Home Movies...Only Much, Much Better!!

As of today we have been home for one year!! One year ago our journey to Lily ended and our journey with Lily began. It has been a magical year filled with so many happy memories... receiving Lily's referral, our time in China, becoming a family of 3, and our first days home. Times we never want to forget.

Tony and I really wanted a keepsake from our journey. Something we could share with Lily. Something we could look at time and time again when we celebrate our Finally A Family Day or any other day we want to relive such happy and special memories!

While Tony and I were in China we literally took hours and hours of video and thousands of pictures. We videotaped entire bus rides, entire acrobatic performances, complete tours of various factories...you get the idea. In truth, a lot of things we really would never want to watch again. But, buried in all that rubble were some positively beautiful moments and images. Somewhere amongst all the hours of video was the actual magical moment when we were united with Lily, the first smile she gave us, her happy little laugh, our trip to Lily's orphanage, standing in the actual spot where Lily's First Mother placed her, and those precious first days of us as a family...not to mention all the beautiful sights we visited in China. Trying to whittle all of that video down into something manageable and meaningful proved to be too big a task for me...so I called in the professionals!

I looked locally for a company that could help me do this and didn't have any luck. So, I searched the Internet. I found a company called Red Thread Stories. Red Thread Stories is owned by a woman who is an adoptive parent and a professional video producer and editor. The perfect match! Torrie's company edits your video and produces a DVD compilation of your journey. All we had to do was send our videos, up to 100 digital photos, any text, and the music that we wanted to accompany our story and...they did the rest! Torrie worked with me to make sure she was telling our story...so even though a professional did the editing...it is still our story.

Below is the finished product. Tony and I think it is positively beautiful and Lily loves it, too! We have watched it countless times in the short time that we have had it and look forward to watching it again and again. I have yet to make it through with dry eyes. Somehow I doubt I ever will!

Be forewarned. The video is 15 minutes long and includes music. So, if you are watching this at work make sure the boss isn't around! Grab a cup of coffee, maybe a few tissues, and I hope you enjoy!