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!

What a cutie!

Braxton is so cute, smart & likes to laugh! He and Ben are doing great and Braxton's already picking up some signs, and it's only been 3 hours. We're getting ready to skype home in just a few minutes so he can see Mike and all the kids. Then we're heading out to get some dinner. By the way, the lady who owns Madison Adoption Agency was in the group of several other families receiving their children - in the same room as us. She came up to me and said, "is this Ben?" She knows of Ben's whole story about being reunited with Eddie & Chet, who's adoptions were through Madison Adoption Agency. She was so thrilled to meet up with us, and was in tears & took several pictures. Her daughter had just received her new daughter. Then another lady approached me and said, "are you Lisa?" She knows me through the online adoption forum we're both members of. We've chatted before & now we received our kids at the same time. My guide Elsie, said, "you are famous here in China!" Then I explained how these people know us. The adoption community is a small world. Here are some great pics that Ben took. Everything's going great!

8 comments:

Karen said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Every one looks so happy!

Traci - little sis said...

He is really cute! Looks like Jake's size too. I told Jake he has a little buddy to play with now (since he is not too much with playing with little girls!) Have fun! Be safe! Love ya!

Brenda Frazier said...

Beautiful pictures! Great job, Ben. You all look so happy.

Trish said...

So glad that you three are all together now! Looks like Ben is already wonderful in his role as big brother. Braxton is as cute as he can be! Can't wait to meet him! (Dad said "give him some growth pills & also fatten him up!) Enjoy the rest of the China excursion now that you're together. Love, mom & dad Mack

Gary and Lisa Fink said...

AWESOME! congratulations.. This brought Glory bumps to me. Another wonderful precious child has a forever home. So glad you met Aleda and Diana, I thought you would. They have a special place in their hearts for Ben, Eddie and Chet. We love y'all. Gary, Lisa and Chet

Judy Deaton said...

Lisa,
He is such a cutie:) Sounds like he's off to a great start with his signing! Yay! What a blessing to have his big brother as a role model:) Blessings on your journey. Love following along!

Adrian Roberta said...

Lisa I have NEVER seen one of our Z babies glow like that before on Adoption Day. Lisa I am thrilled for you and what the Lord has in store for Braxton!

Adrian Roberta said...

...and yes y'all need to start fattening him up! LOL If he's anything like Ping , he'll do that on his own!