We sent a doll and look what we got

We have all had a hard time dealing with the fact that Christmas will come and go and Samantha will be in an orphanage half a world away and Sierra really wanted to send her something so we would feel connected and Samantha would have something from us at Christmas. So Sierra picked out this doll, which we sent over on Friday (12/14) with a long note (written in Mandarin courtesy of one of Jeremy's co-workers) asking them to please give her this doll from her big sister. We knew from Judy that they don't like to give the babies stuffed toys but we were hoping the note would do it trick (it was long and heartfelt!!). We hoped that maybe in our next update in January we might catch a glimpse of the doll, or maybe even after we picked Samantha up when we get the CD of photos. We did not expect just four days later to receive photos of Samantha and the doll! She sort of looks afraid of the doll (hopefully that's temporary!) but it made us all feel more connected not only to Samantha but to the women in the orphanage to know that just days after sending over the note and doll we would get such a tangible response. Sierra was beyond thrilled and Jeremy and I were weepy (he'd deny that but I was here!). Anyway, here are the photos of Samantha and her doll and of Sierra with the doll before we sent it!

Sierra and the dogs with Samantha's doll

Samantha not quite sure what to make of her new doll and in her crib with her doll and photos of us!!