Bethany's Surgery Update

Early this morning we went to Children's hospital in Minneapolis for Bethany's surgery. The procedure took about 2 1/2 hours and was successful in addressing multiple issues. First the surgeon installed tubes in her ears releasing large amounts of fluid from her ears. This has already dramatically improved her hearing. The second piece was to install a soft palate in her mouth. This took most of the time as the gap was especially large and the doctor forms the palate out of existing material from within her mouth and nose. He equated the feeling in the mouth/nose to that of a skinned knee feeling as she recovers... OUCH! Thankfully she has much in the way of drugs to help through the most difficult healing. The final piece was to remove the pits in her lower lip. They proved to be much deep and more numerous than the doctor expected so that took a good amount of time as well. The rest of the day was spent sleeping restlessly as nurses and aides cycled through the room to administer more medication and check vitals. She is doing as well as can be expected. Probably the most frustrating part for Bethany right now is the arm "no-nos". They keep her elbows straight so that she cannot get her hands into her mouth. When she did come to consciousness I would ask her if she wanted to watch tv, have daddy read a book, have Grandpa sing a song ;), drink or go potty? The only yes we got was to go potty.

We are thankful that she is doing well. We are glad that Grandma and Grandpa Hay were able to come to support us and Rox and Tim were able to spend time with the boys as we have been at the hospital. The doctor says tomorrow may be more difficult as the drug levels diminish and she becomes more active. I'm back home with the boys and Becky stayed the night at the hospital. It is likely that she will be there through Sunday but it is possible that she could be released tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming. Pray that Bethany will know that we will always be there for her and will love her through this. Pray for Becky that she gets some rest and that she can muster patience through her fatigue.

Dan and Becky

A few pictures today

Hey all,

Just a few pictures of what is going on in our world lately.

Why am I looking at a picture of Dan in red shorts???? I had to post this to appease some of our friends that we met in China. This one is called Dan and the lucky reds... Darryl and Sharon, our travel partners and now friends were with us in the Chinese Wal-Mart. While we were there we noticed a lot of red underwear for sale. Apparently red under-garments are HOT during the Chinese New Year and thus there was quite a market for them. Since I pointed them out Darryl dubbed me Dan, "Lucky Red" Hay. I vowed to live up to my name and when I saw these gym shorts I just couldn't resist. ENJOY! Darryl, this one's for you brother!

The kids holding their PEZ dispensers from the Grimaldi's. They sent them to us along with some other gifts. So nice and what kid doesn't like spending 10 minutes loading those little candies to voraciously consume them from the dispenser in less than a minute?

Matthew's birthday party. Don't worry, everyone had a good time, REALLY! Grandpa decorated the cake in STAR WARS style.

Our good friend Cheri holding Bethany.

Bethany all gussied up to go to a shower that was held in her honor at our church. We are blessed to have so many folks that care for her and our family.

Matthew and Bethany hanging out on Matthew's sick day. He's been better and will finally get to go back to school tomorrow!

We were very excited to see Uncle Jim. The kids introduced him to the Wii!!

Toby and Uncle Jim box each other. (notice Trent in the background)

Toby takes out his uncle with a K.O.!!!!

Travel Preparation and Thank you!

Hi all,

Well, I got through our 1+ hour conference call with all of the travel info from our agency today. Phew!! We are 1 of 21 families with our agency traveling on the 8th!! Yes, I typed 21!! Many of us have older children (older than infant) and children with special needs, and we are coming from all over the U.S. How exciting to travel with such a big group!! We also got our itinerary (and paid our hefty "in-country package" bill!) and found out that our "Gotcha Day" is Monday, January 12th. So, you can pray extra hard that day for Bethany as she meets her parents!

I wanted to take a minute to just share my thanks to everyone that has been a part of this road with us...there have been SO MANY of you praying for us, donating to our "bring Bethany home" fund, encouraging us, etc. And many now are set up to help us with logistical issues while we are away - taking care of our kids, transporting them to and from activities, watching our house, boarding our dog, shoveling our walk, taking us to and from the airport, covering our duties at work while we are away...the list goes on and on!! It is truly amazing how God has worked all things together to get this beautiful little girl home. Wow. Our God is an awesome God, and we are humbled by His love for us and for Bethany.

Again, thanks to all of you. You are forever a part of Bethany's life and ours. We love you!

Becky