Tangible

tan·gi·ble     

adjective

Capable of being touched; discernible by the touch; material or substantial.

Much of the few weeks leading up to our trip was spent determining what types of activities we could bring that would help us to begin building the foundation of our family.  

We decided on a tangible representation of family.  Each person selected a specific type of bead and gave one of those beads to each of the other members of the family.  We also used a heart-shaped bead to signify the concept of family.  Remarkably, the girls understood our attempts to communicate the goal.  While we know the bracelets may not make it home in the end, we feel blessed that we were able to see evidence of their true purpose - Later that day, we spied one of the girls gently touching each bead and saying each of our names.