Elizabeth Hope Guan Juan

In 1995 we decided to adopte a little girl from china. I looked into all kinds of adoption and kept coming back to 'China'. We then found out about a little girl in Yunnan Province PRC named Hope. She was abandoned at 9 days of age and was very malnourished, and sick. She was almost at deaths door when she was found at the orhphanage gate on the right hand side under a bench. She was wrapped in a blanket and laid on the ground. She was born with a bi-lateral cleft palate and lip. Back then China was not using stages to describe the severity of the palate or lip but it would have been classified as a stage 3 (severe case). She had such a adoring look to her eyes. We got the missionaries FAX number and we faxed him that we were interested in this little girl. He was shocked because she was now 13 months old and had been praying for an american home for her to get the medical attention she needed. His prayers were answered and God chose us to be her parents. We felt doubly blessed because at that time China did not like to be told which child we wanted by name. We waited for 2 years through all the red tape on our side of government and still were told from our American agency that we may not be approved for Guan Juan at the end.
Hope has gone thru several surgeries at Children's Hospital in Seattle ,WA. and they have done a remarkable job on her. When we received her in China she could not swallow her own spit. I had to teach her to do that she drooled constantly but i think this was because of neglect in the orphanage. She had to learn how to chew food as she did not know how to do this. We ate with impressioned forms of teeth at the table every mealtime to teach her the chewing motion inside our mouths when we eat food. Most of her food came out her nose when we put it in her mouth. Over time and after her first surgery here in Montana it god a little better but she dealt with severe sinusitus caused from food contamination. She spent the first 5 years on Antibiotics most of that time. She started Speeh when we got home from China in 1997 and graduated from it in 2002. She still slurs some of her words when she is in a hurry but her speech is very legible. It has always been good. She did not talk or say her first word until she was probably 3.5 The first word was Mama and Baba (which means daddy in Chinese)What a great sound for me.
She is a very strong and brave little girl and handles all the procedures, surgeries and many doctor appointments with ease. She is used to it now but at times asks me why she has to do this. She is older and realizing that most kids don't have to go thru this. But i tell her this is her package and God is there with her all the way.And when you are done you will be the most gorgeous Chinese girl. She is very happy with her new look of her lip and nose and loves her nose. She was worried she would have a big Italian nose like her dad.