One Year!

 During first few minutes that we met Chloe there was a whirlwind of things going on.  I was trying to watch my wife and new daughter, take a picture once in awhile until I handed my camera over to wonderful Andrew and Angie, trying to ask questions that made us sound like we had our heads on straight, trying to remember the answers, and trying not to show the fear that was penetrating every inch of my being.  There were faces and words, a few I still remember, but the main thought seemed to be how am I going to screw this up?  Not IF.  This fact is never shown in the photographs because I usually took them.    

 There is, also, that moment when I first saw her.  I instantly wanted to please the person behind those eyes.  She was so serious, and so beautiful.  After a few minutes of trying to get all those details of her former life and where she was now, we seemed to fly out the door back to our own room in a blur.  While I may forget some things...

 I will, however, never forget her eyes.

 And the next few days were a time when we got to know her and she decided she couldn't get rid of us.  She slept ON Cora.

 Bath time was one of the few things she seemed to enjoy with any guarantee.

 Here we are...err...Cora and Chloe are in the main entry of the hotel.  It was opulent and just a wee bit freezing.  No heat on the ground floor...except in the restaurant.

 and here is where we ate a five star breakfast each morning.

 Here we are waiting to sign papers...err...Cora and Chloe...I have once again retreated behind the camera.

 Then, after returning from signing and making it official, we(the men) dashed off to get lunch.

 It was raining...which quickly turned to snow.

 Oh, and lunch was chopped chicken...not exactly appetizing for us westerners.

 So I ended up making a run to the corner store, where I took some quickly drawn signs and eventually showed them to an old lady who seemed, if not sorry for my plight, at least helpful.

 We ended up with some dried soup (Chicken).  We awaited breakfast, with its recognizable cornucopia of delicious food.  There were, of course street venders, but I never saw what kind of meat they were selling and the toasted sweet potatoes while warm, did not tickle the tastebuds enough for me to try one.

Returning to the room and the new daughter!  Bath time was easy and she seemed to look forward to it...to this day the girl loves to spend time in the bath, easily outlasting the heat in the water...

 And this beautiful, if sometimes sad, face is what we fell in love with.  It has been a year.  If it makes sense, it seems longer, but at the same time shorter.  It's weird how dichotomous thoughts become when you look at a life-changing person.  She is our moon and stars...and our Jupiter.