We’re home, all 3 of us!
Well we all made it home safe and sound, no problems at immigration in Taipei or Vancouver, PTL! The immigration officer at the airport in Taipei said, after throughly checking all of the adoption documents “you will take good care of her!” We assured him we would 
The long flight was difficult for Ruthie – she did not like the basinet at all, too confining for her – so we ended up holding her most of the flight.
Our nights have been long as Ruth is still on Taiwan time and things that between midnight and 5am is day time! Oh the joys of jet lag
Ruth is a total joy and delight to us, always has a smile and chatter.
We were greeted by about 25-30 people at the Medicine Hat airport, what a wonderful surprise!
You all have been asking for more pictures, so here you go… We love hearing from you!
First time in a winter jacket!
All tired out with cousin Leilani
Cousin Manu's first cuddle
Cousin Tavita and Ruthie!
Cousin Hannah & Ruthie have a chat!
Sleeping with Grandma.
Grandpa with Ruthie
Auntie Julie with her newest niece.
It’s soooo good to be home with family and friends!
First bath given by Mom and Dad – and going home…
Well here we are, leaving Taiwan tomorrow night with our little girl. SO much has happened in the last 8 days that we have been here, seems like a blur.
Ruthie continues to be a joy, we find it hard to even let her go down for a nap, ’cause we miss her. She has slept in our room for the last 2 nights, and sleeps the whole night through.
We bathed her for our first time – here’s a few pictures…
We leave The Home of God’s Love in Luo-Dong around 7pm tomorrow night (Taiwan time) and fly out at midnight. We then spend one night in Vancouver and fly out Friday morning for Medicine Hat, via Calgary. Please pray for us as we travel, Ruthie seems to be teething right now, pray she does not get a fever or cold, and sleeps well on the plane. We think she will a great, easy traveler.
Ruthies bed for the last 12 1/2 months - top left is our Ruthie
Well it is lunch time, thankyou again for all your prayers – keep ‘em coming!
Much love,
Pete, Laurie and Ruth
Day 4 at THOGL (The Home Of God’s Love)
We had our first night alone with Ruthie last night. There is a travel cot set up in our room and we had her for the whole night! She was a trooper and slept right through the night. We got up at 3am, warmed her bottle in the kitchen downstairs and Ruthie was not interested in feeding but just wanted to sleep. Mom and Dad were awake for another hour or so with jet lag, but such is life.
Here are a few pictures of our first night together…..
Good Morning!
Noise levels are rising, babies are crying as we write – gotta go feed, burp and change 15 babies (with 2 other adults – not by ourselves – whew)
Keep prayin’ ! We are sure looking forward to getting home Friday!!!
See ya next time!
The trip and first couple days…
Well what a trip we had! Miraculously we made all our flights and our baggage made it with us – MIRACULOUSLY!
We will not go into all the details of the trip, but due to snow storms we were 1 1/2 hours late from leaving Medicine Hat, 2 hours late leaving Calgary (the Calgary airport actually shut down for an hour) – but because of delayed flights all over Canada, our flight to Taipei was delayed, which allowed our bags to catch up with us.
When we arrived at the Taipei airport, we were greeted by Ted – the orphanage director and our Ruthie
Ted and Ruthie at airport meeting place - "pillar 1"
Checking each other out for the first time
We spent the day in Taipei together, and were able to pick up all of Ruthie’s immigration paper work at the Canadian Trade Office! There at the office we fed Ruthie for our first time. She is a great eater.
We had a 1 1/2 hour drive to the orphanage later that day, and sweet Ruthie got a nap in.
We got to the orphanage to be greeted by 15 other babies under 1 year old! We will not have a dull moment while we are here! We are living right here at the orphanage and sometimes feeding and rocking 2-3 babies at one time.
Our Ruthie is a very sweet natured baby, smiling all the time, and very content day and night, we are truly Blessed.
Well, we’ve got to go and feed some babies, nap time is over
Please continue to pray for us, we are here until Thursday, then home we go.
Thankyou so much for your love and prayers, we feel them very much!
Love Pete and Laurie
A couple of more pictures for you here…
An Anniversary we will never forget!
We are off to Taiwan! 
Yes, you read that right – our prayers are being answered! On Dec 9th (our 3rd anniversary) we are boarding a flight, leaving Medicine Hat, destination Taipei, Taiwan! And we are, Lord willing arriving back home on Dec 18th. What a wonderful Christmas gift eh!
The last few weeks seemed to take forever while waiting for all kinds of different paper work. Then, all of a sudden, it all happened fast, and we are really going to get our daughter!
God has been so good to us, providing all, as we have needed it.
We have moved into the basement suite, although we don’t seem to spend much time here! We are more at our old condo where the YWAM Associates office, and most of our “stuff” still is. We won’t say it has been easy, but we know it is right for a season.
We wanted you all to know that we have started a blog, and we will try and make as many updates as possible during the next few weeks – please check it out; petenlaurie.wordpress.com
We trust God daily for finances and all of our needs. As most of you may know, we are not payed a salary working with Youth With A Mission. Our monthly costs have gone up close to $1000 with the move and baby. God is good and He has never let us down. If you feel to support us, drop us a note and we will tell you how you can get a tax receipt.
Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou, for your love and prayers – we need and appreciate it more than you could ever know. Please keep praying!
Much Love,
Pete and Laurie
A wonderful friend made this cute cake for Ruthie, even though she was not here to enjoy it
