months and so on. We waited. And, while we waited, we prayed.

On May 1, 2007, we finally received “The Call.” We had a beautiful baby girl waiting for us in Xiushan, China! She was 7 months old and just what we had prayed for and so much more!