Birthday's are special, but...

This is the day Kevin and I remember most! We were living in Salem, Oregon. Six years of trying on our own, a year and a half of waiting for a phone call that seemed as if it would never come, and many, many miscarriages later... Our miracle occurred!!!

We had gotten the phone call the day before, "We have a baby-girl for you!". Kevin rushed home from work, thinking of all the possibilities those words foretold. More even, than I imagined. Toddler, school-girl, high school, college, mission?, and a mommy, herself. I couldn't think beyond the idea that we were FINALLY going to have a baby of our own! We snatched up Kevin's mom and drove to Portland. When we got there, we were told there had been complications and the baby would have to stay overnight in the hospital. With fear in our hearts, we took the longest drive of our lives, back to Salem. You see, by Oregon law at that time, until the adoptive family took custody of the child, the birth-mother could change her mind. We clung to the shreds of our faith, and prayed for peace.

Mandy's hospital portrait.

While we prayed and hoped, Amanda's precious Birth-mother had extra hours to snuggle and love this sweet baby-girl. She wrote to us later, describing how she held "Sarah" (as she called Amanda), sang to her, and told her how much she was loved. This extra time allowed her to find peace in her decision to give this child the home and family she felt Heavenly Father wanted for her. What an amazingly unselfish person. She will have our love and gratitude forever.

The next morning, we got "the" phone call again. This time, LDS Family Services had our baby at their Salem office. Again, we set out to meet our miracle-child. Grandma and Grandpa Webster came with us to record the event. Kevin and I were ushered into a HUGE conference room. An enormous table, surrounded by chairs and lit by a wall of windows, dominated the space. In a back corner, almost hidden by everything else, was a tiny cradle and a bundle in pink blankets. Our Adoption Counselor said, "I'll leave you alone to meet your daughter." "Our daughter".... those words almost seemed unreal to me. I was so afraid to touch her for fear that she would disappear and I'd wake up. I made Kevin pull the blanket back from her little face.

As soon as we saw her, we both knew her. It was instant recognition. "Oh, THERE you are!", I thought, "Of course you're ours!" Then Kevin said, "It's Amanda Noelle!". We had several names picked out, but as soon as we saw her, we knew who she was. Soon, she was enchanting every member of our family. She was our miracle, and brought-out the sweetest feelings of love from all our family and friends.

Right from the start, we called her our "Angel-Girl".

Seventeen years later...she still is!

We love you, Angel-Girl!!!! Thanks for being our daughter!