One of the hardest decisions we have ever made.

I've thought many times about how I would write this.  There is no right way.
A few days ago I emptied out a purse that has a zipper that needs to be fixed.  Out fell coins from the US, Canada, Thailand and China. In my wallet right now I have money from Korea, China and the US.  But it will all be turned in next month for American money as we have decided it is time to return to the US.
There is no crisis, no marital issue, no family issue, no security issue.  We just think it is time to be back there and provide a home for our daughter as she starts college and to be closer to our extended family.
We are sad because we love China and we love the people here and the work we are doing.  But we do believe that we have made the right decision.  We will be moving to the Pacific Northwest to do some similar work.
Our little guy will stay with his ayi until his family comes., hopefully within the year. He stays there often and it's the least stressful transition for him.   Leaving him, of course, is the hardest thing and the thing that makes me sob several times a day.  But there will never be an easy time to leave him and we have always known that his time with us was not forever.  But his impact on our lives is forever. What a privilege to be part of his story.  As his adoption gets closer, it's good not to blog much about him to preserve his and his new family's privacy. But rest assured- he has an amazing future ahead of him.  When he actually gets to his family, I'll let you know with out letting you know who or where he will be.
I started this blog as a way to keep our friends and family updated about our lives.  It took on somewhat of a life of its own as we got the sweet baby and used it to advocate for him.  I'll keep blogging here until we end up in the US and then I will open a new blog about some of the things that are important to me.
China is an amazing place.  It's loud and alive. There are things that make me nuts and things that I love.  As a family, we are so glad we came.  It's been a privilege to be here. We came to serve and to learn and I think we accomplished that.
We have about a month here, a few weeks of transition and then a new start.  Our life is about to change dramatically-we won't be in China, we won't have our sweet baby and our daughter will start college.  Those are all things that involve grief and loss as well as joy.  Transitions are hard and this one has a lot of pain in it for us. We are excited about the next but right now we are deep in the losses.  We need to walk through the sadness before we can move on.
 Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.