The Butterfly Kingdom

We planned to move forward with an adoption from China just after Caroline’s first birthday. We again set our sights on China; specifically a child from a special needs list. Given my work as a genetic counselor, our family felt pretty comfortable with a variety of needs. Unfortunately, as we approach her first birthday this month, we still do not meet the criteria (our student loan debt prevents us from having a net worth large enough for China to consider us as prospective adoptive parents). After discussing the possibility of applying for a waiver of the net worth criteria, it became evident that an adoption from mainland China would not be possible at this time. However, the agency that I've volunteered with in the past is piloting a program in Taiwan. They were seeking a few flexible families who could begin the process immediately. Here comes the chaos! Thank you God for directing our path. The image above was taken in November at a local children's museum. It was long before we knew that we'd be heading to Taiwan--The Butterfly Kingdom--to find the newest Salamone. Looking back it was odd that I stopped to take such a photo. Little did I know the significance. God is so good!