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!

Spring time May 1, 2013

Life is good & we are blessed. The kids are growing up so fast ~ we've had 6 birthdays in the last few months! We are waiting any day now for the phone call that Braxton's birthdate has been officially changed. Once that happens, we'll then have 7 birthdays in the spring! Wow! Brent turned 17 yesterday and Lidia turns 16 the day after tomorrow. What's going on lately around here? A lot! Braxton's learning how to hear and has lots of therapy and will be moving soon to a different school, which has an auditory/oral program for cochlear implant kids. He's making great progress. Ben is currently playing his favorite sport, baseball. He recently finished track, having been drafted onto the high school track team even though he's in middle school. The school system has decided to move Ben up to high school, skipping 8th grade.. to begin a 5-year high school plan. We are really lucky to be in this county, where we have great deaf education services. Briella recently competed in another math tournament. Bellamei has been in chorus all year & is performing a solo this Friday night (in Chinese) at the school concert. We've decided to homeschool Briella & Bellamei this fall using the Abeka Academy. They are excited about it and will both be doing 7th grade. Brinley is growing like a weed! She, Bayla & Braxton are on the same baseball team - so fun. The 3 of them were also on the same basketball team. Brent will be on a swim team again in the summer & he says it's his favorite sport. He also works part time at BiLo grocery store. Lidia's on the high school soccer team & has enjoyed it a lot. Blake is currently trying to join the Navy, which we are very supportive of. Brianna has been unbelievably busy, going to college full time and working full time as well. Not to mention, volunteering at the Surgery Center at CMC Northeast Hospital & soon she'll be doing an internship at Urgent Care. She graduates June 23 & is really excited to work in her field. She has worked so hard, and has stayed on the honor roll as well. In addition, she's getting married in September, so she's been very busy with all of those plans too. We're very proud of her! Mike and I are enjoying life and counting our blessings.


Mike & me at his company Christmas party


Ben & Braxton


Bayla before leaving for the father-daughter dance


Brinley before leaving for the father-daughter dance


Loving basketball!


Cool blue cover for Braxton's processor - he loves his cochlear implant


Look at this beautiful hair!


Briella decided to donate her lovely hair to "Locks of Love"


They had enough to make 2 donated braids


Brinley, Bayla & Braxton are on the "Blue Jays"!


Learning the game


LOVES riding his bike


Ben on the pitcher's mound


Get ready...


Strike 3!


Brinley & Bayla on the "A" Honor Roll & in the academically gifted program


Bellamei on the "A/B" Honor Roll & is excited to be homeschooled this fall w/Briella


Ben, Briella & Bellamei did a fundraiser for their upcoming mission trip to Kentucky


Even the Mayor of Concord stopped by!


Our stunning & amazing Brianna ~ college graduation is June 23!!


You did a great job ~ we're so proud of you


hmmm... who will be the lucky employer??

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

I miss you all so much. I am very proud of Briella cutting and donating her beautiful hair. So excited that Brianna is graduating and getting married!! That is awesome. I love the pictures and story of Bellamei, Ben, and Briella selling candy for the missions trip. What a testimony for them and others of how good God is. And of course Brinley, Bayla, and Braxton make the cutest Bluejays. Please give my love to them all, especially Blake, Lidia, and Brent! See you soon. Aunt Jenny