Here is Sarah's Adoption Story as her parents described it on their 1st Christmas together.
Happy Holidays
Dear Friends and Family;
Seasons Greetings! The year 2004 has been a great year and we look forward with health and happiness to 2005. We hope you have had a prosperous and healthy 2004.
We had a wonderful addition to our family this year! In February we went to China and adopted Sarah Michelle Bolinger. Our lives have certainly changed a great deal since her arrival at the Bolinger’s household and we have loved every minute of it. We had a wonderful time in China! We visited Beijing, Nanning, Guilin and Grangzhou, walked the great wall, saw Tiananmen Square, took a boat ride down the Li River in Guilin. It was a fabulous trip!
Sarah was born in Yulin China a small rural town near the Vietnam border in the Guangxi province. Currently, we are working on the paper work to adopt another Chinese baby girl. Hopefully by next year this time we will again be on the way to China.
Debra took time off from work at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach as a critical care nurse. She recently went back to work for 4 days per month. On the days she works Steven stays home with Sarah. Steven continued to work at the Los Angeles Refinery for Shell as the Pressure Equipment Integrity Manager.
Since we have a new addition we did quite a bit of traveling this year. On July 4 we went back to Missouri to visit Steven’s family. Then in August we visited Debra’s brother Steve and his family in Portland. Finally during the week of Thanksgiving we visited Missouri once more for more family. I doubt there are very many 2 year olds that have traveled as much as Sarah.
We hope all of you have a happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas and happy New Year. If you need a break from the cold weather just give us a call I am sure we will be able to accommodate.
Steven, Debra and Sarah Bolinger