Ho ho ho, chirped a happy little 3-year-old girl named Tonya as she first spotted Santa on the front of her Olathe home. Tonya s mother, Lynne Paden, drove her up their drive on the way back from preschool. Tonya went inside the house with her eyes wide open. She spotted each new decoration Lynne put up while she was gone. This Christmas is special; it s Tonya s first ever. She spent her first years in Vladivostok, Russia, in an orphanage. She did not get Christmas presents there.
Tonya s journey to Olathe began in 2006, when Lynne and Chris, her husband, heard their pastor speak about adoption and the importance of meeting the needs of orphans. The concept that God adopted us into his family really struck home. Lynne was immediately convinced she was called to adopt a child. It didn t take long before Chris was convinced, too. Soon they were filling out papers, and began the process of being matched.
Over time, they grew open to having a child with special needs, and Tonya was presented to them. Because they chose such a child, their adoption went surprisingly fast. It was a relatively few short months before they were meeting their daughter. The Padens left their two boys back home and boarded a plane to Vladivostok. They traveled through rundown areas with dirty apartments and came up to an old but well kept building. Inside, they met Tonya.
She was a very tiny girl with bright blue eyes, pale skin and flyaway hair. Tonya was unsure at first, but once Chris and Lynne began playing with her she opened up and let out a full belly laugh. She was full of joy and energy. Lynne says they realized the only thing small about Tonya was her size. The Padens went home without their girl, which was very difficult for them. The love for her was immediate and immense. Tonya came home in February.