Mavery's 5th Gotcha and a New Adventure!

Today we celebrate 5 years with our Ms Mavery. It feels as if I blink and time is just passing me by. 

Today we also spent our day on the beginning of a BIG adventure with Mavery. We spent the day driving to the middle of Kansas.

Tomorrow she will meet her new service dog, and we will spend our week training while getting to know her new friend. 

I don't think Mavery will ever forget this Gotcha Day!  

So why a Service Dog? Aren't those for people who are blind or have diabetes or who are in wheelchairs? 

Well yes, they ARE used for those situations. But they are also used for many different things. 

If you have read my blog through the years, you know we have had a roller coaster ride with Mavery. While she came home from China with a very serious heart condition, (that is still ongoing) that was not as hard to deal with as her emotional state. 

And while we have seen HUGE improvements over the years, there are still challenges. When a close friend of mine received a service dog for her daughter from China and started sharing how amazing it was for them, I was intrigued. 

We started to do some research, spent some time praying and felt this would be a really big benefit to Mavery. 

Therapeutic in so many ways. Calming. Confidence Building. And as an added benefit they say that these dogs can sense a change in her heart if something happens. 

If you have met Mavery,  you know she is amazing. Now you might have been "Mavery'd" as we say, because she has yet to meet a stranger. She meets you and she throws herself on you, she hugs, she hangs, she loves "fiercely". She is the sweetest child and has such a tender heart for those around her. 

We pray that this dog is going to be exactly what Mavery needs for some of her struggles. 

We applied for the dog back in January. At that time we were told a 12-18 month wait. Which would have put us most likely meeting the dog when we were in China for our adoption! (If we ever get there, wahhhh) We knew that was going to be an issue, because if we missed that class we would not be able to travel till the summer class, with new children. Which sounded rough. THANKFULLY we were able to get into this class last minute and so here we are! Of course this is in the midst of CRAZY time at my house but when isn't?? 

Kind of a funny story... Last month I had asked some family and friends to pray with us for our adoption referral on a specific day. THAT was the day I got the call we were getting the dog! While I was thrilled for Mavery, it was NOT the referral I had in mind!!! :-) 

We have no idea what the dog is. We will find out on Monday morning! We will be in a class with many others getting dogs so it should be a fun experience! 

We drove all day today and checked into our hotel. STRANGE just having ONE child. I think this is going to be such a good week for the 3 of us. We are in training all day every day. 

I am going to try REALLY hard to blog every night. I know this is an experience I want Mavery to always remember. Internet is not good, so pictures might have to be added later but hopefully I can get some up. 

And I have yet to get up Makenna's 16th and Malaine's 11th birthday's from this month. Who knows, with only one child, I might get it all done this week. 

Happy 5 years to Mavery Raye JinSong. We are SOO thankful for every day she has been with us. She has taught me so much about what true love REALLY means. So thankful for how I have grown because of her. 

Feeling blessed.