Welcome to our story...

God has richly blessed us with a big, fun family...
We have 10 children... 3 homegrown & 7 born in our hearts!

Blake... our oldest is 25 and has a heart for the Lord. He enjoys; church, family, mission trips, making music, playing guitar & drums at church, and writing.

Brianna Faith... is 21 and has a compassionate & tender heart. She's a wonderful big sister. She began talking to us about adoption when she was 11 yrs old. She is "Faith in motion"

Brent... is 17 - he's an awesome guy! He's in highschool. He has a special heart for family and God. He loves sports! Brent loves to laugh & is full of life!

Bethany Lidia... now 15, joined our family in August 2006 at 9 yrs old. She's from the beautiful country of Guatemala. She started school for the very first time (at 9 yrs old) and is now in 9th grade. Lidia's passion is sports & dancing!

Benjamin Ross... 15 yrs old. We first saw his picture in April 2007 & came home in May '08. Ben is deaf, but his special need is that he needed a family. Ben loves making home-runs & hanging out with family & friends. Ben is from Tianjin, China.

Briella Xiyao... our beautiful 15 yr old daughter from Fujian Province, China. She joined our family in July 2009. She's always wearing a big smile! She has a passion for the deaf & very proficient in sign language. She loves basketball!!

Bellamei Ying... our Inner Mongolian princess. Bellamei is 14 yrs old and held my hand for the first time on July 18, 2011. She has melted into our big family seamlessly and it is truly an honor to be her mommy.

Brinley Grace FuChuan... is 9 years old and joined our family in July 2007. She's from Jiangxi Province, China. She has the most gentle, sweet spirit... she's an angel!

Bayla Shea Chao-Yu... our youngest. She's 9 yrs old, 5 months younger than Brinley. Bayla's from Hunan, China & came home at 11.5 months. She's bright, funny (and spicy!) We can't get enough of her hugs & kisses.

and our caboose... Braxton Emanuel Jordan - 8 yrs old? (see post below) He's from Guangdong Province and is now officially our son!

This 1 min video shows how we've GROWN!

We're so excited for Brent...

Brent has been interested in joining the Navy when he gets older. He'll be 14 in about 4 months. He was navigating around on the Navy website, and discovered that there is a Navy program called Navy Sea Cadets, for teenagers up to the age of 17. We checked it out and this is a superb program for young adults who are interested in learning about the Navy, self-discipline and military skills and drills. There are 4 drill centers in NC, and we're only 35 min away from the one in Charlotte. We visited yesterday and also attended the banquet. Brent was SO thrilled and wanted to sign up, so we did! He spent the weekend at the drill center, as this is what he will do every few weeks (spend the weekend there). He'll be learning many things and he will also be completing required courses. He'll go to a 2 week boot camp in early June (out of state). He has a lot ahead of him. If he's still interested in joing the Navy when he's older, he'll go in as an E3 if he is an accomplished Navy Sea Cadet. That'll put him ahead about a year & a half. One cadet we met is soon traveling to Australia on a 2 week assignment. There's also exchange cadet programs with other countries. We don't know everything about it yet...but one thing we do know is this, we are very proud of him and he seems to be in his glory !!







Briella's been home 4 months today..

November 22, 2009
I decided to take a little photo shoot of Briella. She's such a lovely young lady, home only 4 months and it feels like she's been here forever. Here's some fun facts about Briella... her english is outstanding (already), she's very smart, she's kind to others and loves to smile, she loves school, she likes to write in mandarin with Ben, she loved being on a soccer team w/Lidia & Ben, she learned how to swim, if I blow dry her hair - she giggles the whole time, she trys all new foods (and likes everything),the battery toothbrush that I sent in her care package to China got used by all the girls at the orphanage!, she learned how to swing on a swingset...very cautious at first...then giggled like crazy learning how...and now she's a pro, she loves going to church, she loves her grandma's and grandpa's, she's learned how to pick out a new outfit everyday (in China, she wore the same clothes for many days, and she had no clothes of her own or a dresser), she still needs to learn how to ride a bike, she's taught Brinley and Bayla some chinese children's songs (so cute!) and she loves when I kiss her on her forehead or cheek. She smiles real big when she gets a kiss & told me that nobody had ever kissed her before in China. No wonder she giggles and smiles when she gets a kiss :o)
She is such a gift to our family.




~~~ Summer Fun ~~~

Here's a little slide show of our summer... we're making memories !!!

Coming Home...

Briella Xiyao was so excited to come home! She loved the flights and had plenty of energy, even after such a long 30 hour trip. Mike and the kids showed up at the airport at midnight to welcome us. What a wonderful memory for our family :o)